DECEPTIO (EXCERPT)

From the day he had met her, Susan had teased and tantalized him with tales of a powerful group of men who had interest in who became president and who were looking for someone they could trust who they could anoint to be president. He had always believed that she had mentioned it just to get him interested in her, but he had always hoped that in the event that such a group existed, he would be the one they chose. Now, almost two years later, he was finally beginning to believe that the group existed. And they had chosen him to be the next president.
He had actually never met anyone who was a part of this group, as they all preferred to remain anonymous. Whatever message or instruction they had for him, they passed through Susan. Robert didn’t mind, as long as they were able to do what they promised. This morning, he was supposed to take the next step towards realizing his ambition of becoming president. His lips formed into a grim line as he thought about what was supposed to take place that morning. He wished that there was another way and he had told Susan so. He really didn’t understand why it had to be that way. However, Susan had insisted that it had to be that way because that was the way the group had planned it. He had petulantly asked if they insisted it had to be that way, why then didn’t one of them come and take his place. That had angered Susan and it was one of the few occasions he had seen her really angry. She had reminded him that he was the one who wanted to be president and that he had to take an active part in the whole proceedings. She had also told him that if he was no longer interested in being president, he only had to say so and they would look for someone else.
Robert had been alarmed at the threat behind Susan’s words although he had tried not to show it. He was about to achieve his lifelong dream and ambition and he wasn’t about to let anything or anyone take it from him. Not even the thought of what could go wrong could dissuade him. He would go along with what they suggested. But he definitely wasn’t happy. The men probably thought they were in control. He would bide his time and wait till he was president then he would show them who was in control. Robert smiled. Patience was the name of the game.
“You’re ready sir.” The girl applied the final touches to the make-up on his face and removed the cover placed on his shirt front to prevent it from getting stained. She then stepped back as he rose from the chair.
“Thank you,” he said as he walked to the mirror to adjust his tie. He felt uncomfortable with all the make-up on but he knew it was necessary. He needed to look good with all the television cameras that would be there; focused on his face and his every expression.
“I just wanted to say sir, that I’m a great fan of yours. And I want you to know that if it’s true that you’re going to run for president, then you have my vote.”
Robert finished adjusting his tie and then turned to look at the girl. She was in her mid-twenties, plump and she had a massive blush on her face. Her hair was drawn away from her face and a rubber band held it together in an unflattering bun at the back of her head but quite a few unruly strands had managed to escape. Not his type but it wouldn’t hurt to turn on the charm. So Robert turned on the charm. His smiled as he walked toward her and took hold of her right hand. He raised it and held it in both of his.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
“Jane. Jane Parnacek.”
Plain Jane he thought. “Well Jane, it’s good to know that you’ll be voting for me if I’m running for president. But the best thing would be for you to first vote for me during the primaries. Also, it would help if you were able to convince your friends and your family to vote for me too,” he said as he held on to her hands and looked into her eyes with as much sincerity as he could muster.
She looked at him as if hypnotized. “I’m not a Democrat,” she said, sounding breathless. She also sounded apologetic as if she had somehow caused offence by not being a Democrat. If it were possible, it seemed the blush on her face had grown redder.
He raised her hand to his lips to plant a small kiss on the back of her hand. Her breath caught in her throat. He could tell that he had a fan for life. He chuckled inwardly.
“I would have loved to tell you that you’re in the wrong party,” he said, smiling to take any sting out of the words, “but I’ll take what I can get. Will you do me a favor, Jane?” he asked.
“Anything,” she said, finding it hard to say the words through the constriction in her throat.
He was sure that she meant what she’d just said but he wasn’t about to test the truth of it. He stared into her eyes as if he were trying to see into the depths of her soul. “If I do win my party’s primaries, then I’m going to need your help in convincing your family and friends why they need to vote for me. Can you do that for me?” he asked as he squeezed her hand.
“Yes,” she said, staring at him with wide eyes.
“Can someone explain to me what is going on here?”
Jane nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound. He slowly turned toward the door where the voice had come from to see his wife standing in the doorway. Meanwhile, Jane was trying to tug her hand from his, definitely eager to make her escape. He decided to take pity on the poor girl and released his hold on her hand. “I was trying to convince Jane here about the need to get her family and friends to vote for me if I decide to run for President. Actually, I wanted her to vote for me during the primaries but she’s not a Democrat. My loss,” he said smiling pleasantly. He watched as the girl slunk out of the room trying her best to avoid Susan.
“And can you explain to me what you were thinking, holding that girl’s hand?” Susan asked calmly. It never once occurred to her that maybe Robert was trying to hit on the girl. She knew he cared too much about his political career to let something like a little indiscretion ruin it. He also knew who held the power to help him realize his political ambition.
From the moment she met Robert Partridge, she had known that she had met someone whose ambition matched her own. He had this burning ambition to president and she was happy to be the one who was going to help him try and achieve his ambition. Especially since in helping him, she also was going to achieve her own ambition. It was a testament to their combined ambition and the people who were backing him that he was considered a front runner in the presidential race even though he had not formally declared his intention to run. And to think that there were those who had said that his political career was finished after he divorced his first wife.
“Like I told you, I was trying to convince the girl that the proper thing would be to vote for me,” Robert said, turning back to the mirror to arrange his clothes. He looked at Susan in the mirror. Raising an eyebrow, he asked, “I hope you didn’t get the wrong idea? That would be funny, you know.”
“No, I didn’t think get the wrong idea,” she said, walking toward him and helping him with his clothes. “But you ought to know by now that it just will not do for you to get yourself into a situation that some unscrupulous person can take advantage of.”
Robert frowned as she arranged his already perfectly straight tie. “I thought you agreed that there was nothing going on?” he asked, surprised.
“I believe it, but not everyone will. Not if the “victim” brings a law suit for sexual harassment against you.”
“Oh. I see.”
“I knew you would.”
He was silent for a while then he asked, “Do I really need to go along with this?”
She sighed. “We’ve gone over this, again and again. I thought we had agreed that it was best this way. There are going to be a lot of strong contenders. This way, we can make sure that you’re ahead of the pack.”
“I’m sure there are other ways of achieving the same result ....”
“And we have agreed that, yes, there are probably other ways, but this is by far the best way.”
He sighed, signifying his reluctant acceptance of the situation. She raised her hands to hold his head as she stared into his eyes. “Believe me, everything is going to work out just the way we planned it. Let’s go and wow them with that speech.”

(JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO. DECEPTIO is published by WestBow Press. You can get a copy from the store at www.westbowpress.com. You can follow JC Cruz on Twitter @Cruz_JCREal)