LA CANDIDATE

BET ON RED

"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."