“I’m done with campaigning,” he spoke, glancing at Sosie again.
“You'll be on CNN and MSNBC, and then we'll make a stop where you shake hands…”
“No. I’m done,” he stated firmly, cutting her off as she started scrolling through notes on her phone.
Sosie shot him a defiant glare.
“You’ve worked so hard to get here. You deserve to be president, Elijah. Hell, if you aren’t president, who's going to look out for soldiers like your brother?”
His jaw tensed as he gritted his teeth, unable to argue with the woman’s remarks. But damn her for being so honest about things!
“I want you to bring Meredith here. I need to know she’s okay,” he muttered helplessly.
“You need to look out for your own interests first. The election is in two days. After the election, you can do whatever you want.”
He smiled bitterly, then frowned. “If I lose, you mean.”
“No, I didn’t mean that,” Sosie said defensively.
“If I win the election, it’ll be a miracle. And then everyone will be so busy gearing up for the White House, romance will be pushed aside until god knows when,” he said sarcastically while shaking his head.
Sosie scowled, but after a moment she cleared her throat.
“Well, I won’t lie. I certainly hope that you do win. For a thousand reasons.”
With an eyebrow raised, he looked out the window, stewing.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Meredith woke up with a heavy heart the following morning. She didn’t have the slightest idea what to do with her life now that she was trying to avoid the media. She wished all of it was just a dream.
Rolling over to one side of the bed, she suddenly felt that she wasn't alone in the room.. Startled, she sat up, and saw Bonnie and Lily staring at her.
Meredith groaned, wanting to think that this had all been some nightmare and soon she'd wake up.. The mere sight of Bonnie and Lily reminded her that she was in a hotel in the suburbs, desperately trying to escape the commotion back home.
“What a nice way to greet a friend who’s traveled around the globe just to see you,” Lily said.
Meredith pursed her lips, got up, and hugged her best friend. Tears started forming in her eyes as she sighed on Lily’s shoulder. She was happy and relieved. She'd been starting to think that she was alone, and had forgotten about her best friend who was always willing to help..
“It's going to be okay,” Lily said.“How do you know? This isn’t exactly like when our friends broke up in college. This is a huge scandal.” Meredith was not the least bit enthusiastic about arguing with Lily.
While Bonnie called for room service to get breakfast, Meredith washed up to feel a little better. At least, she wasn't going to eat alone now that she had her sister and best friend with her.
She was still blessed, after all.
While enjoying breakfast, Lily and Bonnie pestered her to tell them everything about her and Elijah. And she was more than willing to tell her story. She just missed him so bad, to the point where she thought it wouldn’t be so bad to spill all the beans now that everything was out in the open.
“Did you call him?” Bonnie asked. She sipped water from her glass.
“I did. But his campaign manager answered the call. She said he wants nothing to do with me,” Meredith responded glumly, taking a bite of bacon.
Lily let out an exasperated sigh.
“Do you love him?”
Meredith fell silent as she played with the sliced tomato on her plate, wondering what to say. She thought they’d find it stupid if she said that she’s in love with a man she just met two months ago.
“Meredith?” Bonnie prompted.
“Do you?” Lily asked again.
With pursed lips, she nodded her head in hesitation. There was no point in denying it when Lily and Bonnie knew her like the back of their hands. And she'd never been good at lying anyway.
She felt Lily squeezing her hand, reassuring her that it was okay.
“Do you think he feels the same?” Bonnie asked curiously.
“I don’t know. I’m not sure,” she spoke in almost a whisper as the memory of Elijah making a move on Sosie the night she went to his house flashed through her head.
Up until now, she'd still been trying to convince herself that her eyes were just playing a trick on her that night. Despite the fact that they'd fought over the most trivial thing – about her being just another fling – she could feel the sincerity in Elijah’s words.
She knew that he really cared about her. And if she could only get one more chance to ask him, she wouldn’t hesitate. But as things were, it would be impossible.
She needed to stay as far away from him as possible.
“Oh,” Bonnie and Lily chorused, making her smile.
“C’mon guys, it wasn’t that bad,” she spoke softly. “I mean, I was happy when we were together even though it was just for a short time. And I really enjoyed it…”
Meredith wiggled her brows, making a naughty expression on her face, knowing that it was the best way to lighten the mood of their conversation. She was relieved that her sister and Lily were by her side. She didn’t want them to get dragged into her pitiful situation.
“Did you really?” Bonnie asked, wide-eyed. That made her laugh for the first time in days.
Just like her, Bonnie believed that giving up her virginity was a serious thing and that her first time should be with someone special. It should be memorable.
“Of course! He’s hot!” Meredith replied, piercing the last piece of sliced tomato.
“Looks like someone’s going to get naughtier,” Lily said giggling while shaking her head. “Don’t worry, you’ll forget about him after a couple of yacht parties. You got me.”
Meredith leaned in to hug Lily as tears started welling in her eyes. She wanted to get away from all the stress. But she didn’t think she was ready to forget about Elijah.
But she had to…
Maybe going back to her original plan for the summer – spending a year partying – would be a good start to forget about the things she didn’t want to think about.
And maybe, she could fall in love with someone else, too.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
It was late, and Meredith would be flying with Lily to Ibiza to get away from all the reporters. She'd called her parents and reassured them that she was just doing fine. And that she’d call them more often using Lily’s phone.
She sighed, staring blankly at the plane that was waiting on the tarmac.
It’d been days, and Lily had made her promise to never check the internet. They'd been on media lockdown – no phones, no internet, no social networks, no data whatsoever. It was Election Day and she was dying to know the results, but she was sticking to Lily’s rules.
She had to do it because she believed it was the best thing to do.
Wearing sunglasses and a cap, she gritted her teeth as anxiety devoured her.Lily handed Meredith a bag of gummy bears, which was usually an effective distraction. But she found them unappealing this time. Meredith grimaced and shook her head.
“Nah, thanks,” she murmured apologetically.