One Last Time

one more realization

The Stone campaign headquarters for the time being was located in the basement of Chance City Hall. As a Chance City native, Benjamin had gotten first access to the location. Frederick Rodney was relegated to the Parks Service Building just outside of Porterville. Chloe bit her lip as she stood at the top of the steps. She could hear the bustling of the campaign team below, answering phones, making copies, coming up with strategies. The campaign was filled with life and excitement and was the perfect work environment except for one fatal flaw: it revolved around Benjamin Stone.

Chloe swallowed hard and made her way into the basement before she lost her nerve. Not one person looked at her as she made her way through the work stations towards the only room with a door in the back. It was slightly ajar. She knocked and peeked her head in. Benjamin was perched on his desk, chatting lightly with the blonde woman that Chloe recognized from the bathroom. Nicole.

"Chloe!" Benjamin said when he saw her, leaping off of the desk with a wide grin on his face. "Please, come on in. This is a good friend of mine, Nicole Overstreet. Nicole, this is Chloe Han, a friend since high school."

Nicole Overstreet. Even the name sounded luxurious, like it could only be said under the right circumstances for an exorbitant cost by the right people. She sat primly in the wooden chair, legs crossed delicately, the way Chloe noticed that famous people did on television. Her blonde hair was pulled up and away from her face, but cascaded down her back in perfectly coiffed waves. She was wearing a black dress with a green overcoat and black heels with a telltale red bottom. Chloe bet Nicole didn't have to steal her louboutins. On the floor at Nicole's feet, was a black crocodile skin Birkin bag.

Chloe offered Nicole a smile.

"It's very nice to meet you," she said. Nicole offered a tight smile back, but said nothing. She only regarded Chloe with bright grey, hard eyes. Chloe cleared her throat, suddenly feeling dingy and childish in her jeans and dirty sneakers. "Uh, Benjamin, I came...I just came to accept the job offer. For press secretary."

Benjamin beamed and clapped his hands together. With Nicole in the room, he was every bit the politician. Chloe knew Benjamin very well. But Senator Stone was a stranger to her, and he made her uncomfortable.

"That's such good news! I can't wait to tell the rest of the team. Nicole, Chloe is an accomplished journalist. She's worked for the Chicago Daily recently, but a few of her independent articles have won the Weber Award for Investigative Journalism."

"I'm sure she will be a valuable addition to the team," Nicole said sweetly, never taking her cold, hard eyes off of Chloe. Chloe nodded humbly, and tried to keep from shuffling awkwardly where she stood.

"Well, I...I guess I'd better get going, then. Will you call me with the details?"

"Oh, no, you don't have to go," Benjamin said quickly. "Let me just wrap up this meeting with Nicole, and then we'll talk about the position, okay?"

Chloe nodded and stepped out of the room, closing the door behind her. She sighed as she surveyed the organized chaos. On the far side of the room, there were two portable television screens tuned into two different news stations. Several whiteboards surrounded them, each packed with different points of data, and constantly being updated. The wall behind the televisions boasted the three different versions of Benjamin's campaign poster, each bearing the same campaign slogan: "Solid as Stone."

"Sorry, I noticed you before but I was on a call - are you one of the new interns?"

Chloe turned around to come face to face with an efficient looking woman. She had short brown hair that was so glossy it looked like a helmet. It was cut along the line of her jaw, making her face look more angular than it was. She wore a bluetooth headset in one of her ears and carried two phones and a clipboard in her hands. She was dressed in a coral colored pants suit, which she paired with nude heels. Yet another well dressed woman to make Chloe feel distinctly out of place.

"Uh, no. I'm Chloe Han --"

"Oh yes! Chloe! Benjamin told me about you!" the woman shuffled the phones into one arm to make her hand free so she could reach out and shake Chloe's. "I'm Nancy Carpenter, Ben's campaign manager. I'm assuming that if you're here, it means good news?"

Chloe couldn't help the smile that tugged at the corners of her lips.

"How delightful!" Nancy exclaimed, beaming true delight. "I've done my research and you, my dear, are going to fit right in. This campaign will give you that passion that you've been looking for."

"Uh..The passion I've been looking for?" Chloe repeated, narrowing her eyes in confusion. Nancy had started walking, and Chloe found herself following her.

"Oh, that's not a bad thing. I've read just about everything that you've written and published, and I have to say that you've never lost your writing ability. But the Chance City Daily is no place for your talents. I mean, come on, three Webers? I knew a few men who would kill for just one! So I don't blame you for losing your...zest while at the Daily. I was convinced that I'd see you at the National Times. But no matter. We all lose our way, sometime. Glad you've found yours again, here!"

Chloe bit her lip.

"Anyway, here we are!" Nancy said, stopping in front of a woman who was dressed in a lovely blue floral dress. "Kimmy, this is Chloe. Chloe, this is Kimmy. You two will have a lot to talk about, so I'll let you be. Have fun!"

Before Chloe could say anything, Nancy was gone. The woman named Kimmy laughed and offered Chloe her hand.

"I'm Kimberly," she said. "Event planner slash organizer slash stylist. Mostly stylist. I'm assuming you're joining the campaign and Nancy wants me to style you."

Chloe's cheeks flushed red in immediate heated embarrassment.

"Oh, no. No, that won't be necessary. I have more professional clothes, I just didn't know... Besides, I don't want to be in the spotlight at all. So this won't be necessary." Kimberly laughed again, a delicate tinkling sound.

"Whether you want to be in the spotlight or not, you are. You will be. This campaign is important, and voters care more than we'd like to think about how their leaders look. How you choose to dress will say a lot more about Ben than it says about you."

Chloe furrowed her brow and frowned.

"I don't want to be in the spotlight," Chloe answered firmly. "I'll dress appropriately next time." Kimberly shrugged with a smile, and turned back to the conversation she had been having before Nancy had interrupted her. Chloe made her way back to Benjamin's office. Only moments later, the door opened and Nicole walked out. Chloe met the woman's eyes once more and a cold chill went down her spine. She'd seen that gaze somewhere before. On a wolf.

"So good chatting with you, Ben," Nicole said, placing her hand on Benjamin's shoulder and leaning in to kiss his cheek. "See you next week."

With that, she hung her Birkin on the crook of her arm, and made her way out of the basement, her modelesque figure drawing the attention of the men in the room as she passed.

"Chloe," Benjamin said, turning to her with that warm familiar smile. "Come in."

Before her stood a man that she knew and yet didn't recognize at all. He was her Benjamin. But he was the country's Senator Stone. He didn't belong to her anymore. He never would again. And to fit into his world, Chloe would be forced to become someone she was not - someone who dressed well and wore heels and carried Birkin bags. Someone who was sharp and intelligent and cold as icy Nicole. Someone who terrified her, because it was someone she had always wanted to be. Someone rich. Someone famous. Another stranger. Chloe took a deep breath and shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Ben, I think I made a mistake."