During Kyle's presidential campaign, there were endless press conferences and town halls- more so than during his actual presidency. Not that he didn't hold enough while he had the office- there was still at least one a week, but the ones during the campaign were for people to pick through his brain and learn almost everything there was to know.
That strategy clearly worked for him, and now- Lolita's decided to use that same strategy again. I sit in front of my bathroom mirror now, Kendra doing my makeup while Lolita works on a voter map of some sort.
"I like you." She suddenly blurts out, gesturing to Kendra. "Why don't you come on the campaign trail? We could use a makeup artist with your level of expertise."
"I... own a multi million dollar clothing brand that I...design all of the pieces for myself. I wish I had the time but I don't." Kendra says as she makes me close my eyes.
"Damnit-" Lolita mumbles under her breath. "Okay. Guess I'll just get my old artist on it... done."
Lolita taps on Texas a few times, and it turns a blueish- lime color. Kendra shrugs, focused on blending out the concealer under my eyes. "If people were to vote right now, we'd narrowly win by five electoral votes because of Texas."
"We were almost twenty ahead just last week-"
"Yeah, and then Marisol held her first campaign event. Put her in happy colors." Lolita rubs her temple, walking out to the upstairs lounge to work on something else while she waits on us to finish up.
It's about ten minutes before we do, and Kendra puts me in an orange pantsuit that matches the color of my lipstick perfectly. I put my arms out and spin around in a "this good enough?" way. Lolita holds out a thumbs up. I sit down to answer the eight hundred something dm's currently unopened, but in almost two hours- my fingers are cramping up and Lolita's pretty much yelling at me that we need to get going.
She's not wrong- the town hall stop is an hour drive away. This is the first "campaign stop" , and the last one before we start traveling all over the country. I kiss Kyle goodbye, and board the motorcade with Lolita. David'll meet us there- he said he had some sort of family emergency a few hours ago. I didn't want to pry, because he sounded like he was about to have a mental breakdown- but he also said he would be fine by the time the town hall starts, so I hope that's true.
I lean my head against the window, staring at the four hundred unopened DM's, and give up. They'll have to get answered later. "Coffee?" Lolita asks, pulling an extra bottle of cold brew out of her purse. I nod my head yes and thank her. Cold brew's nasty to me- but it gets caffeine in your system quickly, which I need right now.
I chug it down without tasting it.
"Christ slow down you're gonna have diarrhea all over the town hall stage." She shakes her head.
I give her the "In case you haven't noticed, I'm not fucking new." look, and continue chugging it. I grimace when I've emptied the bottle and can't help but taste it. I wipe the liquid from the corner of my mouth and toss it in the motorcade's small trash can. When we arrive, people are already lined up outside- going through security. It almost looks like the line at an airport- every single person going through what I think might be the same type of X-ray machine and having their possessions scanned as well. As we're pulling up, some guys water bottle gets confiscated for having straight vodka in it. Nice- l like him already.
Never mind the fact that that amount of vodka could catch half of the room on fire. People start excitedly waving as they see the motorcade pull in. "Ella can you roll the window down?" I ask, though I already know what the answer's going to be.
"Absolutely not. A lot of the people standing in that line haven't been fully cleared yet." She replies without stuttering.
I want to roll my eyes, but I understand the precautions are as strict as they are for all protectees because of what happened to me. The motorcade car we're in parks right outside of the back door, and we're ushered in immediately. A couple of interns are setting up the rows of seats- one with OCD making sure they're straight. A sound person adjusts the mic, nodding when he notices Lolita watching him.
I go to the back room again to wait on David- but he must've arrived in the past minute or so, because he's already there. "Hey- you okay?"
He looks like he's been crying. "Oh I'm fine, my mother just died."
I shake my head. "No. You're not going out there today. I'll take over campaigning until you feel right."
"Lauren I'm okay-"
"Don't pretend you're fine. I can see right through that shit." I sit down on the couch beside him. "You and your mother were close. Take at least a few days."
He nods, finally giving in. I place a hand on his shoulder, and go find Lolita to inform her of the change of plans. She bangs her head against the wall.
"Lolita for fucks sake, his parent that he actually likes just died. Can't you show a little human compassion-"
"My job isn't to coddle people's emotions. It's to win. Now I have to reschedule his event that was supposed to be later today until he stops being sad." She sighs.
"I can show up in his place. I mean- we ask him first of course, but we could release a very short statement explaining the situation so people aren't confused when I show up instead." I suggest, and she rubs her jawline, contemplating for a second.
"That could work." She finally says. "But you'll need to learn his speech in approximately..ten hours, three of which you'll be busy in here, so you really only have seven."
Great. Who needs sleep anyways?
She hands me a copy of his speech, and I sit down to quickly read over it- but there's only another half an hour before the town hall starts, so I only get about the first two paragraphs memorized. I'll have to come back to it in a few hours like she said. I peek through the slightly cracked open door leading out the main room- reporters stand in the back with the camera crews while attendees fill every seat. Lolita adjusts her hair and goes out to introduce me.
"Welcome- wow there are so many of you. As we all know- this is a historic election regardless of which way it goes, because for the first time in history, it is guaranteed that the 2032-2036 Vice President will be a woman- thanks to my long time friend Lauren Wells." I wouldn't exactly call her my friend. Ours is a professional relationship over anything else, but I guess because of how long standing it is- we could call this an acquaintanceship. "You all know her as the activist that shot straight to the very top after her speech in 2013. Some may remember her as the FBI agent responsible for halting the possible terrorist attack in 2011 before it even had a chance to happen- and others will remember her for being the director of the FBI the past few years or the incident that happened a few weeks ago with former president Williams planning a second assassination on her husband,but we are not fools. We understand that when most hear her name, they remember the awful terrorist attack that happened in 2023. We know how much it rocked our nation that something like that was even possible- and that some voters, out of genuine concern- still do not believe she is mentally fit. To those voters I say: Everybody's recovery time, mentally and physically- is different. According to science, somebody else that went through the same thing she did may have taken longer or shorter to recover. According to her doctors, she is okay. So I urge every last voter out there to vote based off of policies and not personal reservations. With that- I would like to introduce the democratic tickets 2032 Vice Presidential candidate, Lauren Wells."
There's instant clapping as my heart starts beating out of my chest. I smile as I walk out and Lolita sits down. She hands the mic to me, and I walk back to the center of the room. "Th- thank you all for coming out today." I can feel Lolita cringing without even looking at her. "Today is about hearing directly from the voters on important issues- because after all, it's every last one of you that we'll be representing. So with that, I'll be answering a question from as many people in this room as possible- we have approximately two and a half hours."
Hands immediately shoot up. I point at a random person in the crowd- and she can't be older than twenty. Not to stereotype, but she definitely looks like she graduated early and is going to law school.
"The LGBTQ protections act presented to the senate by David Miller is set to expire in 2033. When it was signed into law, the... climate, should I say- was a hell of a lot different than it is today. Some have argued that nowadays, it just isn't necessary, and renewing it would be a waste of the senate's time. What would the Miller-Wells administration push for?" She pushes her glasses up on her nose.
"Well... that's a great question. Personally, I don't believe equality protections should ever be allowed to expire. While today's climate may be different and hate crimes just don't happen anymore, whose to say they wouldn't the second that act expires? Our administration would make sure it didn't expire if we had to force a senate vote using executive order, because there are still a very small group of sick extremist in this country who believe gay people deserve to die."I answer. Another hand immediately shoots up and I point to it. This guy's definitely a hippie, but he looks like the type that has no political party.
"You've said before that you.. agree with a lot of Green Party polices but don't want to associate yourself with that particular party. Can you elaborate?" He asks.
"Of course- what's your name?"
"Anthony."
"Well Anthony-" I say. "There's no doubt in my mind that things need to change. That this planet is in for a rude awakening if we don't start giving a fuck. There are nearly endless possibilities to saving this planet- and the ball has already started rolling with a few Congressional bills presented just in the past year. The current Green Party candidates, though- as much respect as I have for them, believe in extremist policies that would do more harm than good- the one child policy for example. We saw how that worked out in China. You know- people who had multiples in a pregnancy were forced to choose which one they would keep. Forced to get abortions- and as you all know I am adamantly pro choice. Marisol claims that she is as well- but then dares to even suggest such a barbaric policy? I mean fuck- sixty years ago we were still fighting for the right to get an abortion if we wanted. So Anthony, I cannot support or affiliate myself with a party that supports forced abortions for the sake of the planet when there are thousands of other ways to fix this planet. Next question?" I ask.
"Wait, I'm not done." Anthony says. "What specific actions would the Miller-Wells administration take to 'fix' this planet?"
"I'm not going to make things up off the top of my head like my opponent." I respond. "And I'm not going to lie to you either. With it being this early in the campaign, we do not have a one hundred percent solid plan yet. We are still looking at and discussing various options- clean energy and zero waste polices being among them, but nothing is solid yet- and like we said when we announced my candidacy, we are still discussing possible financial plans. Anybody else?"
A younger girl raised her hand. "Yes?" I say.
"I was wondering- you have a daughter and.. a sister... and with what you've been through, you must understand the fear that women still face over sexual assault. Have you discussed possible legislation to increase the penalty for sexual assault?" She asks.
I nod. "Of course. The fact that it's 2030 and women still have to fear walking home alone at night is disgusting. Regardless of it not being as common, the hundred something cases that occur each month are a hundred something cases too many. Our administration will not stop pushing for the penalty to be raised until the monthly average reaches zero. As somebody whose...experienced it... myself, multiple times- I think I can speak for every woman when I say that fear never really goes away. You just learn to deal with it enough to.. survive and lead a normal life."
Another hand shoots up. "One of the last cases you worked on as just a standard-clearance FBI agent was regarding the safety and whereabouts of a woman who was- at the time, New York's Secretary of State. Is it true that President Wells- who was the mayor at the time, ordered the current FBI director Ethan Bradley to illegally hack into her security cameras?" An inquisitive young journalist asks.
Welp- I knew this was going to come up at some point, which is why I've been forming my response for years.
"Yes- that is one hundred percent true. He ordered Director Bradley to do so because she would always call somebody from her office if she wasn't able to make it- and nobody'd heard from her in almost fifty hours. For all we knew, she could've been dead- so I will always defend the actions we took that day to bypass security clearances. She'd taken a fall down the stairs and broken both of her ankles- so she would have dehydrated to death right there if we didn't do what we did. Besides- the statue of limitations has long since passed. I'm not addressing this again." I say.
After answering at least thirty questions- I look at the clock, and we have time for one more, so I gesture to another random person in the crowd. "There are concerns that the United States government- even after passing the healthcare act, is not taking the health of the American people seriously enough. With the recent outbreak of a mutated-strain of Ebola in Russia and scientific predictions that it'll reach our shores by early 2033 if necessary precautions aren't taken, what actions will the Miller-Wells administration take the prevent that from happening?"
"Well as we all know the Ebola-29 strain is twenty percent more deadly than it's earlier predecessors. We cannot allow it to reach our shores. Travel restrictions are a strong possibility as well as the mass production of testing equipment and PPE. The Underwood administration is already looking at these things- what ours will do is continue these plans and expand on them. Two people died from the 2015 epidemic. Something that we can all agree on- the current administration, Marisol, Abigail, David and I- is that one death is too many- and that we will do everything in our power to prevent it from happening. Now I'd love to stay and answer more questions and take pictures with every last one of you, but I do have another speech planned for later that I am not ready for, so if you'll excuse me I do have to go." I reply.
Lolita closes out for me and joins me in the back room again. "Holy shit you were amazing out there-"
"Thank you." I flip my hair. "Let's go over that speech now."
"I don't think that'll be necessary. You do better when you're not reading off of a piece of paper. Here's a list of the talking points- but I'm sure once you get going you'll know what to say."
I sigh, plopping down on the velvet couch. It reminds me of one Kyle and I used to have in our fucking room- which I don't say, of course. The motorcade is already ready to transport us, but since Lolita gave me the all clear to wing it later, and I'm not really hungry yet- I call Kyle. It only rings twice before he picks up.
"Hey! I love you- where are you right now?" He asks.
"Still at the town hall." I reply. "Lunch at Morrigans?"
"Absolutely." He quickly says. "I'll meet you there."
Morrigans is a bakery we frequent so often that secret service went ahead and pre cleared every single person that works there. I've probably eaten there more times in the past year than anywhere else in my entire life. Oh my god their coconut cupcakes are sugary enough to send your into a coma, but they're so good.
"Ella do you think you can.. tone the motorcade down a bit? I'd really just.. like a single hour alone with my husband without being followed by the press." I say when we're outside.
She thinks about it for a second. "I can tone it down to two cars."
The look in my eyes says thank you as I get into the second car. The others remain, and as a result- press do not follow. My tiny motorcade arrived at the bakery the same time as Kyle's- so we quickly bolt in the door to avoid being seen. It's mostly empty with the exception of a few employees and one other customer. They go to pull their phone out and take a picture, but Ella shoots him a look that says "I dare you, see what happens", and he gulps, putting it away. I order a grilled cheese- but it's not like a normal grilled cheese at all. The bread is fresh and homemade- the cheese made out of milk from an ethical farmer that lives just a few miles away, and the vegetables come from the bakery's garden.
Flavor explodes in my mouth as I take the first bite. "So- do you have a solid schedule yet for the D.C campaigns stops?" Kyle asks.
"We've... planned on ending it with the last campaign stop exactly where we started." I shrug. "Might change depending on how well we do between now and then- I don't know."
I'm already halfway done with the sandwich. Maybe I was hungry after all. Eating food is a good thing- I have to remind myself sometimes. Not out of eating disorder habits, just from genuinely forgetting, as it's not always at the top of my priority list. Kyle eats a bit slower, and I wait on him to finish. "What's that look for?" He smiles.
"Oh nothing. I'm just remembering that upstairs lounge nobody uses, ever."I smirk. He sets his espresso down.
"And you're thinking we should.. break it in, maybe?"
"Maybe." I shrug. "Just a suggestion."
—4 years ago—
Well this feels weird. I'm in our sitting room, waiting on Dr.Traynor to get here. She shouldn't be longer than ten minutes now, so I close my eyes to meditate. I've just gotten into the zone when she knocks on the open door. "Lauren- hey." She greets me.
I sit up, adjusting my top. "How are you doing lately? It's been a while." She asks.
"I'm alright."
"Lauren- seriously- you say you're fine, and you do seem fine, but you refuse to talk about the incident. I'm here to vett for your mental state but I can't give an accurate reporting if you're not honest with me. Part of assessing... the mental state is seeing if the patient can talk about their trauma without having a panic or anxiety attack. You did well in court out of pure anger. So- I need to ask you, do you feel comfortable now, four years later with a clearer head, going over the details of what happened?" She continues.
I uncomfortably shift. Talking about what happened is the only thing that still fucks me up. I got through the trail because I personally felt like it was my obligation to give my firsthand testimony- with Amber being dead, and me pretty much being responsible. Former prime minister Garland still isn't right in the head after seeing that picture- I don't think I would be either if it were my child.
But this job is what I've been working towards my entire life, so I nod, forcing my heartbeat to stay normal. She attaches a monitor to me that'll keep track of my blood pressure and and heart rate throughout my account. She presses the record button on her cell phone for her personal records, and nods at me to start. When she's done vetting me, the audio clip will be handed over to me- and what I do with it will be up to me. I sigh and open my mouth to start speaking. The words feel like acid as they come out- but still, I breath through it and continue.
"It was...2023. Kyle and I were about to... have sex when his chief of staff burst in and informed him that a video threat had been made against me. While that was happening, my own head of security... James, kidnapped me. He blew up the residence area of the White House as a distraction first and.. smuggled me across the Mexican border so he could get me on a plane and transport me to one of the group's locations. I made an escape attempt with.. Amber Garland- Minister Garland's thirteen year old son.. but he didn't make it and neither did I.. so they moved me to another location, and.. tortured and raped me multiple times there. James ... god I still fucking hate him- but he finally grew a fucking spine and sent my location to the White House so they could get me out."
"And what exactly were your injuries?"
"Severe burns...everywhere." I reply. My heart beat speeds up for just a second before it calms back down. She makes a note of it. "The physical recovery process was long because I hated just sitting in bed and doing nothing.. but you already know that."
"Yes.." she nods. "And I apologize, but I need you to also be able to go over specific details. How many times did they rape you- with what, and in what span of time?"
"I'm not sure exactly how much time passed in between... each time. There was no clock where I was but I wasn't.. found for an entire week. I'd say... five or six but that number could be much higher. I stopped really counting after twice with the.. branding iron."
"And is your medical paperwork that says you've had multiple nerve reconstruction surgeries correct?"
"It is." I nod. She removes the monitors and my heart starts beating out of my chest as soon as she does. She writes something down, presses the record button on her phone to stop the voice memo, and looks back up.
"Well then.. from your vitals in today's session I think I can go ahead and clear you. There will be multiple more from multiple different doctors because of the importance of mental health for this position, but I see nothing that would indicate other doctors might disagree with my medical opinion." She smiles. "Oh and- Lauren, just as a suggestion- you might want to learn how to control your heart rate better than that."
___
I grab his hand, Ella shaking her head at the bottom of the stairs as we walk up them. As soon as I lock the door to the tiny lounge room, he urgently presses his lips against mine, and my back presses against the door.
We'll have to be quiet here- which'll be nearly impossible, especially for me. His hands- calloused from all of the years of tapping his fingers against the hand carved wooden desk- explore every part of my body as I tug at his shirt buttons.
My legs almost instinctually wrap around his waist. With one arm under my ass and both of mine wrapped around his neck, he flings his shirt off, roughly setting us down on the old couch.
I can already feel his rock hard member through the fabric of both of our bottoms, pressing against my inner thigh- but when I finally break our kiss to breathe and make sure my hair's still in it's updo, I feel it getting harder. He tries to suppress a moan when I move the slightest bit, my thigh accidentally rubbing against it. I smirk and back off of the couch, my knees hitting the floor.
"Lauren you don't have to right now-"
"But I want to, so shut it."
I yank his underwear and pants down in one go. It springs out,pointing straight up. The hard floor digs into my knees, pressing against the bones- but I don't care. This is far from our first time, after all. I hardly notice it as I wrap my lips around his tip- already dripping with pre-cum. His head accidentally bumps into the wall as he throws it back, biting his lip and trying to suppress a moan.
For a brief second he winces, rubbing the back of his head.
He has to hold a hand over his mouth to stop himself from making any overly loud noises- with the shop's employees and secret service just eleven or so feet below us, one locked door separating us from them. I slowly move down, half of his length in my throat now, and he bites his own arm hard to shut himself up. "L-Lauren-"
I ignore him, taking his full length in my mouth. When I hit the hilt and begin bobbing my head up and down at a torturingly slow pace, he nearly loses it. "G-godamnit woman, you'll b-be sorry for this when it's your turn."
Perfect. That was my entire goal. I decide to stop teasing him, and his face scrunches up in ecstasy. It's not longer than a few minutes before he nears the edge and I completely stop. His breathing hitches up in disappointment and I smirk. "What are you gonna do about it?" I say lowly.
He grabs my hair, forcing me to look at him. "You know the safe word." He pulls me up onto the couch, flipping me over so fast that I scream. "I'm going to fuck you right here, right now, over and over again unless you say to stop."
"I won't." I mutter under my breath, the good kind of shiver running down my spine. His tip nudges my opening and he slams into me. "K-Kyle OH-"
He presses his lips against mine to silence them, our tongues dancing together as the sides of his butt rub against my thighs ever time he thrusts into me. "K-Kyle-"
"What was that?" He picks up the speed to an inhuman pace, sucking on my sweet spot. I bite down on my bottom lip so hard that I taste blood. We're like two matching puzzle pieces- made for each other, if you believe in the concept of soulmates.
I'm dripping wet as I feel myself getting closer and closer, small moans escaping him as well. I dig my nails into his back, dragging them down in pleasure as I near my high. I feel the familiar knot in my stomach ready to unravel, only it's much tighter this time. Oh fuck- it's going to be an intense one. "FUCK-" I bite his shoulder to shut myself up as the knot starts to unravel.
I feel his warm liquid release inside of me as he attempts to hold back a moan right next to my ear. The knot fully unravels and I bite down harder, nearly screaming. He stays inside of me for nearly a minute as we catch our breath.
He pulls out, leaving me empty again, and leans on his side- the couch too small to fully spread out, unlike our bed. He sighs.
"We should probably go now, shouldn't we?"