"I'll go ahead and set this on his desk." He took the notebook back from her and walked to the door as she sat there puzzled. As his hand came to rest on the doorknob he turned around, "This is off the record, for the record."<br/><br/>"The Latino gent you see hanging around my wife at our campaign dinners is<em>not</em>her bodyguard. He<em>is</em>her boyfriend." It was always amusing to see the look on people's face when he told them that. Few knew how to take it at first, "I know, he's a lot younger than she is, but I try not to judge. You see, we have one of those<em>old fashioned</em>loveless arranged marriages. It's all for show. A very... common, politico arrangement."<br/><br/>"Anyway, I wanted to ask you to dinner tonight, and the only way I could ethically do that is by giving up any administrative privilege," Using familiar language that she assumed he was ignorant of amused him endlessly. It was endlessly amusing to prove that he wasn't nearly as ignorant as she likely thought he was, "that I have over you. I don't want you to feel like I'm holding something over your head, giving you the option of saying no is crucial, and I figured promoting you out of my hands would help."<br/><br/>He opened the door then shut it again to give one final addendum before slipping out, "Oh, and... To be clear about my intentions: this isn't a platonic request. Let me know your answer when I get back."<br/><br/>His heart beat in double time as he traveled to Todd's office down the hall to drop off the slip of paper. It felt like forever; a gigantic, exciting forever that only lasted thirty seconds. By the time he popped back in the room he'd already shed all concerns of how his career could be affected it if the invitation backfired, "Well?"