Eve laid the dress on the bed and stared at it before putting it in the closet. It looked so silly next to all her other clothes that the almost wanted to stuff it back into the bag. Even next to her party dresses, it was ridiculous, and made all the others look like rags. She comforted herself with the thought that if Lex was pleased with her, he would buy her new clothes until her whole closet was full of dresses just as beautiful as the one from Kendall's. But before that happened, she had to do a good job with Senator Vauxhall.

She called in sick on Saturday afternoon, and after the usual harangue from Mr. Priver, she spent the rest of the day in preparation. The makeup Lex had bought her seemed much more obstinate in her hands than the lady who had given her the makeover at Kendall's, and the dress seemed ridiculous when she wore it in her apartment, let alone on the subway.

She arrived at the party when it was just starting to get going, and felt her a slight resurgence in her confidence return, especially after a glass of champagne. She was completely out of her element, but she liked the pretense. She also liked the fact that while the other women were dressed like senator's wives, she was dressed like a senator's mistress, and based on the amount of stares she got, she knew it wouldn't be difficult to get Vauxhall's attention. After getting another glass of champagne, this time to hold seductively rather than drink, she spotted Vauxhall.

He was standing with a group of other nondescript suits, and she casually circled the group so that she was facing him. She looked in his direction as casually as possible until he made eye contact with her. She smiled her best stage smile and he gave an almost embarrassed grin back. She knew he was going to be easy. She immediately dropped her gaze, but before he could look away, she glanced up at him again, this time from under her eyelashes. After looking back down, she waited. And a few seconds later, there he was, standing next to her, but far away enough to still keep up a façade of casualness.

"Hi. Fun party, isn't it?"

"Yes, it's wonderful! I was here with my brother, he's the politician, but I'm afraid I've lost him. Hey, you're Senator Vauxhall, aren't you?"

"Yes, yes, I am."

"Oh, wow! I just love you so much! You know, politically, I mean." She giggled.

"Well, thank you. That's not something I hear often enough. What, specifically do you agree with, Miss…?"

"Bianca."

"Bianca, what a pretty name."

She smiled, looked down, and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Yeah, I've grown to like it. Oh" someone lightly jostled her from behind, which, of course, sent her falling towards Vauxhall.

"But Senator, I especially love what you have to say about education.

"Oh, yes?"

She nodded. "I'm a teacher, so, you know, it's something I really care about."

"Really, what kind of teacher?"

She hadn't planned the lie that far, but an answer came to her quickly "High school English. You know, Dante's Odyssey and all that."

"Oh, I see" he gave a confused smile. "And you're in favor of the new reforms we're planning?"

"Absolutely! But I still feel like us teachers don't get nearly enough say in the important stuff that affect us."

"You're right, and it's a big shame. You know" he straightened his shoulders slightly "you could tell me some of your ideas now, and I would certainly consider them."

"Okay" she lowered her voice. "It's so loud in here, though. Do you think we should find somewhere else?"

He cast a hesitant glance around the room. "You're right. The last thing I need is to run into another lobbyist."

"Yeah, I know what you mean!" She giggled, not quite sure what a lobbyist was, before turning leading him to the guest room and positioning herself by the closet, noticing that it was slightly ajar. He walked in, closing the door behind him.

"So, Miss Bianca, I'd be especially interested to hear your opining on implementing some of Dewey's ideas of schooling to public schools. Because I somehow get the feeling that you would be more interested in that type of liberal schooling."

"Oh yeah, I tend to be very liberal."

"But I just don't think that kind of system can work for students past the age of ten."

"No, you're absolutely right. I mean, after a certain age, they need discipline, or who knows what they might get up to! You just hear so many stories about the crazy things kids are doing; all the sex and drugs and things like that."

"That's true, and I think those transaction schools are making them feel so entitled."

"That's such a good point, Mr. Vauxhall. You must be just about the only reasonable politician in America."

"You should tell that to my wife."

That was always a good sign, working the wife into the conversation so that she could decide whether to proceed or not.

She reached up and straightened his tie. "Well, if she really doesn't know, then…" She didn't get to finish her sentence, however, as Vauxhall grabbed her waist and kissed her. She let herself enjoy it, pretending he was Lex and kissing him back properly. He started fumbling for her breasts and groped them awkwardly. Wanting to make sure the pictures were safely taken, she took his head in her hands and pressed it against her breasts. While he was nuzzling her, she turned toward the closet did her best to look surprised and horrified for the sake of the photographs. She even grabbed his hair to push him closer, knowing that in a still photograph she could easily be pulling him away. He finally brought his head back up and kissed her lips again.

"Take your dress off" he whispered in her ear in between kisses. "I want to look at you."

She pulled back, about to comply, but then remembered Philip in the closet. If she was going to be a teacher for that night, she certainly didn't want to be a corrupting influence on the youth of America.

"No, I'm sorry. I-"

"Oh, no, no need to explain. What I did was completely out of line and I apologize."

"That's okay, that's okay. I just think we both got a little drunk and a little carried away, and that we should just go back to the party like nothing ever happened."

Vauxhall agreed with her, and Eve sneaked out of the party as soon as he was out of sight. She took the subway home, trying to ignore the stares she got in her dress. She arrived home before Lydia, which she was thankful for, as an outfit like that would take more of an explanation than she was willing to give. She hid it in her closet, and tugged an oversize T-shirt over her head, wondering what kinds of nightgowns she would have with four hundred dollars.