POWER

Chapter Thirteen

''Am I, am I what?''

Joseph had accused Faith of many things, all of which were outrageous but this, sleeping with Jason, was just ridiculous. Not necessarily the idea of Faith having an affair but that she would cheat with Jason.

''I'm not going to pretend our marriage is perfect, we went through a rough patch and I just want to know – were you seeing him?''

'' No. I see him because I have to for work, because he is my campaign manager, that's all.''

The silence between the couple was long and awkward but Faith was used to it.

''Joseph I think you're paranoid.''

Both Faith and Joseph decided to call it a night. With both sposues lying on their sides of the bed (not talking) and Faith kept trying to work out if her husband was awake or not. She couldn't sleep herself. Their argument had sparked her feelings and emotions and she began to think of Josh. With everything that had been going on, Faith hadn't had a moment of silence to think. She still got sad about everything that happened, every now and then it just hit her harder than usual. Sometimes it took her days to re-compose herself. No matter how badly she tried, Faith was in love – and it wasn't with her husband.

The morning soon came and Faith wasn't sure how long it had taken but somewhere amongst her conflicted emotions and silent sobbing, she had fallen asleep. Now however, it was time for her to get dressed and prepare for a day at work. It was a weekend day so Faith's time was devoted to her campaign, which meant a day with Jason.

''Great, you're here, we need to discuss your rivalry. Tamar Martinez is expected to announce her candidacy.''

''Martinez? The spokeswoman?''

''Yes, the one who speaks on feminism and all that. We did some polling and it's predicted she will receive over thirty-five percent of the female vote.''

''Great.''

''Listen, Faith, Mrs Moore. You don't like me. I don't like you. But less sarcasm and more work, is that possible?''

''You don't like me? That's a shame. Please give me a few minutes to recover from this tragedy.''

Faith strutted down the corridor, quarter past nine and she was already agitated. Then she stumbled across Leslie's office. Leslie had been coming into the office a couple of hours each week but otherwise she just lay on Faith's sofa. She was finding it hard to focus and working full-time seemed very daunting to her.

''...I'm Tamara Martinez and I am running for President of the great United States of America.'' The new opponent was just finishing off her announcement as Faith gave a very deep sigh from her office. Her campaign was already to a disadvantage as all her candidates (six in all) had been Governors first whereas Faith was going straight from Cook County the White House (or so she hoped.) This had been decided as she was already the eldest candidate let alone if she was to run in two years' time. Now however, she may have just lost her security blanket – the female vote, not all of them, but a lot of them.

''Faith, you have a meeting with Mr Giddens. He's a potential sponsor.''

''Ok sure, what do I need to know?''

''Just be yourself.''

As much as Faith appreciated Jason acting civil she couldn't help but feel that he had already given up on her – and she needed to win.

Her afternoon was spent with potential sponsors. She made small talk, tried to be convincing and attempted to not seem desperate – but the campaign needed money. Those who had been supporting Faith for the States Attorney campaign were still donating but it wasn't nearly enough.

Rather than meeting the singer donator as she was told, Faith ended up meeting about five, much to her displeasure. But it was fine, she managed two of them even agreed to donate there and then. All in all, it was a pretty productive.

Faith was leaving the offices of the final potential donate when she received a text message from Leslie.

L: Meet for a drink? 7pm at YELP? xx

F: On my way xx

The bar was busy and dimly lit by the hanging lights. On the forth stool to the left sat Leslie, who had two tequila shots already ordered, one for each of them.

''Hey you made it.'' Leslie happily greeted Faith with a hug and gestured towards the shot glasses. ''Come on, get a cab home. Or do you still have that driver dad got you?'' Faith had always found having a driver very odd but she felt uncomfortable for a different reason – it was the first time Leslie had mentioned her father.

''It's okay to speak about my dad. To ask about him and say his name. It means you haven't forgotten him. I don't want him to be forgotten.''