LA CANDIDATE

VOYEUR

Alexis promised his father not to see his mistress again, but temptation killed him softly. Even there, as Christian presented the strategy the candidate needed to adopt for the following morning's rally, Alexis' thoughts ran to his mistress.

Cara was nothing like Severine in bed. In comparison, his wife had the experience but lacked spontaneity and creativity. The younger sister was bold, and she loved games. Alexis forgot that Severine's performance in bed matched his expectations. The sex Alexis had with Severine was chaste, with no fun or games, for unconsciously, Alexis estimated it was how sex with his wife should be.

Respectable sex, if the term didn't exist, Alexis invented it for his legitimate partner and reserved the filth for the mistresses.

Alexis looked to his left and right. The explanation absorbed the members next to him. He profited to send a message to Cara.

Tu me manques. Vivement que cela se termine.

"Alexis, que en pense-tu?" Christian asked like a teacher, catching a student talking during his speech.

Alexis adjusted his posture and cleared his throat," Cela me semble très claire, Christian, merci."

Cara smiled as she read the message.

"Who is it he?" she heard over her shoulder. The voice made her shudder and drop her phone.

"Severine, you scared the life out of me," Cara said as she retrieved her phone.

"You seem to be breathing just fine, so who is making you smile?"

"It's nobody," Cara replied and clapped her phone shut

"Okay, I know I'm busy with the campaign, but still, I'd like to know who is in your life, Cara."

"Severine, I'm grown. I don't need you to watch over me."

"I know, but I just don't want you to meet a predator, and I'm not talking about someone violent. The worst ones master the art of rhetoric and have a good presentation." Severine said while thinking of her first encounter with Alexis.

She was against a motion that Alexis' father's party in government wanted to impose.

Alexis saw her speak on campus. Severine remembered his stare. He was at the back, but Severine used his stare intensity as a metronome.

Alexis didn't approach her then. Matter, in fact, she never saw him again for at least a semester.

The next time Alexis saw her, Severine was manifesting to have students without resident permits to be regularized.

Severine didn't know who he was, nor did Alexis acknowledge himself, as he spent more time smoking spliffs than following his courses. Alexis was part of the elite Severine hated. She didn't understand why the rich and white liked to cosplay paupers. Their attitude was disrespectful to those in need, for they reeled in more sympathy than a person in dire straits.

"Tu Connais le mec la-bas?"

"It's Alexis Lafarge."

"Lafarge, like in Pierre, Lafarge, the senator."

"Yep, Alexis hates politics. He's that let's make love and not war type of guy," Bethane said while opening the quotation marks with her hands.

Severine ignored him. Alexis pissed her off. He had everything to change the world, yet he was an aloof beer drinker for whom studying was just for the girls and the party.

Alexis approached her that night, "Comment tu t'appelles?"

"Desolée, mais je ne parle pas au con."

"You call me asshole, but you don't know me," Alexis said with a player's uncanny smile.

"True, and I have no interest in learning," Severine retorted, not knowing how she had provoked the man who took her words as a challenge.

"Okay, how about I learn about you until I interest you."

"If you have time to waste, be my guest."

Alexis had the time and the energy. He stuck to Severine like a bee seeking pollen and trapped her.

Her flirt became her husband. Looking back, she wished Alexis had never noticed her, Severine thought as she left her office.

"Faryil, can you check on my sister? I know I asked you to follow Alexis, but can you put that on hold? Cara is seeing someone, and I want to know who the person is."

In Severine's eyes, her sister was as much in danger as her. Cara was closest to her, and she couldn't let her date just anybody.

Severine had invested too much in Cara's future to see her swept away by the first gigolo in circulation.

Cara was pretty and brilliant, but Severine's status made her trend and a must-have for power-hungry fiends.

Playboys from all over the world attempted to woo her. Cara never gave in, but Severine noticed a shift in her sister's attitude, which was more secretive.

Who was Cara trying to hide?

Faryil didn't add a word. The extra task was in his cords. Tracking Alexis wasn't fruitful. Perhaps Severine was wrong about her husband. The bodyguard looked forward to seeing what type of man could interest Cara.

Since his arrival, all Cara had done was look down on him and speak to him as if he were her servant. Faryil had already imagined her with a top athlete or millionaire. Cara was the type of woman who attracted men with egos as huge as hers.

Severine was the only person who saw Cara as innocent. Cara was seductive. The man's toilet never lacked one's tale about her alluring gaze or walk. Cara had that perfect hip sway that made men hunger.

Faryil wasn't insensitive to her charms. Cara was what Faryil considered a fatal error. Her clean girl act didn't fool him. He knew she was a Wolf.

As Severine asked, he followed Cara. Like her sister, she started her day at the gym; she loved to stay in shape. She then went home to get ready and headed straight to Severine's headquarters. She sometimes went for drinks with volunteers or dinner out with friends. She drove a black mini-copper registered under her father's name and lived in one of the two apartments Severine owned. Her back account was clean, and her health was fine.

Who was she seeing? Faryill wondered as he watched her front door from his car. It was hard to believe someone was in the picture with her agenda. Cara had the perfect single-girl life.

Faryil looked at his watch. It was usually the time Alexis left Severine. He left their home around 9:3 and always called in at 2 a.m. He met patrons and his party colleagues. Women were never there. At one point, Faryil thought perhaps Alexis was in the closet. He wouldn't be the first political figure to use his marriage as a front.

The idea made Fayril laugh. He even laughed then but stopped as a familiar sedan parked in front of Cara's apartment.

Faryil immediately took out his camera. He watched the figure ring the bell. He waited to see not who would open but how the person would welcome the man. The scene was worth the wait, Faryil thought as he watched Cara embrace and kiss Alexis in a gone-with-the-wind Scarlet O'Hara x Rhett Butler momentum.

The demon beside you, Faryil, couldn't help but feel sorry for his boss. Hence, a mental tug-war began for the man who wondered whether revealing Cara's secret was good.

WC: 11359