Chapter 38
Julie rang the doorbell a second time and was almost ready to leave when
Melanie Howard reluctantly opened the door.
"Hi, Mel." Julie smiled. "Long time, no see?"
"Julie. What are you doing here?" Melanie seemed very anxious
about Julie's presence on her doorstep. She shot a furtive glance at
Brian.
"Oh, sorry. This is my fiancé, Brian Davis."
"He's your campaign manager too…" Melanie noted.
"I've been reading about you."
"There's plenty to read it seems. Could we come in for a
minute?" Julie asked quietly.
"I need to pick up my mother from her physical therapy in a little
bit." Melanie hesitated.
"We'll only take a minute or two I promise." Julie offered.
"Or if you'd prefer, Brian can wait in the car. It's nearly
30 degrees out here; practically a heat wave."
Melanie gave a small grimace at the reminder that she was leaving her
uninvited guests standing in the cold Minnesota winter air.
"Come in, please; both of you." Melanie opened the door wider to
allow them entrance.
Julie and Brian left their boots at the door and went in to sit on the
living room couch.
"I have some coffee brewing if you'd like a cup." Melanie
offered awkwardly.
"We're over caffeinated already." Julie shook off
Melanie's offer. "I just wanted to come see you in person to
apologize."
"You're apologizing to me?" Melanie asked in disbelief.
"You were my very best friend for years. There was no one else in my
life I could have counted on to help me through that awful time and you
never let me down once even though I know you disagreed with the
decision I made back then." Julie paused to take a breath and meet
Melanie's eyes. "Then afterword, I cut you out of my life
because it was easier to be without my best friend than it was to be
with you and be reminded of some of the worst days of my life." Both
women had tears in their eyes now. Brian just kept hold of Julie's
hand while she worked this through with Melanie.
"I didn't know I was being taped. I didn't." Melanie
repeated. "They had cards that identified them as being from your
campaign, and I didn't question it. They wanted to make sure nothing
was brought to light that might be damaging to your campaign and went
through this series of questions." Melanie stopped. "They led me
right there and I followed along like a puppy. My phone has been ringing
off the hook. My mother is barely speaking to me. She thinks I betrayed
you too."
"I'm sorry you were used like that." Julie replied.
"I'm sorry for everything. I put you in a bad position; then and
now."
"You didn't Jules; it was that bastard Pete Franklin."
Melanie defended her.
"I like this woman." Brian jerked his head toward Melanie and
earned a smile from both women.
"I haven't answered any requests for interviews. I won't say
another word." Melanie promised.
"It doesn't matter now. If it helps to get the vultures off your
back, we can set you up with someone trustworthy to talk with on the
record." Julie added.
"I really don't think so." Melanie shook her head. "Is
this going to ruin your chances of getting elected?"
"Nah." Julie smirked. "I have this brilliant campaign
manager see…"
Brian guffawed. "Who is not a magician."
"But there was really no chance of me winning in the first place,
right? So, no harm done." Julie smiled at her fiancé and Melanie
got the feeling she was missing a vital part of this conversation.
"We won't take any more of your time. Just know that if we can
help in anyway, you should let us know. And Melanie?… For the
record; I've missed you."
"I've missed you too." Melanie admitted and enveloped her
old friend in a hug. "Good luck."
***********************************************
"Well if that's it, I think we're done." Liz let the
sentence hang on their senior staff conference call.
"No, that's not all, is it Joshua?" Donna's voice became
strident and even though she wasn't in the same room with him Josh
knew she was at the end of her proverbial rope on this subject.
She'd given him several openings and he'd ignored every one of
them.
"Donna sounds pissed, Josh. Why is Donna pissed?" Toby asked.
"She's not pissed…are you Donna?"
"Not yet…" Donna amended.
"Right." Josh noted. "I've been doing some thinking
since my surgery and after carefully weighing my options I've
decided to take a teaching position at American University…"
"Josh? Word has been that you're doing fine health wise. Is that
not correct?" Allen asked carefully. Josh could tell that their
`numbers man' was trying to add up the columns to come to a
conclusion.
"I'm doing fine, Allen, but thanks for asking." Josh assured
them all. "In this case, it was a huge wake up call. I want to spend
more time with my family and less time traveling."
"Why do you need to take this job at AU to do that?" Lou
demanded. "Donna's already cutting back. Why can't you do
the same?"
"Lou, is isn't simply a matter of cutting back. This job, our
jobs in this company require the ability to handle tons of stress. I
just can't handle that anymore; not if I want to live to see
Jake's kids someday."
"What are they offering you?" Toby asked quietly.
"Director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential
Studies." Josh replied.
Toby chuckled. "My friend, it just doesn't get much better than
that."
"Wait a second." Mandy interrupted. "That's it? The
President of our company decides to resign and there's no debate or
discussion about it?"
"There should and will be discussion about it." Toby corrected
her. "We're going to have to do some re-shuffling obviously. But
debate? No, there's no debate on this subject."
Josh was surprised by the vehemence of Toby's defense, but then he
remembered their frank discussion about his health when he'd been in
the hospital. Toby knew just how scared Josh was about leaving his
family way too soon.
"Mandy, I have no intention of leaving the company abruptly. My
teaching schedule won't begin until late January, and it's going
to be a light load the first semester." Josh stepped into the fray.
"I'll still be available for consulting. But we need to think
about the future of this company too. Regardless of my personal health
issues, I'm not going to be around forever. None of us are.
We've taken great pains to hire and groom some of the top
professional operatives anywhere. We should start utilizing them
more."
"I think the next logical step is for us to come up with some
possibilities for promotions and discuss them on our next call."
Donna suggested. "Josh is going to draft a letter to the rest of the
company employees to let them know change is coming, but that it's
being carefully addressed and there is no reason to panic."
"Do we really want to do that before we know who will be stepping
into those spots?" Lou asked.
"Yes, we do." Mandy agreed with Donna. "Open communication
is the best route here. Rumors are bound to start and that's what
sets people on edge and has them jumping ship. When can you get the
letter out by, Josh?"
"I can put it together in the next couple days." Josh decided.
"We should use a version of it for a public announcement." Toby
opined. "Or is the American University planning on a big
announcement at their end?"
"They are, but there's no reason we can't coordinate the
two." Josh replied. "I'll get the details from them."
"Fine. Then our publicity department can jump in." Peter added.
"Some interviews wouldn't hurt either."
"Wait a second people. I'M not running for anything." Josh
reminded them.
"No, but you're the name behind the company name and a coup for
you is a coup for us too." Lou pointed out.
"Thanks Lou. I appreciate how you're always thinking about the
big picture." Josh drawled.
"That's what you pay me for." Lou shot back.
"I'm pretty certain it's not." Toby muttered.
"So…we all come up with a short list of candidates for promotion
and internal shuffling and we argue merits over our next call. Let's
have everyone's plans out on the online conference site by
Friday." Josh directed.
"Got it." Allen noted. "And Josh? Congratulations on the new
position. American University is lucky to be getting you."
A hail of `congratulations' came over the call before everyone
signed off. It made Josh feel good that it was out in the open and that
there was a plan in place now. Donna was right again…
**********************************
"Benjamin, what are you doing in your father's office?"
Donna asked from the doorway.
"Looking at the numbers from Minnesota." Ben replied absently.
"I thought Dad said she'd get a bump from the debate."
"Usually…usually that's what happens." Donna
equivocated.
"But she's dropped 5 points." Ben looked up at his mother.
"Did something happen?"
Donna sighed and sat down across from her son. "There was a news
story that was getting some play that hurt her numbers a bit. She's
still got a couple weeks though. They could bounce back."
"What news story?" Ben asked.
Donna briefly and shamefully considered lying to her son, but she knew
he could easily find the information online and she preferred to have
that conversation up front.
"When Julie was very young, barely 18, she had an abortion,
Ben." Donna got it out in one breath.
Ben's eyebrows shot up in an expression so like his father's
that Donna did a double take. "She had an abortion?"
"Yes." Donna answered. "Ben, when a woman makes a decision
like that…I can only imagine the kind of heartache and distress they
go through."
"Would you ever have an abortion?"
"Ben, I-" Donna paused. Where the hell was her husband when she
needed him? Oh, yeah, upstairs asleep. "It's a huge decision and
I would hope that I'd never have to make it. Each time I got
pregnant, it was a source of incredible joy for me and your father. Not
all women are lucky enough to have that. Sometimes the circumstances
make it difficult or seemingly impossible to- It's just an
incredibly personal decision."
"But people are mad at Julie about that?"
"Some people disagree with her decision and because of that,
don't want to vote for her."
"That's stupid. People shouldn't vote against someone
because of that."
"That's their right Benjamin; each person gets to decide what
issues to consider when voting for someone."
"It's still stupid." Ben declared.
"You are your father's son." Donna muttered. "You think
it's stupid, but why don't we say that it's SAD that a woman
who made a legal choice at a very difficult time in her life, is being
punished for it this way?"
"She's going to lose now, huh?" Ben guessed.
"It looks that way." Donna agreed.
"That totally sucks."
"It so totally sucks." Donna repeated.
**************************************
Dear Julie,
I'm sorry things aren't going very good right now. Mom told me
about what's happening and I think it's pretty stupid. I'm
supposed to say `sad' but I think stupid works better.
You're very smart and I think people should remember that instead of
being all disapproving when they weren't even there or know what
they are talking about.
No matter what happens on Election Day, I'm really glad we picked
you to run. I'm proud of the whole campaign and you should be too.
I've got to go now, but I'll write again soon.
Benjamin Lyman
"What's wrong, Jules?" Brian asked when he noticed the tears
on his fiancés face.
"Nothing." Julie shook her head smiling. "Just an
encouraging email from my recruiter." Julie motioned to the screen
and Brian read the email over her shoulder.
"He's a smart kid." Brian noted. "I'm proud of you,
too"
A brisk knock sounded at their door before Holly let herself into their
room.
"Sure, Holly, come on in." Brian said sarcastically.
"You have to see this." Holly declared and turned on the local
news station where a harried looking man was trying to elude the press
surrounding him while holding part of his jacket in front of his face.
"Oh, God." Julie's jaw dropped.
"What is it? Who is it?" Brian asked the women.
"Peter Franklin." Holly replied when it was apparent Julie
either wouldn't or couldn't.
"Is this going to be bad for us, now?" Julie squeaked out and
Holly just smiled and shook her head.
"I have no comment for you people, leave me the hell alone."
Pete was repeating.
"Then you are admitting your relationship with Ms. Peterson was not
consensual?" A reporter shouted.
"We were in high school for Gods sake! And I'm not talking to
you about that!"
"Then would you care to comment on the sexual assault charge on your
record? Or the restraining order?" Another reporter piped up.
Pete dropped his jacket and whirled on the second reporter, his face
contorted with anger. "That's none of your G**D*** business,
*****. I was never even convicted on the assault charge." The news
station had to bleep out the obscenities.
A male reported stepped between Pete and the female reported Pete had
turned on. "My sources say that was because the victim was too
frightened to testify, hence the restraining order."
"Bull****." Pete replied and stormed through an office building
door where security barred the press from following.
"Now that's a sound bite." Holly continued smiling, but the
reporter was giving a wrap up.
"After the new information on Julie Peterson's alleged
assailant, voters may have to re-examine some harsh judgments that have
been made on Ms. Peterson of late."
"Dave?" The anchor at the station interrupted him. "How did
the press get the name of this man? I don't remember his name being
mentioned in the statement Ms. Peterson's friend gave."
"It wasn't. Ms. Howard called us with the name of the individual
when she felt that we weren't reporting the full story." Dave
replied. "Looking at the totality of the circumstances may change
some voters minds, but with it being so close to the election, just 9
days now, we have to wonder if it's too little too late. Michelle
Butler has widened her lead to 9 points. That's a wide gap to
overcome in such a short time. The Star Tribune has decided to suspend
any further polling at this time which indicates they feel the race is
over."
"Has there been any word from the Peterson camp regarding this
latest development?"
"Not as yet, but the campaign spokeswoman assured as a statement
would be released shortly."
"And that's the news from the contentious battle in the 1st
District of Minnesota. Thanks, Dave. We'll take short break and then
come back with some important news about a coming weather pattern."
Holly clicked the TV off. "Don't make a liar of me Julie. We
need a statement."
"Saying what?" Julie turned to Brian. "Do we really want to
wade into this when we've been pivoting away from the story for the
past week?"
"Maybe a non-statement statement." Brian looked back at Holly.
"Okay, I was just getting used to non-apology apologies. Now
you're telling me there's such a thing as a non-statement
statement?" Julie asked incredulously.
"Show her Holl."
"The Peterson campaign has decided not to make any statement
involving the recent revelations regarding Mr. Franklin's criminal
history. Ms. Peterson believes, as she has maintained all along, that
there are far more important issues to be resolved on Election Day and
will continue to focus on them for the next 9 days and hopefully into
her first Congressional session in Washington."
"That's what I'm talking about." Brian nodded. "Go
to it." Holly jumped to obey.
"Hey, don't I get a vote in this?"
"No, Peterson, you do not." Brian smirked invoking their last
name rule to let her know he meant business and that this was business.
"Fine, Davis." Julie snarked back. "I'll just return my
emails."
Dear Ben,
I'm very glad you picked me to run too. No matter what happens in 9
days, I'm so happy that I've had this chance to get to know you
and your family, the Lyman team, and had the opportunity to represent
the people of Minnesota in Congress. It's been an honor.
One way or another, I'll be coming back to Washington and I expect
you to take in a hockey game with me there and then we'll give these
Mets of yours a try.
Thank you for your email. It really brightened my day. Tell your dad
thanks again for coming out here. He was wonderful!
Julie
Dear Donna,
Ben told me that you'd had a discussion about the recent news
stories over here. I know that couldn't have been an easy discussion
and I'm sorry you had to have it because of me.
I never dreamt this would become an issue of this campaign and I'm
sorry the mud has touched you and your family in any way. Josh, you
should know, was supportive and reassuring the entire time he was here
even though he was clearly wishing he'd never made the trip to
Minnesota in the first place. His first thought was about my well being
not the well being of the campaign on which he'd personally staked a
lot. You have a wonderful husband and family and I feel very blessed to
have come to know you all.
I want to thank you too, for this opportunity to run. I know from
speaking to Senator Stackhouse, that it was you that initially brought
me to Washington for that interview with Josh and Ben. Senator
Stackhouse often repeats that there is no finer person in Washington
politics than Donna Moss Lyman. Now I can say from personal experience
that I completely agree.
Thank you.
Julie Peterson.