Father

Father
She watched Cal walk up to sit on the sofa beside hers, and she smiled at him. 

She loved how he kept a respectful distance away from her here, and would not even hold hands with her.

They might as well have been friends from the way they were with each other now. 

When she asked him why earlier, he told her he wanted everyone to continue to hold her in high esteem, because most people were already quite prejudiced against a woman, as young as she was, gunning for this position.

“I thought you did not care about opinions in the past?” She had teased him.

“I don’t care for mine. Yours? Now that is a different issue,” he had said. 

Now, he was stretching out his tablet to her, showing her a video edit of all her campaign and public appearances so far, that someone had made.

“This is all surprisingly fascinating,” he said in wonder and she smiled. 

She thought the same too.

This video here, which already had millions of views and re-posts made her look quite badass. 

She was grateful for the support, but she still could not understand why she got so much support even after that video Lica leaked had gone viral again after she went public with her campaign.

They knew what she had done, an undercover agent, but they still supported her in large numbers.

It always felt surreal even though Gilbert Dankworth had predicted that this was exactly how it was going to turn out. 

She had become some sort of girl boss icon in the media, and damn, did it help with dragging voters to her side.

Gilbert Dankworth was the first to arrive at four pm, and when he saw her and Cal sitting on sofas so close together, he smiled brightly.

Cal followed her gaze and when his eyes fell on Gilbert, he groaned. 

They stood up and nodded at the man as he moved in to kiss Myra on the cheeks, then he looked at Cal and grinned at him.

“Pick a date, Gib.” Cal said.

“For what?” The man’s smile seemed to grow even wider and wider. 

He was like a child who had successfully gotten away with mischief.

“We really need to spar.”

“I could not believe you would still fall for something like that?” The man was chuckling softly now. “I used to do that to you all the time when you were a little boy.”

“How can I forget?” Cal said grudgingly, and the man laughed loudly now, and tapped his shoulder. 

“You’re a good man. There is no need for you to change,” the man said, and he got distracted by her grandfather, who was walking into the room now, in a sharp suit and with the perpetual frown he had on his face.

“He has no idea you were anything but good last night,” Myra said under her breath and Cal turned to her, obviously startled that she would bring that up here, even though in a whisper. 

She smiled extra sweetly at him, and turned in time to greet her grandfather. 

The man took her in a hug for the first time when, in the past, he would only nod at her or just shake hands.

“You look radiant,” he said, his old eyes taking in her black blazer dress with large gold-colored crested buttons.

“As do you.” She smiled at him, and he looked down at the custom-tailored suit he had on, and made a face. What to him was definitely a smile, but what to other people was nothing more than a constipated grimace.

He shook hands firmly with Gilbert and expressed his excitement for tonight, before he finally turned to Cal.

“Professor Dankworth,” he stretched his hand out and Cal took it in a firm handshake, staring at him confidently. “You really are one fine specimen.” He said, looking to Gilbert Dankworth for support, who nodded, and said Cal had always been good-looking.

Myra turned her face a little to the side, swallowing the bubble of laughter in her throat. 

Fine specimen? He could have just called him handsome like everyone commented he was.

But she guessed that was a baby boomer way of calling someone breathtakingly handsome. 

Fine specimen. 

Now, she really would never stop calling Cal that.

“Nice to meet you, Mr Sutherlands.” Cal’s voice came out deep and quiet, and Myra blushed. 

That was her man! 

But she kept a completely neutral face as her grandfather looked between both of them.

“Glad to see you both together again,” he said, and then he turned away. “Come friend,” he beckoned to Gilbert Dankworth. Let’s see what they have planned for tonight.”

And Myra stared after him in surprise. 

Her grandfather had never ever mentioned Cal, even when he knew the full details of her mission. 

He knew they had been together? And even liked him enough to be happy they were back together?

She turned to Cal now. “It seems you impressed my grandfather.” Her lips were trembling at the corner now. “You fine specimen.”

He closed his eyes briefly, shaking his head, “I really thought you would be able to resist it till evening.”

She was smiling fully now, staring into those beautifully intense amber eyes. 

The man was truly handsome. And he was hers.

They stood side by side, staring out the window as the sun set, and people began to pour into the grounds outside. 

By the time she went down and stepped out, the crowd had spilled out, blocking all the roads and waving their flags and placards and singing into the night.

She watched other people speak, rehashing all they had said during the campaign season, saying why they thought she was the best candidate.

There was more singing, 

And then her grandfather stepped out to give a speech that sent the whole area quiet. This was his first public speech since he left office.

The crowd was cheering loudly at the end of it as he bowed. 

She watched him, wondering how such a confident man could birth someone as spineless as her mother.

She was the last to speak, and as she stepped on to the podium, the crowd cheered wildly. 

She smiled, bowing in each direction, and when they finally quieted down, she began to recite the speech she had memorized.

She was barely even halfway into this speech when they began to cheer, loud applause coming from every corner of the area. 

Her eyes settled on a little boy balanced on his mother’s shoulder, waving a miniature flag. 

Just beside them, a man in a leather hoodie was staring at her. As she squinted into the night, she saw it was her father.