Turn Over

“Look, Miss Paige, I’m afraid I’m going to have to cut our interview short.”

I spotted Carlos Hernandez making his way to the table.

“Sorry I’m late, Mason.” His dark mustache had a way of twitching when he spoke.

I stood to shake his hand. “Not a problem, Carlos.” I cleared my throat. “Maybe you know Miss Paige.”

She wiggled out of the chair and stood. “Mr. Hernandez, we met at the last city council meeting. Sydney Paige from the News & Record.”

I could tell he recognized her. “Of course. You were the one asking all of the rezoning questions.”

“That was me.”

“Nice to see you again.”

She collected her bag and slid it on her shoulder. “I hope you two enjoy your lunch, Mason.” She winked and hurried to her table at the other end of the restaurant.

“Talking to the press, already?” Carlos eyed me.

“No, she was at the site this morning interviewing some of the residents. We just ran into each other. Do you know her well?”

Carlos picked up the menu I had folded. “I try to make it my business to know as many of the local reporters as I can. It has its benefits, especially around election time.”

I nodded. “I’m sure.”

“She’s new. I’ve only seen her at a few of the council meetings.”

“That’s what I thought.”

“Doesn’t mean she can’t stir up trouble for us.” He smiled as the waitress approached ready to take his drink order.

“You think there is going to be a lot of local resistance to the project?” I took a sip of the tea refill.

“I’ll have an iced tea and a grilled steak sandwich,” he instructed our server.

I waited for him to answer my question. I might have underestimated our timeline for construction if we had red tape to wade through.

“The only real resistance is going to be at the park. I doubt the rest of the island is going to be in the middle of it, but all it takes is one attention grabbing story to get everyone riled up.” He looked over my shoulder.

I turned to follow his stare. Sydney was typing something into her phone. “And you think someone like her could be the problem?”

“It only takes one. From what I know about her she’s a go-getter. Had plenty of rezoning questions for me.” He looked outside at the shoreline. “You know I’m up for re-election in the fall.”

I was prepared for the conversation to take this turn. “How many terms have you served now? Is it five?”

“Sure is.”

I smiled. “Well, I know the good citizens of South Padre would be happy to see you serve a sixth. How is your campaign going?”

“I try not to get weighed down with the campaign numbers, but it never hurts to add to your list of supporters.”

“No, it sure doesn’t.”

There were lines I wouldn’t cross. I wasn’t about to do anything illegal that would risk my company or this deal,

but there were blurry lines I ran into every once in a while. This was one of those times. Carlos and I would navigate the unspoken terms of our arrangement.

“The more time I spend in South Padre, the more interested I am in the politics here.”