A/N: This is my new fic! It's very different to my usual writing style and it does not mean I have forgotten Paris in the Summertime. I will be updating that just as regularly as normal. I hope you guys enjoy it!
'Sometimes the prize is not worth the costs. The means by which we achieve victory are as important as the victory itelf'
" Privacy is a rare thing between a master and a servant, a fact which Jace Lightwood knows all too well as the Vice President's son. When spirited Irish maid Clary comes to work for their family, they both wish for a little more distance. There is no hope for a relationship between a handsome rich boy and a lowly maid, a fact Clary knows all too well. They may discover secrecy is not all it is cracked up to be"
Robert Lightwood surveyed his office like a royal observing his kingdom from a pedestal. He stood severely upright and gazed down the oblong length of the Vice President's chambers. It was sparsely furnished as his predecessor had only just vacated but the trimmings remained. The walls were papered with a tasteful burgundy pattern, dark teak skirting boards to match the vast dark wood desk that was littered with words of congratulations and admiration.
It had been a long and wearying campaign. Eleven years he had struggled through to get to his prestigious position and it had cost him much. He had even adopted a young boy, together with his wife, in order to secure his position. No candidate had done more than he to portray the perfect family man.
He thought of his adopted son now. The child who came from nothing and now bore his family name had been one of his greatest and worst decisions. The American public had delighted in viewing the young ward grow accustomed to his new social class and then Robert had just been a lowly governor. The problem was that Jace was just so unlike what Robert had hoped to transform him into.
In a way he was better.
Robert reflected on Jace's easy charming of their most difficult guests, his ability to leave the sternest of politicians in bouts of helpless laughter or his prowess in making the severe bodyguards that surrounded the Lightwood family abandon all proprietary. He insisted the servants address him as Jace and detested formality. His sarcasm at the expense of televisions wittiest interviewers left him loved by the population.
But he was reckless, wild and uncaring for their position in society. Alec and Isabelle his two eldest biological children were contained and manneredly in public. There were whispers and rumours in the media but not a single publication had proof. With Jace it was the opposite. There were no whispers or rumours because cold solid fact was visible in every raunchy photograph.
He had a taste for women, something Robert found to be bonding between himself and his adopted son but he was not discreet about it. That was why he had arranged the coupling of Jace and Governor Barrett's daughter. Now that he had been elected he had no choice but to ensure they wed and delighted the public further. Robert sank into the plush leather chair and delighted himself with the prospect that tomorrow he would begin to organise his domain. He would choose the staff of his house first, he pondered. A Vice President could not run a country if he had to run his own house.
He chanced a glance at the picture of his family that sat atop his desk, so far the only personal adornment of the large office. They stood grouped, Robert with his arms around them all. His wife smiled at the camera, as beautiful as she was icy, her cheekbones as high as her position in society, her love for her children radiating from her eyes. Maryse's left arm curved almost imperceptibly inwards as if she shrunk away from her husband's touch. Alec stood on his Father's other side, his smile slightly unsure but his eyes piercing. His dark hair was the exact shade of black as his mother's but his strong jaw was that of his father's. His only daughter Isabelle had her mother's beauty with none of Maryse's frostiness. She was no pampered princess, quite the rebel if Robert allowed himself to admit it but she had at least not disgraced the family. Young Max was the light of everyone's life. He was quietly contained with an air that he was wise beyond his years of nine. His childish innocence kept them sane in the midst of so much turmoil. Jace was at the forefront of the picture, Max seated carefully on his knees. His smile charmed people and for that he was a valuable asset to Robert.
Robert cast his thoughts away from his family and turned to thoughts of the pleasures that awaited him now that his campaign was over. He relished in the ability to control and there was plenty he could control now. Simpler pleasures occurred to him suddenly, the idea of beautiful maids awaiting his command. They had always had servers but nothing on such a grand scale. He would scarcely have to wash himself now and that pleased him. He deserved adoration for his dedication.
He pressed his forefinger to the intercom and muttered to his secretary who sat proudly outside his door on her first day of work. Moments later she entered through the teak door, balancing a tray of pastries. Robert glimpsed an agent standing guard at the door follow Maisie's path into the office. She was very beautiful, he conceded, but not his type. He had loved a blonde before and it had not ended well. He favoured a brunette or a woman with inky black hair now. Like his wife. Although their relationship was fraught he could not deny she was one of the most stunning women he had ever laid eyes on.
"Vice President." Maisie smiled and seemed to almost curtsey. He bestowed upon her a perfunctory nod which seemed to delight her.
Before the door could close behind her it was swung open and Robert's adopted son entered with a loping grace. Robert sighed and reached for the teapot.
"Robert." Jace grinned, settling into a chair opposite the impressive desk. "Fancy seeing you here."
"Shouldn't you be getting ready for the ball?" There was to be a ball in celebration of President Morgenstern and Vice President Lightwood's victory that evening.
"Ah." Jace said, reaching for a Danish pastry and shoving it into his mouth. "About that."
Robert shook his head. He had seen too many of Jace's antics throughout the years.
Jace spoke then, crumbs spraying everywhere.
"I seem to have run into a slight problem."