Bella should have known that Carlisle was not the type to take her to a posh restaurant. Sure, he ate at the five star bistros and other fine dining establishments that were preferred by many of the members of Congress, but usually he was more of an "order me a sandwich and a pickle" kind of guy. So she wasn't surprised when Carlisle had led her out of her office and walked to a street vendor not too far from the Capital building and ordered them both a couple of hotdogs.

They sat on a bench in a nearby park and ate quietly, enjoying the fact that the weather was turning warm enough for them to sit outside and eat. For the most part there had been silence between them and it wasn't till they were halfway done with their hotdogs that Carlisle finally spoke.

"You doing all right?" Carlisle asked as they both watched tourists and others milling around the park.

Bella looked at him from the corner of her eye and nodded. "I'm doing all right."

He nodded and took another bite of his hotdog. "Good."

They were silent for a while.

"Are you asking because of what came out in the paper this weekend, sir?" Bella finally asked.

"Hmm, I suppose there's that, but I'm more concerned about how Jasper's been treating you as a result of it."

Bella worried her lower lip and was almost afraid to say anything. It was true that Jasper had been acting, well, like a bit of an ass, but she knew that he was stressed due to his relationship with Alice going down the toilet and the upcoming announcement Carlisle was making. The sad thing was she felt like she was losing a friend.

"Jasper is under a lot of pressure, Senator," Bella said in response.

"Not exactly the response I was looking for," he said, turning to her with a bit of a smile. He shook his head and sighed. "I know what kind of pressure Jasper is under. The pressure we're all under really." He crumpled up the napkin he'd been using along with the wrapper that his hotdog had come in and tossed it in a nearby trashcan. "Politics is a dirty world, Bella. Jasper knows that. To try and control every single thing around you when chaos reigns is impossible and it usually only causes more problems. Our opponents are going to come at us from all directions and try to get at us however they can. This…this is nothing, and I think Jasper knows that, but with you, well, he has something…someone that he can react to. He can't really lash out at other potential candidates, the media…me."

Bella sighed and responded with a bit of a sad smile, "So you're saying that I'm an easy target."

Carlisle laughed. "Something like that."

She nodded and frowned. "What do you suggest I do then, Senator?"

"You keep doing your work. Jasper will learn to deal with everything," Carlisle said. He didn't mention the fact that he had spoken to Jasper. He wouldn't have done so if Jasper hadn't approached him about scaling back Bella's duties, but she didn't need to know that.

"By everything you mean my relationship with Edward?" Bella asked.

"That and what the media might have to say about it. You're entitled to a personal life, well, as personal as one's life can get when you work in D.C. politics. I don't get involved in the personal life of my staffers, or at least I try not to. Sometimes I suppose it can't be helped."

He frowned a bit and Bella couldn't help but wonder if he was thinking about Jasper and Alice's relationship. Bella just nodded and decided not to comment.

"Well, we should head back. Did you want another hotdog?" he asked as he stood up.

Bella smiled and shook her head. "Oh, no thank you."

"Sorry for the less than formal lunch," Carlisle said, "but I so rarely get to eat something like that. It's a real treat. Uh, just don't tell Alice or Esme."

Bella chuckled. "Your secret is safe with me, Senator."

He smiled at her and they made their way back to the office.

)( )( )( )(

When she got back to her office, Bella was about to call Edward when Jasper knocked on the door. He looked horrible, as if he hadn't been sleeping well.

Bella gave him a wary look. "Jasper."

"Bella," he replied, nodding as he came into the room. "May I have a seat?"

She nodded and watched as she sat across the desk from her.

"How is the speech coming along?" he asked.

Bella glanced briefly at her computer screen. "I'm hoping to have a rough draft ready for you by the end of the day. Has the Senator decided where and when he's making the announcement?"

"I wanted to discuss that with you, but so far it looks like he wants to make it this week in California. You'll be going on the trip of course," he said in an offhanded manner.

"Oh, I wasn't sure," Bella said somewhat surprised.

Jasper nodded. "We'll need you to deal with the press and there are a couple of smaller fundraisers that we'll have to attend. I was thinking that we should make the announcement on Wednesday, catch the midweek news cycle."

"Not a bad idea. Perhaps Monday would be better so we have the whole week on the news cycle. A lot tends to get lost on the weekend news. People aren't as interested. Do we know if anyone else is making an announcement next week?" Bella asked.

For a moment, Jasper pondered a snide remark about Bella's relationship with Edward and her knowledge of Senator Volturi's doings and Bella half expected to say something about it when she noticed the expression on his face, but then he jut sighed and shook his head.

"Not to my knowledge," he said with a shrug.

"Then I'd say we're good to go," Bella replied with a bit of a smile.

He nodded. "So we wait till Monday then? The fundraisers can be easily moved. They're small after all."

"When do we leave?" she asked.

"Sunday most likely," he said. "Unless the Senator and his family ask you to accompany them on Friday or Saturday. They usually like to go a couple of days ahead."

She nodded and noticed he didn't include himself in those plans.

"I'll be heading out commercial on Friday evening to start getting things ready. You can join me then if you'd prefer," he said with a shrug.

"I'll let you know," Bella replied. She needed to talk to Alice and figure things out.

He nodded and moved to stand. "We'll need the speech as soon as possible and then we'll need to work on some press releases. You'll have to contact the networks to see if we can get any time on the shows…"

"I know what to do, Jasper," she said.

He nodded and turned to go.

"Jasper," she said, stopping him. When he turned around to look at her, she asked, "Are you all right?"

He shrugged and managed to give her a sad smile. Then he turned and left without another word.