Breaking Through. AM Hartnett

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СКАЧАТЬ curtains when the sun is shining. I can’t stand looking out at all the kitsch running up and down the waterfront. Goddamn tour buses.’

      ‘I take it you don’t have your heart set on Minister of State or Heritage.’

      ‘I won’t need an appointment if you do your job. I’ll be making the appointments.’ Roe folded his hands across his barrel chest.

      Michael Roe was a trim man with dark hair that formed a widow’s peak above bold black brows, with a confident face that was made for campaign material. Simon imagined that Roe sometimes stood in front of the mirror and practised it, even in the rear-view at stoplights. He had to; in the time Simon had been acquainted with Roe, he’d become convinced that the man wasn’t capable of smiling naturally.

      ‘I have to say, you’re not living up to the reputation that preceded you … or maybe you are.’

      He watched Simon carefully in the aftermath of his statement.

      Snap and retreat.

      Simon’s smile widened, even as the toxins began to sting in his veins.

      ‘I’m on the phone all day.’

      ‘I could say the same about my teenage daughter. Are you honestly going to sit here and tell me you have nothing on Matthew Murray?’

      ‘That’s exactly what I’m saying,’

      Murray, Roe’s rival for the party leadership, might as well have been incubated in a lab and released upon the political world as the baby-faced candidate who was quickly winning hearts across the country. When Murray turned on that dimpled smile, he could change a voter’s colours from blue to red.

      Roe looked dubious, and so Simon elaborated.

      ‘As far as I’ve been able to uncover, he’s been a model citizen his entire life. He was a good student all through school and university. He was consistently active in everything from food drives to young parliament. He’s a champion of the Buy Local movement in his home province, and he gets his hands dirty for more than just photo ops – he spent four days in the muck rounding up livestock that got loose during that big forest fire last summer.’

      ‘I don’t want to hear about his résumé in community activism,’ Roe snapped, and leaned forward in his seat. His dark eyes glittered and his lip curled. ‘If you haven’t gotten personal already, might I suggest you do so.’

      ‘This isn’t the Eighties, Michael. It’s not as easy to out someone any more.’

      Simon typically found that the best tactic when it came to impatient clients was to let them vent, but he knew Roe was going to come around to Murray’s sexuality and it annoyed him.

      In his career as a professional dirt-digger, he’d come across a roster of sexual deviants and general fuckwads, but Matthew Murray was not one of them. Liking dick was barely a scandal when Simon started, let alone these days.

      Roe bared his teeth. ‘Don’t give me that shit, and don’t expect me to believe you’ve developed some morals since you were sprung from rehab.’

      Snap and retreat.

      ‘So, he’s got a boyfriend. So what?’ Roe went on. ‘I’ll tell you what: even though it’s been a decade since same-sex marriage became legal in this country, the tolerance for most only extends to ignorance. No one wants to think about what happens behind closed doors. What was that famous statement back in the Trudeau era? Something about government staying out of the nation’s bedrooms?’

      ‘Actually, it’s “There’s no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation,”’ Simon interjected, only because it was an opportunity to show that he knew something that Roe didn’t, ‘and yes, I know that there’s still a certain “ick” factor amongst voters even when they say sexual orientation doesn’t matter.’

      ‘So what’s the problem?’

      ‘The problem is that unless you want me to drive to Sussex and suck his dick, there’s no way to get any dirt on his sexual practices. What do you expect to do with it anyway? Send out a press release saying that Matthew Murray prefers anal beads over a plug?’

      ‘Don’t be crass,’ Roe grumbled, and grabbed a pen from the desktop. He tapped it against the surface obnoxiously, and Simon couldn’t tell whether it was to annoy him or just Roe looking for something to do with his hands. ‘I’m talking about the sort of thing that would put people off. If he’s so community minded, doesn’t it stand to reason that he’s active in other communities?’

      Simon had to resist the urge to laugh. ‘Like what? BDSM communities? Partner swapping? In covered bridge country?’

      ‘You’re right, it’s almost as incredible as anonymous sex parties for the wealthy in Tatamagouche.’

      Snap and retreat.

      Out of Roe’s sight, Simon drummed his fingers on his knee, trying to beat out his annoyance over Roe’s reference to parts of Simon’s own life that had come to light recently. ‘Actually, it was closer to Shediac, in New Brunswick. Tatamagouche is in on the Nova Scotia side of the border.’

      ‘My point, and I’m disappointed that I have to make it to someone with your supposed calibre, is that the filthy details matter. You can sit there with that stupid smile on your face and pretend that you’re not some massive fuck-up with no skills beyond those I’m paying you to use, but the fact remains that I am paying you to destroy Murray’s chances of becoming the next leader of the party.’

       If only you were half the candidate, half the man Matthew Murray is …

      Simon didn’t lose his poise. He’d never been a hothead in his youth, but he’d rarely censored his sharp tongue until he started this less than illustrious career. In moments like this, when he came across a rotten prick like Michael Roe, he thought it might be easier to bite off his own tongue and swallow it.

      ‘Murray may have no reason to hide in the closet, but that doesn’t mean it’s empty,’ Roe went on. ‘Open it. Find something I can use against him, even if you do have to suck his cock to get it.’

      Simon simmered inside, but he was calm. ‘That’ll cost you extra.’

      ‘Give me something that will knock the cocky look off of Murray’s face, we’ll talk Christmas bonuses.’

      His tone said ‘get out’ but Simon didn’t move. Roe was his boss, but Simon wasn’t one to be dismissed. He waited a moment longer, unnecessarily adjusting the buttons on his cuffs. As rain began to patter against the window pane, he kept his gaze on the man on the other side of the desk.

      Then he spoke.

      ‘There’s another component to the services I offer that you might want to consider.’

      Roe barely spared Simon a glance. ‘Such as?’

      ‘In addition to digging things up, I’m also very good at burying them.’

      The second look Roe gave him almost made Simon giddy, until the politician’s mouth twisted into an ugly smile.

      ‘I СКАЧАТЬ