14
KATHMANDU, NEPAL
Sean lay awake in his hotel room. As much as he traveled, he still always felt a little out of sync for a few days in the new time zone. Then, by the time he got adjusted, it was time to head back to New York. He knew all the tricks—drinking plenty of fluids to avoid dehydration, taking only a two-hour nap to adjust to the time zone, and resetting his internal clock by a brisk one-hour walk when he got up. But he still often felt sluggish.
Tonight, however, he was wide awake, as if a lightning bolt had struck him. Indeed, it had. Why not take a stab at running for governor of New York? His thoughts kept circling back to that possibility.
He threw the idea out to his social network, and the responses were massive and nearly instantaneous.
Makes perfect sense.
It’s about time, buddy.
You already know the ropes.
Go, Sean!
You’re a Worthington, for heaven’s sake. Of course it’ll work.
Within minutes, he scrolled through the responses. Not a single negative one. Everyone in his loyal circle encouraged him, even pushed him, into pursuing that possibility.
Why not give it a go? He didn’t have anything to lose.
Sean knew exactly where to start with an exploratory commitment—Kiki Estrada, the executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. He’d gotten to know her well while working on Will’s campaign, and he owed her a phone call. He’d been ducking her insistent calls about Will for days. Kiki knew politics better than anyone on the planet, especially New York politics, and she’d be able to advise him on a bid for governor. While it wasn’t the Senate, her current bailiwick, all political roads in New York intersected in some capacity with DC politics.
Why not consider exchanging one Worthington running for a Senate race for another equally important political office? Both races were on the ballot at the same time. Sean had the same financial resources Will did, and a lot of the work they’d already done could still be put into play. It wouldn’t take long to change the paperwork and kick off an announcement in the press.
With that idea settled, he turned over and, within minutes, was asleep.
“It’s about time,” Kiki Estrada exclaimed when Sean phoned her the next day.
“Before you get on a roll,” he said, “let me tell you confidentially that I didn’t have a clue that Will was going to back out. No one did.”
A memory of his mother’s and Laura’s exchanged glances flashed into his brain. But you have no real proof, Sean argued with himself.
“But what on earth—” Kiki began.
“What’s done is done. Will won’t change his mind. He’s not saying why. I can’t pry it out of him, and you won’t be able to either.”
“Isn’t that the truth,” the feisty Latina replied. “He isn’t even returning my calls. He owes me at least that much. I mean—”
“I know,” Sean soothed. “In time, I’m sure things will come to light, and everything will be explained. But you know Will. He doesn’t go off half-cocked about anything. He had a reason. He just can’t share it yet. Maybe he needs to think it through.”
“Well, he better think fast, because I’m holding the press off with a bunch of mumbo jumbo, and that isn’t easy.” The words were heated, but her tone was calmer.
“I really appreciate that, Kiki, and you know that Will and I appreciate all you’ve done and are doing.” He took a breath. “But I’m calling because I may have something else to offer.”
“Like what? An instant candidate as prominent as Will?” she joked.
“Well, what would you say if I told you I was thinking about getting into politics as well? I obviously can’t run for the Senate. That would be too awkward. But the governor’s race is on the ballot at the same time.”
There was a resounding silence on Kiki’s end of the line, then an unbelieving, “You’d do that? Be willing to step into the line of fire?”
“Maybe. You could—”
But Kiki was already up and running. While she had no immediate dog in the New York governor’s race, she was a longtime political operative who knew that all things eventually come around in politics. Governors from New York actually had a better shot at the White House than senators.
“I can help with your exploratory commitment,” she said. “Once the paperwork is settled, maybe we tell the press that through you and Will working together on his campaign, Will decided that politics wasn’t for him, and you realized it was more for you, but you hadn’t done the exploratory commitment for yourself yet, so he wasn’t able to say anything except that he was stepping out of the race . . .” And Kiki was off, her excited ideas and the possibilities jumbling together into a stream-of-consciousness soliloquy.
Sean smiled. Nothing like taking care of a phone call you don’t want to return and jumping into a new career path all at once. If there was one thing he’d learned growing up in a house with a rock-headed older brother and an outspoken little sister, it was how to be an outstanding mediator. In fact, he’d earned his PhD in it by now.
He hadn’t said for sure he’d do it. He’d merely dangled the bait as a possibility.
Diplomacy worked every time. It was also a great stall technique.
It didn’t fail him now.