Just Play Along

Chapter 2 - Thirty-Three & Thirty-Four

“Anyways, I should get ready,” I said to Marnie, “I’ve got a meeting with someone from the Prime Minister’s office first thing.”

“Go on then,” Marnie grinned. 

I wandered to my room to get ready, putting on my favorite work dress and pulling my hair back into a tight bun. Appearances mattered in my office, and I always strived to look as professional and powerful as possible.

“Jeremy?!” I called out when I walked into work.

“Miss Rego!” he replied quickly, eagerly following me into my office.

“Have you got the files I need?”

“Yes, here they are,” he said passing them to me quickly.

“Thank you,” I replied, taking them and flicking through them for a moment. He stood and waited for a moment before I gave a satisfied nod and he scooted out of my office.

Every since Aston had told me that some of my staff called me the dragon lady I had tried to tone down my curtness in the office. But not too much, just enough to seem grateful for everyone’s hard work.

The day went on from there. I found myself running all around Parliament, popping in and out of meetings, and on my mobile when I wasn’t with someone. The House of Commons had begun debating our law that day and things were getting hectic.

After declining three calls from Aston I finally gave in and answered my phone, more to get him to stop calling than anything else.

“Aston this better be really important,” I said, my eyes glued to the TV screen in our office while I watched one of the MPs attempt to rip the law to shreds.

“I’m with my mate JJ right now,” he said, “We’re booking a holiday for New Years. Dubai we’re thinking. Do you want to come?”

“You’re taking the piss right?” I asked.

“No, he’s sat right here and he told me to call you to see if you wanted to come.”

“Aston I can’t do this right now,” I replied, just as the MP said something completely off base, “What the hell man! You can’t say that!” I shouted.

“Sorry?” Aston asked.

“I’m yelling at an MP,” I said shortly, “Listen, its cute of you to call me in front of your friend and everything, but I’ve got to work.”

“So no holiday?”

“Answer that for yourself,” I replied, “Goodbye!”

I dropped my phone into my bag, my eyes glued to the TV as the MP continued on. His statements had me fuming, and I called for one of the interns in my office to start drafting a response statement, dictating the lines. 

At the end of it all, my life was politics. Anything that got in the way of that was pushed to the side, hard.

 PART THIRTY FOUR

“Jessica!!!” a voice yelled, causing me to run out of my office and down to my father’s.

“Yes?” I asked expectantly.

“Have you sent the statement to the BBC yet?”

“Yes,” I replied, shaking like a leaf. We were losing this whole political battle and it was making things in the office incredibly tense. The office was releasing a very important statement to the press, we were bound to be swamped with questions from every angle. We had to be on our A-game.

“Ok, and the staff is staying late tonight?” he asked me.

“Yup, everyone is going to be here till the phones stop ringing.”