The Candidate – Chapter Two
A/N: Thank you for all the love and support on the first chapter, I'm looking forward to processing with this story as it's something completely different and I love a challenge. Don't forget to review this chapter and enjoy.
"Well, that went better than expected." Thomas told Olivia as he jokingly nudged her on their way back into the back stage dressing room to collect their things, following behind Mellie, Mr Ballard and the rest of the entourage. The evening had gone smoothly and everybody was preparing to leave the Republican Party vice presidential candidate selection and hop onto the bus to their hotels to proceed onto the next part of the campaign,
"Am I awful for wishing she'd fall off the stage on her way down?" Olivia rhetorically asked
"Is it bad that I was thinking that too?" Thomas responded as he and Olivia laughed leaving the building and following everyone else on the bus.
They were slightly behind everybody else as they were too busy joking around and had reached the bus a little later, being met by Sandra, the very uptight and overbearing campaign manager and also their boss. She was a no nonsense woman who seemed to have a constant thorn in her side and seemed to care for nothing but work. Everything about her life revolved around her job and when Olivia joined the campaign, it wasn't just Mellie she took an instant disliking to.
Olivia and Thomas were met with a glaring look from her as the moved further down the bus aisle, with the VP nominee and the rest of the campaign crew and Senator Grant scattered and sat on each side of the bus.
"Quick hurry, sit down." Sandra bellowed to the both of them. Olivia and Thomas were both the youngest people working on the campaign so they were always spoken to in condescending or reprimanding manor.
The sooner we're out of this hick state the better." Sandra finished as she began typing out an email on her phone. Olivia and Thomas found seats immediately, Olivia found herself next to VP nominee Jacob Ballard as it was the closest available. She cleared her throat and crossed her legs as she sat down into the seat by him. She smoothed down her skirt before reaching in her bag she had placed on the floor to retrieve her tablet, which had most of the campaigns most important information on it.
"Is it done?" Mellie asked campaign manager Sandra referring to whatever it was she was doing on her phone.
"Yes. Now, if I could get everyone's attention. This is just the first stop in a long journey to the top, but I guarantee we will get there, and in six months time, we will be celebrating the victory of the first female president." Sandra exaggerated.
"It's about time we had some oestrogen in that oval office and god damn it, it's going to happen, even if I have to kill for that spot, I don't care who I have to step on to get to the top. I have worked my entire life for this. Philadelphia is our next stop on this trip." Mellie finished. She was never one to just let others speak and more than often found herself speaking over others or interrupting them.
"Intense much?" Jake rhetorically mumbled.
Olivia looked up from her tablet and quickly glanced at him, catching his eye. She hadn't really heard a word Sandra or Mellie had said, she just knew it was related to the next steps in the campaign, she had heard Mr Ballard loud and clear though.
"Mmmm." Olivia mumbled as she continued what she was doing on her tablet.
20 minutes later, the bus finally reached the hotel they would be staying at for the night. It had been an entirely long day and all that was on Olivia's mind was getting as much rest as possible, it was the main priority of the rest of the team as well. She staggered off the campaign bus with her luggage and walked into the hotel reaching the receptionist to grab her room key, number 213.
She pulled her luggage along with her and entered the elevator and pressed the button going to her floor. Just as the elevator was about to close, a large hand stopped it. It was the VP nominee himself. "Thank you, Uhm…" He stuttered as he couldn't remember her name and snapping his fingers he did."
"Olivia, Pope." She answered for him.
"Ah yes, thank you." He smiled, in a light arrogant tone.
Olivia glanced at him again through the corner of her eye, she found herself doing that a lot that night.
"Uhm, what floor?"
"9." He answered, but it was also the same floor as hers he soon noticed. "So I guess, you don't have to press anything."
Olivia pulled her hand back in, unintentionally showing her plastic "Mellie for President" band on her wrist.
"Nice band, does it come with matching T shirts?" He jokingly asked.
"I honestly wouldn't know, I am not in charge of that part of the campaign." She briefly answered refusing to look at him, she just stared at the elevator doors waiting to reach her floor and exit them.
During the silent elevator ride, Jake eyed her up and down, getting a closer look at her, sizing her up. He knew everybody working on the campaign but ironically not her yet. He striked her as a mystery, a complex puzzle that had yet to solved, and he wanted to get into it.
They reached their floor and both exited the elevator at the same time, causing them to sort of bump each others sides.
Jake, being the gentlemen he was raised to be, stepped back. "After you." He told her.
"Thank you." Olivia answered as she struggled with her luggage and continued down the hallway.
She didn't realise Jake was hot on her trail until she pulled up outside her room finding him stood next to her outside the door next to her.
"Well would you look at that, seems like we're neighbours." He said to her.
There he goes with that arrogant manor again, Olivia thought to herself, and these thoughts were shortly interrupted.
"You know, I feel like we were never formally introduced."
"And what makes you say that Mr Ballard?"
"Well you're the only one on the campaign I hadn't met before tonight, and our introduction was brief and rushed, so maybe we should start again." Jake advice with a slightly cocky smile. "So, Hello, I'm Jacob Ballard, but you can call me Jake, all my friends call me Jake." He said pulling out his hand for her to shake.
Olivia was barely listening to him and turned in his direction. "And I'm tired. Goodnight Mr Ballard." She snapped back before pulling her room key out of the slot and entering.
"It's Jake." He smiled as he watched her close her room door before entering his own.
She immediately pulled off her 6 inch heels, that had been killing her all day and limped over to her bed, about to rest up but her phone began vibrating underneath her.
"Hello?" Olivia answered as she slouched back into her bed and took a deep breath.
"Oh so you finally answer your phone?" The woman on the other line asked her.
"What?" Olivia asked getting back up. "I have a very serious job Alice, my phone was turned off. What do you want anyway. Why are you calling me this late?" Olivia yawned.
"Hey, don't blame me little sis, it's Mom, she wanted to know if you were still going to make it on Sunday for dinner. She said her and Dad feel like they haven't seen you in months." With her job, it was easy for her parents to feel she was deliberately avoiding them at times so they were constantly trying keep track of her and invade in her life, which actually frustrated her at times but she didn't have the guts to tell them to their faces.
"Well, I'm not their only child to keep track off." Olivia said sarcastically. "But then again, I can see why they'd be more interested in seeing me rather than you." Olivia joked.
"You're not funny bitch." Alice snapped back. Despite Alice being the older Pope sister, she was the reckless and unapologetic one while Olivia was the driven and mature one, which made her the favourite by default.
"So?" Alice continued
"So what?"
"Dinner, Sunday. Are you coming or not. I don't wanna have to hear Mom and Dad bitching in my ears about you barely visit, why should I suffer because you can't stand to be around them?"
Olivia just rolled her eyes at her sister's statement. "It's not that Alice, I'm just a very busy woman right now, and I'm not sure about Sunday right now, I totally spaced on that. It depends on how the campaign goes. I'll let Mom and Dad know by Saturday. I'll speak to you later."
A/N: Okay, so that was chapter two. I would much appreciate if you guys gave me reviews and let me know what you think because I do read them all and take heed to anything anybody tells me. You could even share this story or any of my others with any Olake fans you may know in real life.
