November, 2012

Michael stepped out of the hotel into the cool night air, somewhat relieved to get away from the crowd. He'd been feeling a bit awkward at the watch party since he didn't know anyone there, so he'd decided to step out for a little while and go for a short walk through the hotel gardens. He hadn't talked to Lindsay yet—he'd tried to a few times but she always seemed busy to talking to other people and then he'd lost track of where she was.

Miraculously, she was starting to pull ahead of Sally Sitwell, outperforming even her own campaign's expectations. He didn't know what she would do if she won. She had no government experience—she didn't have any kind of experience really, she'd never held down a job for more than a month. Not that Sally Sitwell was very qualified either, but she at least seemed more competent than Lindsay. He'd still voted for Lindsay, though, if only because he didn't want to have voting against his own sister on his conscience and one vote wouldn't make a difference anyway.

"Hey, Michael!"

Michael looked over and saw Lindsay sitting on a bench off in a shadowy corner under some trees.

"Oh, hi," he said, surprised and somewhat caught off guard. "I've been trying to find you."

"Yeah, I sneaked out here for a drink," she laughed sheepishly, holding up the silver flask in her hand as he walked over to her. "Can't be seen at the bar."

He laughed and sat down next to her. It was strange to be so close to her. It was the closest he'd been since he'd remembered what had happened. "Nervous?" he asked.

"Yeah, a little," she said. "I can't believe I'm ahead."

"Me neither," he said emphatically. She nodded and took a drink, looking a little shell-shocked. She was wearing a black dress similar to the one she'd worn on Cinco de Cuatro.

"What are you going to do if you win?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Like, are you going to accept it and become a representative?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I?" she said indignantly.

"I don't know, I guess I just…yeah, I guess you would," he said, wishing he hadn't said anything.

"I didn't do this campaign for nothing, I want to win," she said, looking annoyed.

"Yeah, I know, sorry," he said. They didn't say anything for a moment.

"Do you think I will?" she asked tentatively.

"I don't know," he said, surprised at the question. "The results are looking good."

"Yeah, they are," she said. "You voted for me, right?" she said teasingly, though there was a note of seriousness in her voice.

"Of course, I wouldn't vote against my own sister."

"Good," she laughed.

He smiled at her, acutely aware of the fact that it had taken six months for him to call her. "Thanks for inviting me here," he said.

She smiled. "Of course. Thanks for coming."

"I'm sorry I haven't called you," he said hesitantly, reluctant to bring it up but feeling like he owed it to her.

"It's okay," she said quickly.

"I've been following the election on the news. It's amazing you're doing so well."

"Thank you," she said with genuine emotion, clearly surprised. "It means a lot to me, this election. I've put so much work into it."

"Yeah, it's really impressive. Let's hope it pays off."

"Yeah, let's hope so."

He smiled at her, then looked away, thinking of that night again in spite of himself. It had been torturing him for the last six months, and being with her again only made it worse. He couldn't look at her without the images coming back to him. It was worse than it had ever been, now that he had little slivers of memories of that night, just enough to make him feel frustrated that he couldn't remember more. He couldn't help it, it hadn't been enough. In a pitch black banana stand with her dress on the whole time, and he could barely even remember it. If he had to live with the shame of having had sex with his sister he at least wanted it to feel satisfying, which just made him hate himself even more. He felt so ashamed that he'd had so little self-control, that he'd messed with her emotions again after everything he'd put her through over the years, and that he still wanted her like nothing else. He didn't want to think of her like this, he wanted so much to see her as only his sister, but there was nothing he could do, he'd changed their relationship forever.

"Well, I should go back in now, there will probably be more results coming in," Lindsay said, putting the flask in her purse. "Do you want to come with me? It would be nice to have some family there."

"Yeah, sure," he said, touched that she wanted him with her.

"Great," she said, and they got up and headed back inside.