Strangers In Romance

Chapter 1: Chained

"Miss Benning! Calista Benning!"

I gave a wave. Reporters were notorious for writing bad pieces about you in the papers when you ignore them. A con of being in the public eye.

Arthur handed me the files even before I entered the office. Simultaneously, my cellphone vibrated against my thigh, making me smirk. It was not the only thing to vibrate later—Focus, Calista. The job came first. It always did. I kept my poker face on.

"As you can see," Arthur drawled, his slim fingers already brushing his curly blonde hair. "The project we'd done last year was a success. The dam was fortified. . ."

I went behind my desk while he yapped on. My desk was walnut wood, an antique. The desk before it was removed before I came to office, and I intended to stay for a long time. No one can remove my walnut desk but me.

"Are we going to win?" I asked.

Arthur stopped talking, eyes going to me, ending his little speech.

"I don't care about the dam," I continued. "That's done. Over with. But are we going to win the re-election?"

Arthur tugged at his collar, his brown suit looking too large for his puny body. "Technically, you didn't win the election for Mayor in the first place, Calista. You just replaced the former mayor as Vice Mayor, and then—"

"Silence."

Arthur shook. People always did when I spoke like the devil. I was wearing a red suit too. Well, maroon. The only thing missing was a tail. "Ahem." Arthur tried to regain what little confidence he had of himself. "The polls are torn about your success, to be quite honest."

I glared at him.

"What I mean is, they say you're too young to be running for Mayor at the age of twenty-two."

"You can be Mayor at this town even at the age of eighteen," I countered Arthur.

Vibrate.

The cellphone was vibrating again.

I tried to concentrate on Arthur. "It's the law."

"I know it's the law, and the public are aware, Calista. Frankly, they're scared of you, not to mention amazed at your capabilities. At the age of twenty-two, you'd done so much for our city. You're like batman, except you're a woman."

"And I will give you rabies, Arthur, like a bat, if you don't hurry up and tell me why the poll is torn about me winning."

His smile froze. "Well, seeing that you just replaced the former Mayor last year due to him being sick, being a Vice Mayor is different from running for full on Mayor. That's what they said. Not me."

Vibrate. All this motion was making me lose concentration.

I waved dismissively at Arthur. "You can go."

"But—"

"Go." I almost closed my eyes at the next vibrate of the phone. "Your acting Mayor is busy."

Several hours later, I found myself in my house, the cellphone that had vibrated in my pocket almost all day about to die. My place was pristine. It was the penthouse, so I could look at my faithful constituents down below in the city. But really, my dad bought the place for me years ago when he himself had the money as mayor, while he was alive. It wasn't my achievement.

Right now, the place was industrial, a loft, with metal stairs going to my bedroom. It was like a church, with its high ceilings, and the big radius windows scattered about. But beautiful as it was, it was incomplete. The walls were not painted, the ceiling joists were uncovered, and I'd given up on hanging the massive artworks on the wall. Instead, letting them fester on the side. Yet, like I said, everything was pristine. I hated dust.