Andy is Trying - Chapter 03

ANDY IS TRYING

Chapter 3: Andy takes on Philly

There had been a slight hick-up in the plan but I woke up feeling like I had dealt with the roommate situation just fine, determined that I would, no matter what, have to make the best of it.

It was my new resolution, remember?

You take chances, you meet people, you do not give-up at the slightest drawback.

Besides, the day started well with a familiar odor of bacon and eggs invading my nostrils.

I had almost forgotten where I was and I bumped my knee against my bedside table when I got out of the warm sheets.

Fuck, I could not get injured again…

That was the old Andy; The new version of me would not get himself in a cast and would be operational to take on a new job and on a new city!

Philly, here I come!

Thankfully, I had not imagined the odor of grilled food, Cody was indeed getting himself a yummy breakfast.

And how nice of him, he had made some extra slices just for me.

I should also point that I was very much in favor of the way he was cooking in his short boxer briefs, with a nice morning wood which had not fully subdued yet.

Great sight in a sunny early November morning!

I swear that I did not spend too much time looking, his (large) cock was simply in the way as I walked towards the kitchen.

“How did you sleep, roomie?” He asked joyfully.

He did seem in a much better mood than the day before.

“Very well, actually. What about you?”

“I did not hear you snore through the thin wall so I guess this is a win.”

“I don’t snore…”

He smiled.

“Ready for your big day?”

“Are you my dad taking me on my first day of middle school or what?” I teased him.

He put some bacon and eggs on a plate for me.

“Oh, I’m sure you want to call me Daddy but no, I was just trying to be friendly. Remind me not to try that ever again with you!”

“Sorry, I do appreciate this.”

“You do?”

He was standing very close to me, and since I was already seated, I had a front row view of his bare, muscular chest.

“The breakfast, I mean.”

Cody smirked at me.

“Don’t think for one second this is going to be a recurring thing. I’m usually not up this early in the morning.”

“What are your plans for today?”

“I’ll study this morning in the off chance I might be able to take the exams in May. I have planned to do some deliveries late in the afternoon before heading to the restaurant for my shift. I might also go do a quick session at the gym after lunch.”

“You know how to keep yourself busy.”

“This is the only way I know how to live my life. I hate having nothing to do.”

“Good for you. May I use the bathroom to shower first? I really don’t want to arrive late on my first day.”

“Go ahead, I’ve told you, I’m staying in this morning anyway.”

He bit into a piece of toast and some raspberry jam fell on his right pec. It was all tangled up in his thick black hair, just right next to his (tempting) nipple.

He did not pay attention to it, but I did. I had to keep myself from drooling.

I did not say anything though, I did not want Cody to feel like I was checking him out.

Instead, I ate quickly, thanked him again for the breakfast, and I rushed in the shower.

I probably should not have hurried that much because I arrived at the office nearly an hour before I was supposed to be there, and nobody was there to welcome me.

The offices were on the twenty-sixth floor of a sky-crapper downtown but I was stuck in the lobby on the ground floor.

Rebecca Crown was already in her office but welcoming me was clearly beneath her attributions.

She did not have time to give me a tour or to set me up at my desk.

I had to wait for her assistant to arrive forty-five minutes later. She was on time; I was the one being way too early.

“Hi, I’m Laurie, we talked over the phone. Have you been waiting here for long?”

Laurie was high energy, even early in the morning, and she was talking very fast.

She did look nice and she was rather pretty. She had both Asian and Latino origins which suited her very well.

“I’ve not been here for too long.” I lied. “I just wanted to make sure to be here on time since I don’t know much of the city yet. It took me a while to find my way.”

“Don’t you use Google maps?”

Dang. Why did I have to sound so dumb any time I was meeting someone new?

“I just don’t like taking chances.”

“You’re right about that, better be safe than sorry and better be early than late. When did you arrive in Philly?”

“Yesterday evening.”

“Oh, indeed, very freshly here. Welcome Andy! You were travelling from where, Fort Wayne?”

“Fort Smith, Arkansas.”

“Never heard of it, although like most of my fellow Americans, geography is not my forte.” Laurie laughed. “Follow me, we’ll give you a badge first and then, I’ll show you around.”

“Sounds good.”

The executive assistant was not easy to follow.

She had been working with the Crowns for about a year and she knew the place inside and out.

She had information on everyone, their positions, the rules to follow, what conduct and formalities were expected…

It was a blessing to have such an encyclopedia to get familiar with my new working environment, it was also a bit overwhelming at times.

And when we finally settled down in the open-space, things got downright intimidating.

Laurie was about my age but we were otherwise surrounded by much older men, in big fancy suits, looking as if they had been in the politics’ business since forever.

The all shook my hand as if I was a politician myself.

It was a very different vibe from the previous company I had worked in which was mostly filled with twenty-something marketing people.

In total, about fifteen people were working full time for the David Crown’s campaign as the next Pennsylvania state Governor… which was to take place exactly two years later.

Before that, there would be the election of the Republican Nominee in November 2025, - a year from then -, and ahead of this deadline, the mission of the team, - and therefore my mission -, was to build Crown as a most credible political figure.

If Crown was a wealthy guy, it was mostly his wife’s money, - or rather, his wife family’s money -, who was making this operation possible.

The aspiring Governor was not at a stage where he could rely much on donators, except when it came to his father-in-law.

Rebecca’s father, Richard Pallow, was the C.E.O. of one of the largest e-commerce companies in the world and a long-term supporter of the Republican party.

Some rumors even said that he had found a suitable husband and instigated the marriage of his only daughter to ensure them both a bright future.

The old man had a plan.

“Between you and I, Rebecca is the real brain here but David has just his natural way with people, making him much more likable and therefore much more likely to get elected.” Laurie explained to me.

I could not argue with that.

Based on his looks alone, David Crown was an excellent candidate and I did not need a pollster degree to know that.

Do not get me wrong, Rebecca looked beautiful and she was very chic.

However, being a woman, the electorate would not forgive her for appearing too strict, bossy, or intimidating. Her husband was way more comforting for the majority of their potential voters.

I know, it is sad, but who ever said politics was a noble game?

And one thing was evident for anyone who had met Rebecca Crown, she was unable to soften her character.

“Should I go introduce myself to her?” I asked Laurie.

“I’m not sure, she’s a really busy woman. Generally, I’d avoid going to her office unless you’re being specifically asked to do so.”

“Okay… What should I do then? She’s the one who’s supposed to give me work to do, right?”

“The guy who held your position last week had started to work on some stuff, everything is on this file on your computer. Maybe you could start by going through whatever he was doing and see if you can use that as a starting point. Then, feel free to make any suggestion to Rebecca.”

“Wait, I thought the position was vacant because someone had bailed on you?”

“Yes, but he did come to work a few days before quitting.”

“And why exactly did he leave?”

Laurie made a face, and this was getting a tiny bit concerning.

“Let’s just say that he didn’t get along great with Rebecca. As I’ve told you, she can be a little harsh.” She whispered.

“How harsh? This is not sounding too good…”

The assistant bit her lips.

I was getting increasingly nervous.

“Look, I’ve been working for Rebecca Crown for more than a year and it’s been a great experience. She’s tough, she might seem emotionless, actually, she may truly be emotionless, but she’s fair. Rebecca wants the job done and she simply does not care much about being polite or sensitive.”

“Still not sounding good…” I muttered, as I felt myself crumbling down in my seat.

Laurie gave me a reassuring smile.

“I’ve seen her mad, yes, but I’ve never seen her treating someone unfairly or making personal attacks. In the end, she’s better than most hypocrite and faking- to-be-friendly bosses I had before.”

I nodded yes.

This was something to hold on to. Keeping it strictly professional was healthy.

Besides, I was great at my job. Normally.

This was one of the only things I was confident about; I would show that woman what I was capable of and everything would be fine.

On a pure career stand point, it was kind of thrilling to be part of a promising team at such an early stage.

I did not dare to speak to my new boss for the entire day and instead, I carefully followed Laurie’s instructions of going through the work of my predecessor.

Overall, I thought it was a bit messy but, in all fairness, the campaign was merely beginning and no poll nor survey had been launched to test Crown since he had run for mayor of Philadelphia, and back then, the targeted voters were very different.

Philly was like many major cities, - Democrat all the way -, while the state had many counties where voters consistently favored Republicans.

All and all, it made Pennsylvania one of the most scrutinized swing states in the country.

It was part of the Crowns’ more global strategy to make a name for themselves in their home-state and to gain credit by conquering what was, for now, a democratic seat.

If they could do that, they could even reach for a position higher than Governor in the foreseeable future.

Yes, I mean something closer to the White House.

Mostly, I spent my day going through the potential other names for the Republican nominees to see what they were bringing to the table and how they would appeal to the conservative voters.

Either a consensus would be formed in the party to name the candidate before April 2025, or, a popular primary would be held amongst all conservative voters in November while a convention would formally designate the candidate in the following January.  

Most of the potential nominees were much easier to read than David Crown who had basically no back bone (although, he had a beautiful broad back).

It became clear rather quickly that the first few months on the job would be dedicated to define his political character and agenda.

We were pretty much starting from zero.

In fact, I believe I can list all the materials we were working with in just a few lines.

Here was a 46 years-old handsome and charismatic man, married to a beautiful wife named Rebecca, and father to an 18 years-old son, as handsome as his dad, named Zachary.

David Crown was sort of known locally, he had served in the army and he had worked in the private sector. Advising executives, he had dabbled into nearly every major industry: oil, food, telecommunications…

If his attempt at becoming mayor of Philadelphia had failed, the short-lived campaign had made him a political figure in the city in the past few months.

Most importantly, he had the money to surround himself with a sufficiently competent team to turn himself into “political elite”.

I was deep in the data from the past four Governor elections when Rebecca Crown finally came around my desk at 6 p.m.

“White, I have a mission for you.”

There was no “hello”, no “welcome to the team”, no introduction. She was going right into it.

I jumped as I had not seen her coming and I made my pen fly onto the other side of the room.

What a way to look professional…

She did not seem to care or even to notice.

“Yes, Madam?”

I had heard another employee responding to her like that earlier.

“I’m getting tired of walking in the dark. Before you even wonder how the voters might view my husband, I need to know who the damn voters are, and not in a shallow on-the-surface level.”

“Of course.”

“What we need is a complete map. Broadhall will never step back and there’s no chance we’ll reach a consensus, so we’ll have to go to a primary popular vote. I need you to figure out a comprehensive method so we can know exactly how many people might vote in each county, who they are, and how they are susceptible to be swayed and/or to actually go to the polls next year.”

“That’s very clear, Madam. I’m already running some data and…”

She cut me off.

Apparently, it was not my turn to speak.

“I need to know their ages, their voting history, their religions and beliefs, if they are anti-vaccines or if they think the damn Earth is flat; I need data on their sexual orientations, the television shows they watch, their education background, and obviously, their stances on any political issue you can think of.”

I was writing things down, my hand trembling a little.

She was not threatening or aggressive, just very charismatic.

“If you think you have enough data, think again, I’ll need more. I’m aware this is going to take some time and we’ll have to invest some money into this, but I need a plan as to how we’re going to get to a point where we’ll know exactly what we’re dealing with.”

Finally, she stopped talking for long enough time that I believed I could say a word.

“I’m on it.”

She did not add anything else, nor give a deadline.

Laurie had already told me that it was improper to ask about when a project was due since the only reasonable answer always was: “as soon as possible”.

Rebecca then turned to one of the men working on the desk behind mine and she sighed.

“You heard what I had just said, Philips?”

“I did, Madam.”

“Broadhall will be a pain in the ass until the end, the call did not go great all. I’ll talk to David tonight but I’m positive, consensus will not be an option.”

“Understood.”

“I trust you’ll react accordingly.”

She did not let the man named Philips a second to talk further, she was already turning her heels and walking back to her office.

Laurie had not lied; Rebecca Crown was a character!

I was for sure a little scared by her, but I was also quite impressed with the way she was carrying herself.

After that, I was pretty confident in David Crown’s chances to get the nomination, even if he did not even show up to the office that day.

Who would be crazy enough to go against his wife?!

Laurie left around 7 p.m. and she warned me that it was unnecessary to try to stay longer than Rebecca.

“She’s practically living here. I get you might want to stay longer on your first day, but really, take some rest while you can. Things will get much more frantic as the campaign moves forward.”

She was right, as always, but I still stayed at my desk until 10 p.m.

There were so many things I had to get accustomed to if I wanted to feel more comfortable in the following days.

When I left, Rebecca was still in her office, eating dinner as she was taking calls.

The first day at a new job is always exhausting.

So much people to meet, so much information to gather, and in my case, I was also evolving in a new city, - much larger than what I was used to -, and in a new apartment.

I was drained when it was time to go to bed.

Maybe it would not be that easy to take on Philly…

Cody was not there when I came back which made sense since he had a shift that night.

I am not sure when, - or if -, he returned to the apartment at all since I did not hear him nor see him the next morning.

Yeap, he would not be making salty breakfast for me every day.

I was almost disappointed since I kind of wanted to tell him all about my first day at the office and to return the favor by cooking something for him.

Funny to think that I had never wanted a roommate to start with.

The second day went pretty similarly to the first one with the slight changes that I did get to lunch with Laurie outside, - even if it was just for a twenty minutes break, it was cool to get to know her a little, and to walk around in the city -, and, more importantly, I finally met David Crown.

He came to have lunch with his wife and he stayed in his office for a little while afterwards.

I did not get to meet him when he walked in and I was, once again, wasting a lot of brain energy wondering if I should go introducing myself when I received an email from the big boss.

“Hello Andy, when you’ll have five minutes, would you come to my office? Thank you. David.”

I was surprised that we were on a first-name basis and also, that he would value my time as if I had anything more important to do than going to see him whenever he wanted to have a chat.

It was such a different vibe from Rebecca.

Obviously, I ran to his office as soon as I read the email.

I was a nervous-wreck, finally about to meet the man everyone was talking about.

I knocked at the door, trying to appear collected.

And boy, was he everything I had meant him to be in my head… And more!

The charisma, and, dare I say it, the sensuality was exuding from every fiber of David Crown’s being.

It was obvious, cutting through the air, palpable everywhere.

Crown was so hot that it did not even make sense a guy like that would run for office.

Should he not be a movie star or, as Cody had rightfully pointed out, a fragrance or luxury brand’s model?!

He could have made a ton of money, just taking his clothes off, I was sure of it.

Why bother with politics?

Although he was hiding his body underneath his tailor-made dark-blue suit, he was so well-built that David was one of these rare men where you could tell he was shredded and blessed with a spectacular physique, even with a suit on.

His jaw was chiseled like I had never seen before; his hair was combed like he was a guest at a fancy wedding, but his most impressive feature was with no doubt his piercing blue eyes.

My mind went absolutely blank as soon as he looked at me with those eyes.

I was mesmerized and I remember vividly thinking:

“Anyone would vote for this guy. He will hypnotize them!*

How could he even look better in real life than he was in the already stunning pictures I had seen of him?!

I could not talk about every single voter, but I would for sure take beauty over policies any day if beauty did look like this.

“Andy? Hello? Are you here with me?”

Oh, shit.

I had completely lost track of where I was and of how unprofessional I was being, starstruck by my own boss.

“Sorry… Sorry Sir, I was…”

A wide blank, again.

What the fuck was I doing?!

“You were…?”

I was fantasizing about getting on my knees and fetching a certainly huge cock from these suit pants, about sucking those massive and full daddies’ balls, and becoming an obedient little slut…

But I could not really say that, could I?

“Sorry, I thought about something and then, I lost my train of thoughts… I… My apologies, Sir. I’m Andy White, the new pollster.”

“I know who you are, Andy. I called you into my office.”

“Yes, of course, Sir. You wanted to see me?”

How much more pathetic and ridiculous could I have sounded for my first meeting with the guy I was supposed to help becoming Governor.

I sort of hated myself.

It is not like I could not handle any pressure or that I was not cut off for a job like that, it is just that I had one weakness, and it was for absolutely dazzling hunks such as this one, standing before me.

He smiled at me.

*I needed you in here because I thought your little ass needed some servicing today.*

Just kidding, he did not say any of that.

Those were only the polluting thoughts coming to my mind and preventing me from focusing on the actual conversation.

“We had an issue with the guy who took the position last week and I simply wanted to make sure that we don’t make the same mistake again. Is there anything that you’d need to perform your work as best as you can?”

“I don’t think so. I… Everything’s been all right so far, there’s a lot of job to do but it’s sort of exhilarating.”

That was the word, I felt like my heart was about to jump out of my chest and I was surprised I could even articulate words.

Did what I say even make sense? Did that answer his question?

*Now bend over against this desk, and let me give you some good future Governor’s dripping dick!*

The disrupting thoughts again, and the images which were coming alongside with them.

What was going on with me?

I had not been that flustered since the day Victor had joined me in the showers at the swimming pool.

Fuck no, I was not about to think about my ex or about losing my virginity right now!

“And what do you think, Andy? Do I have a chance to actually win this?”

“I have not run the data yet, but I…”

“I’m not taking about data. What are your guts telling you?”

Wait, was he asking this or was it still part of my fantasy?

My guts were telling me I needed to get fucked by this man. Hard. And raw. And in every single position he would want to take me.

No, he was for real.

And what a bizarre question that was.

“Of course, you have good chances!”

He chuckled.

“I should have betted you’d say that.”

“Sir, I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think you could win this.”

I think I sounded confident enough on this one because Crown looked satisfied with my answer.

He grinned.

“Well, I should let you get back to it then. I simply wanted to make sure everything was okay.”

“It is, Sir. Your wife… I mean, Ms. Crown has been very clear about what she is expecting from me and I’m on it.”

“Good boy.”

To this day, I am still unsure if those last words were a fragment of my imagination or if David Crown had really said that to conclude our meeting.

Either way, I went back to my desk and I must have looked very flustered because Laurie immediately came to know more.

“You’re good, Andy? You look like you’ve seen a ghost. What did David want?”

I had a brick in my pants but I could not really tell her that.

“I’m fine, and nothing. He just wanted to make sure that I had everything I needed.”

She puffed.

“That’s where he’s smart. You know what is the best quality any politician can have?”

“Tell me.”

“Knowing how to smile and to shake hands, in short, knowing how to make everyone believe they matter to them.”

“I can definitely see that.”

“That’s for sure, and Crown is a master at this.”

He was.

I was hooked already.