Chapter 14 #3
“She seemed pretty good, actually. She also told me some things I did not know about the campaign’s origins…you asked her to run?”
“Oh damn,” Kira laughed. “Busted. You’re not mad at me, are you?”
“Mad?!” Anya swallowed hard to keep from crying. “Kira, that’s like the literal nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me.”
“You’d do the same for any of us,” Kira said.
“I’d lie down in traffic if you asked me,” Anya quipped, but she meant it.
“Well…the thing I’m about to ask you is a little more time-consuming than that.”
Anya’s body tensed. She could feel something big in Kira’s tone.
“I’ve been talking with Senator Sessego for a few weeks now,” Kira said. “She thinks it’s the right time for her to join the presidential field.”
“What?!”Anya gasped. “Kira! Is this real?!”
“It is,” Kira confirmed. “I’m going to run the campaign from DC—skeleton crew, low overhead. We want all the money in the field. Obviously Simone is joining too. We also decided that both of us will stay at headquarters in DC…which means the senator will need someone to staff her on the road.”
“Oh wow, that’s a big job.” Anya’s brain immediately went into solutions mode, thinking of who might be up to the monumental, exhausting, all-consuming task of being the right-hand man to a presidential candidate.
Only one answer came to mind—even though it pained Anya to think of how much it would suck to be apart from him. “Gabe’s gonna be amazing at it.”
There was silence on the other end of the line.
“Kira?” Anya asked. “Did I lose you?”
“The senator asked me to offer the position to you.”
Anya braced a hand against the porch’s railing, forced herself to take a deep breath.
“She wants me to…I’m sorry. What does she want me to do?”
“Whatever she needs,” Kira said simply. “Your role would be senior advisor, but we could change the title if you want a different one. You’d essentially be a counterpart to Simone and me, working with the senator on remarks, weighing in with me and Simone on her behalf, serving as a go-between between the campaign and the candidate. ”
“But I’ve never done anything like that before! I don’t staff candidates.”
“You staffed my aunt,” Kira pointed out.
“For a county council race! That we lost!”
“Anya, the senator trusts your judgment,” Kira said.
“She respects your values, and she thinks you’re the person who can keep this campaign true to her ideals.
When we have to make hard decisions—and we’ll need to make thousands—yours is the voice she wants to hear.
Don’t tell me this is the first time in your life you’re going to be afraid to speak your mind. ”
Anya laughed—for joy, for wild surprise, for the deep love she had for Kira and Simone and Jo Sessego, and for the magic of knowing, in real time, that she was about to make a decision that would change her life forever.
“When does she want to announce?” Anya asked.
“Two weeks, plenty of time! I need you on a flight to DC tomorrow. You can stay with Simone and me until we figure something else out.”
“And Gabe?” Anya asked, feeling dizzy with excitement. “Will he run comms from DC with you guys?”
“I don’t know, I was asked to speak with you first.” There was a pause, and Anya was certain Kira was grinning. “But if you want to bring it up with him, I wouldn’t be mad.”
Gabe was sitting on the couch in the cabin, lost in a swirl of thought, when Anya burst through the door looking excited and out of breath. He stood up quickly.
“Is everything okay?” he asked. “How did it go with Sierra?”
“Oh, she’s fine, she told me— It doesn’t matter. Have you heard from Kira?”
“Kira?” Gabe frowned. “No, why?”
Anya broke into a wide smile. He’d seen her look all kinds of happy in the last month—he’d seen her make faces so great that he thought he might spend the rest of his earthly existence in the pursuit of her making those faces again and again.
But there was something different about her smile now, something that reminded him of meeting her way back in New Hampshire, all her optimism, the girl he’d never been able to get out of his mind.
“Jo Sessego’s going to run for president,” Anya gushed. “And Kira’s going to run the race, and Jo wants me to be a senior advisor? And join her on the road?”
Gabe felt a surge of emotion. He wasn’t sure if it was exhilaration or nausea.
“An, that’s incredible!” He hugged her so tightly he lifted her right off the ground, which made her squeak with joy. “I’m so proud of you.”
“So listen, I know we talked about being in the same place, but I think Kira’s going to need you in DC?
Obviously you have to talk to her, we have so much to figure out, and I have to fly there tomorrow, so I feel like you should come with me?
If you want? It makes sense to me that we should all work this out together.
Oh god, I’m sorry, my mind won’t stop moving, I’m not letting you talk at all. What do you think?”
“I need to fly east tomorrow too,” Gabe said quietly. His hands were resting on Anya’s hips. He loved holding her that way, how easy it was to circle his hands around her back and keep her close. He always wanted her so close.
“Gabe?” She peered up at him. “Is something wrong?”
“I actually just got some news too.” Gabe cleared his throat. “I got a call from Hal Robbins.”
“Wheeler’s campaign consultant?” Anya frowned. “What did he want?”
“They’re not happy with their current campaign leadership,” Gabe said carefully. “They want to make a change.”
“Gabe,” Anya breathed. “They offered it to you?”
He nodded. “They did.”
“What did you say?” Anya bit her lip; she looked so worried. He wanted to kiss her, to tell her everything would be okay, that she was the most important person in his life, that there was no way on earth he would ever let this campaign come between them.
He felt all those things. Deep in his heart, he really believed they were true. He took her face in his hands and sighed.
“I told them yes.”