A Dangerous Game: Preperation

A Dangerous Game
By Misha

Author’s Notes- This chapter touches on what has been ignored up until now: Adam’s political ambitions and how that affects Lilith. Thanks to CallMeTippyTumbles for making me realize that Lilith would need some kind of a press person, who I introduce in this chapter. There are a lot of adjustments for Lilith in a short period of time.

Rating- PG-13

Summary- Lilith prepares for her first interview and makes a new ally.

Words- 2606

Chapter Nine: Preparation
(Series Timeline can be found here)

“Lilith, I’d like you to meet Lisa Perkins,” Adam introduced the next day. His arm was wrapped around my waist, tucking me into his side.

“It’s nice to meet you,” I said with a polite smile,  giving her a quick once-over. She was in her late thirties or early forties, with dark hair and a very polished look that made it hard to gauge her exact age. She had a very focused, no-nonsense air to her.

“Mrs. Vega,” she said politely, holding out her hand.

“Lilith, please,” I told her as we shook hands, “if we are working together, we should be on a first name basis.”

She smiled. “Good, I agree.” She turned her attention to Adam. “Senator, do you mind if Lilith and I have a few minutes alone?”

He nodded. “Of course.” He kissed my cheek, “I’ll be in my office if you need me.”

“That’s going to look good on camera,” Lisa mused as he walked away, “how affectionate he is. Well, if you return it, of course. Otherwise, he looks like he’s being played for a fool and we don’t want that.” She gave me a quick once-over, “but given how blissful you look and the way you were gazing at him, I don’t think that’s going to be a problem.”

“Excuse me?” I asked, taken aback by her blunt comment. “I mean, I don’t–”

“If you’re going to say that your marriage isn’t my business, save it,” she interrupted, “because it is my business, it’s my job. You are my job and that means being open with each other.”

I pondered her words, still a little taken aback by her forwardness. “What’s in it for you?”

She smiled. “Straight to the point, I like that. I’ve been on the Senator’s communication teams for three years. I am damn good at my job, but I am not in the inner circle and I’m never going to be.”

I stayed silent, motioning for her to continue as we both took a seat.

“Paul Morris plays favorites,” she explained, “I’m not one of them, he has his own agenda and I have mine. You know, he had someone else picked for this job, someone who could be his eyes and ears and report your every move back to him.”

I tried not to shudder at the thought. “I’m sure that would have worked out well for me,” I said dryly.

“And this is why I’m going to enjoy working with you: because you’re smart and observant,’ Lisa told me, “you already know not to trust Paul, don’t you?”

“Yes,” I admitted, wondering if I was walking into a trap. “But I don’t know if I can trust you either.”

“You don’t have to, not yet,” Lisa told me, “trust takes time to earn, for now, all you have to do is acknowledge that we can help each other. I’m laying all my cards on the table here, Lilith, I want to rise higher than Paul Morris is going to let me.”

“But how I can help you?” I asked, “do you want me to speak to Adam about giving you a different position?” If she did, I had a feeling she’d be overestimating my influence.

“No,” she dismissed, “I want you to give me a job. When you’re First Lady, I’ll be your chief-of-staff, let me help you now, and when you rise to the top, I’ll go all the way with you.”

I kind of admired her bold ambition and how forthright she was being. I still wasn’t sure I could or should trust her, but on the other hand, I definitely didn’t want to work with Paul Morris’s hand-picked candidate.

“Well, then, where do we start?” I asked her.

She smiled. “We start with making sure you are prepared for your interview. It’s not enough for you to ‘not screw up’, which is Paul’s expectations, by the way, you need to nail this. This is going to be the country’s first real impression of you, your only chance to clear up misconceptions about you and your marriage and you have to nail it.”

I nodded, though it suddenly occurred to me that I didn’t know how much Lisa knew. Obviously, some of Adam’s staff knew the truth, but what about Lisa? I wished he’d thought to enlighten me.

“I’m guessing that since you married a vampire, you’re not quite as wide-eyed innocent as you look,” Lisa continued, smirking slightly at the look on my face, “and it’s best to get that out of the way and now you know that when I say I need total honesty from you, I’m prepared to take it.”

“I’m not going to share all the private details of my marriage,” I told her, “I don’t care who I married, some things should be private.”

“They should,” Lisa agreed, “but they aren’t. You are walking into the public eye, Lilith. In fact, you’re already there. It probably would have been fairer to you if we’d had this conversation a month ago.”

Probably, I agreed, but I understood why we hadn’t, because Adam was going to risk anything that might have me change my mind. Though, given what he’d offered, I’m not sure that even the realities of public life would turn me off.

“I’m guessing you’ve read the stories,” Lisa continued, “you know what they’re saying, the impression being formed about you.”

“Yes,” I agreed tightly.

“You’re twenty-four, barely out of college without any connection to the political scene,” Lisa pointed out, “the Senator  is ‘42’ and has been a confirmed bachelor for all ten years of his political career, the fact that he is finally settling down now with rumors of an impending presidential campaign. The timing leads to speculation, so does your age, and that’s why we have to act now, we have to show them there is more to you than a pretty trophy wife and more to your marriage than a convenient political arrangement.”

I opened my mouth to point out that basically my married was a convenient political arrangement, on more than one level, but Lisa cut me off.

“It doesn’t matter what the truth is,” she told me, “in politics, it rarely does. It matters what it looks like and from what I saw, you two have the kind of chemistry that will be easy to sell, whatever your real motivations. So, that part is taken care of, so we focus on you and the message we want to present.”

“And what is that?” I asked curiously.

“Wisdom beyond your years, poise, family-oriented,” Lisa told me, “you want to be glamorous but not too glamorous; you’ll want to have your own opinions, but never over-shadow his.” She ran a critical eye over my outfit. “Your wardrobe is a good start. Classy, elegant, nothing too ‘try’.”

“Isabella took me shopping,” I admitted, running my hands over the material of my skirt. I was still getting used to my new wardrobe, and the price tags that came with it, but I’d understood that it went with the position.

“She has good taste,” Lisa said with an admiring nod, “and you are obviously a quick learner, which is going to make my job easier.” She paused and looked me in the eye. “I know this is probably feeling like a lot of information and it is, but in the long run, it’s better to be prepared and you need someone on your side. This is only the beginning.”

I knew she was right. I still wasn’t sure I trusted her. But there was something likable about her and I appreciated how blunt she was. Besides, I knew I liked her better than Paul and she was right, I did need someone on my team.

—

A few hours, I sat on the couch again, Adam’s arm wrapped around me, as we met with Paul, Lisa and a few other members of Adam’s team. Including a woman named Marcie, who kept glaring at Lisa. I had a feeling that she must have been Paul’s pick for the job Lisa now occupied.

“So we’ve agreed to a one-hour sit-down interview and a tour of the house,” Lisa told me, “we’ve picked a network and an interviewer that is more inclined to be sympathetic.”

Meaning one that aligned with Adam politically and would have no reason to rip him to shreds.

“Senator, you obviously don’t need any advice,” Lisa told him, “you know exactly what to do and say.”

“I do,” Adam agreed and I could hear the amusement in his voice.

“Yes, we all know the Senator is capable of giving an interview and selling his message,” Paul said with barely concealed irritability, “that’s not why we’re here, is it?”

“No, it’s not,” Adam said coolly and I could see Paul wince, realizing he’d stepped too far, “we’re here to help my wife and make sure she’s prepared.”

“And she will be,” Lisa assured him, “There are just a few talking points I want to go over. First, they will ask how you met.”

That had actually been an easier cover story than I’d expected because apparently, we’d had a missed opportunity.

“At a gala hosted by Colin Harper,” I said smoothly, “I was there as a guest of Sofia Martinez, the Senator was there as a guest of Mr. Harper, we ended up talking and one thing left to another and at the end of the night, he asked to see me again, but because of his high profile and the age difference we wanted to be discreet.”

We had both been at the gala, but I’d actually been late, because I’d had a shift at the temporary waitressing job I’d taken until I found something that would actually pay the bills, and Adam left early. I hadn’t even realized he was there. Still, we’d both been on the guest list, which was what was important.

“When you tell it to Karen Lang, don’t be so matter-of-fact,” Lisa instructed, “make sure to glance at each other, maybe touch hands. Try it again.”

I rolled my eyes, earning me a sharp look from Lisa. “Sorry.” I knew that this was important and I couldn’t mess it up.

“It was at a gala hosted by Colin Harper,” I started again, glancing up at Adam, “in March, not long after I moved to New York. I was a guest of Sofia Martinez, who just released her second novel.”

“And I was there because Colin is an old friend,” Adam interjected, gazing down at me warmly, “and now I’m forever in his debt.”

I blushed. “We were introduced and I had a chance to tell Adam how much I’d always admired him and ask him a few questions and then one thing led to another and I’d realized I’d monopolized his attention for almost an hour.”

“Not that I minded,” Adam added and the intimacy voice was incredibly convincing, he sounded genuinely besotted, “I knew right away that I wanted to get to know her better.”

“And I felt the same way,” I admitted, “Actually, that night, I kept double checking his number in my phone, sure I’d made up the whole encounter. I couldn’t believe my luck when he asked me to lunch and then… Well, it just went from there. I think we both knew from the start it was special.”

“Yes,” Adam agreed, taking my hand in his and lifting it to his mouth, “which was why I was selfish with our time together at the start, I didn’t want to share Lilith, not yet, I also wanted time to explore what there was between us before introducing her to my world.”

“That’s perfect,” Lisa commented, “do that in the interview and you’ll have America falling in love with your love story.”

Paul didn’t say anything, though he looked slightly put out, which made me think I’d done better than he’d hoped.

“Next, they’re going to ask about children,” Lisa pointed out.

“We’re very hopeful to have a family,” I answered, glancing at Adam. “As the oldest of four children, I’ve always seen myself having children, giving them the same kind of childhood and passing on the values that my parents taught me.”

“That is the perfect answer,” Lisa told me, “when you do the tour of the house, you can make mentions of plans for a nursery.”

I nodded, filing that away. “Anything else?”

“Now we talk politics,” Paul spoke up, “and this is the most important part.” So you can’t screw up was the unspoken part of his sentence. “Whatever you say is going to reflect back on the Senator.”

“However, you can’t just repeat his opinions,” Lisa interjected, “the point is to make it clear that you are more than a trophy wife. You need to talk about things close to your heart, causes that interest you.”

“Preferably ones that don’t interfere with the Senator’s agenda,” Marci stated, looking pointedly at Lisa.

“Children’s literature would be a good one,” Adam told me, “works well with my platform on public education.”

I nodded, that sounded fine. “What about hunger?” I asked, looking at him, not the political operatives.

Adam smiled at me, “that is an excellent choice.” I couldn’t help but return his smile, glad that I seemed to be pleasing him.

“And keeping children as your central cause works,” Lisa added, “it contributes to that nurturing image, builds on the fact that you want to have a family, shows how compassionate you are.” She looked at her notes. “One last thing, she may try to get your opinion on big issues, don’t let her. You can have your own opinions and causes, but in the end, your thoughts on the big things must align with your husband. No matter what it is.”

I stiffened. This was where I had a feeling I’d struggle. I wasn’t good at keeping my mouth shut when I had an opinion. I met Adam’s gaze and saw amusement, he was probably thinking the same thing. However, this was what I’d signed onto.

“Ok,” I agreed, hoping I’d be able to follow-through. Adam squeezed my hand appreciatively. “Anything else?”

“No,” Lisa said standing up, “I think that’s it, Paul?”

“I can’t think of anything,” he said grudgingly, standing up as well.

After a moment, Paul, Lisa and the rest of the staff filed out.

“Nervous?” Adam asked me, helping me to my feet.

“A little,” I admitted, I’d signed up for this, but I was starting to worry that I’d gotten in over my head. Though it was a little humorous that it was his political career that was making me feel this way and not the fact that he was a vampire, weirdly enough, I was confident in my ability to navigate the vampire world. But I had no idea how I’d do as a Senator’s wife.

“I can take your mind off of it,” Adam offered in a low voice, his arms wrapping around me, pulling him against it. “We still have a few hours, after all.”

“Mmmm,” I murmur, “and how do you propose to do that?”

“Like this,” Adam told me and then he swept me off my feet into his arms, heading towards the stairs, “I think you’ll find my methods very relaxing.”

I grinned up at him. “Really? I didn’t think that relaxing was supposed to be so… stimulating. Though I guess, I do feel very content afterward.”

“I can do better than content,” Adam told me, his voice rich with promise, “in fact I plan to aim for complete and utter bliss.”

**