"I told you to keep Severine on your side."
"Ce n'est pas si simple," Alexis retorted.
"What isn't simple? She's your wife, for god's sake."
"She threw me out."
"You threw yourself out of everythingㅡTu vas perdre. Tu ne seras pas au premier tour."
Pierre's harsh words stung, and Alexis knew his father's words weren't a prophecy but an imminent future. Severine was in front in the polls, higher than many candidates who began to take her seriously. No one no longer spoke of a product.
With Noëm's story, Severine proved she spun out of the mud and rebounded.
For Alexis, the stakes were not about striking a deal but surviving.
"My wife, I'm very in love with her. She is brave, bold, and just on the wrong sideㅡonly joking. I respect her."
The presenter smiled, "Some say you're trying to convince citizens with your charms."
Alexis smiled, "is it working on you?"
No one joked about Alexis' looks or called him a playboy in a suit. He was a respectable family man who supported and encouraged his wife. Alexis portrayed precisely that in the afternoon talk show, which primarily targeted house spouses though poked by the presenter.
"Have you given Madame Lafarge any advice?" The presenter asked.
"Severine has been observing me for many years. She knows how it works, but observation doesn't procure one the experience."
Alexis nuanced his words but planted the seed that placed Serevine as a novice before he put out his feminist ally card.
"Are you saying she's incapable?" Sandrine Delage, the presenter, asked.
"No, not at all. I'm sure my wife is inspiring many women. She's definitely humbling me. It's about timing. It's her first time. As a runner in local and European elections, I take lessons from past mishaps that I've tweaked for the better. I'm sure, and I hope my wife is conscious that she can't get everything right the first time."
"What will you do if she wins?"
Alexis smiled while thinking he had a ticket with Sandrine, who openly eye-flirted with him on camera, "I will shake her hand and open a bottle of champagne."
"That's a very fairplay way of seeing things."
"Well, she is my wife, isn't she? We're not enemies."
Sanderine grinned. Alexis was the archetype of what she had heard about him: magnetic, intelligent, wealthy, and deceitful. He was the type of man one fell for hard, only to die just as hard from deception and betrayal. Even so, Sandrine indulged in the fantasy of playing a little shibari game with the candidate who would tie her up for her greatest pleasure, "Well, Thank you, Mr. Lafarge. This about wraps it up for today. See you tomorrow for your daily dose of Parlons Ensemble."
"Putain elles font chier ces présantatrices à la con." Alexis said as he left the TV set and climbed into his car.
"Calm down, Alexis," Christian said as he climbed in just after him. "Women are essential voters; you can't get on the wrong side of the polls with them. Severine is ahead of you there. You have to maintain that you are madly in love with her. Female voters love to see you're devoted and open-minded."
Severine created the strategy during his first campaign. "You have me," she said. "You have a black wife; it demonstrates you're a man of your era. I'm Liberal, but despite this, you love me. Play the romance card."
Her strategy paid off. Just as Severine predicted, the press depicted Alexis as the political newness. Young people of his circumscription voted massively for him, and the Republican Reformist party grew fast. Citizens fell for the more nuanced Republican party.
It was all about not losing face for Alexis, whom many taxed as homophobic. The man wasn't touched in the slightest by it. He assumed his opinion but refused to see his public image wither. Thus, he played the game that was more beneficial for him than for Severine.
"What's next?" Alexis asked Christian.
"Brunch with your wife; what else?"
Alexis rolled his eyes. He had almost forgotten. The rendezvous was his father's doing. Pierre convinced Severine to pursue the Kabuki of the solid couple.
"Bonjour, Severine."
"Bonjour, Alexis."
He got up to kiss her. Mechanical, the gesture felt like a direct slap on the lips.
Severine made abstraction the apparent dryness and sat down. "Couldn't we have lunch at home?"
Alexis unfolded his napkin, "Did you get my message?"
"Yes."
"Then why are you asking?"
Severine smiled and made sure to control her profile. Her expression had to remain warm. "Don't we look charming?"
"I asked you to wear a blue dress," Alexis said as the waiter arrived with their food.
"But red looks better on me."
Red.
On Severine, it was a call for murder. The Aries saw red and just wanted to strip her clothes off.
Severine still attracted him. Alexis was very sensual. The correct theory concerning their sexual relationship would be to say his wife wasn't enough. Also, he couldn't screw his wife. He couldn't take her behind his desk or in a dark alley, especially since she was a mother. Somehow, the status short-circuited his erections.
There, Alexis stretched his hand across the table to Severine's side. The gesture earned him a slight glare that said don't push it. Severine immediately camouflaged her act by taking his hand and smiling.
"How is Noëm?"
"He's your son. You should ask him, dear."
"You know my opinion."
"Then don't mention my son if it's just for the show."
Alexis didn't say a word; instead, he began to eat. Their table was isolated, and security already checked for spying equipment.
A plant partially hid their profiles. One could not lip-read from the outside.
"Can you come home tonight? I need to speak to you."
"Can't you do it here?"Alexis said, taking another fork of his salmon.
"No, I'll wait for you tonight. Noëm is at my father's. Come on, Alexis; I'm putting on this little take for you. You can at least accord me this favor," Severine said softly, knocking her leg into his trousers.
"Can I have a preview of the conversation so I can prepare my talking points?"
Severine muffled her laugh, "Let's say it's a roulette game. You ran away the last time."
"I didn't run. I hate dead-end conversations."
The couple left each other on good terms and continued their day until their next encounter.
The scene could be a painting called "Traditionalist." Both husband and wife sat at the extremity of the dining table. As to why they still ate together when they could have begun the conversation in the living room around a drink was a mystery, but years of routine seemed too stiff to kill.
Also, they had to maintain appearances even in front of their house employees. Polite Severine waited for them to reach the dessert to drop her bomb.
"What's this?" Alexis asked as Severine got up and left a craft envelope beside his plate.
"It's the reason why I will let you live instead of stabbing you multiple times in the carotid," Severine said as she leaned on the side of the table.
Alexis hurried to open the envelope.
"Severine, Iㅡ," the man coughed.
"You nothing," Severine said while her husband flicked through the photos of him and Cara. He wondered when Severine was aware of their affair.
"It isn't serious, Severine. I don't love her." The man undid his tie. Breathing didn't come easy.
Even worse, thought Severine. It pained her to think her husband toyed with his sister. She would have preferred for Alexis to assume his feelings. As always, he cowered out. Severine knew Cara loved him. The significant change in her appearance showed to what extent she was willing to go to please him.
Alexis heaved, "What are you going to do? One of us has to be at the second tour."
The man looked at his dessert; he didn't detect any nuts, yet the reaction he had hinted at their presence.
Severine leaned closer to his face and whispered, "I told you, Alexis, it's a game of roulette. You're right. One of us will do this, and it won't be you. You know, luck has never been an option for me. It's my reality. I will win, Alexis. I will be president, and you will break up with Cara and stand by my side like a good husband. Don't you dare ask for divorce before the legislative or even think of telling Cara that I know; otherwise, I won't content myself with leaving you with a few political bruises. I will bury you alive."
Severine took out the shot and stabbed Alexis in the thigh. The relief was almost immediate.
WC: 20 900