This is the fifth part in a series, so if you have not already done so, you might want to read Part I, Part II, Part III, and Part IV before continuing.
“Charles, so glad you could make the time. Come on in and have a seat.” Matthew could be so genial when he wanted to be that it always threw Charles off. He had to remind himself that this was a Death Eater of the worst kind (maybe even Voldemort himself) and he needed to be on his guard. At the same time, he needed to act as happy to see Matthew as Matthew was acting to see him.
Fortunately, it was the role every politician was born to play.
“You know I can always make the time for my favorite Chief of Staff.”
“I’ll tell your chief of staff you said so.”
Charles smiled in a way that admitted he had been had and the two men laughed before getting down to business. “I just wanted to follow up after my meeting the other day with-”
“Yes, he said he was very excited by your ideas.”
“Really?”
“Of course. He wants to know what we can do to get started.”
“Well, I’ll have to talk to my press team about reaching out to some of their contacts, but I feel confident we can work something out.”
“Excellent. Excellent. Oh, and he wanted me to give you this.” Matthew took out a bottle of whiskey from a drawer and handed it to Charles. “He only gives this to his most loyal supporters, so you must have really impressed him.”
“Thanks. I mean, I didn’t make any promises. I just told him I would do what I could.”
“I understand. And he understands. But this is a show of loyalty from you I don’t think he was expecting, so he wants to show you his appreciation.”
“Thanks,” Charles said, looking at the label. It was the same whiskey Bill had had in his hand the last time Charles had talked to him. It was also the same brand of whiskey Frank had placed on his desk after his meeting. Charles felt suddenly uncomfortable, so he got up and headed for the door. “Well, like I said, I can’t promise anything, but I’ll talk to my press team.”
“Of course, of course,” said Matthew.
“And thanks again for the whiskey.”
“You’re very welcome. And if you like it, there’s another bottle waiting for you when you finish that one.”
To be continued…