Never Say Never

            Edie Townsend could feel the tension in the air.  She sat across from her honorable peer in the Senate, and in the first ten minutes of their luncheon engagement he had only greeted her and ordered her a drink.  Nothing else was said.

Eldon Finfrock simply sipped his Old Fashion and nibbled on the tip of his cigar.

Thank God, she thought, at least he had not lit it, for she hated the smell of smoke, especially cigar smoke.  With no dialogue between them, she could not help but wonder why he had extended the unexpected invitation.  He had not made even the feeblest attempt at a conversation.  She had the definite feeling that he was simply tolerating her, in so much as he cleared his throat every few minutes and endlessly fiddled with the tip of the cigar.  At that point her attention fell on the cigar, which had taken on the appearance of a soggy piece of rolled parchment.

            Curiosity was getting the better of her and she was resolved to wait no longer to find out why she had been asked to lunch.  After they ordered from the menu, Townsend tackled the subject as diplomatically as she could manage.

            "I can't help but wonder why you suggested lunch, Senator.  With your busy schedule, I know it must be pretty difficult to get away."

            The elder statesman leaned back in his chair.  His creamy white hair was combed to the letter, with not one strand out of place, and his attire was impeccably arranged from buttoned-down shirt collar and expensive silk tie to the sophisticated double-breasted dark business suit, right down to the polished wingtips.  An aspect to him suggested to her that he had more in common with a hell-and-brimstone preacher than a member of the United States Senate.

There was a cool aloofness to him, which belied the simmering caldron that lay only inches below the surface, and inches from the boiling point.  It appeared to her that he had a Machiavellian side just waiting to be freed, but she was only guessing and did not wish to experience his wrath in order to prove that her assessment was correct.

            Finfrock cleared his throat once more.

            "I always like to get to know the new members of the Club, Ms. Townsend.  Through the years, however, there have been so many comings and goings that I've begun to lose my perspective on meeting and greeting the newly-elected of the group and trying to be of service to them."

            Edie Townsend was well aware that he had seen more than most ever could, even some of those who had called the White House home.  He was the longest reigning member of the Senate, having served for somewhere near thirty odd years, give or take a few.  Rather than be offended by his comment, which seemed to lack genuine sincerity, she chalked it up in part to the demeanor he had developed over the years.  Still, she had an uneasy feeling about the standoffish man sitting across the table from her.

            Finfrock took another sip from his drink.  He did not care for small talk.  It was one reason why he avoided these kinds of meetings, preferring instead to converse with people that he barely knew in larger groups where he felt more secure in how the direction of the conversation was going.  Although he found the lady attractive, he was inclined to believe she was a tad simple and somewhat naive.  If he had his druthers, he would have opted to communicate with his luncheon guest rarely, and only on the floor of the Senate.  However, with recent events and the need to muster more support for the Energy Revision Measure, he realized he had no choice in what he had to do.

Finding that to be the case was a bit chafing for him, for he was a man who had been involved in the decision-making policy of the greatest nation on earth for over a quarter of a century and had hobnobbed with royalty and dignitaries from almost every country and nation.  He found it a little beneath him to be reduced to chatting with someone of, what he would term, his lesser peers.  Nevertheless, he went back to the small talk, for no other reason than to manipulate the discussion to where he could get her vote on the bill.  The passage of the Energy Measure took on additional significance since his re-election campaign would be kicking off in a few months.

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