Chapter Seventeen
Ana arrived at the constituency office as nervous as hell. After what had been a relaxing weekend at home with Christian and a celebratory meal with her parents on Sunday afternoon, she was now meeting with Kate who had assembled a team for the leadership campaign.
Kate and Hannah were seated with 4 new people when Ana entered the office, they all stood when she walked in making her feel awkward and uncomfortable, she gave them a lop-sided smile and tried to appear more confident than she was feeling.
"Good morning." She said politely, taking the final seat at the table, which was actually two tables shoved together, where a steaming coffee was already waiting for her.
"So, Ana let me introduce you to everyone." Kate said as everyone retook their seats. "This is Rosin Lloyd, she was Douglas' special political advisor." She pointed at the young woman beside her, she was around Ana's age with bushy red hair that had been pulled back into a high ponytail. She had freckles, green eyes and knowing she'd worked directly for Douglas' she knew she had someone good on her side. "Then Emily Ross." Ana pointed to the slightly older lady with black hair and dark eyes hidden behind thick-framed glasses that rested on a sharp and pointed nose. She gave Ana a firm nod, Ana knew this woman wasn't to be messed with. "She will be your head of strategy. Also worked for Douglas. Then we have Phillip Calder. Philip was Douglas' spin doctor."
"It's a pleasure to be on your team." Phillip smiled, a dazzling white smile at her. He was so camp and Ana knew he was likely to be gay.
"Thanks." She replied awkwardly.
"And then you have Gracie Brown, she is an acting coach." Kate pointed at the slim African woman that Ana was sitting next to who also gave her a bright smile.
"Acting coach?" Ana asked, not meaning to sound rude but she had no idea why she needed an acting coach.
"To help with your speaking and presentation skills."
"It will also be my job to help you on your wardrobe choices." She said politely and Ana, though feeling unsure gave a timid nod. This was extremely overwhelming, and she huffed out air and shook her head softly.
She knew she had to run a good campaign. She knew she had to take this seriously and work like she wanted to win. However, this alone was crazy. If she became leader this small team in front of her would grow, she'd have people at her beck and call doing all manner of things on her behalf. Doing things she normally did herself.
"So, we've called a conference tonight, you're going to be kick-starting your campaign from Chartridge Lodge, we thought it was best to keep it local. We've invited eighty journalists in total." Kate started, already getting stuck in there giving Ana no time to think about what was coming before her. She nodded, her bottom lip between her teeth giving away just how uncomfortable she was.
"I have gone through your voting record, your history and what you've been saying publicly and come up with your speech." Rosin started, taking over from Ana. "You can go through it, edit and change what you want if there's anything that you're unhappy with then say. This is your speech, your campaign and I want you to be completely comfortable with it." She explained passing over a document. "We will need you to memorise as much of it as possible and just have a cheat sheet." Ana wiped her hand across her mouth as she wondered how the hell she was supposed to learn something someone else had written in just a few hours.
"Any mistakes or misunderstanding will be my job to sort out." Phillip said teasingly. "I'll warm up the journalists for you, get them in the mood." He said near dancing in his seat. Ana giggled, at least someone here was making her laugh and lifting her spirits.
"And that leaves me to pop by your house, pick out your outfit and to work on the speech with you. I've organised for a hair and makeup artist to come by later to help get you ready." Gracie continued.
"Christian will need to be with you." Rosin added.
"Absolutely, that hunk of yours needs to be there and not just because I want something good to look at." Phillip added again making Ana laugh, she loved him already, he was quite the character.
"It will give a good impression that you're supported and a bit of a team." Emily explained.
"I best pick something out for him to wear too so he doesn't clash." Gracie said hurriedly making Ana laugh harder, she couldn't imagine Christian being dictated to by anyone, then again Gracie had a very bossy sort of personality so she imagined that if anyone could, Gracie could.
"Ok so Ana are you happy?" Kate asked, the only person who hadn't spoken yet was Hannah but she seemed to be quite happy just going with the flow.
"Yep." Ana popped her P as she lied through her teeth, she wasn't happy, she wanted to run home throw herself under the duvet and pretend that this wasn't happening. But here she was having to take the bull by the horns and act like everything was perfect.
"Ok, Hannah and I are going over to Chartridge to set up." Kate said getting to her feet, Hannah quick to follow. Ana's eyes screamed at them not to leave her but they didn't notice, leaving her with four complete strangers.
"Hey sweetie, you don't need to worry. You've got this." Phillip said giving Ana another dazzling smile as he took her hand across the table. Ana gave him a grateful but tense smile in return as he squeezed her hand, letting her know she wasn't alone.
"Ok. So Ana I need to go root through your closet. Is there anyone there who can show me to your closet so I don't have to take you away from here?"
"Yeah Christian's home." Ana said. "I'll let him know you're coming and why or he will not be impressed." She chuckled awkwardly. She could only imagine Christian's face if this woman showed up demanding to see Ana's closet.
"See you in a bit." Gracie said already heading for the door, it was clearly all systems go.
Ana settled down to read the speech that Rosin had written for her. She'd done really well, clearly gone back through Ana's political career looking for those key things that Ana had strong beliefs for. It was all here, homelessness, special educational needs, the NHS and mental health and of course the one thing she wouldn't be able to get away from, terrorism. Though Rosin had either been briefed or had wisely stayed away from actually mentioning Islington which was nice, she didn't want that to be the focus of her campaign, she couldn't completely run from it but she could definitely refuse to make it the centrepiece of this.
Ana spent the next hour going through the speech with a pencil, making her changes and checking them with Rosin. It was immediately obvious to Ana that they were to be a team. Rosin wasn't dictating to her, she was respectful about all of Ana's suggestions and helped her make the speech Ana's. By the time Gracie was back, they were ready to get to rehearsing.
"You don't want it to be over-rehearsed," Rosin said as Ana got behind the makeshift podium that Phillip had done by putting chairs on top of each other. "How do you want to come across?"
"Like a leader." Ana replied awkwardly, how else would she want to come across?
"No, what I mean is, do you want to appear like a hard leader or someone softer?"
"Softer." Ana replied. "But not too soft, someone who can be in control when needs be, someone who can take the bull by the horns but is kind and caring. I just want them to get to know me I guess." Ana rubbed at her forehead, she felt so out of her depths with this.
"Ok, we will make sure that they get to know Ana Steele."
A few hours later Ana was sitting in a backroom inside the conference centre nervously waiting to go out and face the media. Everyone had done so much in getting her ready to make her official announcement of running for leader. Her slogan was 'with Ana we can' something Ana had found incredibly funny.
"You haven't chosen a dress?" Asked Gracie coming back into the room, she had changed now into a dark outfit that allowed her to blend, the entire team would be there with Ana while she made her speech.
"I don't know which one to choose." Ana shrugged looking at the 4 dresses that Gracie had picked out for her.
"Ok go with the dusty blue one." Gracie said figuring Ana needed someone to make the choice for her.
"I can't wear that one." Ana said quietly. There were two dresses hanging up that she'd already ruled out of her choice and that was one of them.
"Why?" Gracie asked just as Christian came into the room.
Ana turned to Gracie and peeled off her jacket, she turned slightly so Gracie could see the black and red of her arm, the still healing skin flap that no longer had to be wrapped and bandaged anymore but still had angry stitches on show.
"Do you want it hidden?" Gracie asked trying not to look disgusted at what Ana was showing her.
"No one wants to see that." Ana replied pulling her jacket back onto her shoulders.
"Why?" Gracie asked. "It's a part of you, a part of what happened to you."
Ana looked back at the dress, would wearing it and showing her injury be kind of pushing it into people's faces what she had been through. She didn't want to use the bombing to garner votes.
"If it helps I grabbed the matching jacket. It's underneath it." Gracie said softly and Ana smiled, that would work.
Christian arrived in his suit looking as nervous as Ana felt. She'd slipped into her dress, her hair had been styled in loose waves around her shoulders and her make up had been done to be soft and elegant but to help Ana glow. The dress was a high neckline, shoulder sleeve dress that was knee length with structured pleats and a matching belt on the waist. It was a good choice, it made her look formal enough without looking too hard. They had all agreed that showing Ana's softer side was important, making her as different as possible to Elena Lincoln who always looked hard and tough. Christian helped her into the matching jacket, it had three-quarter length sleeves a rounded edge and a single hidden hook and eye closure in the middle. It worked perfectly.
"You look incredible." Christian told her as she slipped into a pair of pointed toe, nude, stiletto court shoe.
"Thanks." She smiled nervously. He could see the tension radiating off her, she was on edge, anxious about what she was about to do.
"You'll do amazing." Christian said quietly.
"I don't know about that." Ana replied, her hands rolling around each other at her waist. Christian crossed over to her and grabbed her, pulling her into a deep and sensual kiss. Ana sighed into it, glad to have him here and to have his touch.
"You'll do amazing." He repeated as he rested his forehead against hers. Ana smiled softly, knowing Christian believed in her gave her a little bit of confidence at least.
And he truly did believe in her. While she kept telling him that she was too young, too inexperienced, he kept telling her how amazing she was. Ana would be able to do this, he knew that, but he hated how little she believed in herself. Her confidence, the little she had before Islington, had been knocked to the ground and he had no idea how to help her rebuild it again.
"Ana it's time." Kate said from the doorway. Her big doe eyes looked up at Christian as she swallowed hard, this was it.
She took Christian's hand in her own and headed for the door, she wanted to feel him beside her for as long as she possibly could. They walked into a heaving conference room and first she heard cameras going off before the journalists broke out into applause, led by Ana's team who was stood to one side. Ana smiled best she could, hoping that it would appear happy and confident as she released Christian's hand, allowing him to stand with her team while she took to the podium.
Labour boards had been put up as a backdrop, with her slogan written on the front of the podium. It still made her giggle. 'With Ana, We Can' it sounded like the name of a movie or something.
"Good evening everyone and thank you so much for joining us here as I launch my bid for Labour Leadership." Ana said as she stood up tall, her shoulders back as her hands went to the side of the podium. "For ten years we have been in the depths of Tory austerity. We've seen cuts to the most vital public services and we've all felt it in one way or another. Well, I say no more. Instead of cutting service back to their bare bones we need to be working on new and creative ways of making sure money is coming into government so that we can spend it on those services that we all so heavily rely on. That's why if I become leader I will follow through with Douglas Hall's promise of bringing privatised services back into public ownership so that the only people profiting is the people of this great nation."
As Ana spoke she felt her passion for politics returning. Doug and John had helped her believe in what they wanted to do, had taught her how the fair distribution of wealth would help the people who struggled the most. After the bombing she'd lost a lot of hope and faith, now though, as she told the media what she would do if she was elected leader that hope and faith were returning, her voice was stronger than it had been in so long. She smiled out at the journalists before she moved on to the next part of her speech.
"Inequality breeds hatred." Ana continued, this being the small nod to the bombing without mentioning it. "Hatred has no place in our multi-cultural society. That's why we will work to bridge the gap between those at the bottom and those at the top. Wages will grow with inflation, so no one sees the cost of living rising faster than what's coming into their homes, we will put caps on the price rises of necessary services like gas, electricity and water so that big companies aren't making huge profits while people struggle to pay their bills. And remove the caps from public sector worker wages. Most importantly we will work on building new, sustainable homes so that no one is at risk of being without a roof over their heads. We will work with businesses to ensure homes for everyone and scrap the bedroom tax that the Conservatives brought in, no one should have to pay for empty bedrooms when there will be enough housing for everyone. Every initiative will be fully costed before going ahead, there will be full transparency for the public, whatever costs the Government will incur, the public will know exactly where the funds will be coming from to pay for it. Something that has never been done before yet will allow the public to know exactly where public money comes from and where it goes." This had been Douglas big plan, and Ana wanted to see it through. It would be greater transparency and accountability for the treasury but that's what Douglas wanted, people had the right to full disclosure of what happened with their money.
"We will work on increasing tax revenue, not by putting taxes up but by greater penalties for tax avoidance. We will work with businesses big and small to ensure that companies pay a fair amount of tax. No more will we hear of big businesses with huge British profits paying nothing into our economy." People hated that big businesses could get away with paying little tax and it had been well known that the Tories didn't bother chasing after them, preferring the donations to their campaigns rather than paying a fair amount of taxes. Ana had insisted that she would stand on a platform that fought against tax avoidance, close tax loopholes and prevent the likes of Starbucks and Google from trading in the UK while paying nothing in. It had to stop.
"On education, we will bring the fun back into the classroom for students and teachers. We need to reduce the needless amount of paperwork that teachers have to allow them to enjoy teaching once more. We will inspire the next generation, the people that we want to be the next teachers, doctors and politicians by allowing them to enjoy learning. We will work with real teachers on ensuring that we can meet their needs so that they can meet the needs of their students. We will also put legislation into place to further protect the needs of children with Special Educational Needs so that all children have equal opportunity to access an education that is safe, free from discrimination and allows them to be taught to a level that will ensure personal success. Of course, none of this will be possible without a Labour Government and with me at the helm, I will fight for a Labour Government that is for the people, all people, equally. Thank you."
Ana received a standing ovation from the journalists as Christian joined her side so that they could smile at the cameras who wanted to photograph them. Kate rushed in and pulled them both away from the podium so that they could get full-length photos of the two in front of the Labour boards.
"Well done." Christian whispered as Ana leant into him, her hand going to his chest as she wanted to feel as much of him as possible. He gave her a gentle kiss on the head, her eyes fluttering close. The perfect photo.
When Ana was finally led out the group shared a group hug, other than Christian who felt awkward enough with all the people he didn't yet know. Ana couldn't stop smiling. It had gone so well, and she had felt the energy of the journalist as though they were with her every word, listening, hanging on and paying as much attention as they possibly could. She knew that she'd been live on-air and appearing confident and put together while talking about those whom she wanted to do the best by had been vital to her.
"Right, we've got a crazy twelve weeks ahead of us." Rosin said as everyone started packing up ready to leave. "Ana over the next couple of weeks you'll be doing some personal appearances on the likes of the Andrew Marr show and then we will work on getting you ready for TV debates."
"Sounds good to me." Ana smiled awkwardly, her debating skills were quite good so she was happy to do the televised debates, plus it was a good way for people to compare her politics against the others.
"Then we'll do a tour of the Constituency Labour Parties, get you into the meetings to meet your voters, give them the opportunity to ask you questions. Of course, we'll have developed your own personal manifesto by then."
Christian could see how much on edge discussing the next few weeks was putting on Ana. Her shoulders had slowly become hunched, the smile had faded from her face and her eyes had gotten sullener with each sentence that the redhead woman had been saying. He worried about how she was going to cope with the pressures of running such a huge campaign, though he knew if she survived this, in May she would have a bigger one, trying to fight to get her party into Government. He knew, right now, it was his responsibility to take care of her.