Domestic Affairs by Bridget Siegel Read Free Book Online Page A

the White House?”
    â€œThat’s the plan.”
    â€œHas that always been your plan?”
    Jacob sat back. He thought about it for a second.
    â€œActually not at all. The plan was business school, corporate America, and early retirement. Pretty basic stuff, you know? Figured I’d have my corner office at Goldman by thirty-four and my plane by thirty-six. Working in politics was just a way to bide my time until I could cram enough GMAT information into my brain. But then I met the governor after he gave this amazing speech at the Democratic convention and, well, everything changed.”
    â€œYeah, now you’re flying in private planes and sitting in corner offices at twenty-eight.”
    â€œI guess so.” Jacob smiled. He shook his head, thinking about how much his plans had been altered in the past few years. He had always thought of himself as much more of a realist than an idealist. No one who knew him would have ruled out politics as a career choice—he was, after all, always voted best personality or most sociable, and though not the class clown, he had an innate talent for lightening an awkwardroom with a joke. But if you asked his family, still holed up in the suburbs of Chicago, or his fraternity brothers at Michigan, any of them would have pegged him for running within the Republican Party, not the Democratic one. His turn from the captain of the wrestling team and all-around complacent but fun-loving kid to the maestro of liberal politics often surprised even him. “I know it sounds corny but those things just seem like such small potatoes now.”
    â€œFrom corporate America to world domination.”
    Jacob laughed. Logically he knew it sounded crazy, but actually it was what they were fighting for. Landon Taylor was going to change the world, and Jacob was going to be by his side the whole time. He ridiculed himself in his head and shook himself back to reality. “Don’t get me wrong, I still plan on getting my corner office and plane. Just may take a few extra years.”
    â€œDo you think he’ll win?”
    â€œYeah. This guy, Sophie,” he said sincerely, “he’s not like the others.”
    By the time the food came, Jacob had given her a crash course in campaigning and had sounded, he thought, at least smart enough to get his man parts back in the running for the evening. Dinner after that was as smooth as one of his best-planned events. After a long meal with plenty of wine, Jacob walked Sophie home. He had tried to get her to stay at the Brinmore with him, but she said she wasn’t comfortable sleeping in a hotel in her own town, reminding him how weird it actually was that he lived most of his life in a hotel. “Sketchy” was the word she had used. As he kissed her good night and walked away he found himself not even bothered that she hadn’t seen his man parts. She was pretty and fun and reminded him what it felt like to be normal.

THREE
    T he email showed up like a mass email, but then Olivia noticed there wasn’t any subject.
    [email protected] : Hey, Hoya, what’s your pin?
    Pin? What did that mean? Was it for her? Was it him? He couldn’t actually have that email address, could he? She felt a flurry of nervousness in her stomach.
    [email protected] : My pin?
    That seemed like the only thing to write back. That way, if he didn’t mean to send it to her or if it wasn’t him she could figure it out. She stared around her office, a small room left over from the district attorney’s large campaign space, which, aside from her, had since been emptied. It was packed with boxes on their way to storage and remnant posters, as well as clothes she needed to take home. She waited impatiently for the blinking red light.
    [email protected] : Press reply then type in “mypin” and then hit the space bar.
    She followed the instructions and when she pressed the space bar the “mypin” turned