The Rise of Rachel Price T-Girl Pt. 29

"Touching family story," Rachel lied. She got up to find that her artificial muff was running with her own seminal fluid. "This is going to be hard to explain," thought Rachel.

Levant reached out and pulled Rachel down next to him. She had been sleeping beside him for a while, as the contract stated. She was feeling less awkward about this contact. Levant kissed her neck, then her lips, but soon fell asleep with his arm over her.

"Cinnamon," Levant began, "In the morning, I have something important to tell you."

**************

In the morning, they were finally going to fly back to California. Rachel sat in the back of the Rolls, driving partly across the country to get to the plane. It was cold, and fog moved through the green countryside. Mother had insisted Rachel wear one of her fur coats. In the car, they were joined by a new consultant Levant had hired. Rachel was glad she was in the car with someone else. If she had been alone, he might have demanded she crack his meat again. Breakfast had to be delayed for ten minutes due to another hand job.

Now in the car Levant had insisted she wear the latex opera gloves under her coat. It gave a kinky '50s look to the outfit, which Rachel was amused by. The gloves fit so well she wore a couple of rings on some smaller fingers.

Devlin had left his 'team' behind and come to ride with Levant and Rachel. He kept looking at her. They drove down a narrow public road. A number of roads stemmed from it at intervals, each with the words 'private no way through' written in the most intimidating font known to man.

"I've got something to share with you, Cinnamon," Levant began. "It's big. Very big. The biggest thing in my life.'"

"Your're going to build a rocket and be the first to build a hotel on Mars," Rachel put in.

"No," Levant said. "I'm going to announce my candidacy for Governor of California."

"I think my idea is better," Rachel said.

Then she stopped. She had tried so hard to shut out thoughts of Qatar that it took a moment to realize what that meant. Levant was going to do to democracy what he was doing to her. Volk and Mel's machine was obviously ready.

"No, I mean it," Levant said.

"What?" Rachel said.

"Governor Douglas Levant. I like the sound," Levant said. "President Levant would sound better."

"Are you fucking nuts?" Rachel replied. She knew she must try to stop him. "Is this some kind of weird joke, right?"

"Err, no, Miss Price," said Devlin, the consultant. He had been looking at her the whole time they traveled.

Rachel looked at Levant and pointed to Devlin. "Is he in the circle of trust?"

The circle of trust was the group of people who knew about Rachel's secret.

"I'm aware of your history, Miss Price, I've been fully briefed" Devlin said, which meant he knew about Denver.

In practice, Rachel had overheard Levant talking to some people about her secret. Levant's story was that he had been approached by Rachel at one of Charlie's parties, which was on the edge of the truth. They had been on several dates after which Rachel had revealed her status as a transgender pre-op woman. He couldn't handle using the modern terms, she noticed. Rachel was waiting for a year, living as a woman, to fulfil the psychological conditions that most good doctors imposed. Originally, she intended to go back to the UK when done, a new woman. Now she might stay. Levant was waiting with abstinence before Rachel fully transitioned.

According to Levant, he had broken up with Rachel on the hillside after an argument. She had come crawling back (again, literally true), asking for forgiveness. There was no mention of the contract, or if there was, it was a prenuptial one. This greatly angered Rachel when she first heard it. What was most annoying was that he spoke with such certainty that you got the impression this was what he actually believed.

"Can I say I've been following you on Instagram and Twitter even before I was paid to? It's an honor to be working for such a beautiful and talented woman," Devlin said. "Sorry for the brown-nosing. I thought we should speak openly and honestly, Miss Price... Rachel."

"Your opponents will find out about me," Rachel said. "They will hire detectives to uncover everything. Even I know that."

"They will find your family back home in the UK," Devlin said. "You own such a wonderful castle. It has been in your family for generations."

Suddenly, Rachel realized why the elaborate planting of family.

"They will find out the real me," Rachel said.

Devlin moved forward. "If I may, we have done this with focus groups. This is California you're talking about. They were quite supportive of a trans First Lady. It could even help bring in some of the right demographic."

"I'm not letting my family find out," Rachel said flatly.

"We can continue to spread a number of false rumors about you. Just share a bunch of memes on Reddit and other platforms. Any old conspiracy nonsense," Levant said. "Volk is very good at that."

Rachel remembered the memes about her being Kurt Cobane's secret daughter.

Rachel was sure Volk could not be surpassed in creating a cloud of lies about her.

"I will sue the first paper that prints one word," Douglas said. "Denounce them as fake news. Say my opponents are using my wi... girl... woman against me."

"Then, " Devlin said ", if anything factual comes out, it will get lost in the mix of crazy conspiracy. It's a standard way to handle things."

Rachel sat in shock. They had really thought this through.

"I'd like to have a private conversation with Mr. Levant if you don't mind. Douglas, will you stop the car?" Rachel said.

Douglas used the intercom to talk to the driver. They got out and stood near the trunk. The security car with two guards pulled up behind, the minivan behind that and waited at a distance. The calm grace of New England surrounded them.

"What the fuck, Douglas?" Rachel said.

Douglas shrugged. "The election isn't for a year yet. The contract will be over by then, and you will be gone. Unless you clearly want to stay. In the meantime, all you have to do is appear in some publicity shots. Do the odd interview."

"People will see me," Rachel said, noticing she was clenching her teeth.

"People already know who you are. You have a Wikipedia page," Douglas said.

Levant looked around the cold moor, the sound of wind on the trees giving it a unique atmosphere. "In many ways, I'm doing this because of you."

Rachel stopped in her tracks. "How?"

"You take care of people--your family. Look at what you're doing for them, such sacrifice. I thought I should be more like you. Giving more, helping more. I can do that," Levant said.

"Seriously, it's such a bad idea," Rachel said. "I mean, you have zero experience in politics."

"It can't be that difficult. How different is it from running a company?" Levant said.

Douglas looked down on Rachel as they stood in the cool autumn. Rachel bit her lip; she could read him well enough to know he wouldn't take no for an answer. The game player in her didn't want to let this opportunity slip by for nothing. He wanted her consent, and this was the only coin she had. It was better to spend it wisely.

"If I do this, will it make up for all my mistakes in the Qatar?" Rachel said. "Being the appreciative political girlfriend?"

Douglas pursed his lips. "Well, the only thing that can make up for that is what we do together. Trust is a two-way process. It would certainly help to restore trust. I might add more if you start telling people we are engaged. I have a few interviews lined up. We'll keep you in the background. We can tell everyone you're a very private person. I'll take care of you, I promise. Your mother is doing well, I'm told."

Rachel thought for a second. This was a huge risk. After a year, perhaps she felt too invulnerable.

"I'm not going to do this if you don't sign up," Levant said. "But I really want to do this."

Rachel paused.

"Three conditions," Rachel said.

"Hit me," Levant said.

"One, my fuck up in the desert is buried in the sand once and for all," Rachel said.

"No problem. It shall not be mentioned again. Next."

"You let me... do Logan and Charlie. " Rachel said feathering her nest "You promise not to get jealous while I gain enough experience. If I can accomplish the right things, you're the first on the list to benefit. I'm doing this for you. We could get closer, you know."

Levant paused. "Okay, I can go with that. Final condition."

"Yeah, you let me get you a better suit. This one doesn't say 'Governor'," Rachel said brushing some dust off it while smiling.