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“How are you going to vote?” he asked.
“Good heavens,” said Florentyna, “I don’t even know what we’re voting for or against.”
Her thoughts were still focused on Don Short and what she was going to do about his dinner.
“You’re okay this time. It’s lifting the retirement age cap from sixty-five to seventy, and on that one I’m sure we can both vote the same way.”
“It’s only a plot to keep old men like you in Congress and see that I never get to chair any committees.”
“Wait until you’re sixty-five, Florentyna. Then you might feel differently.”
The subway reached the basement of the Capitol and the two representatives took the elevator up to the chamber together. It pleased Florentyna that this diehard Republican now looked upon her as a full-fledged member of the club. When they reached the chamber they rested on the brass rail at the back, waiting for their names to be called.
“I never enjoy standing on your side of the chamber,” he said. “After all these years, it still feels strange.”
“Some of us are quite human, you know, and I’ll let you in on a secret: my husband voted for Jerry Ford.”
“Wise man, your husband,” chuckled Buchanan.
“Perhaps your wife voted for Jimmy Carter?”
The old man suddenly looked sad. “She died last year,” he said quietly.
“I am sorry,” said Florentyna. “I had no idea.”
“No, no, my dear. I realized that, but rejoice in your family because they are not always with you, and the one thing I’ve discovered is that this place can only be a poor substitute for a real family, whatever you imagine you achieve…. They’ve started calling the B’s, so I’ll leave you to your thoughts. I’ll find standing on this side of the aisle more pleasant in the future.”
Florentyna smiled and reflected on how their mutual respect had been conceived in mutual mistrust. She was thankful that the party differences so crudely displayed on election platforms disappeared in the privacy of everyday work. A few moments later the K’s were called and once she had punched her card into the voting pocket she went back to her own office and phoned Bill Pearson, the majority whip, to ask for an immediate interview.
“Must it be this minute?”
“This minute, Bill.”
“I suppose you want me to put you on the Foreign Affairs Committee.”
“No, it’s far more serious than that.”
“Then you had better come around right away.”
Bill Pearson puffed away at his pipe as he listened to Florentyna recount what had happened in her office that morning. Then he said, “We know a lot of this sort of thing goes on, but we’re rarely able to prove it. Your Mr. Short seems to have provided an ideal chance to catch someone with their radar scanner in the pie. Go through with the whole charade, Florentyna, and keep me briefed. The moment they hand over any money we’ll jump on Aerospace Plan like a ton of bricks, and if in the end we can’t prove anything, at least the exercise might make other members of Congress think twice before getting themselves involved in these sorts of shenanigans.”
Over the weekend Florentyna told Richard about Don Short, but he showed no surprise. “The problem’s a simple one. Some congressmen have only their salaries to live on, so the temptation to pick up cash must sometimes be overwhelming, especially if they are fighting for a seat they could lose and have no assured job to fall back on.”
“If that’s the case, why did Short bother with me?”
“That’s also easy to explain. I receive half a dozen personal approaches a year at the bank. The sort of people who offer bribes imagine no one can resist the chance to make a quick buck without Uncle Sam finding out, because that’s the way they would react themselves. You would be surprised how many millionaires would sell their mothers for ten thousand dollars in cash.”
Don Short phoned during the week and confirmed that a testimonial dinner had been arranged in Florentyna’s honor at the Mayflower Hotel. He expected about five hundred people to be present. Florentyna thanked him, then buzzed Louise on the intercom and asked her to write the date in the appointment book.
Because of the pressure Florentyna was under with congressional business and out-of-state trips over the next few weeks, she nearly missed Don Short’s testimonial dinner altogether. She was on the floor of the House supporting a colleague’s amendment to a small businesses bill when Janet hurried into the chamber.
“Have you forgotten the Aerospace Plan dinner?”
“No, but it’s not for a week,” said Florentyna.
“If you check your card you’ll find it’s tonight and you’re due there in twenty minutes,” said Janet. “And don’t forget there are five hundred people waiting for you.”
Florentyna apologized to her colleague and quickly left the chamber and ran to the Longworth garage. She drove out into the Washington night well above the speed limit. She turned off Connecticut Avenue at De Sales Street and left her car in a lot before walking through the side entrance of the Mayflower. She was a few minutes late, her thoughts far from collected, and arrived to find Don Short, dressed in a tight-fitting dinner jacket, standing in the lobby waiting to greet her. Florentyna suddenly realized that she had not had time to change and hoped that the dress she was wearing did not look too casual.
“We’ve taken a private room,” he said as he led her toward the elevator.
“I didn’t realize the Mayflower had a banquet room that could seat five hundred,” she said as the elevator doors closed.
Don Short laughed. “That’s a good one,” he said, and led his guest into a room that—had it been packed—would have held twenty people. He introduced her to everyone present, which took only a few moments: there were only fourteen guests.
Over dinner Florentyna listened to Don Short’s off-color stories and tales of Aerospace Plan’s triumphs. She wasn’t sure that she could get through the whole evening without exploding. At the end of the dinner Don rose from his seat, tapped a spoon on his empty glass and made a fulsome speech about his close friend Florentyna Kane. The applause when he sat down was as loud as one could hope for from fourteen people. Florentyna made a short reply of thanks and managed to escape a few minutes after eleven, at least grateful that the Mayflower had provided an excellent meal.
Don Short escorted her back to the parking lot and as she climbed into her car, he handed her an envelope. “I’m sorry so few people turned up, but at least all the absente
es sent in their fifty dollars.” He grinned as he closed the car door.
After Florentyna had driven back to the Baron, she tore open the envelope and studied the contents: a check for $24,300 made out to cash.
She told Bill Pearson the whole story the following morning and handed over the envelope. “This,” he said, waving the check, “is going to open a whole can of worms.” He smiled and locked the $24,300 away in his desk.
Florentyna left the city for the weekend, feeling she had carried out her part of the exercise rather well. Even Richard congratulated her. “Although we could have done with the cash ourselves,” he said.
“What do you mean?” said Florentyna.
“I think the Baron’s profits are going to take a big drop this year.”
“Good heavens, why?”
“A series of financial decisions implemented by President Carter which are harming the hotels while ironically helping the bank—we have inflation running at fifteen percent while the prime rate is at sixteen. I fear the expense account business trip is the first cutback for most companies that have discovered the telephone is cheaper. So we’re not filling all our rooms and we end up having to raise the prices—which only gives the business community even more reason to cut back on business travel. Into the bargain, food prices have rocketed while wages are trying to keep up with inflation.”
“Every other hotel group must be faced with the same problem.”
“Yes, but the decision to move the corporate offices out of the New York Baron last year turned out to be far more expensive than I budgeted for. Four fifty Park Avenue may be a good address, but we could have built two hotels in the South in exchange for having that address on our letterhead.”
“But your decision released three floors in the New York hotel which allowed us to operate the new banquet rooms.”
