liz truss x priti patel: the complete story

3. October 2019

No.10 was changed by the feeling of impending winter. Ministers and advisors would come through the door in heavy wool coats, bringing in gusts of chill wind that made everyone inside shiver. The building had been decorated with candles and tea lights, and occasionally one would come upon a trio of pumpkins in a room's corner, which they supposed were Carrie's doing. By the time they left to go home, it was almost always dark, with the soft amber glow of streetlights the only guiding light.

As anticipated, the week's meetings were dominated by Liz and Priti's plans. Sajid and Dominic exchanged affronted looks as every suggestion of their own was countered by another. But as they watched the presentation, they couldn't hide their admiration at the seeming intricacy of the plans. Boris watched with a face of, above all, relief, as he saw a solution to his own incompetence.

By the end of the month, the complete plans had been taken to the Taoiseach (which Liz still pronounced like tea-sock), and the country had agreed to a revised deal with a new Northern Ireland Protocol.

*

Leaving yet another meeting with prideful grins, Priti and Liz knew their plan had worked, and it would only be a matter of time until they were right up there with the Prime Minister himself.

"What are you doing for the rest of the day?" Priti asked Liz cheerfully.

"Probably getting back to work. You?"

"Really, Liz? I think we've done enough work already."

"What are you suggesting?" She asked, a bright curiosity in her eyes.

"Why don't we go and get dinner together? We are in London after all."

So off they went, walking closely in the cold as they took a taxi to central London.

*

As the streets became crowded with people leaving work, Liz and Priti slipped into the first restaurant they saw, decorated with a clean minimalism that was almost medical. They scanned the unfamiliar menu, ordering what was easiest to pronounce.

Before them were extravagantly presented drinks, with caramelised fruits and dry ice that they drank eagerly, but finished in seconds. Square white plates were left almost empty but for an excessively garnished mousse with some kind of crumb on it.

"What is this?" Priti whispered to Liz.

"I don't know." She replied, holding back laughter. "This can't be the main course. It's tiny!"

"I think it is." Priti replied, reading over the menu a second time.

They tried the eccentric food, finishing it one bite as they tried to politely hide their distaste. Looking around them, they saw ornately dressed people, enjoying the food in the smallest of mouthfuls, and began to feel completely out of place.

"Should we go?" Liz asked avidly, as she opened her purse to leave money on the table.

The two ran out laughing, feeling the youthful exhilaration of a dine and dash despite having done no such thing.

"I know where we can go for some real food." Liz said, taking Priti's hand casually as they navigated the busy streets together, until they came to a small pub on the street's edge.

*

They took a seat on a small table in the corner, enjoying familiar drinks and comforting food as they spoke. As the night went on, the pub became fuller and louder. Priti and Liz were sitting so close their knees were touching, their faces only inches apart as they tried to hear each other.

"What?" Priti said, her raised voice useless in the commotion.

Liz leaned even closer, raising her hand to the side of Priti's face as she spoke into her ear. Priti shuddered, feeling Liz's breath against her neck, the warmth emanating from her hand. She was filled by some unknown yet irrepressible desire willing her to set it free.

As Liz pulled away slowly, she saw Priti looking up at her with an intensity that was almost disgraceful in its directness, but she didn't move. She became acutely aware of Priti's body, the contours of her cheeks, the curve of her neck, her lips only a hair apart from hers. In the dim light, she saw Priti's beauty like a man would, in a way that she shouldn't have been capable of.

With agonising slowness, Priti leaned even closer, her mind no longer her own as she looked into Liz's eyes.

"It's Priti Patel!" Someone heckled from the other side of the bar, shoving them back into reality. They pulled away from each other, with a speed only made possible by their own confused shame. "Can I have a photo?" The person shouted, as Priti got up, shooting Liz an unreadable look as she took the photo and fled.

*

In the weeks that passed, Priti and Liz became distant. They sat in the same meetings, worked in the same building, and yet when they passed each other in the halls the inextricable pull between them was stifled with great force. As they excelled in their careers, they no longer exchanged proud smiles, but a guilt lingered, knowing that without each other they wouldn't have got there, and they should be sharing the moment together.

But what happened at the pub was too heavy to ignore. They both felt it, this time. And there was no coming back from it.

*

Priti stood alone in the lift, tapping her foot anxiously as it descended to the ground floor where she would leave to go home for the weekend. The lift made a ding as it stopped on the 2nd floor, the door opening.

There stood Liz, waiting absentmindedly as she flipped through the papers in her hand. Upon seeing Priti, a look of fear flashed across her face, and she looked around, the desire to run to her or in the opposite direction battling within her. But Liz couldn't flee, she wouldn't do that. She pushed her angst aside as she stepped carefully into the lift, the doors closing with painful slowness as the two stood alone for the first time in weeks.

The low hum of the lift failed to soothe the unbearable feeling of silence, until suddenly, Priti turned to Liz, her eyes drowned with ardour as she spoke.

"I can't go on like this." She said desperately.

"Me neither." Liz replied, turning to her with an equally perturbed look.

That which was left unsaid was like a confession in itself.

But then the door opened again. They pulled their eyes away from each other, their looks uncouth in their raw emotion, as an advisor stepped in wordlessly and stood between them.

In excruciating quiet, the lift travelled down to the bottom floor, before the bell sounded and the doors opened for a final time. Liz strode out quickly, heading hurriedly to the offices, though both of them knew that Priti wouldn't have followed her anyway.