Body Politic

The next morning I stayed in bed and decided to skip the press conference. That was not really important anymore, this was about more than a story. This was about the real use of power. And, in order to show that I was no longer playing by the rules, I dressed up in a way that made it painfully obvious.

I reached the mayor's floor and quickly walked towards her office. I stopped next to the secretary and put my hands on her desk, leaning over so that my cleavage was in her face (and I am sure my ass was slightly exposed to the people watching behind me). She was on the phone but looked absolutely disgusted when she saw me. She made a quick excuse and hung up the phone.

"Hello ma'am," she huffed, "Can I help you?

"

"I am Heidi Drake from QueerWire, I am here to see the mayor's aide Hena Dutta. Can you let me in her office?" I said, peering around the desk towards the door. The Secretary leaned over, getting her face in front of mine.

"Do you have an appointment?"

"No," I said and started to walk around her desk towards the office door. She made a strange little yelping sound and then tried to rush in front of me. I just kept moving toward the door. Finally she slipped in front of me, bumping into the door as she did so.

"I am sorry Ms. Drake, but if you do not have an appointment, then you cannot enter the Mayor's office suite or speak to any of her staff people."

"I am sorry Ms. Secretary," I said, "But I wasn't asking for permission to speak with anyone, I was letting you know as a courtesy that I would be speaking with Ms. Dutta, get out of my way." I crossed my arms in front of my chest.

"Ms. Drake, I don't know how things works in New York or wherever you are from," she said caustically and paused for a moment to look at me with disdain, "But that is now how things work here. If you want to make an appointment we can discuss that, but you are not walking past this door."

"I know you are just trying to do your job, and I am not trying to be a pain in YOUR ass, but you need to get out of my way," I said in response.

"I will call security!" she threatened. I didn't necessarily like where this was going, but there was really no way to pull back now.

"Would you just shut the hell up and let me in," I said. The secretary was just about to say something else when the door opened behind her. She stumbled back once and almost fell on her ass. I couldn't help but laugh. I looked into the doorway and saw Hena standing at the door, looking confused. She quickly helped the secretary out of the doorway and then closed the door behind herself. Hena was wearing another in a seemingly endless line of unimaginative pantsuits. This one was a boring blue color and she was wearing a white blouse underneath. She was wearing a pair of black heels and her black hair was tied back in a ponytail. Much more professional than the previous night.

"What is going on?" she asked, her eyes narrowing when she looked at me. I was the rude girl, she seemed to remember me.

"This...lady was trying to barge in on you in your office!" The secretary said, taking her seat.

"I was going to talk to you, I tried to explain it to the secretary, but she didn't seem to understand," I replied coldly.

"I am late for a meeting as it is," Hena said with real anger, "And once again you seem completely unable to follow the rules Ms. Drake," she remembered me for sure, "And if you want to speak with me you should have been at the press conference. I took questions for the mayor for half-an-hour. After the stink you made about getting your credentials, it is unconscionable that you would miss it."

I walked closer to her and she backed up a bit, it was nice to have a little bit of power, even if Hena didn't know why yet, "I don't want a lecture, I want to talk to you in private. Immediately." I said.

"Alright Ms. Drake, I am calling security," Hena said, the second time I'd heard the threat. She started to push past me to walk to the secretary's phone. I grasped her arm lightly and felt her body tremble at my touch. I turned quickly and put my lips to her ear.

"Well you can use that hot red tongue to call security if you want, but I know for a fact it can be used for many, many more...interesting purposes. In fact, I have video of one such use from this very office last night." I released her arm and she stopped walking toward the phone. She looked at me intently, her brow was furrowed. It was clear she was nervous, but she didn't know what I knew and didn't want to give anything away.

"Yoga pants with no panties," I said a little louder than a whisper, "Sort of casual for going over the parks budget, no?" Suddenly Hena's eyes got wide as saucers and her hand involuntarily reached up to her mouth.

"Do you want me to call security?" the secretary asked Hena. Hena remained frozen. It was clear one of her greatest fears had been realized. I instantly felt compassion for her. This wasn't about her, she was collateral damage. I felt terrible, but I couldn't back down. I couldn't even show that I had sympathy. But Hena facilitated Mayor Barker's hypocrisy, so she was going to pay a little price. I would take it easier on her.

"We need to talk hon," I said, touching her hand gently. She shook off her dazed look with a start.

"No, uh..." she said, "Don't call security Ms. Miller. Ms. Drake..."

"Heidi," I said, "please."

"Heidi, follow me, I forgot we had that...thing that we needed to talk about," she said, awkwardly and ineffectively covering. She grabbed the doorknob and opened the door to the office. The Secretary looked completely dumbfounded, so I gave her a snotty glare.

"I thought you were late for a meeting?" I asked as I walked in. Hena breathed deeply but didn't say anything. A moment later, the door was closed behind me.

"I uh..." Hena started, trying to think of an answer for me.

"I don't care," I said, "Just take me to your office." We were actually standing in the middle of the Mayor's office now, the scene of the crime the previous night. As the mayor's personal aide, Hena's office was actually attached so that she could attend to all of the Mayor's needs at a moment's notice.

I wasn't worried about the mayor being in the office, I had checked her schedule online. She had a groundbreaking that day downtown and then was meeting with veterans at the VFW in the afternoon. I was looking for Hena. And when the Mayor's schedule had noted that her personal aid would be available for scheduling appointments that day, I knew she would be in the office.

It might seem strange that my plan was not to immediately go to the Mayor and confront her. That had been my first instinct and, as I had started to plan how my plan would unfold, it had always started with a trip to see the mayor first. But the more I started to think about what I hoped to achieve, the more I realized that I needed more information. One thing you realize when you are talking about leverage, is that you can always use more. What did Archimedes say about it? I didn't want to spring my trap until it was a sure thing. There was only one chance at this, I had to get it right.

That's why I needed to see Hena first. I didn't know how long she was sleeping with the mayor and I didn't know how much she knew about her lover. But I hoped that she would tell me something, anything that would give me more ammunition when the time came to put the screws to the mayor. My best strategy was just to use whatever methods I had to turn Hena against the mayor. The mayor was a hypocrite and not particularly nice to Hena. I could give Hena a chance to push back. It looked like the previous night she was trying to stand up for herself. I would give her the chance. And I would use whatever Hena showed so that I could be ready for the mayor. At least, that was the hope.

Now Hena led me over toward her office. We walked inside and she quickly closed the door behind her. It was an incredibly tiny office with a small desk, a book case, a chair behind it and a stool in front of it. Funny, I thought it was the mayor who was in the closet. It was a little too cute, but I was in the zone. There was no window in the office and, once the door was closed, we were completely isolated. Hena locked the door behind her (no window on the door either) and then walked around several stacks of papers and sat down at her desk. She motioned towards the stool. I moved the stool out of the way and stood on the far side of the desk, looking down at Hena.

"What do you want?" she asked coldly but not as strongly as she'd hoped. I looked around her office briefly, taking my time and letting the tension rise inside of her. I reached forward and picked a snow globe up off of her desk, I flipped it upside down, and then set it back on the desk, the plastic snow swirling. Time to upend things.

"I'm here with the Clinton Initiative, I am supposed to check interns for rug burns," I said and then smiled as she squirmed uncomfortably in her chair. Coming to her office had been a perfect touch. She felt so invulnerable here, as a staffer for a powerful woman. When I entered this place and hinted that maybe she wasn't as powerful as she thought, it had really thrown her for a loop.

"I don't know what you think you know Ms. Dra...Heidi. But I assure you that nothing untoward has occurred in this office," Hena said, mastering herself and quickly slipping into her bureaucratic speech, a place of comfort.

"So I didn't see you kissing the mayor, stripping your clothes off, fingering yourself, eating the mayor's pussy, sitting on her face, and then wrapping everything up with a steamy 69? That's weird, thought I knew I saw that," I said in response. I crossed my arms in front of my tits and put on a haughty expression. There was going to be no euphemisms or coy expressions. We were going to talk about this. Henna's eyes were huge and her mouth opened and closed like a fish.

"I think..." she said, "It is very inappropriate for you to... walk into my office and like..."

she said, struggling to find a way out. Suddenly her eyes lit up, "And even if what you said was true, and it is definitely not, you can't prove anything." Even before she started talking, I was reaching into my handbag and pulling out my cellphone. As soon as she completed talking, I pulled up the video, pushed play, and held it toward her face.

"Oh Jesus Christ, fuck me you little slut!" Sara's voice called out from the cellphone. I had started it at just the right spot! Hena looked like she was about to get sick and she pushed the phone away quickly.

"Okay, okay...no more bullshitting," she said, sounding less like an office drone now and more like a nervous college girl, "You have your video. We both know what it shows." Her eyes were downcast. Hena looked incredibly, wistfully beautiful when she was depressed. My heart went out to her, but I thought about my goal and steeled myself against compassion.

"So we aren't going to be lying to each other anymore? Right? Just the truth?"

"Yes..." she said, then she looked up at me, her eyes pleading, "I don't understand what you are doing here though. So be honest with me. Why am I not seeing this on TMZ or your website..."

"QueerWire," I said and she made a face.

"Yeah, QueerWire. Why are you here instead of writing a story about me? Do you think I have money or something? This job pays $28,000 a year..."

"I am not here for you, don't be stupid," I said and Hena winced.

"What do you want with Sara...I mean Mayor Barker?" Hena asked. I smiled and leaned forward now, putting my palms on her desk. I saw her eyes briefly go to my cleavage and then back down to her desk.

"Sara eh?" I said, not letting that one slip by. This was an opening into what we were really here to talk about. She knew that all I wanted was Mayor Barker, no more avoiding it.

"I said Mayor Barker," she said quietly.

"How long has she just been Sara?" I asked, I reached forward and put my hand on top of Hena's. Hena shuddered and tried to scoot away. This was kind of fun.

"That isn't any of your business. I don't want to tell you anything about...Mayor Barker's private life. Just tell me what I need to do to protect..." she said.

"Sara?" I said helpfully.

"Protect this office and make you go away," Hena finished. She looked up at me now, her frustration evidence on her face.

"Let's not talk about lovely Sara for a minute then. You think it is at all strange that a pretty, young lesbian like yourself is working for a Republican mayor? A conservative Republican mayor who publicly bashes the LGBTQ community?" I asked. She instantly started to shake her head.

"Sara...Mayor Barker is a libertarian. Like me. Yeah, you're right. I am a lesbian. But I work for her because I believe in the free market." she explained, seeming more comfortable now that she was able to talk about ideology, "All the gay marriage stuff and drug policy stuff...that isn't...her. She doesn't really care that much about it. She just has to do it... you know because the voters in the city..." Hena burbled. It was clear someone had whole-heartedly bought a line of shit. I shook my head.

"Strange way to show her libertarianism don't you think? This is her signature policy position," I said.

"It isn't. The she wants to focus on tax cuts. It is the media that makes her focus on this stuff. It is people like you," she spat, her anger rising.

"What did she tell you about her own lesbianism?"

"I mean she isn't...not really one. It is just...her husband isn't able to...you know. And we work closely together and her job is real stressful. Sometimes, she just needs...you know..." She said and I snorted.

"To eat a pussy?" I asked and Hena groaned.

"I told you I don't want to talk about her," Hena said. But it was clear that she was caught. She would have to talk if I pushed her. But it was also clear when she talked about the mayor that the aide though was totally blind. Whatever information I got from her would have to be taken with a grain of salt. The woman was Hena's professional hero. I decided to push her on facts, rather than her opinions about the mayor.

"Oh," I said with feigned surprised, "In that case... I just need to know how long you two have been fucking." She winced like I'd struck her. She kept her eyes closed as she spoke. She knew she couldn't wiggle out of it now. She took a deep breath.

"We have... Been sleeping with one another for about three months," she said.

"How long have you been working at city hall," I asked.

"Five months," she replied and I laughed. "What?" she asked.

"She doesn't waste time," I said.

"It wasn't like that," Hena protested. Her eyes flashed open and she looked at me with extreme certainty, "I started it. It was me. Now this is all my fault."

"I think that is what she wanted you to think honey," I said, "Straight women don't just go a little bit queer in two months just because you are so unbelievably charming." I said. Then I took my hand and rubbed it across her cheek, looking directly into her eyes, "Even if you are really fucking charming." She twisted away from my grasp. I was keeping her off balance now. Driving home the point that she should be ashamed and do what I said. She didn't know what to think.

"Please stop," she whined and I moved from her cheek. "I can't believe this is happening to me." She seemed to say to herself. Well that was an interesting statement. It seemed that there was a little bit of self-pitying going on. This was what I was waiting for. I needed to divide Hena from her boss, to show her that it was in her interest to play ball with me and to abandon Sara.

"You asked when I first came in here, what I want," I said, all business now.

"Yes," she said, "And I still don't know."

"Resolution B," I said matter-of-factly.

"What?" she asked.

"Resolution B, the same-sex benefits measure. I want the mayor to get out of the way," I said. This was my plan. Simple, elegant, and achievable. "The mayor agrees not to veto the legislation, she doesn't even have to support it, and in exchange the video you watched, ceases to exist. Like it never happened. And, on the bright side for her soul, she is no longer a hypocrite." Hena's eyes widened and she started to shake her head, even while I was still talking.

"She won't ever do that. She can't. This position...it has gotten too much national news, she can't flip-flop. She wants to be governor," she said and then winced. There it was, a little more information. All politicians are ambitious, but this was a big ambition. Now I knew it.

"Anyone can change any position if they have the right motivation," I said, "I don't want to hurt anyone..."

"Don't want to hurt anyone!" Hena said, "You are threatening to expose my...private sex life!" She was emotional now, not listening to my offer. I had to get her under control.

"Listen," I said, leaning away from her a bit to show that I was sympathetic to her concerns, pulling back on the gas, "I am not in this to hurt you. You are... not the person in charge, and I understand that. If you just cooperate and tell me what I want to know, there is no reason this needs to hurt you. If I can't get Sara to change her mind, then when I release the video you will be blurred out. I just need some information on Sara, that's why I came here okay?" I asked. I thought I'd really gotten to the heart of the issue here. Hena was worried about being exposed in front of the country as some sort of home wrecking, lesbian slut. I could give her what she needed: immunity from public shaming in exchange for information. Leverage and application thereof.

"You want me to help you blackmail Sara and in exchange, what? There will be Sara on the internet have sex with an amorphous, brown, female blob?" she said. I could hear disgust in her voice and I realized I'd made a mistake. "You don't understand; this is more important than me or anything. This is about what is right. Sara is...she is a wonderful mayor. I won't tell you anything. And if you want to expose me, then just go ahead and do it." Hena said.

The response told me way more than Hena probably intended. And it spelled doom for my current strategy. Hena wasn't just protecting her boss and she didn't care, in the overall scheme, about being exposed, if that was all it was. Hena was in love. I felt so stupid for not realizing it before. Hena wasn't just fucking her boss. She'd developed an absolute infatuation with her. Everything she said and did indicated it. It went beyond policy or hero worship. Hena had genuine romantic feelings for the mayor. And she would gladly harm herself to protect the mayor. It was almost sweet.

For a moment, it made me feel dirty about what I was doing. But then I thought about the mayor with her sham marriage. If anyone was putting Hena in this position, it was the mayor. She was filling this impressionable young college student with bullshit to get at her body. She was making Hena believe that there was something real to their relationship, playing with her emotions. If I helped Hena realize that, she would be better off. Tough love.

"Fine," I said, "If you want to ignore your own interests, you can do that. But you aren't getting out of this that easily. You are helping me one way or the other. Either you sit down and spill everything you know about Sara Barker and her sexual proclivities or...you help me some other way." I said. I didn't really have much of a plan yet. I just needed an empty threat at that point. Let her imagination run wild. Whatever she feared, she could project onto the situation.

"What are you going to make me do?" she asked. I saw her knees turn together and she crossed her arms in front of her breasts. She was covering up her most private areas. That had to tell me something.