“Who are you trying to convince—me or you?” Mary asked.
“Doesn’t matter to me anymore. I’m swearing off all good-looking guys,” Harper cut in. “From now on, I’ll only date nice guys nobody wants.”
“Why can’t you have niceandgood looking?”
“You can only pick one.” Harper sighed. “It’s the way of the world. Or at least it is for me.”
Dot stirred her vodka soda. She wasnotlooking for love in Wisconsin. She was still getting over her breakup with Ryan. And while she didn’t regret calling it quits with him, she missed theideaof him. Plus, she’d put off dating until she was back in the city—her new personal policy.
The thing was, Fletcher would be in Manhattan after the election, too. He’d graduated from Princeton two years ago and knew Kitty Bell from his time working with the College Dems. She recruited him to the FTW project when she’d recognized his parents’ names among the big donors to the PAC. She’d given Fletcher his choice of purple state in which to volunteer. He’d chosen Wisconsin for the same reason as Dot: It had the most potential to flip from red to blue—a high-impact opportunity.
A bit of a nepo baby, Fletcher was living large. Not only did he have the FTW assignment, but he also already had a cool job offer in New York, regardless of who won in November. He was set to join an up-and-coming Democratic influencer incubator that was trying to beat the conservative podcasting world at their own game. Big donors were throwing tons of money at the problem, hoping some of it would stick. So far, no one had cracked the code, but Fletcher aimed to change that. They’d promised him his own podcast and everything he’d need to create content and build a following.
Fletcher’s near-term plan made Dot a little uneasy and somewhat envious. Whereas he had his next moves all planned out, she was staring at a blank slate. She had nothing set up for after the election. But when she tried to picture herself as a Democratic influencer, she’d laugh. She liked tolistento podcasts, not rant and rave on them.
When she thought about it too much, she’d start a cycle of worry that was hard to stop. She actively had to shove aside thoughts about what would come next and trust that it would all work out. Because for the time being, she needed to prove herself to FTW.
She turned on the flat-screen monitor on the wall of the conference room and made sure that the Zoom login was working. She hated to have to scramble at the last minute to find she had the wrong link.
“Yoo-hoo, I’m home!” Fletcher came in, big and brash, and gave Rose a hug. “The Pack crushed it last night!”
Rose gave him a high five.
“Are you ever going to take off that swag, Rose?” he asked.
“I’m thinking it was good luck. I might wear it every day until the election!” she replied.
“Good thing green’s your color!” He winked at her. Rose blushed. He had his charms.
“Morning, Dot,” Fletcher called. “Thanks for the nosh!” He grabbed a Danish and a chocolate croissant and took a seat in the small conference room.
He took a bite of pastry and wiped his sticky hands on a paper napkin.
“Did you hear that we’re likely to get another candidate? And just before the next debate. Crazy,” Fletcher said.
“You’re talking about the tech guy from Austin? One of the bros said yesterday that Texas is fool’s gold for Democrats. But if he’s going to throw his own money away, who’s to stop him?” Dot asked.
Fletcher nodded in agreement. “I’m sure the DNC would rather he donate to winnable races. He’ll probably throw a hundred million dollars of his own money... at his home state.”
“And still lose by six or seven points,” Dot agreed. “If he even makes it that far.”
She checked her phone. It was almost eight. Time to log on to the Zoom and get this campaign going.
Chapter 16
Dot and Fletcher invited Rose to join the call since she was the best volunteer the Democrats had. Her knowledge of Wisconsin election history ran deep, and they needed her expertise.
Dot turned on their camera and unmuted the microphone. Kitty was there from her Georgetown house, waiting. She always seemed to be a step ahead of them.
“Kitty, hey gorgeous! It’s great to see you!” Fletcher said.
Was that kind of greeting still allowed? Dot couldn’t get over the super-bold way he flirted with the woman they reported to.
Kitty did look put together, though. She’d pulled her dark red hair into a sleek low bun and wore a deep purple cashmere crewneck with a thin gold chain and crystal chandelier earrings.
“Oh, stop, Fletch,” she said, pretending to brush off the compliment.
Fletch? Dot took note of the nickname. They sure were chummy.