Chapter 12: PM Campaign

"Did you like it, David?"

David is blushing and answers shyly: "Yes, I did".. "a lot actually"

"What did you like the most?"

"Emotionally, it's adding another level of intimacy & trust between us. Physically, it's tighter and the sensations on my sex are different, it "envelops" me differently. I like it. It also give me access to your sex & clit in a way I don't have when I am inside you "in the classical way".

"And you, Julia, why do you like it?"

"Well, I fully agree with everything you said and I really liked it when you stimulated me simultaneously with 2 fingers inside me, rubbing my clit with your thumb & your sex filling my back entrance. It was 3 very different pleasures at the same time and it was really overwhelmingly good"

He kisses her passionately.

"What do you want to do today, Julia?"

"Well, the honest answer would be to stay in bed with you the whole day… but I am afraid I have to make an appearance at the New Year's Day parade. It is planned as part of my campaign plan and to be honest I quite like it. Have you ever been?"

"No, I never bothered but this sounds great"

"Thank you David, I really appreciate your support and I know it's not easy to be on the public eye all the time when we leave the flat, and I really appreciate all your efforts"

"Love, I knew what I was signing up for. Remember: Our Choice"

"And we still have some time before having to get up, so first I want to have you for breakfast love" and within a second, he is undressing her on their bed to start the New Year in style.

After the New Year's parade, they come back home & they have fish & chips in the den. Then they watch the news, in the arms of each other. David is caressing Julia's legs.. slowly moving up her thighs. She kisses him deeper & deeper.

"Julia, it's my turn to suggest something a little bit different I would like to try with you"

"What is it David?"

"I would like to blindfold you. Don't worry, I am not going to replay "50 shades of Grey" but I want to make love to you with you not knowing what I am going to do to you next"

"hmmmm"

"I want you to trust me at 100% and to give me the full control of our lovemaking. I know this is a massive step for you, especially as you don't give anything away to other people, especially in your work"

"hmmm. This is difficult indeed for me. I have never done this before"

"Do you want to try, with me?"

"I trust you David, 100%. With my life. But that is indeed a massive step for me. I might need a bit more convincing"

"Like?"

"Lots of kisses, caresses and licking"

"Oh, that goes without saying, love. I am fully aware that you need to relax and need to be in an erotic induced state before I blindfold you, if you agree"

"Let's see how it goes then"

After lots of kissing, caressing, licking all over her body and 2 orgasms induced by David's fingers & tongue, Julia is sexually satiated and in a post-orgasmic bliss. She says to David he can go ahead with the blindfold. David retrieves a tie from the wardrobe and gently blindfold her.

"Julia, if you feel uncomfortable, I can remove it straight away, just say the safe word "Choice".

"OK, David. Thank you. I trust you". Julia exhales slowly. He can tell it's a huge effort for her and he appreciates it even more.

He puts back the duvet on top of her and he murmurs: "Stay warm under the duvet, I will be right back"

Julia can hear some noises coming from the kitchen but nothing clearly enough to guess what David is doing.

He is back in the room, she can feel and scent him but he doesn't say anything and doesn't touch her.

David removes gently the duvet and she shivers as she feels something really cold in the middle of her breast. Then the cold object is moving down, back up again, down: an ice cube. David is drawing patterns all over her body with the ice cube, whilst his other hand is caressing her and his tongue licking her where he knows she likes. Julia really enjoys it. He is kissing her feet, legs, moving up her thighs slowly where she needs him the most, then he kisses her there with an ice cube in his mouth. She squirms under his touch as he keeps kissing her sex, then slowly licking her folds with his ice cold tongue, she is slowly reaching her breaking point and suddenly David stops, removes the blindfold and enters her in one swift move. She shrieks by surprise then she pulls him towards her and kisses him breathlessly. They quickly reach their peak at the same time, screaming the other's name.

They stay entwined in each other's arms for some time, under the duvet, coming down from their high, kissing softly every now and then.

"David, that was amazing"

"It was indeed. How did it feel to handover the power, love?"

"I was a bit scary at the beginning I must say but then I relaxed when you gently keep me under the duvet whilst you were busying yourself in the kitchen. I felt warm, protected & pampered. Very much loved. I liked handing over the power completely, it was relaxing actually. But I am not ready to do this outside our bedroom!"

"Fair enough, love". They both laugh before drifting into a peaceful sleep.

Julia has got a lot of interviews that week, so she is working a lot to prepare them. She also prepares herself for the big final debate scheduled for Saturday 5th January evening. She will then go on a city campaign trail for 2 weeks. It will be the first time they will spend such a long time apart as David can't come with her because of some anticipated Detective Training exams.

They still manage to organize some "date nights" as they know it will be manic for several months, if Julia is elected.

They go to the movie theatre to watch "On the Basis of Sex" an American biographical legal drama film based on the life and early cases of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who became the second woman to serve on the United States Supreme Court. Julia loves it and even if David was not convinced beforehand, he got into it. He is a strong defender of women's rights & equality, especially in the army & police forces.

They also attend the English National Ballet's Swan Lake opening on 3 January 2019 at the London Coliseum. Julia is wearing a night blue lace dress, hugging her curves at the right places and David can't take his eyes out of her.

Before going on the city campaign trail, Julia asks David to rehearse again the basic self-defense moves he started to teach her during her rehabilitation. It was really a struggle for her with her prosthesis at the beginning, but she was very persistent and she appreciated the self-confidence boost it was giving her. She is getting better & better at it and she learned to compensate her prosthesis with her good leg, especially to improve her balance and avoid any potential assaulter to take advantage of it.

David has also taught her to shoot and she is really good at it. She likes the focus required, the adrenaline rush and the temporary extra power she feels with a gun in her hands. She is also very happy to share that passion with David and they go to the shooting range once a week together.

It helps her to feel safe when David's not there, despite her new security team having been picked-up by David, he is the only one she trusts.

They arrive at the BBC studios around 7pm, 1 hour ahead of the debate which is starting at 8pm. Julia receives several "good luck" texts, including from David's parents which really touched her as she knows they are liberal but the fact they support their son's girlfriend, no matter what, makes her a bit emotional.

The BBC TV debate is moderated by Laura Kuenssberg.

The other candidates are: Roger Penhaligon, James Gardner & Harry Kirk, Jeremy Highway & Jon Applegate. She is the only woman amongst the 6 candidates.

The first ballot of Members of Parliament (MPs) will take place on the 14th January, with exhaustive ballots of MPs also taking place on 16th, 17th and 18th January, reducing the candidates to two. The general membership of the party will elect the leader by postal ballot with the result being announced on the 25th January.

People in the public are allowed to ask questions and each candidate has a 60 min speaking time allocation.

Things are doing well, the debate is very civilized, each candidate allowing the others to express their views and even if some points of view are totally opposite and create some heated discussions, but there is a lot of respect in the debate and Laura is doing a great job.

Then suddenly, there is a massive "bang" noise similar to an explosion. Julia freezes instantaneously. The rambling noise of the voices of the other people wakes her up and she instinctively looks at David who looks at her very calmly, raises his hands and put them on his chest and slowly breaths in and out.. Julia does the same and manages to calm down quickly and avoid the panic attack which was potentially going to happen.

She then realizes Roger is looking at her with a broad smile and snaky eyes. She knows immediately what happened: he tried to trigger her PTSD with the explosion noise.

Laura is reassuring everybody, it was a balloon which exploded in one of the boxes.

Julia drinks some water and refocus.

But Roger unhappy that his plan failed, loses his nerves and attacks her directly: "Julia, you look pale. Maybe that noise triggered your PTSD and it shows clearly that you are unfit to run the country"

"Unfit? Why? Because I am a disabled woman who survived a sniper attack and a bombing? I did what was needed to heal Roger, I walk with a prosthesis without any problem, I live a normal life and I have done intense psychotherapy (and I am still doing it) to deal with the side effects of the attempts on my life, a long period in the coma, the survivor's guilt and my amputation. I feel stronger than ever. I am also a woman in love which provides me another level of balance in my life, not like when I was married to you". Everybody laugh..

Roger is fuming and says with great disdain: "well, let the electors decide if they are ready to give the power to run this country to a disabled, traumatised and psychologically sick woman". The crowd boos him.

"You are right Roger, let them decide. I am sure my very good results as Home Secretary will be more important to people than the fact I am missing a part of my right leg, that I am seeing a therapist once a week and that I am a woman"

The debate continues and Julia is making good point after good point. She is clearly the winner of the night. All media recognize it.

There are also some articles explaining that Roger is the one who tried to trigger Julia as the balloon that exploded was in his box. What was a balloon doing in Roger's box at the first place? He said it was a gift from his niece. Honestly, she is 25 years old. That defense line is a bit weak. Laura has tipped some journalists with facts and Rob has filmed a conversation with him in which he admits it and regrets it did not work. Rob leaks it in the press as he felt so guilty to have participated in the conspiracy with Mike & Roger to discredit Julia during her speech at St Matthews. He wants to try to be forgiven. All that fuss totally discredits Roger.

Julia is back in her box and David is at her side as quickly as possible. He hugs her tightly. "Well done, love. You recovered very well"

"Thank YOU David. You really helped me when you put your hands on your chest and breathed. I followed your breaths and it calmed me down".

"Let's go home now, future Prime Minister"

It is their last night together as Julia is leaving late afternoon for her city campaign trail. They make love several times and finally fall asleep, naked, satiated and in the arms of each other.

They have a studious Sunday as David prepares his Monday exam and Julia finalizes some speeches.

"Bye, Love. Call me when you get there, please. I love you. I am missing you already"

"Bye, Darling. I love you too and I will miss you lots"

They kiss passionately several times and Julia has to literally extract herself from David's arms. Their eyes locked one last time, Julia gazing at him lovingly before disappearing down the stairs.

The first week is passing as a whirlwind as they are both very busy – David with his mid-year exams and Julia sometimes visiting 2 different cities per day. On the Sunday, they are missing each other terribly. They Facetime and then suddenly the connection is lost. Julia is trying to call him back straight away but David doesn't answer. She then hears a knock on the door. Her PPO is talking through the door. "Miss Montague, there is a special delivery for you"

Julia opens the door abruptly "I have not asked anything to be deli…" and she stops before finishing her sentence as David stands in front of her.

"Surprise!"

"David enters the room, takes her in his arms and spins her around before kissing her breathlessly"

"David, that's the best surprise I have ever had. I am so happy you are here"

"I had my last exam yesterday morning, I had the kids for the weekend and I asked Vicky to pick them up 1 hour earlier than usual so I can come here and surprise you".

"Can you stop talking now Future Detective Inspector Budd"

"Yes, Ma'am"

They make love passionately, they are clearly not used to abstaining and they missed each other a lot.

David attends her meeting on Monday and then has to come back to London to work.

Julia will be back in town on Thursday, to get the first results of the first ballot.

On Friday 18th January, the results of the first round are officially announced and Julia has received the highest number of votes in history.

Roger is eliminated in the first round.

So now, there are 2 candidates left: Julia & Harry Kirk whom Julia likes but has often beaten in the past.

However as the saying goes: "do not sell the skin of the bear until you have killed it".

Julia is pleased and she is pleased Harry made it to the second round, as there is a lot of respect between them and Harry is clean, fair and doesn't do dirty tricks. Honesty and transparency always win, Julia understood this by paying a high price.