I giggled, unable to stop myself. I was surprised and pleased that he called me. Did this mean that he had found me a job already? “Hi.”
“I forgot to get your phone number, so I talked with some acquaintances and got the number of your office.”
“I can’t say you aren’t well connected, Senator.”
“How have you been? Did you miss me?” I knew he was just teasing me, but that didn’t prevent me from blushing. I noticed the curious look Gemma gave me, and I turned my back on her.
“To answer your first question, I’m good,” I lowered my voice, inching away from Gemma. “And about your second question… I could ask you the same.”
“Dodging a question with a question? Clever. And yes. I missed you. Especially the way you screamed my name again and again and begged me to let you come.”
Holy moly. I shifted on my feet, turned on.
“You know we can’t talk about that now,” I whispered into the phone. Not that I didn’t want to. A dirty talk with him over the phone sounded tempting. Too bad this wasn’t the time or the place.
“Right. Then let’s talk about your job. I’ve made good on my promise.” A radiant smile spread across my face. “You’ll be working for an older congressman. Someone who’s been in the trenches, it’s good resume building opportunity. Not like working in my office, but we can’t have people getting suspicious.”
I wished I could jump and squeal in excitement. Yes!
“Thank you! Thank you so much!”
He chuckled in response to the bubbly excitement in my voice. “I have to tell you it’s nothing special because you’ll be running around and making coffee, but it’s a start.”
“It doesn’t matter.” It was a start definitely, even if I had to do menial tasks for the congressman—no more no less. This was the chance I needed. I would work hard and climb up the ladder eventually. “Thanks a lot.”
“You’re starting tomorrow.” He explained to me how to reach the right congressional office building. “Be there early, around 8am, to get acquainted with your colleagues and work space.”
“Alright. Thanks again Merritt, really.” For a moment there, I wasn’t sure what to tell him, since this was probably the last time I would hear from him. There was no reason for us to talk anymore after this, and a part of me didn’t like it.
“I make good on my promises Camilla.” Tingles danced across my skin at how sure he sounded. I wanted to see him, but that might not be possible.
However, he proved me wrong when he said, “I’ll see you soon.”
I wanted to ask him what he meant by that, but he already ended the call. See you soon?
I broke out into a smile. Now this should be interesting.
The next day, I showed up to work excited and nervous, and my step had a bounce to it. I was finally able to make my dreams come true.
My mom was over the moon when I told her the news. She kept repeating how proud she was of me, certain that I would make something out of myself soon. Of course, I didn’t divulge how I’d gotten the job.
The staff were so nice to me, and my new boss was a guy who looked and acted like everyone’s favorite grandpa. I knew from the start I was going to like it here.
The place was brimming with activity, and I found myself getting more excited as the day passed by. I was told to make and deliver coffee, distribute documents, and reorganize some papers in the archives. I had met a few important people, admiring how professional and knowledgeable they all appeared. This was all I ever wanted. I wanted to be in the middle of the political scene and make a change. I wanted to help make things happen.
I was going through the hall, on my lunch break, when I bumped into Merritt.
I did a double take, astounded to see him here. “Merritt?” I couldn’t resist checking him out, noticing how hot he looked in his black designer suit. In fact, he looked better than any other man I’d met so far in the office. “What are you doing here?”
“Not ‘Nice to see you’ or ‘I missed you’, but ‘What are you doing here’?” He placed his hand across his heart, feigning hurt. “Ouch. That’s a blow to my ego.” He smirked at me. “I work here.”
Well, of course. “I didn’t know that you were in this building too. It’s good to know that.”
He took a step closer to me, observing me intently. “Is it? Good, I mean?”
The temperature in the hall had risen by a few degrees. My heart reacted almost immediately, throb after throb of desire for him. A few people passed us by, greeting Merritt, but they didn’t seem to notice the tension between us.
“Absolutely.”