Not My Congressman (ManxMan)

Chapter 3

Click, clack, click, clack.

    Finn's leather dress shoes clicked against the marble floors of the gorgeous rotunda of the US Capitol building. He'd been here a few times since he was a child, mostly to visit his grandfather while he was serving his terms as the democratic Congressman for Georgia.

    He loved everything about it, from its old fashioned architecture, hits open high ceilings, its larger than life dome that dwarfed the many people that scurried about its corridor working tirelessly to ensure America runs in a timely and orderly fashion. In a way it gave Finn a sense of humility, to know that he was one of three hundred million people who were part of making the American dream a reality. It put him into perspective, it almost seemed to solidify his goals and aspirations to one day be a lawmaker and  better the country his family had called home for four generations.

    Finn's great-grandparents, Darragh and Siobhan Callaghan immigrated to the United States, fleeing poverty in Ireland in the early 1930s; they arrived at Ellis Island on a boat with nothing but a bit of cash, a few suitcases, a young baby called Cormac in their arms, and prayers and hopes in their heart. Though Finn never knew his great-grandparents, their legacies and memories of their homelands remained true in the Callaghan family's souls. Their Irish Catholic identities lived on in their faith, the foods they made, the stories he was told by his Grandpa Cormac, and the traditions they held dear.

    Life brought Darragh and Siobhan to Georgia, settling in Atlanta in search of opportunities and work in hopes of feeding the mouths of their three children, Niamh, Cillian, and their eldest, Cormac; or as Finn knew him, Grandpa Cormac. Cormac would go on to join the Democratic Party, eventually running for public office and climbing the ranks to the US Senate; he was the perfect embodiment of the American dream, from humble immigrant to lawmaker and public servant. Finn wanted nothing more than to continue his Grandfather's legacy; to follow in the older man's footsteps and fill his hefty shoes.

    He passed by dozens of other professionally dressed people, all with a look of determination and conviction on their hardened faces; urgency and stress etched in their eyes of various hues. This was Washington, DC. It might look all pretty and calm to tourists on the outside, but within these sturdy white marble walls were thousands just like Finn; furiously paddling away to make sure every hearing, every briefing, every vote went according to plan. And if those walls could talk, how would they have stories of all the history they'd witnessed. The US Capitol was like a swan, pristine and white on the outside, but under the surface it was furious paddling that nobody could see.

    Taking a deep breath and letting it out, Finn stopped in front of the plaque that had "Representative Wyatt Montgomery - Georgia" etched into its dark bronze metal. His stride confident and brisk he opened the door to see a few members of the secretarial staff working away at desks in the front room. Both were rather young and rather beautiful blond women wearing perfectly fitted sleeveless professional dresses.

"Hi there, how may I help you." One of the two women glanced up with a friendly welcoming smile; signature of true Georgia Southern hospitality

"Oh um, I'm Finn... I'm here t-"

"OH MY GOD YOU'RE THE NEW INTERN!! It's so nice to meet you!" The girl leapt up and excitedly shook hands with him,

"I'm Reagan and this is Hailey!" The girl said as she pointed to the other girl who mirrored her wide welcoming smile.

"We're twins" Both girls practically screamed simultaneously, before giggling. For a split second Finn couldn't tell if he was awake or experiencing sleep paralysis. Blond southern girls were the bane of his existence growing up, but now two of them who could do the creepy twin synchronized speaking thing; it was straight out of a nightmare. But the girls seemed sweet, and so long as they didn't do that twin telepathy thing too often, he figured he'd get along with them just fine.