The Candidate ✓ (Book Two)

Chapter One

    I completely stop for a second. Maybe I really am crazy- but if I really heard what I just heard, then David's the crazy one. Kyle stares at me with a confused look of concern on his face, probably thinking that something's seriously wrong. "Lauren? Are you there?" David asks after almost thirty seconds of silence.

  "Yeah I'm.. I'm here." I mumble. "Have you...thought this through?"

  Kyle raises an eyebrow. "Sure." I can almost hear David shrugging on the other end. "There are other possible candidates but as of now, you are my first choice. That is- if you'll accept."

  I sit down, buttoning my top back up. My mouth hangs open a bit, still unsure of what to say. Kyle sits beside me, waiting patiently for an explanation. My throat suddenly feels like a dessert, so I guzzle down about half of my water bottle in less than ten seconds. I tuck a few stray pieces of hair behind my ears, procrastinating my answer for as long as possible.

  I've never really been a politician. Sure- I might as well have been Kyle's secondary campaign manager, and I may have spoken at campaign events on his behalf at least two dozen times when something came up that he had to deal with, and I may be a widely known activist but... shit. Maybe I am a politician. I wrack my brain for anything else to call it but come up with nothing.

  "Lauren? Hello?" David asks after another minute or so of silence. I hear him flicking his phone screen with his fingers, thinking something's wrong with the signal.

  "Yeah I'm... look David, I'm going to need a few... days to think about it." I reply. Kyle and I have both quit politics. Well, sort of. I may still work in government but my position is a non political one. Returning to that part of our life would present major changes, both good and bad. I would have to have secret service again. Mina would get them too though- instead of the bodyguards we hired for her a couple of years ago.

  Don't get me wrong- the bodyguards are amazing at what they do, and at any time her and Kyle are together they protect both of them, but secret service nowadays are a whole different breed. In other words, they don't play. The psychologists at their training academy basically crawl inside of your asshole to get to your brain during the interviews and sessions, from what I've heard. I would never even have to think about fearing for her safety.

  "Okay well, do you think you could come to my campaign headquarters in California tomorrow?" David asks.

  "That's a nine hour flight." I frown. "And besides, I have a day job."

  "...And I don't, not anymore." David replies. "So I'll come to you. When are you free?"

  "Uhm...noon? I've got an hour break."My voice nervously hitches up at the end. There's no way this is really happening. I pinch myself hard, leaving a deep indent in the skin where my nails were.

  "Perfect." David says. "I'll see you tomorrow."

  He hangs up, and I sink into the loveseat, my face still scrunched up in confusion. "Who was that?" Kyle asks.

  "David."

  He still freezes at the mention of that name even though I've told him hundreds of times I'm not mad at him. There's nothing we can do to change the past. Being mad about something that happened  many years ago now won't do anybody any good.

  "What... did he want?"

  I sit up, facing him. "He asked me to.. be his Vice President."

"He.."

"Yeah. I know." I say.

I didn't see it coming. I mean fuck- here I am, tired enough already and about to go to bed in a few hours when I get a "Hey Lauren, wanna be the Vice President of the United States?" casual phone call.