Polls Apart (21 page)

Marie tensed as they neared the front doors of the hospital. She could see more than twenty reporters and photographers gathered outside, including a couple of
TV
crews. It seemed crazy that they would have been there for her and Damian, but then they were at the heart of a scandal connected to the two biggest names in the country right now: Richard Williams and Anna Lloyd. And, she had to admit, it doesn’t get much juicier than the reporter who tried to sink them suddenly trying to attempt suicide while her editor mysteriously resigns. Given all that, Marie supposed they were lucky there wasn’t more press here.

Damian put a hand around Marie’s back and guided her straight into the path of the waiting pack. They stopped just a few feet in front of the hospital. Several reporters were shouting over each other.

“Why did you resign, Damian?”

“Why are you here, Damian?”

“Marie, Marie. What drove you to attempt suicide? Have you been telling lies about Richard Williams?”

“Guys.” Damian held up the palm of his hand to try to silence them. “I’m prepared to say a few words. Marie will not comment today.” He cleared his throat loudly, which made Marie want to burst out laughing. She put her head down, realising a fit of giggles would be most inappropriate based on what Damian was about to say.

“I resigned as editor of the
Sunday Echo
today because, in the last few weeks, I have not conducted myself according to the standards I believe an editor has to meet in order to produce the best journalism. The pressure under which I placed my staff, including Marie, was intolerable and unacceptable and I came here today to apologise to her. I ask now that you leave us in peace to reflect on what has happened and to move on.”

Damian guided Marie to the left and they began to walk forwards. Reporters pressed in on them from every angle.

“Damian, Marie. Where are you going now?” a radio reporter was shouting as she pressed a microphone under Damian’s chin.

“We’re going to begin again,” he said, smiling, before hailing a passing cab and quickly helping Marie inside. She wondered where they would go, then decided she didn’t really care. She felt at home again – safe with the most unlikely of friends.

Anna eyed the living room of the Downing Street flat with disdain. She couldn’t believe how dowdy the place was compared to what must be the grandeur of the White House or countless other official residences. Was she now expected to leave her home behind to raise a family in an unwelcoming apartment on top of a madhouse?

Richard, who had been busy making calls to appoint his first cabinet, came rushing back into the room, his face flushed with excitement.

“It’s all falling into place now, Anna. Just a couple more calls to make and we’ll head back to Highgate. The housekeeper says the rest of our stuff will be delivered tomorrow so we’ll be official residents of
10
Downing Street within twenty-four hours.”

“Great,” Anna replied, unenthusiastically.

Richard looked behind him, checking they were alone before moving closer to his wife.

“What’s wrong, Anna? You’re just not yourself these days. Are you still feeling tired? Do you want to lie down?”

“I am still tired, Richard. But it’s more than that,” she turned to face him, realising that now she’d started there was no going back. “I’ve had the most gruelling few weeks, physically and emotionally, and I am struggling, really, really struggling to deal with this – Downing Street, you as Prime Minister, me. I’m a victim of abuse, a killer, a deeply damaged person, and now I’m supposed to be some kind of political figure?”

“You’re not damaged, Anna. You may feel bruised right now. You’ve been through so much, but you’re a fighter. You have never allowed yourself to feel like a victim.”

“Until now,” she shook her head. “I desperately need stability. I need to know that our family comes first over all this,” she said, gesturing around her.

“What are you telling me?” Richard asked, his eyes bulging with confusion and alarm.

“I mean, I have no idea where I stand with you any more and the insecurity is killing me. Am I here as the wife you love, or am I here as the wife you need?” She stood tall now, defiant as she waited for her answer.

“Anna,” Richard clasped her arm. “Of course I love you. You must believe that. It’s been an absolutely crazy few weeks and I know it’s taken its toll on you, but we’ve got to stand strong together. I love and need you, Anna. I can’t do this without you.”

“Well, you might just have to,” she said, continuing to hold his gaze.

“What? What are you talking about? Anna, this is what we both dreamt of together. Don’t you remember all the things we talked about achieving? All the people we can help?”

“You dumped me in front of an entire nation, Richard. Just a few weeks ago. Then, when the public jumped on my side you suddenly decided to ask me back. What part of that sounds like love to you? How do I know this isn’t just some complete sham designed to suit your career? In a few months time I will give birth to our first child and I will not allow him or her to live a lie. That’s just not fair. I’ve spent my whole life chasing the spotlight, desperate to please, to be someone, to be loved, and I’m tired of the whole charade. I just want to be a normal mother. I want to give my child the stability I never had.”

“Are you leaving me?” Richard asked, his voice unsteady, his eyes reflecting his desperation.

Anna leant in close, her face just inches from his. “Would you give this up for me, Richard?”

“Give up being Prime Minister?”

“Yes.”

“You seriously want me to walk into my first press conference tomorrow and tell them I’m giving up the job less than a day into it? Think what you’re saying. Please.”

“How will I ever be able to trust you otherwise? How can I live this life with you not knowing whether I’m only here as long as I help the poll ratings? I’m not strong enough for that.” Tears welled up in her eyes and she turned away from him, reaching for her handbag.

“Anna,” Richard reached for her arm again. “Please. I don’t know what else I can say. I love you and I can’t wait to be a father to our child.”

“I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I need to go home now.”

Richard watched open-mouthed as Anna walked from the room, her head bowed as she tried to suppress her tears. His mind raced with the implications of what she had suggested. To leave Downing Street now would be to give up a life-long ambition as well as being an absolute insult to the millions of people who had voted for the Social Democrats on the strength of his leadership. But then he thought of a life without Anna and their newborn child. The pain that separation would cause. The endless talk and speculation that would surround it and, all the while, he would be expected to lead a nation. Without her he knew he couldn’t do it. Despite the turmoil of the last few weeks, or perhaps because of it, he realised he had never loved or needed her more. And when he looked at it like that, he realised there was no choice at all.

F
riday, 8
th May,
2009
, UK Newswire – Social Democrat leader Richard Williams will today hold his first press briefing in Downing Street as he celebrates becoming Britain’s youngest-ever Prime Minister.

It is believed Williams will use the ten a.m. press conference to outline the thinking behind his new cabinet, announced yesterday, which saw the appointment of his long-standing political ally, Bob Guthrie, as Chancellor of the Exchequer.

In another widely anticipated move, Williams appointed his election campaign organiser, Ray Molsley, as deputy Prime Minister. Molsley said he was “thrilled and honoured to accept the post”, adding: “To serve under the leadership of Richard Williams, a man so dedicated to helping turn this country around, is more than a privilege. I will support him every step of the way and I look forward to a bright new future under his direction.”

Williams and his actress wife, Anna Lloyd, spent a night apart yesterday as she returned to their Highgate home alone while he stayed on at Downing Street. It is believed Lloyd will join the Prime Minister at their new residence later today once their belongings have been moved.

Anna awoke to a loud banging on her front door and instantly realised she’d overslept. The removal men were due to come at nine a.m. but, glancing at the clock, she saw it was already quarter-past and wondered how long they’d been knocking. She quickly threw on her dressing gown and rushed down the stairs to open the front door, taking care to keep out of view in case the ever-present paparazzi got a shot of her. Henry was always warning her of such things and the message had finally sunk in.

The removal men had been hired to pack, move and unpack and as they cheerfully piled in past Anna, she could see they were not in the least bit fazed by their task so she decided just to leave them to it while she went back upstairs to shower.

She checked her mobile but there were no messages from Richard. She knew he had the press conference at ten and she switched on AllNews
24
so she could catch it as she got ready. Her heart was pounding as she thought through the implications of their discussion the night before. She felt terrible that she’d put him in such a position – choosing between his wife and child and the job he had always dreamt of, but how were they to make their marriage work otherwise? How could she ever really trust him when she was there to prop up his popularity?

Turning her attention to the
TV
, Anna watched Esther Yarleth flirtily flick back her hair before announcing her studio guests were “two of the most talked about people in the country next to Richard Williams and Anna Lloyd”. Smiling into the camera she said: “Welcome, Damian Blunt and Marie Simpson.”

Damian smiled confidently while Marie looked nervous. Anna found herself rooted to her seat as she watched.

Esther had, by now, finished her recap on the events of the last few days and was asking Marie, fairly insincerely in Anna’s opinion, how she was now feeling.

“Better, thank you,” Marie answered shyly. “I had backed myself into a very dark place from which I felt there was only one escape.”

Damian immediately jumped in to rescue Marie from an uncomfortable situation. “She had been under a huge amount of pressure over the election campaign, for which I take full blame.”

“And was that the reason for your resignation?” Esther asked with feigned confusion. “It’s just I don’t think you’ve made it clear why you decided to step down as editor.”

“That was one of the reasons,” Damian said, clearing his throat loudly. “But, ultimately, because of the pressure to come up with blinding exclusives, I made some very bad decisions which I feel were not about good journalism and were instead down to desperation.”

Esther turned back to Marie. “And was it that sense of desperation that caused you to harm yourself?”

Marie sighed, carefully thinking through her answer. “Well… there were a number of reasons why I did what I did. Firstly, I think I was probably suffering from depression even before I took the job at the
Echo
. Secondly, I was writing pro-Alliance stories when I dearly wanted to see Kelvin Davis removed from office. I felt I was betraying my family and their values. All that meant I was in a bad place anyway, then I watched Anna Lloyd collapse on
TV
and faced the awful thought that I had caused a woman I admire hugely to suffer, and perhaps even lose her child.” Marie looked down at the floor and took in a deep breath.

“Do you want to go on?” Esther asked, keen to show the more sensitive side her critics said she lacked when interviewing.

Marie nodded before continuing. “When I interviewed Anna Lloyd during the brief period she was separated from her husband, I was struck by her strength and courage. She had overcome hardships in her life that are the stuff of most people’s nightmares. She told me that regardless of whether she remained married to him or not she desperately wanted Richard Williams to win the election as she knew he could make a difference to people who are suffering in just the same way she did. I think she’s an extraordinary woman and I’m very glad that she’ll be at the side of the Prime Minister as he runs the country because she will fight for those who most need a champion. I’m only sorry that this side of the story is one I didn’t get to tell when I worked at the
Echo
.”

Marie’s words were ringing in Anna’s ears as their truth hit home. Until her separation from Richard, she had always seen herself as a woman of courage who would fight to stop children suffering in the way she had, to stop women being abused over and over again with no means of escape. She had longed for them to reach Downing Street so finally they might be able to ease the chaos and turmoil that was the life of so many helpless people.

And just as though someone had turned a switch in her mind, she remembered why she had fallen in love with Richard in the first place. This was their shared dream. The very thing that had been forgotten in the run-up to the election. She had been focused on her career, and he on defeating Kelvin. They had lost sight of their very deep connection – something she now felt again for the first time in months.

She grabbed her mobile phone from the bedside table and noticed that she had a missed call and text message from Richard. She realised he must have called when she was letting the removal men in. She quickly clicked to open the message. It read:
Barely slept. You and baby must come first. I hope this will prove how much I love you. R.

“No,” Anna shrieked as she frantically tried to dial Richard’s Blackberry. It had been hard enough to contact him before the election, let alone now that he was ensconced at Number
10
. And in her hurry to leave the day before, she hadn’t taken any of the Downing Street numbers either. His Blackberry rang out, then went to voicemail.

“Richard, it’s Anna. Please don’t resign. I had got myself into a really weird place. It was stupid… selfish. I want to help you achieve what you were born to do. I love you.”

Anna started to tremble with the realisation that Richard could be about to end his career – and all because she had let herself become overwhelmed by fear and self-doubt.

Her mobile started to ring and her heart took a skip of joy with the hope it might be him, only to sink again when she saw Libby’s name flashing on the screen.

“Oh Libby,” she wailed. “I’ve messed up so badly.”

“What have you done now?” Libby demanded.

“I think Richard might be about to resign. I asked him last night whether he would be willing to stand down for me. I just couldn’t face being scrutinized and picked over any more – my insecurities over our marriage being magnified every day for all the world to see.”

“And now you’ve changed your mind?”

“Yes. I remembered what we had set out to do in the first place. I don’t know how it all got so out of control, but it did. And now I have to get hold of Richard to tell him not to stand down.”

“Have you tried calling him?”

“I can’t get through,” Anna wailed, the tears starting to pour down her face. “And he’s giving a press conference in thirty minutes and I think he might stand down.”

“Right” Libby swung into action mode. “I’m calling John to come and take you to Downing Street now. Meanwhile, I’ll keep trying Richard and Henry and I’ll call the switchboard too.”

“Okay,” Anna gasped, trying to get her breath back.

“Now go,” Libby ordered.

“Thank you, Libby. I’d be lost without you.”

“Yes, you would,” Libby chuckled. “I love you, you silly sod.”

“You too.” Anna ended the call and threw on a pair of black flared trousers and a crumpled blouse she found on an armchair near the bed. She swept her hair back into a low ponytail and quickly powdered her face, adding a little blusher and lipstick. She knew it would be all over the papers if she arrived looking dishevelled so she put a fitted jacket on and hoped she’d sufficiently covered up her chaotic state.

She glanced out of the window and saw John already sitting in the car outside. Grabbing her handbag first, she darted down the stairs, much to the alarm of the removal men in the hallway below.

“You all right Mrs Williams?” one asked, concerned.

“Yes,” Anna blurted in reply, before throwing the front door open. “Got to rush.”

She slammed the front door and walked briskly to the car, trying not to arouse the suspicion of the waiting press. It was then she noticed the unmarked police car in front, waiting to escort them.
Oh shit
,
she thought. Now there was no way John could break the speed limit, so the only option she had was silent prayer.

Marie stared intently at Damian as he finished the intriguing phone call he had been taking for the last ten minutes. She knew she was involved in some way because he had kept winking across the table at her in the café where they were having breakfast. “I’m pretty sure she’d be interested,” he told the caller, “although it’s really something I’d need to talk to her about before confirming.”

Watching Damian relaxed and in full flight only warmed her to him further. A man she once saw as a bit of a bully, now seemed like a harmless puppy. Pressure does funny things to people, she reminded herself. And though things had not yet turned romantic between them, the fact that they seemed to find an excuse to spend their every moment together meant she knew they were heading only one way. Marie smiled and allowed herself to feel the first flushes of happiness in many weeks.

She tuned into Damian’s voice again and, as the call seemed to be drawing to a close, realised he was setting up a time for the two of them to meet with the stranger on the other end of the line. “Monday at four thirty is good, yes.” He smiled back across at Marie again.

“We’ll look forward to seeing you then.”

When he finally ended the call, Marie could hardly contain herself.

“Well?” she demanded.

“That was Miles Hildon. He’s setting up a new website called
The Truth
which will feature what he describes as journalism of the highest editorial integrity, and he wants to talk to you and me about working for him.”

“Let me get this right,” Marie laughed. “He wants to talk to the two journalists in the country who have displayed the least editorial integrity in recent times, about employing us to tell the truth?”

“That’s right, yes.” Damian flashed another self-satisfied smile. “He said he greatly admired our courage in taking a stand against being pressurized into printing stories we didn’t believe in.”

Marie’s mind boggled as to how opportunities like this were starting to present themselves when they were supposed to be in the journalistic doghouse. Miles Hildon was a former tabloid editor, turned
TV
star after a very public fall from grace.

In his press days he had been a young, brilliant and daring editor who was willing to take risks in the name of a good story – until he took a risk too far. Marie suspected that, although lucrative, his
TV
career wouldn’t offer the heart-stopping thrill of chasing a great story, and that’s why he wanted to start up this new online venture. And having just watched her and Damian speak of their shame in failing to work to proper editorial standards, he will have no doubt spotted a publicity opportunity. For they had each paid a heavy price for their mistakes and had publicly walked towards the light when it came to good journalism.

Marie looked across at Damian to find that he had been watching her lost in thought for the last few minutes.

“You looked like you were thinking that one through,” he smiled.

“I was just thinking that a few days ago a career in journalism seemed like the furthest place from where I wanted to be and now, suddenly, I feel excited about it again. Just like I did when I first started out.”

“You and me both, Marie. We could do something really different here. Shake things up a bit. Worth a shot, don’t you agree?” he asked, flashing an enthusiastic grin worthy of even the cheekiest schoolboy.

“Worth a shot,” Marie agreed, returning his smile.

The police officer guarding the entrance to Number
10
could barely hide his shock as he watched Anna dash from the car, in full view of the world’s press, and hot-foot it to the doorstep. And once inside the corridor, she left the house staff similarly stunned when she broke into another run, turning from left to right trying to remember her way to the State Dining Room where the press conference was scheduled to start within the next couple of minutes.

She spotted a member of staff further into the entrance hall and breathlessly asked for directions before rushing off again. As she rounded the corner she found Richard and Henry deep in conversation as they approached the dining room. She quickly caught up with them in time to hear Henry say: “I’ll miss working with you hugely. Things are certainly going to be very different.”

“No,” she cried, grabbing Richard by the arm. Startled, he and Henry swung round to look at Anna.