I freeze. This letter is not a suggestion, despite Snow's deceptive wording. It's an order. I know how illogical it is to follow the instructions on a piece of paper from our opponent, but I also know I can't disregard it. I crush the note into a ball, and toss it in the trash can before I step out and shut the door to my office.
Gears are already turning in my head, forming a plan of how I'm going to meet him without anybody finding out as I walk down the hallway to Finnick's office. I knock on his door, waiting to hear his voice welcoming me in before pushing it open.
His eyes raise from his newspaper to the door, smiling when he sees my face. "To what pleasure do I owe this visit Miss Everdeen?" he asks playfully, reclining in his chair.
I'm not even sure what I'm saying, but the words fall out of my mouth regardless. "I need a favor."
He raises his eyebrows in surprise, eyeing me up and down. "A favor? Depends on what it is."
"I need you to lie to Peeta for me." The words sound far more sinister than I intended, judging from Finnick's shocked expression. I attempt to backtrack. "It's not anything bad, I swear. I just have something to do tonight that I would rather not have him know I'm doing." I plead my case terribly, and Finnick doesn't look too convinced.
"Sweetheart," he starts, looking at me skeptically. "Peeta's been my best friend for almost 10 years. You're going to have to do better than that."
I scoff at his accusatory tone. "You think I'm cheating on him or something? How stupid do you think I am that I would go to my boyfriend's best friend to cover up an affair?" I feel slightly offended, but I try not to let it show.
I can tell Finnick is trying to read my body language by the way he squints at me. "I'd like to think that we're friends, and that I know you fairly well. We both know you are far from stupid. So you know what? I'll cover for you, just this one time. I'll tell Peeta that I'm keeping you at the office late tonight so you can do whatever it is that you need to do." I open my mouth to thank him, but he cuts me off. "But if this blows up in your face, I'm not going down with you."
This is the most serious I've seen Finnick since he hired me, his brow set in a straight line and his gaze unwavering. I nod my head slowly, the seriousness of my actions setting in. "Thank you Finnick. I owe you one." I turn to leave his office, but he calls my name before I'm out the door.
"And Katniss?" Finnick says, grabbing my attention. "Whatever you're doing, just don't hurt Peeta." He stutters on his words, his hand rubbing his temple.
"I won't. I promise." My lie seems to satisfy him, and he turns his attention back to his paper, signifying the end of the conversation.
When I walk in to Alma Coin's campaign headquarters at 9:30 PM sharp, every head in the office turns towards me. While opponent's manager's visiting each other is not out of the ordinary, very rarely will you find the girlfriend of a candidate visiting the enemy.
I approach the front desk without hesitation. "Hello, my name is Katniss Everdeen. I have a meeting with Mr. Snow?" The receptionist looks at me disinterestedly, scanning the book in front of her for my name.
"Straight ahead, third door on the left." She points in the direction and I continue walking, avoiding the stares from everyone around me. I can't help but feel like I'm walking towards my death - which isn't too far from the truth, judging from what I've heard Haymitch say about Snow.
As I stand in front of the door, there's a part of me reminding me how hurt Peeta would be if he found out I visited Snow and that I could turn around right now and go home. But the other part of me, the irrational and impulsive side, needs to confront who is behind that door. So I open the door without knocking, and find myself face to face with Cornelius Snow.
His pale white skin and white hair contrasts with the near darkness of his office, and his beady black eyes stare directly at me. The room smells like the flowers he sent me, and I have to hold my breath to keep from gagging. His snake like lips spread into a smile when he sees me. "Thank you for joining me Miss Everdeen," he says, extending his hand.
I close the door behind me, and reluctantly shake. "I didn't think I had a choice," I say, my smile forced.
He raises his eyebrows, surprised at my biting remark. "Well, let's get to business. I think this meeting will go much smoother if we agree not to lie to each other, no?"
"I do agree." I keep my responses short, Haymitch's words about his manipulative nature echoing in my head.
I try not to squirm under his harsh gaze. "I know you care a lot about Peeta," he starts, and I'm careful not to show my reaction. "And you know that I want to win this election." I watch his hands as he picks up pictures from his desk, smiling at them before handing them to me. "These are pictures of you and Mr. Mellark purchasing emergency contraceptive last night at a CVS," he explains, as if I don't know what I'm looking at.
My heart sinks to my toes as I inspect the pictures. They're a little blurry, most likely cell phone quality, but there is no doubt that it is Peeta and I in the picture. I'm wearing an old Georgetown sweatshirt, and Peeta is wearing his glasses, and the box of Plan-B in my hand is as clear as day. And there's not just one picture, there's multiple, and I have no doubt that these are not the only copy.
My mouth feels dry as I try to speak, panic rising in my chest. "Why do you have these? How did you get them?" I stutter.
He sits back in his chair, a content smile on his face. "Well Miss Everdeen, when you are in this business as long as I am, you make a lot of friends in a lot of places. But back to the issue at hand, these pictures will alienate the pro-life, abstinence only conservative voters who I know you have been trying to get."
As I stare back at him, I realize I've never hated anyone as much as I hate the man in front of me. Yet I keep from lashing out, thinking about Peeta and how he would handle this. "You can't do this, this is blackmail." As soon as the words come out of my mouth I already know it is not enough to stop him - nothing will stop him.
The smile appears on his face. "Who is going to stop me?"
I want to argue, but I know he's right. If I go to Haymitch, he'll have these photos leaked before I even walk into his office. I feel sick to my stomach as I cave in to his demands. "What do you want?"
"I want you to break up with Peeta." The ease of which he says it disgusts me, and he raises his hand up when he sees me start to object. "A girlfriend leaving him in the middle of his campaign speaks to his character. If he can't hold onto a girlfriend, how can he be trusted to represent this district? Plus you provide him with happiness, and I'm sure he would be very distraught in the aftermath."
Too many thoughts are going around in my head, and the only words I manage to get out are, "Why?"
"This is your first campaign. I just want you to know the way things operate around here." As the words leave his mouth, I decide I can't be in the room any long. I must not hide my distaste for him very well, because he opens his mouth again. "I can see you're dying to get out of here, so I'll let you go. You have 72 hours before I release these pictures to the press." He hands me the pictures, and I hastily shove them in my bag. I forget everything I know about being polite, and I get out of the room without even saying goodbye.
And I'm sprinting down the hallway, not caring one bit about the looks I receive. I feel nauseous - and I can't tell if it's from the Plan-B or the smell of roses still lingering in my nose- but as soon as get out of the building and round the corner, I vomit into a trashcan. What have I gotten myself into?
I pull up to the house by 10:15, but I can't make myself get out of the car. Snow's words hang over me like a dark cloud, and I can't believe I'm the same person who walked into that office less than an hour ago. How am I supposed to go in and break the heart of the only person I've ever truly loved?
I wait to see the lights flicker off in the bedroom before I force myself to get out and go inside. Maybe I can delay this. Maybe I can figure out a way to stop Snow without telling Peeta, I tell myself. I hold my heels in my hands as I climb the stairs, praying that Peeta is already asleep. I try to open the door as quietly as possible, but he shifts in bed as soon as I close it behind me.
"Katniss?" He asks, his need for sleep is evident in his voice.
"Yeah babe," I whisper. "It's alright, just go back to sleep." I will myself to keep my voice straight, tears already prickling my eyes.
He sits up a little more, and squints at my form in the darkness. "Come to bed, I sleep better when you're with me." I want to move, but I feel frozen in place. I can barely hear the sound of his voice without breaking down, I can't bear to share the same bed.
"I uh, have some work to do and I don't want to disturb you, so I'm just going to head to the study." My words appear to have the opposite effect on him, catching his curiosity rather than quelling it.
I hold my breath as he fumbles for his glasses before turning on the light on the nightstand. "Work? You just came from work?" His tone isn't accusatory, just confused. "Is something going on?"
Peeta suddenly sounds serious, and I feel myself getting more frantic. "No, no no! I just really have to work, Haymitch wants me to compare the spending habits of past Campaigns with ours, it really can't wait."
I try to play off my emotions, but it's obvious that he's not buying it. "You're shaking and sweating Katniss, spit it out!" I almost jump in my skin as Peeta raises his voice at me-he never yells. I know he's just agitated and sleep deprived, but I can't help the tears from forming in my eyes. He looks at me expectantly, waiting for me to tell him what's going on with me so he can go back to sleep.
"I met with Snow today," I say so softly I'm surprised he hears me. Peeta opens and closes his mouth in confusion, at a loss for words.
"You what?" His voice rings with disbelief, and I avoid his questioning eyes. I see my relationship crashing and burning right in front of my eyes. This wasn't supposed to happen tonight. I'm supposed to have 3 more days, I think to myself. "Katniss?" He calls, and his voice brings me out of my haze.
I take in a deep breath, wipe the tears off my face, and tell him everything. About the letter, the roses, the pictures and the blackmail. He stays silent for all of it, listening to me describe what has possibly been the worst day of my life. His eyebrows fur when I hand him the pictures, and he sighs when he hears Snow's terms.
"This is ridiculous, I hope you told him no," he says so confidently that I question why I'm even worried in the first place.
But then I remind myself that Snow doesn't make threat, he makes promises, and I sigh. "Peeta," I say, sitting down next to him on the bed. "You know how much you need those voters. I can't-I can't let you do that."
"No." Peeta says firmly. "It's not worth it. This," he says, waving the pictures in my face. "Is not what I signed up for. This is exactly what's wrong with American Politics! I can't believe that someone think that they can do this!" He's getting fired up, the same way he does when he delivers speeches for crowds for something he believes in. But he's not being rational, and we both know it.
"Peeta I told you from the start, I'm not letting you sacrifice this campaign for me!" I know he won't believe me, no matter how many times I say it. "I'm not worth it! You want this seat Peeta, look me in the eyes and tell me you don't." Now we're both yelling, and he can't do it. I know he want to look me in the eye and say those words, but he can't.
He holds his head in his hands. "But I want you too," he sounds whiny and hopeless, but I know he can't help it.
"I love you Peeta," I say, looking him right in the eye. "And I know you love me too, but this is your dream Peeta," I try to emphasize. "And I can't take that away from you. I'm sorry, but we can't always get what we want." I don't believe the words that are coming out of my mouth.
Neither does Peeta, judging from the way he looks at me. "Is that it? You're going to let Snow win?" I never imagined I'd be the calm and rational one in this conversation, but I will myself to hold it together.
"I didn't want it to happen this way Peeta, we both know that." I pause, the next words leaving my mouth without permission. "I think I should stay at a hotel tonight, and we can talk about this tomorrow." I lean in to kiss his cheek before standing up. "Goodnight Peeta."
Sorry for the terrible wait! hope you enjoy.