VOTE

Chapter Six

"The polls have now closed on the west coast. Due to the high proportion of mail-in ballots in many states, it will take several days to have a conclusive result. But we will keep you informed, by the hour, as we uncover the winner in this historic presidential and senatorial race. ..." the news anchor droned on.

Ma smiled. He had just finished a wechat call with a group of joyful colleagues, deep into their cups in Beijing. It had been a magnificent accomplishment and there was certainly cause for celebration for a long time to come.

Alex, Anna and the rest of the team in South San Francisco had just been congratulated on a secure line, by the ambassador, who conveyed the message directly from their beloved President. There was Vodka now flowing freely throughout the suite. Soon there was patriotic singing.

For the next forty eight hours the talking heads conjectured and strategized about the votes and which swing states would be swinging and in which direction. But all along, it was noted that there were still many votes to be counted and it was too early to call. The situation was surreal as each of the candidates declared confidence in their ultimate victories.

On the third day, Bassie arrived at the office. He was hoping to find Tommy there. He felt that this would be the day that the winner was declared. Not that he could ever mention anything about it. But he wanted to be with Tommy, to silently honor Tommy's incredible accomplishments. Sadly, it didn't appear that Tommy was around. So Bassie tuned in, to see what was the latest news on the results.

"We are seeing  something very unexpected. While many state voting authorities were expecting to receive delayed mail in ballots. It is now coming to light that these ballots have been received and counted. But the voter turnout at the actual polling stations is the real story. It appears that voter turn out on Election Day was far below what was projected. In fact, it now appears that nationwide, we are seeing the lowest voter turnout for a presidential election, as a percent of eligible voters, in recorded history. Ever." Alex now involuntarily assumed his Bassie character, mouth opening and closing rapidly as he listened, growing confused.

"So far, it appears that the Democrats are winning by a thin margin. We will keep you posted as we uncover more about this unexpected result. Monica, back to you."

"Thank you Steve. In other news, we are still trying to gain more insights into the sudden surge in business among Sushi restaurants, nationwide. It began apparently on Election Day and has continued, with some restaurants reporting three to four hour wait times...."

Bassie registered a sudden look of surprise. He appeared frozen in place. Then slowly, a smile developed. The smile gave way to a chuckle. The chuckle built into a laugh, which soon bordered on hysterical. A few others in the office stood and stared, wondering what had gotten into Bassie. Bassie quickly bobbled his smart phone and immediately texted Tommy.

Tommy was at that moment, preoccupied with Ma, trying to explain what had gone wrong. Ma was very angry despite that it appeared that the democratic candidate would prevail. It had been much too close for comfort. In reality, Tommy had no idea what the outcome would be. His strategy was simply to dissuade everyone from voting, and to encourage everyone to eat Sushi. It had worked beautifully.

Between excuses, Tommy noted the incoming text from Bassie. He dreaded that Bassie was likely to face negative consequences for his failure. But Tommy knew that Bassie was destined to fail, one way or the other. The text was short and clear.

"LOL!"

Tommy couldn't contain a smile. This enraged Ma all the more. But at this point, Tommy didn't care.

THE END