Jane Foles held her breath as her thumbnail dug into the leather strap of her handbag. It was 8:45. “Wait, his office... it’s not in the Statehouse?” she asked the Tennessee State Trooper stationed behind a Capitol desk.
"No, ma’am,” he said, dragging an index finger across his log binder. “The House and Senate vote here, but their offices are in Legislative Plaza across the street. Representative Watson’s office is located in Room 306.”
Fuck, fuck, fuck, Jane thought. My first unofficial day on this covert campaign challenging one of Tennessee’s most entrenched legislators, and I’m not even at the right building.
She offered the trooper a hurried thank-you before bursting through the doors back into the crisp morning air. As fast as she could run in heels, Jane crossed Charlotte Avenue, ignoring the Civil War monuments and searching the granite plaza until she found the imposing building labeled Tennessee House of Representatives in large gold letters.
Upon entering the building, Jane cut around a pair of slow-moving staffers, her heels clicking loudly. She quickly identified the elevator bay and entered the first one she saw before the doors had even completely opened. When the bell rang, she stepped out and turned right, her eyes darting around, searching for 306. Room 300, 302, 304, 306. Found it!
Stopping outside Room 306, she smoothed her palms down the front of her gray trousers and let out a long breath through her nose. At 8:58, she gripped the door handle and opened it to the office of Tennessee State District 30. “Hello, I’m Jane Winters,” she said, lying smoothly to the secretary, Margaret Wallace. The decision to shield her real last name during this shadow day was one of many made over the past week. The name Foles carried a lot of weight in Middle Tennessee, thanks to her father’s position as CEO of the largest agricultural supply company in the country. “I’m here to shadow Representative Watson.”
“Welcome! The representative loves when his constituents come to visit,” Wallace said, unaware of Jane’s deception. “If you could wait one moment, I’ll let him know you’re here.”
Jane nodded and found the closest chair. To slow her heart, she set her focus on the framed photos adorning his walls. They featured familiar landmarks from places near her hometown. She reminisced about her childhood until she heard a squeak from a large wooden door being opened. She stood as a man walked out.
“Jane, is it?” Representative Charles Watson asked, beaming a smile similar to his secretary's.
She moved towards him and extended her hand while she nodded. “Yes, Representative. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for taking the time.” She noted to herself that the man looked good for someone who had recently turned 70—well over six feet tall, full head of white hair, tailored charcoal suit, and black wingtip shoes. Hardly the country bumpkin she was expecting.
His dry, calloused paw grasped her soft, moisturized hand. “The pleasure is mine, ma’am,” he said, with a touch of southern twang. “I enjoy meeting young people and showing them what we’re doing down here on their behalf.”
Jane smiled, no longer feeling like her heart was slamming into her ribs. “There’s a lot to learn, and who better to learn from than a decorated legislator like yourself?”
“Well, I don’t know how much you’ll learn from an old man like me,” Watson said with a chuckle. “But I think we’ll have some fun today. Are you ready?”
“More ready than you’ll ever know,” she replied, grinning.
The representative ushered Jane into his office and offered her a seat in front of his desk. He moved around the dark hardwood table and sat down. “Margaret tells me you graduated from Princeton,” he remarked, eyebrows raised. “That’s impressive. What did you study there?”
“Political science,” Jane replied.
Jane was not here for Watson to learn about her. This was a fact-finding mission, and she needed to steer the conversation away from any specific details about herself. The plan she and Kayla Harrison, her campaign manager, had created depended entirely on keeping her identity concealed on this, the first unofficial day of the campaign.
“What have you been doing since you graduated?” he asked, idly rolling a pen back and forth on his desk.
“Oh, I worked in New York and DC for a few years,” she said without elaborating. “I really wanted to get back to this area to be around my family.”
“What does your father do?”
A cold spike of adrenaline hit her like an ice pick. If she said anything that identified her father, she knew the game would be over before it started. “You know, Representative. I’m here today to learn more about you. To see a day in the life of a State Representative.”
“Are you married or engaged?” Watson asked, resisting her attempt to guide the conversation.
That question caught her off guard. Why does that matter? she wondered.
“Not yet. Looking forward to it one day, though.”
“I just ask because you seem to be in the prime of your childbearing years,” Watson said, his expression completely serious. “Since you moved back to be closer to your family, that might help if you started popping out babies. That could be an excellent career move for a pretty little woman like yourself.”
Asshole.
“Interesting. Never thought of it that way,” she said, fighting the urge to tell him to eat it.
While Jane was looking for information about Representative Watson, a small part of her searched to see if this was a man she could stomach destroying. Comments like the one Watson just made proved that sticking to her plan to remove him from office was the right move.
“What’s on your legislative agenda for this year’s session?” she asked, ready to put the train back on the tracks.
“That’s something I’m not ready to reveal publicly yet,” Watson replied, winking. “Today, I’m mostly meeting with lobbyists about their interests. In fact, my first meeting begins at 9:30.” He reached across the desk and handed her a piece of paper. “Here’s my schedule for the day so you can follow along.”
While reading the list, Jane’s stomach dropped.
The 10:30 meeting was with Larry Rogers, head of state government affairs for Farm Supply Company, and a close personal friend of her father.
If Rogers saw her, he would try to give her a big hug and ask what the CEO’s daughter was doing in Legislative Plaza. The last thing she needed was for Watson to catch her lying about her name and get any hint that she was mounting a campaign to take his seat.
Jane looked at her watch. 9:28. She had exactly sixty minutes to find a way out of this office before her entire operation blew up.