Deviation Actions
Description
“Over the last twenty years, I have helped to lay the foundations of Raccoon City. Literally, as is the case with this hall. As Mayor, and with your help, I hope to continue building upon those foundations.”
Elena laughed. Michael started around, stuffing his speech notes into his jacket pocket. He coughed nervously. She felt a little guilty for breaking his concentration, but really, what did he expect, standing and reciting the whole thing into the mirror like that?
“I’m sorry, Michael. You can keep going if you like. There’s a lot riding on tonight and it has to be perfect.”
He nodded. “I think I have it,” he said. But he was hardly going to convince her if he couldn’t convince himself.
She walked from the door where she’d been watching him. Somehow he had managed to crumple his tailored suit after only an hour, and his necktie was hanging limp and unknotted from his open collar. He looked like what he was: a man unaccustomed to wearing a suit and giving speeches. And if he wanted to be mayor, he could not afford to look like that.
She took the ends of the tie and twisted them around one another. It was one of Umbrella’s promotional items - not the public relations department’s finest hour - and it made him look like he was wearing a candy cane under his chin. Truth be told, the other men who wore the ghastly thing looked like fools. Michael was the kind of man who could wear a novelty tie and make it seem charming.
Her hands traversed his front, smoothing creases and adjusting his lapel pin - another, more tasteful, company trinket. His campaign badge had pride of place, of course. It was important to establish Michael’s connection to Umbrella, since they would be making large donations to his office throughout his term, but they always liked to have their influence downplayed. Michael would be taking the spotlight tonight. She only hoped that he was ready.
It was her job to make him ready. As his wife, and as a company administrator, it was her duty to prepare him for this event, for the mayoral office, for life in the public eye and in Umbrella’s pocket. His success was hers, and her success would be good for him, for his beloved city. That was their arrangement.
“You mentioned working on the hall. I didn’t know that. Who wrote this one for you?”
“Malcolm. But I added that part myself. Do you think it’s too ... parochial?”
She considered. He had been listening too closely to Malcolm’s ranting to be using a word like parochial. The man had been dispatched from Umbrella’s Chicago branch, a so-called ‘marketing savant’, to help with the campaign. He acted like the city was a basement the company had thrown him into. He had no imagination, no sense of how important Raccoon would become before long.
“Leave it in. It gives the speech a personal touch. Plus, it’ll really annoy Malcolm.”
Michael laughed, though probably despite himself. He liked everyone, no matter how up themselves they were. That warmth was his most charming quality, and why he needed to play up to those ‘personal touches’ for all he was worth.
“Do you really think I can do this, Elena?”
She had been waiting for that question. Or one like it. She had prepared herself for it, for the moment when she would need to look him in the eye and tell him what he wanted to hear and give him the courage to win it all, even if she didn’t believe it herself.
She took his arm and turned him towards the mirror. The reflection was exactly what she wanted to see, a strong, confident man and his glamorous, supportive wife. Of the two of them, she was the one with the poise. Her gait was a glide, her blonde hair full and shimmering, her dresses conservative but attractive. The scarlet ensemble and jewellery Andrea had picked out for her was particularly fetching tonight. But she couldn’t be the one in the spotlight. She was Umbrella’s representative, and her place was behind Michael, even if she might have suited the role better.
She was still part of his campaign. No one was ever elected mayor of a town like this without a wife and child to support his claims of being for the people. Even if she couldn’t hold the spotlight herself, her presence alone, or that of little Joanne, would soften the glare on Michael, make him seem all the more sympathetic as a candidate.
“Do you know what I see, Michael?”
He laid his hand on hers and raised an eyebrow quizzically.
“I see the husband and wife who are going to change Raccoon City for the better. No matter what happens, we’ll get through it. We can do anything we want to. Together.”
He smiled then, a bright, broad smile. She was surprised at how easy it had been to say those words.
Until she realised that she did believe them.
“Come on,” she said, smoothing his lapels again, taking the opportunity to pull him down and kiss his cheek, “your public awaits.”
