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Post by Riley Tyler on Aug 17, 2015 0:25:10 GMT
Riley Nicholls straightened Garrett's tie as he looked over the speech she'd handed him for his speech that evening. "Who wrote this?"
"I did," she replied, smoothing out his lapels and smiling at him. "There you go, future President."
"I'd settle for Congress."
"But I'd look so wonderful in the White House as Chief of Staff and First Lady," she quipped before looking at some of the campaign aides. "Let them know that the candidate is ready," she instructed while, as she gave the command, some high powered campaign donor was already revving up the crowd for his introduction. "And then let the press know that they'll have a gaggle in about one hour out on the rotary outside of the ballroom but for now they should relax, have a drink, and try not to drive me insane."
"Are you okay?" Garrett asked her. "You've been acting differently since I got back from Albany."
Off to the side, a photographer from the New York Daily News snapped a photo. "We can have this conversation another night, Garrett. Now go out there and knock 'em dead." she kissed his cheek and while he entered the ballroom to thank everyone for joining them, she made her way out to the crowd to observe.
'Ladies and gentleman I want to thank you for your support simply by showing up here tonight...' She stood off to the side, mouthing along the words she'd provided him. He went into an anecdote about his father teaching him the value of a hard days work and then spun that into his promise that if elected to Congress he would go to work for the people. 'Because after all, it is my job not to govern but to represent the hard working people of New York State, and I will not stop until we have a Congress that works just as hard for its people as they work for their families, their friends, and their futures.' She smiled when that drew the reaction she wanted from the crowd - the majority of them on their feet with applause. That's how she rated a good speech. "Nailed it," she whispered to herself even as she grabbed a flute of champagne and went off to enjoy the night.
As she made her way through the crowd, she spotted several familiar faces she'd purposefully dodged by skipping her reunion. Her eyes flitted over the likes of Amber Jacobs and Brandon Finn, as well as Cooper Barnes who was currently involved in what looked like a game of seeing how many times his three year old daughter could swing from his outstretched forearm and made a note to have a photographer snap a shot of Garrett greeting the little girl later. Then she continued off, exchanging pleasant hellos with familiar donors and looking for some friendly faces.
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Post by Madison Benson on Aug 17, 2015 0:52:33 GMT
She's not sure she would have attended had it not been for Riley's immense involvement in Garrett's entire campaign. Not only was she not a Republican, she wasn't sure she was well suited for these types of events. She tugged her dress back into place, always feeling though strapless dresses were simply asking to fall around her waist. Pushing her bangs out of her eyes she looked around the hotel ballroom and realized that there were a handful of people that she had seen enough of at the reunion. And then there was Parker. He had called her after he returned from London and let her know that he had hoped so see her at the fundraiser. And so here she was, with two very good reasons to attend, but not a second at all where she felt like she knew how to behave. Instead, she sipped at the water on her table and idly made small talk with people with whom she had just met. |
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Post by Brandon Finn on Aug 17, 2015 0:55:24 GMT
Brandon looked over at Amber and smiled. "Have I mentioned that you look beautiful?" he complimented, knowing that he had probably said it half a dozen times since he had picked her up for tonight's event. While he wasn't sure that this was the sort of event where there would be raucous partying and he would end the night by having too much to drink and taking his gorgeous date home at the end of the night, he did know that he was going to be sure that he woke the next morning to find Amber in the Penthouse. He had even prepared himself by being sure that he started receiving a subscription to the New York Times for her - just for the crossword.
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Post by Amber Jacobs on Aug 17, 2015 1:05:16 GMT
Amber grinned at Brandon, reaching out to smooth her hands along the lapels of his suit jacket. "You've mentioned it once or twice, but I do like it very much when you say it," she beamed up at him before taking a sip of her drink. While ten years ago, Amber never would have really imagined she'd be at a campaign fundraiser in an evening gown, as Brandon Finn's date - without having the goal of causing trouble, she was really quite pleased to be there now. Her phone buzzed to life on the table and she checked it briefly only to laugh. "Cassidy dropped me off a change of clothes for tomorrow at the Penthouse. Apparently the Huffington Post Twitter account has alerted her to the fact that we're here together and she'd prefer to sleep in tomorrow morning." She shook her head and glanced around the room, taking note of everyone she knew she'd eventually have to socialize with. She might have whined a bit on the car ride over with Brandon, insisting that she would much rather stay in with him. She liked it very much when the two of them were inside of their own world together.
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Post by Parker Blye on Aug 17, 2015 1:08:16 GMT
Parker fiddled with his tie briefly as he made his way over to the bar and ordered himself a scotch. He was never much one for American politics, but he was still in the process of courting the candidate in question, so he'd made a sizable donation and agreed to attend, hoping to convince Riley Nicholls to give him a few minutes to Garrett later in the evening. Upon returning from London, he'd been exhausted. His father's health was declining and he felt it having an effect on his mother, daresay he thought that the woman who had been cold his entire life was actually thawing and proving to have a heart. It made him stop for a moment and think about what was important to him. Though that, in and of itself, only left him in a state of confusion. Taking his drink, his eyes zeroed in on part of that confusion and decided to take a seat at her table. He dropped into it casually and cleared his throat. "Madison," he greeted. "Glad you can make it."
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Post by Madison Benson on Aug 17, 2015 1:14:56 GMT
In the back of her mind she felt like she had been acutely aware of his presence, first at the bar and then at her table. She kept reminding herself that she was a grown woman and didn't need to flock to some boy she had a crush on every time they were in the same room together. But, she realized annoyingly, that was exactly what this felt like. Whether or not you could still call it a crush as you entered your thirties was uncertain, but she did know that color rushed to her cheeks when he sat down beside her.
"Parker, hi." She smiled at him and turned more in his direction, "How was your trip?"
Somehow, she assumed he was always going to make her feel like she was a teenager again. What she wasn't sure about was whether or not that was a good thing.
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Post by Cooper Benson on Aug 17, 2015 1:16:02 GMT
Cooper was well aware that several women that were prominent in his social circles were crowding around him but not quite talking to him. It was because he was engrossed in a conversation about business with an old friend of his father's while simultaneously holding his arm out so that Melanie could use him as a jungle gym. He knew, quite well, that women seemed to find his lot in life as a single father, rather endearing. He would flirt a bit at some point later, when Melanie was tired and curled up on a few chairs to take a rest, but at the end of the night he knew that his most important task was taking her up to her bedroom and tucking her in, rather than taking any woman with him. As his business conversation wrapped, he spied his daughter out of the corner of his eye trying to shove a few piece of bread into the little purse she'd insisted on bringing with her. Swiftly, he reached over and tugged the bread out, frowning at her but then smiling when she held a piece of it to his mouth. He took a bite. He heard the women "aw" off to his side.
"Ambuh!" Melanie then exclaimed, tugging on her father's arm and pointing. Always one to oblige his daughter, he stood up and allowed himself to be led over. When his cousin Erin had moved to Paris and abandoned her friendship with Amber Jacobs, he'd picked up the slack. He, like Amber, knew the value of going away to reform oneself and had taken a liking to her. He'd briefly visited California right after his wife had left, and Melanie had taken a shine to the blonde. Sure enough, Melanie skipped a few steps ahead of him, tugging on the blonde's hand and crawling right onto her lap. He laughed when he imagined the sheer panic in Brandon Finn's mind. "Mel-Bell, that wasn't very polite."
Melanie looked at her father with a look that he knew would carry right on through her teenage years before she held her purse up to Amber to show it to her. "Pockey-book!"
He took a seat beside Brandon and chuckled. "Well, I see you took my advice on a few things," he joked.
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Post by Brandon Finn on Aug 17, 2015 1:29:05 GMT
He wasn't sure what he had expected from this evening. Technically it was his first official outing with Amber since their date, and since they had become momentary press magnets. Brandon was sure that they were going to move on to some other gossip-worthy topic soon, but for now he was still taking note of the fact that people seemed to be paying closer attention to the pair of them than they might have traditionally. But it wasn't even the attention that he and Amber were receiving from the press that first caused him to freeze, unsure of what his next action should be. It was, however, the attention of a three-year-old girl as she dragged Cooper Benson over to them. She seemed to know Amber and seemed to want to show her little purple purse off to her, which frankly, he wasn't sure what to do with. In some indirect way he thought that he and Amber had confessed their love for one another, and they were certainly together in a traditional sense, but what happened beyond this hadn't come up yet. He just hoped she hadn't gotten any ideas about their future together, as he was perfectly content to absorb the honeymoon-phase qualities of their current situation. Looking over at Cooper he shrugged, smirk already crossing his lips. "Every now and then you might have a good idea." It hadn't been Cooper's advice, per se, that had led him to where he was now with Amber. But he did give the man credit for pushing him to want to ask her on that date. |
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Post by Parker Blye on Aug 17, 2015 1:34:52 GMT
Parker took a sip of his drink and observed Madison for a moment. "London was...well, I was able to take my mother to lunch, check in on my father, and make sure the London office wasn't imploding. So I suppose it's the little things that count." He grinned at her. "You look lovely, that dress is quite beautiful."
He was about to continue when Riley Nicholls happened to drop into the seat on the other side of Maddy. "Riley, I was hoping to grab a few minutes with Garrett later tonight to talk about..."
"And I was hoping the Clintons would show up tonight, but we don't get everything we want," Riley quipped. "I'll see if I can squeeze you into the rotation somewhere after coffee, but in all honesty Blye, you may have to wait until regular business hours." She turned her attention to her friend and smiled. "I'm glad you came, I'm already going nuts," she laughed. "But I think that it went well, they liked the speech."
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Post by Amber Jacobs on Aug 17, 2015 1:41:19 GMT
Amber could have sworn she felt Brandon tense up as Melanie Benson climbed into her lap. But she'd taken fondly to the little girl upon meeting her almost a year ago and regularly sent gifts and would check in. "Melanie!" she gasped happily. "You've gotten so big! I see your father did your hair tonight," she nodded smoothing out some of the knots with her fingers. She let out a light giggle when Melanie, in turn, played with her hair too.
Cooper grinned as he watched Melanie with Amber before turning his attention to Brandon. "I'm full of good ideas, actually. But this is one of the first times you've actually listened to me."
"Ambuh," he heard Melanie exclaim again before she started chattering away animatedly about her day, reached into her little pocketbook and pulled out another piece of bread.
"That's very sweet, Melanie. And since I still love carbs, I will take that and hold on to it," Amber laughed, placing it on the table with no intention of actually eating it. "Cooper, she keeps getting cuter. Are you sure she's yours?"
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Post by Brandon Finn on Aug 17, 2015 1:46:52 GMT
Brandon took a drink from his glass, and nodded. "This one was a good idea." He looked over at Amber as she interacted with Cooper's kid and continued down the path of their what-if's. What if, now that they were older, she was ready for something more serious? What if having been married already had made her ready to do it again? What if he never trusted himself to propose to her and actually follow through. He silenced the thoughts with another drink from his glass as he heard Amber make some remark about carbs.
"I heard that," he commented.
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Post by Madison Benson on Aug 17, 2015 1:53:33 GMT
Madison smiled at the man beside her, flushing from his compliment. "Thank you. And I'm glad you were able to spend some time with your family." She had wanted to add that she was glad that he was back and that he had come over to say hello to her, but she didn't want to press her luck.
As if on cue, Riley sat down on her other side and she turned to look at her friend just as Parker pressed her for a chance to speak to Riley's fiance. "The speech was great. He's very good at speaking to the crowds like this, isn't he?"
It was silly, she supposed, but she almost felt herself being stuck in the middle of something. Here was one of her closest friends on an important night in her professional, and perhaps even personal, life - and yet on the other side was the this man that she was trying very hard to figure out.
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Post by Olivia Warren-Blye on Aug 17, 2015 2:09:52 GMT
Technically speaking, Olivia knew that she had no business being at a political fundraiser. Having never felt the need to become a U.S. Citizen, she couldn't even vote in the election. It was a party, however, and parties were sort of her bread and butter. Besides, having surveyed the room, she had noted that many prominent figures in the city were in attendance and it would be a true disservice to herself, and the party-goers, to withhold from the party simply because she couldn't actually vote for the poor sod up on the stage.
She sipped at her martini and politely clapped at the end of the candidate's speech before she spotted them. She had already taken note that Parker was in attendance, still miffed at the fact that he had dismissed her invitation to come over before his trip to London. But in all honesty - he seemed to be the lesser of two evils at the moment.
It had been all over the papers - at least any of the ones she bothered to read - Brandon Finn had gotten back together with Amber Jacobs. At least that's what she could assume from what she had read. They had been seen leaving the reunion together, they had been spotted on a date, and now he had brought her here. From the way that they had been laughing and reaching out to touch each other so far this evening, she could only assume that she was right. And that meant that he wasn't going to call her anymore.
Over the past ten years she had grown comfortable with the routine they had established. Every few months, mostly when he was between girlfriends, he had made it a habit to call her. It always seemed to end up with them heading back to her apartment where he left before the sun would even rise. But she had gotten comfortable with the routine, and she even sort of liked it. Sort of liked him in some way.
Crossing over to them she smiled brightly, "Hello, Brandon. Hello, Amber." Sipping her martini she looked back at the man across from her, "I do hope you're planning on calling me when you're done with her too."
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Post by Parker Blye on Aug 17, 2015 2:16:03 GMT
Parker eyed Riley with a slight huff but then easily relaxed. "Well, then, I suppose that means no more business for the night," he knew that was hardly true, but he was looking forward to taking it easy for a few moments if given the chance.
Riley eyed Parker warily before turning to Maddy. "Thanks, yes, Garrett is very good at public speaking. He always excelled at it during law school and during his time with the district attorney's office," she admitted. She thought, perhaps, she should be speaking more fondly of her fiance, but instead she just took a long sip of her drink. "Sorry that I convinced you to come, I know that it's sort of a drag. But I'm glad you did," she nodded at her friend. "Gives us the chance to hang out a bit."
Parker's eyes had floated over to the other table, where Olivia had just gone over to talk to Brandon Finn and Amber Jacobs.
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Post by Amber Jacobs on Aug 17, 2015 2:21:27 GMT
Amber grinned at Brandon, "I know you heard it, and I still think the carbohydrate thing is weird."
"Weird!" Melanie echoed.
The laughter died on the tip of Amber's tongue, however, when Olivia Warren crossed over and addressed them both, or - more specifically - Brandon. Of all the people she'd left behind, Olivia was the one Amber disliked the most. Probably because she was frequently the one that Brandon called when the two of them would get into a fight and need to take a break. Deep down, she knew he felt nothing for Liv, but at the same time, she'd seen them spotted in the papers multiple times and it got under her skin because of her extreme dislike for the British woman.
Cooper frowned a bit, calling his daughter so that she scrambled out of Amber's lap and over to him. He put her in his lap and sat with her, watching the oncoming train wreck.
"Liv," Amber said calmly. "Why don't you go bother Parker?"
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