Please, Remember The Bench (BY: Book 3)

Those Days Are Gone

Lena's POV

Life has been good here in Sacramento. This is the most exciting job that I ever had, and I'm crazy about it. I'm so damn passionate about it. What I'm doing here actually matters.

It has nothing to do with what I was doing at Anchor Beach as principal, or even when I was at the School Board of San Diego.

Here, I can really make a difference. For women, for children, for the lgbtq+ community. I have a hand on education programs, on financial supports, I have a say in those things, and I'm actually good at it. I can make people change their mind; I can make people relate to a cause that initially doesn't concern them. I have a status here, a real one.

When I enter a room, people are actually impressed and show respect, I have power, and even though that wasn't something that attractive to me before, now I see why some people can't get enough of it when they once got a taste.

Never in my life I felt so useful and that has no price at all. Sure, I don't see my wife and my daughter as often as I wish, but they understand, and Stef supports me one hundred per cent. She honestly has been amazing, and I love her for that.

She never complains, she always says that she's proud of me and same goes for Kamaya, and I know I'm lucky to have them, that's why I always make it a point to get them both a little something when I come visit.

It's true that I felt a little tension between my wife and I, but when I asked, she said it was nothing so.

My other children are doing great which help when, during interview, journalists ask about my family. I mean I can only be proud, they're all so amazing. Mariana is kicking assess in her coding thing, Brandon is creating new songs, Jesus is now married to Emma and trying to get pregnant, Callie is an amazing lawyer, and Jude is becoming like so sort of philosopher or something, but it's lovely to watch and it sounds good on Tv and radio as well.

Right now, it was already dark outside and Cindy, my former campaign manager, and my now image consultant, and I, are still working at my place, this little duplex that I live in while I'm in Sacramento. It's true that the work never ends, and the office eventually have to close so we often end up at my place, ordering in to have more time to work.

Cindy is at least as passionate as I am about this job, and she helps me a lot. She's a very good adviser so I kept her after the campaign with Stef's approval since she wasn't her biggest fan. But now everything's fine, we cleared the air and by that, I mean that I told Stef that Cindy was straight so that she has nothing to worry about which is true.

So I was working with Cindy on the district's budget when I hear my phone going off, as I sigh for I really need to finish this, but seeing that it was Stef, I decided to answer.

"Hey honey, what's up?" I say, isolating myself in my bedroom for a moment.

"Well... hi, I... I just wanted to talk a bit with you." Stef says as I have a little thing to say to Cindy that I forgot so I go back in the leaving room to mouthed it to her.

"Lena? Are you there?" I hear as I go back in my room.

"Yes, yes. Sorry, so what's up?" I ask.

"I was saying that I wanted to talk to you." she says, sounding a little bit upset, but I honestly didn't have much time to give her, so I decided to brush it off.

"Okay, about what? Oh, wait, I forgot to say something to Cindy, again. Hold on a second." I say going back into the living room, then back into the bedroom once again.

"Alright, so you want to talk about what again?" I ask.

"Wait, Cindy's here? It's like past 11pm." She says as I sigh silently for, I don't have time for this, I have important work to do.