Read Under Construction for Free Online Page A

younger
than Jameson and the family conservative. They always joked about her father’s
Republican affiliation, but Jameson’s father, Duncan had long ago shifted
alliances. Jameson imagined that was a product of so many years loving her
mother and having a lesbian daughter. Doug somehow got what Jameson called the
recessive gene. She loved her younger brother, but she often wondered how they could have been raised in the same house by the
same parents.
    “J.D.?”
a familiar voice came from the doorway to Jameson’s office. She swiveled her
chair around.
    “Shell?”
    “Yeah,
sorry. I seem to be showing up unannounced a lot lately, huh?” Michelle said
sheepishly.
    “Everything
okay?” Jameson asked.
    “No,”
Michelle chuckled. “But it will be. I was hoping maybe you might possibly have
a minute to talk,” Michelle asked hopefully.
    “Wow,
that was a mouthful,” Jameson laughed. “I need a break anyway. How about
lunch?”
    “I
don’t want to take you away from….”
    “From
all this?” Jameson shook her head. “Come on, let’s go. I need some fuel. Food
and a gigantic coffee.”
    ***
    “Dana, please,” Candace tried to
keep her rising temper under control.
    “I
understand, Candy. Aren’t you at least going to consider it?” Dana asked her
boss. Candace frowned. “What does J.D. think?” Dana asked.
    “I
don’t know.”
    “What
do you mean? She didn’t have any thoughts at all?” Dana was amazed.
    “I
don’t know because I haven’t told her,” Candace said flatly.
    “Don’t
you think you should?”
    “There
is nothing to tell. I’m not doing it,” Candace said.
    “Candy,
you would make a fabulous governor. And, think about where that would position
you in six years?” Dana said enthusiastically. Candace groaned. “Candy! Come
on! They are lining you up as a heavy hitter and you know it. If you wanted to
make a run for….”
    “I
don’t,” Candace stopped her friend’s diatribe.
    “No
offense, but I think you are full of shit,” Dana challenged the senator.
    “No
offense, but I didn’t ask for your opinion,” Candace replied in kind.
    “Why
are you so set against this?” Dana asked. Candace put her face in her hands. “It’s
J.D., isn’t it?” Dana softened her tone. Candace sighed. “Candy, I know you
love the Senate . I do. This is a huge chance.”
    “If I
won, you mean.”
    “You’ll
win if you run,” Dana said confidently. “You know it as well as I do.”
Candace’s lips upturned into a small smirk. “So, let’s have it. Is it really
because this is where you want to stay? You have some aversion to governing the
State of New York? Or…is it something else?”
    Candace
huffed and removed her glasses to rub her tired eyes. “Would I win? Probably,”
Candace agreed. Dana perked up. “I said probably,” Candace tempered Dana’s
enthusiasm. “State politics are different, Dana. I’ve been in Congress now for fifteen years. Election
battles are not so difficult now for me. People know me in the role. They trust
me in this role. No one wants to fund a lame horse. The odds of a payoff in
betting against me in a Senate bid are
just not that great, not yet anyway. It’s simply not their best investment.”
    “That’s
my point!” Dana said.
    “Yes,
but this is a different ball game. Different players. Different positions.
Different strategies,” Candace reminded her friend.
    “You
love campaigning. And, you are incredibly popular at home. Look at your approval ratings.”
    “I know
all of that. New York is a different state in a state election. There are different issues and concerns. I don’t know
that I want to invest all of that. The research into campaign strategies, the
money….the time,” Candace said.
    “Are
you worried about J.D.?”
    Candace
smiled. “No….not in the way that you are thinking,” Candace said.
    “What
way am I thinking?” Dana asked.
    “ Dana… Jameson will tell me to do what I want to
do. That is what she