For the Record (Record #3)(18)
Author: K.A. Linde

She was dialing Brady’s number before she even drew another breath. He answered almost immediately. “I thought I wasn’t going to hear from you until later,” Brady said.

“Erin.”

Chapter 8

ONE STEP CLOSER

What?” Brady asked in confusion.

“Erin talked to a reporter,” Liz told him. Erin was Brady’s ex-girlfriend. They had broken up after he had visited Liz in October.

“What makes you think that? She’s not the type to get involved with the press.”

“She is the press,” Liz reminded him. Erin worked as an anchor for Baltimore Mornings, though it was kind of a stretch in Liz’s mind to call her press.

“So are you, and you’re not eager to talk to anyone about our relationship. I highly doubt that Erin is either,” Brady answered confidently.

“I received a call from the Washington Post,” Liz explained.

That clearly got his attention. “About Erin?” he asked.

“No. Not exactly.”

“Then why do you suspect her?”

Liz launched into everything that had happened between her and the Post reporter who had called her. She could almost hear the silence on his end growing heavier by the end of the conversation.

“When I suggested that you get more comfortable around reporters, I didn’t mean that you should start confirming facts when we don’t even know what the article is about,” Brady said.

“I didn’t confirm anything but what was public knowledge. I was at the colloquium, I was in charge of it, and you were there. Anything about us being together afterward or seeing you in October, I avoided. He wouldn’t tell me what the article was about, just that he had simple questions for me.”

She had felt so confident when she had dialed his number to tell him about what had happened. Now hearing his frustration made her feel unsure. Should she have just directed the man to Heather? Her first instinct had been to find out what he knew. It was the reporter in her.

“Liz, you can’t just do what you want. Even if it might not seem like he was leading you into questions, he was. This is why I have a press team.”

“I know,” she said softly. “I still think it’s Erin, though.”

“There are a number of explanations,” Brady said.

“But she was there at the dinner. I didn’t tell anyone else I was there. Not even Hayden. You broke up with her right after your visit in October. It fits,” Liz encouraged. She had to be right about this.

“I doubt Erin would do that,” he said curtly.

“What? Why? If Hayden would do it . . .”

“Erin isn’t Hayden,” Brady said simply.

Liz ground her teeth together. “No, she’s not,” she said, trying to keep controlled, “but that doesn’t mean she wouldn’t say anything.”

“Erin is one option. But we don’t know for certain it was her. I’m going to have to get Heather on this right away, since the press is on this now.”

Liz groaned. She did not want to talk to Heather. Liz wasn’t a “Heather approved” choice for Brady. Heather was here for the long haul, and she wanted Brady to be with someone who would further his career. So far Liz was just a black mark on Brady’s otherwise impeccable record.

“I’ll be in touch about the Post,” Brady said before saying good-bye and disconnecting.

Even though they talked every night when he got off work, she never felt as if there was enough time. She was ready to graduate so that they could be together more often. At least, until she moved to New York City. She sighed just thinking about her dream job at the Times.

About fifteen minutes after their call ended, just when she was getting into a TV show to try to numb her mind, her phone rang again.

“Hello?”

“Liz, this is Heather.”

Well, that was fast.

“Hey, Heather.”

“Brady told me I should handle a situation with the press. I feel like I’ve been hearing that a lot lately,” Heather said coolly.

“Yeah . . .”

“Care to tell me what happened?”

“Didn’t Brady tell you already?”

“He told me to handle the situation. I’m handling the situation. As far as I’m concerned you’re the situation. One that keeps cropping up no matter how much I try to tamp it down,” Heather said.

Liz wanted to give back a biting retort, but she really was in the wrong. At least partially. She hadn’t meant to do any harm by talking to the reporter, but it seemed like everything she did could do wrong in Brady’s world.

“I just . . . thought I could handle it. The questions didn’t seem leading and then when I saw where he was going I got off the phone,” Liz told her.

“I’m still just in shock over here. Why would you think it was a good idea to talk to a reporter at all? I don’t know what your motives are in continually thwarting the system we have in place, but it stops today.”

“Heather, I’m not thwarting the system! God, I just answered a few questions. I’m sorry.”

“You spoke to a reporter and then you spoke to Brady about it. He doesn’t need more things to deal with. That is why he has me. So next time you think about screwing everything up just give me a ring so I can remind you about how stupid it is. I’m here to take care of everything. Not you. Not him. Press go through me. End of the story.”

“I understand that all press go through you, but I should still be able to call and talk to Brady about these things if I need to,” Liz told her. Brady wasn’t on a need-to-know basis with her. They had a relationship. She couldn’t hold in everything that might bother him.

“This is why you’re a problem,” Heather spat.

“I’m not a problem!” Liz said. “I’m Brady’s girlfriend.”

“You think that just because Brady decided to give you a chance after your affair was outed that you’re suddenly special? No, you’re not. You have to follow the same routines as everyone else. You go through the right channels. You don’t fuck this up, because every single thing that you do, God help us all, reflects back on him. He is important. He is special. We need him in office. You—” she said as if she couldn’t even fathom why she was still talking to Liz, “you are just a sideline display. Nothing more than a phase. Just try not to screw up while you’re still around.”

Liz’s heart stopped. A sideline display. A phase. While you’re still around. Those words made her head spin.