Look to the Rainbow (31 page)

     The press still camped out near her apartment and followed her everywhere, when she went to the grocery store, the mall, a museum at the Smithsonian, or out to dinner with Casey or Evan and Mary Katherine.

     The headlines were ridiculous. One stated that they were secretly engaged, another that she had developed an eating disorder, and still another that Kel was dating someone else, accompanied by a photograph of him hugging Molly, who of course was not identified. Tara tried not to look at the tabloids when she went out, but Casey collected every single one and came over and made her laugh over what might have simply made her angry if she read them alone. Casey had a way of reading the articles out loud that made them seem even more silly than they were. It helped to put the stories and the speculation over her private life into perspective.

      She watched the debates and followed his campaign on television. And mostly, she just plain missed Kel. She missed the phone calls, she missed seeing him in person and of course she missed the physical side of their relationship.

     On the eve of the election she went to dinner at Evan and Mary Katherine’s house. She had become such a fixture in their house that Socrates greeted her warmly when she arrived. Mary Katherine had a theory that Socrates really only liked people who cared about Evan. When Tara asked her how she could prove that theory she had replied that both the UPS man and her mother got growled at when they came to the door. Evan added that Socrates generally sat in front of Margaret the entire time she was there and growled every now and then. As the little dog sat in her lap and showered her with love, Tara laughed, not only at the scene she could easily picture, but at Mary Katherine for thinking that was funny. Evan was in charge of dinner and called them to the table with great ceremony. Tara had to admit that she was impressed; he had served filet mignon, a field greens salad and grilled vegetables.

    “It’s the only dinner he can actually cook,” Mary Katherine said.

      Evan ignored that remark and asked Tara if she planned to call Kel the next day. He and Mary Katherine planned to vote and then fly to Newport to wait for the results with the O’Briens. She also would be flying home to vote first thing in the morning.

     “No,” she said, sadly. “We agreed not to talk until January.”

     
“January
?” Mary Katherine asked.

     She nodded. “He said if I couldn’t commit to the relationship by the inauguration then it was over.”

     “Is that what you want?” Evan asked. “For it to be over?”

     “I love him Evan, I just don’t know if I want to be first lady.”

      Evan considered that and then asked gently, “Are you sure that’s why you can’t commit?”

      “I don’t care about the rest Evan. I’m not Alise.” Evan and Mary Katherine were both looking at her, and she knew they were trying to figure out what she was really thinking. “ I don’t know why this is so difficult. I feel as if I took the emphasis off the issues and what he stands for and I think I’m just a distraction for him.”

     Evan said, “I think for anyone to consider a lifetime with Kel would be just a little daunting. Hopefully tomorrow he will be elected President, but even if he isn’t he’s still Kelly O’Brien and I hate to tell you this, but he’ll still be very prominent. He was well known before he ever ran for office, for his previous career and because of who he is. If you choose to be with him, then you will always have a certain amount of media attention. Mary Katherine wasn’t quite famous when we met, but it wasn’t long after we were married that everyone knew who she was.  Her status means that she is often gone for several weeks at time. That hasn’t always been easy for us. And there are some other issues, for both of us, that might have been a reason to throw in the towel and say it was too hard, but we haven’t done that. We decided to make it work. If you are really in love with Kel, that’s all you have to do. Decide to make it work.”

      “You make it sound so easy, Evan.”

      “It is that easy. Making it work isn’t always easy, but
deciding
to isn’t.”  He leaned back in his chair. “ That being said, I know Kel well enough to know that if you decide later you can’t be there for the long haul, it’s going to be devastating to him. So please, don’t do things halfway. You have to be there forever, or you have to let go.”

     “That’s what he said.”

      “Nobody’s judging you, Tara, and I know you’ve had a lot to deal with over the last few months.”

     Tara knew that Evan was trying to be helpful, but she also knew that Kel’s inner circle, Evan, Ross, John, Lily, and George and the rest of his family were deeply loyal to Kel and were all obviously wary about the possibility of anyone hurting him. She understood that feeling. She felt strongly protective of him as well. Once you have been privy to the more vulnerable side of Kelly O’Brien, that’s just how you responded to him.

     “For right now, Evan, I’m just going to see how things play out tomorrow night.”

      They changed the subject and she ended up leaving fairly early. She found it difficult to go to sleep, as she kept thinking about the pros and cons of a serious relationship-and even though they hadn’t actually ever discussed it- marriage to Kel. She had no doubt that he would always treat her with the utmost respect. She knew that he would always love her. Would he want more children? His own were grown, but
she
could not imagine a life without children of her own. He would always be twenty years older than she was, would that ever be a problem between them? She didn’t think so, but still, she didn’t know for certain. Everyone around him expressed their concerns about his health, but she had done her research about the possible long term effects of the disease, and she knew that she would be able to handle any problems associated with that, especially given Evan’s attention and expertise in the field. Still, like the rest of them, she found herself looking at him each time he was on television or in a photograph wondering if he was all right, if he looked too tired or sick. So yes, that would always be something to be conscious of, but not a reason to end the relationship.

     His children and other family members seemed more than willing to welcome her into their lives, so that wasn’t the problem either. Her own father had essentially said that he blessed the relationship, even though at first he had been so opposed to it.

     If then, the only thing was the media attention, how did she deal with that? How did she find a way to let the public side of being with him less important?

     She sat up in bed and turned on the light and looked at the portrait of the two of them hanging on the wall. They both looked so happy, so relaxed, so content to be in each other’s arms. And when that photograph had been taken, they had known each other for all of
two hours
. If they could look that right together after two hours, what would they look like after a lifetime? How could she throw away the chance to be right there because she didn’t like being followed by the press?

     She turned off the light and fell asleep with the intention of calling him the next day and telling him she had made her decision.

     She woke up and quickly got dressed and did her hair and make-up and grabbed the suitcase she had packed the day before. It was still dark outside and she gathered everything else she needed and opened the door and started to her car when she realized there were at least ten reporters waiting, with camera people in tow.

     “Tara, are you going to vote?”

     “Will you join the senator in Newport?”

     “Do you have any announcements about an engagement?”

            And on and on as she fought to get in her car. She answered none of them as she pulled away. Annoyed, she drove toward the airport and couldn’t believe how closely they followed her and how quickly they were able to do so. One photographer hung out a car window with a long lens trying to get a shot. What was interesting about her driving down a busy DC street? She parked in covered parking close to the terminal thinking she would have lost them, but

they were there when she entered the building and had the nerve to follow her up to the check in counter. She elected to carry on her bag and they followed her all the way to the security checkpoint where finally, they were stopped. She exhaled as she headed toward her gate, and stopped at a Starbucks for a latte and a scone. Out of the corner of her eye she saw several flashes and realized, much to her chagrin, that other people in the airport were taking photos of her buying a cup of coffee. When had she become a national celebrity?

            The gate was close by and she took a chair, but it was extremely uncomfortable being pointed at and photographed by cell phone cameras. At last, the boarding began and thankfully she had booked a first class ticket and was able to board in the first wave. She was in the first row in a window seat and she assumed something would be written about that as well as what she wore and what she had for breakfast.

      When she deplaned in Atlanta it was the same scenario. She pulled out her cell and called her brother Jack to see where he was.

     “Hey sis, about to pull into airport,” he said.

     “Pull right up front, and stay even if they give you a ticket. I’m being followed by fans and I’m sure there are photographers waiting for me out front.”

     Jack started laughing. “Seriously?”

     “It’s not funny Jack. I’m completely serious.”

     She slammed her phone shut and hurried down the stairs and out the door.  Jack’s car was being approached by an officer as she opened the door, tossed her bag in the back seat and slid into the front beside him, as a group of photographers caught the whole thing.

     “Drive as fast as you can,” Tara said, “and take side streets. Maybe we can lose them.”

     Her brother just stared at her. “Is it always like this?”

    “Ever since the convention it’s been worse. They camp out outside my apartment.”

    “Are we going home or to vote?”

     She considered that. “Let’s just go vote and get that over with. Then I can hide out at home.”

     Jack pulled into traffic and with the experience of a man who grew up driving in Atlanta traffic was soon able to loose most of the cars that followed them out of the airport.

    “I think we’re safe,” he said.

     “Don’t count on it. They will have figured out where we are registered to vote and another group will be waiting. TV people, and tourists, too.”

     “
Tourists
?”

     “Well, that’s what I call them- the people who take my picture with their cells.”

     Jack shook his head at the thought that his older sister was a celebrity and only because she had happened to date a political candidate.

     As she had predicted, they were assaulted by the waiting paparazzi, as she clutched Jack’s hand and went inside to vote. She tried not to be noticed and wished she’d just voted by absentee. But she really wanted to remember walking up to the voting booth and casting her vote for Kel to be President. Jack voted before she did and then waited just outside the door. She half expected a photographer to follow her to the machine and take a photo of who she voted for. For that few moments, she was left alone, but as soon as she left the building, they followed them back to Jack’s car.