The Capital / Chapter 2

2

“Where do we go now?” Werner’s personal driver asks him as the Inauguration ceremony came to an end. Thankfully for him, there was no attention over him, since everyone was hunting for statements of the new President, and if they were lucky enough, have the exclusive first interview. A lot of his politician friends had started to spread the rumor that his party would start pushing him during the next few weeks as their card for next election’s candidate. Joshua Werner had it all on his favor, so it was clear he would be the next President.
“To St. Martina’s. I will go get Violet” he proudly says while comfortable adjusting in the back seat. The door closed and the driver went around to start the vehicle, and hopefully avoid getting caught in the downtown traffic.
“Okay, sir” the driver replies. Violet was the Senator’s daughter and attended a private school. Just like everything in his life she was perfect: Smart, sociable, athletic and pretty. And Violet wanted to go to law school and follow her father’s (her role model) footsteps. That was the end of a long day, and he was starting to feel worn out from the pressure. But it was something he would have to start getting used to if he went ahead with a campaign.
“Nobody said this was easy” he thought to himself and breathed a sigh of relief. There was a newspaper at a side, just as he had left it before the ceremony. Wide open, on that column. He wanted nothing more than to tear it to pieces, but it would do nothing more to pollute the space. There was something about the person behind those words, even though he had never seen who was behind that column. For all he knew, it could be a man posing as a woman, or one of those resented old ladies. He had to find out who was this Lauren Caffrey person, and for that purpose he would have to call in some favors, the usual DC practice. Taking his phone from the inner pocket of his tailor-cut dark suit, he called one of his interns to have him do some research.
“Senator Werner’s office” a young man’s voice replied from a desk full of piles of paper.
“Gus, it’s me”
“Oh, hello. Sir, how can I help you?”
“I need you to find something for me...Relax, it’s nothing bad. Just some minor things” he says, trying not to get nervous with what he was about to ask. Maybe it was the dumbest thing he could be doing, and easily misinterpretated.
“I’ll see what I can do” the aide assures him in a discreet voice. It was hard to hear with the office buzzing with activity.
“I need you to collect information on Lauren Caffrey, the reporter”
“Your number one public enemy?” the staffer asks, trying hard not to giggle.
“Yes, that one. I just need to know who is really hiding behind that poisonous pen” Werner jokingly replies and is interrupted by the tapping on his window. They had reached the school.
“Senator, we are here” the driver informs him while opening the door.
“Already? That was fast” he says, storing the device to where it was. Josh Werner was going to turn 40 in a few months. His hair was dark brown with matching eyes. There were no traces of any facial hair, and everything about him exuded power and confidence. Coming from a traditional family with history in the public service, of course he had to follow that path with successful results.
“Daddy, daddy!” an 8-year-old girl shouted from the distance as she ran to him. Violet had her dad’s eyes and her mother’s blonde hair. Her uniform was immaculate and a pink backpack hung behind her.
“Hey, Violet! How’s my little princess?” Joshua asks, swinging her around. Even though he had a commitment with the country, his fatherhood duties always came first. And he was always moving his schedule to make time for her.
“Daddy, can I go to Camelia’s house?”
“Did you tell your mom?”
“Yes. She will pick me up as soon as she is done with her things. Can I? Please, please?” she asks.
“My pride can do whatever she wants to. Just be good, okay?”
“Yes, dad. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before” Violet was blushed and felt slightly guilty of having her father go all that way for nothing.
“Don’t be sorry. There will be a lot more days for picking you up and go for ice cream. Just have fun, and I’ll see you later at home. Okay?”
“Okay, daddy. I love you”
“I love you too, Violet” he says and kisses her cheek before letting her hand go and seeing her walk off with her friend and her mother helping them into a van.
“So what now, sir?” his escorts asks him as he goes back inside the car and the door shuts behind him.
“Just take us around a few blocks, really easy”
“As you wish, sir” the driver says and heads in another direction away from the school. He decides not to wait for the report and dares with his instinct that was part of his charisma.
“Brian, can I ask you something?”
“Yes, you can sir”
“Do you happen to know in which newspaper Lauren Caffrey works at?”
“It’s published at The Beltway Gazette” the driver replies.
“Could you head over there, please?”
“Okay, sir. Can I tell YOU something?”
“Please. I appreciate honesty”
“I think you could be a great President”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence. I’m glad I can count on someone like you” he says as he pulls away from the curb and speeds up.
“You sure as hell have my vote” he replies, proudly. The drive has become smooth, so when his phone starts vibrating he jumps.
“Gus, what do you have for me?” Werner asks, and the young man in the other end seemed stress and scared of losing his job.
“Nothing, sir. Uh...either that name is an alias or the woman is really clean”
“I don’t understand. That is the name in those columns”
“Well...nothing comes up” the staffer says, apologizing for this.
“Don’t worry, thanks for trying” Werner says and hangs up.
“Sir, we’ve arrived” the driver announces as they are outside DC’s most prestigious newspaper, the one most graduates would kill for to do their internship.
“Just wait for me here, it’ll be a quick stop” Werner says, getting off the car himself and heading straight to the reception desk.
“Good afternoon” a young girl said from behind a desk and the paper’s logo on the wall. She had an earpiece in her ear and didn’t seem to recognize him. He thanked for that because this ‘friendly visit’ would go unnoticed, and it wouldn’t harm the incoming presidency.
“Hello, I’m looking for one of your columnists” Werner starts, working his natural charm.
“Who would that be?”
“Lauren Caffrey” he says, but the receptionist looks puzzled.
“I’m afraid there’s no one here by that name” she says, smiling. She knows full well that it’s a lie, but the editor had paid not only her but everyone else to keep Lauren’s real name and penname separate. The public opinion couldn’t know this, so they hid their star’s identity.
“Are you sure? She writes for you every Friday”
“Yes, I am sure. The only Lauren we have working here for us is a Lauren Casenave”
“And is she here, just for curiosity?”
“Unfortunately, she went home for the day. And I’m not allowed to give out more information. Can I take a message?”
“No, no thanks. Have a good day” he says and walks away from there. But for a second, something clicked in his head and heads back to the desk.
“Just one thing: Just tell her a friend called in for her, someone she knows all too well, but knows nothing about. Make sure you give her that message like I told you” Werner instructs, not sure how it would work out.
“Okay, sir. Have a great day” the receptionist says and sees him walk out of the building back to his car as the editor passed by.
“What was that about?” Pete McKay asks.
“Somebody...a gentleman was just here asking for Lauren...And I think he knows that Lauren Casenave is behind Lauren Caffrey”
Back into Joshua’s car, he decided not to use official sources and go straight to a P.I. to figure out who was this person and pay her a visit. Maybe this could be the key to finding out who really was his ‘number one public enemy’.
“Where to now, Senator?”
“Home, please” he asks as it drove away. It was time to go see his wife, Norah. But first, he made a quick call to somebody who owed him. A deep voice answers from the other end of the line.
“Who is this and what the hell do you want?”
“It’s me, and you owe me one. I need you to check everything, and I mean EVERYTHING there is to know on a woman named Lauren Casenave. And I need it now, it’s important” the Senator says, officially becoming obsessed with her, one that would hurt both...

Meanwhile, Lauren entered her small apartment and dropped her work materials and shoes on a sofa. The place that housed her was small, but she could afford it and was her ideal home deep down. Born as Lauren Casenave, she had adapted the Caffrey last name from a novel to be her penname ever since the first column had been published and it had become an instant success. She would turn 25 in three weeks, but behind her brown hair, deep blue eyes and innocent air, there was a lot more than it met the eye. Her father, Theodore, had fought in two wars and had died protecting the country. And her mother, April, had abandoned her when she couldn’t even take care of herself, let alone a daughter. She would’ve had a twin sister, Leanne, but the pregnancy had been complicated and she had died a couple of days after birth. Lauren had been a loner, and really silent all her life, so she was used to be alone and speak when it was strictly necessary. But on the brighter side of things, she had been born to be a journalist. At college, she stayed true to her nature, but she always made smart questions that initiated debates where she stood up for her beliefs and her purpose was always the truth and ethical, investigative work. Her thesis had been brilliant, and she ended up working on the Political section and as part of the Investigative staff of The Beltway Gazette after her summer internship. And then came the column that made you either love or hate her. As she brew some coffee and found something more comfortable to put on, her cell phone rang. Scrambling through her purse, she found it and smiled at the screen.
“Hey there!” she told the person on the other end.
“About damn time, bitch!” the other woman jokingly says back as she turns down the volume of a stereo.
“Come on, Colette. I had a long one today” Lauren apologizes to Colette Shapiro, her best friend and owner of a music store. Shapiro and Casenave were physically the opposite: Colette had blond hair and a rock n’ roll style.
“I saw it. Politics is boring. Why didn’t you choose some other field like sports or entertainment?”
“Politics aren’t boring. And as long as you make an honest, ethical, hard work...”
“You’re my hero, Casenave! I salute you! When is your next column due?”
“Friday. And that is because there’s no big investigation...although Pete wants to offer me a second one for Sundays”
“Like ‘Week in Review’? If you do, you’ll still owe me BIG time! Quit and come work with me!”
“I told you I would consider the weekend job as salesperson”
“Okay, for now...Let’s go out tonight, since you’re free. Club?”
“I don’t feel like dancing”
“Bar?”
“Deal. Pick me up after you close”
“Alright, that’s the spirit! ...I really think you should let go of that naive, clean, good girl look. I’ll give you a TOTAL makeover for your birthday!”
“What?”
“Shh, surprise...I gotta go, a customer’s here!”
“Go get ‘em”
“Shut up and write, Lauren...I’ll see you tonight” Colette says and hangs up. Lauren leaves it in a pocket and grabs the coffee and with one hand moves everything to the biggest room in that space: her bedroom/writing area, dropping it all in the bed. She would give writing a break until the next day, she thought to herself while holding her good luck charm: One of her father’s medals. Instead, she started to do whatever the small bathroom allowed to create a relaxing atmosphere for a bath. When she was satisfied, she took off her clothes, methodically folded them and got in the hot water that made her forget everything around her for a while.