On His Terms by Rachel Masters Page B

adjusted the toothpick in his mouth and looked down
     the trail. “My job is to make sure that things go smoothly. Hale likes you. And he
     trusts you. His instincts are good in this department.”
                          She stopped in her tracks. Charles followed suit and looked her straight in the eyes.
     “And under normal circumstances his intuition is more than enough,” he said. “But
     these aren’t normal circumstances.”
                          Ally had been so lost in the romance of this whole situation with Hale that she had
     completely lost sight of the political magnitude of what all this meant. Charles was
     right, she didn’t understand. And she was starting to feel like the leading female
     role in some Jason Bourne movie.
                          “Please, let’s sit for a minute,” Charles said, gesturing towards a nearby bench.
     The aide opened up his briefcase and handed Ally a black folder. He nodded towards
     the folder. “Why don’t you take a look inside. ”
                          She opened the folder and read the following two words situated at the center of the
     document’s cover page: Confidentiality Agreement.
                          She crinkled her eyes, trying to make sense of it all.
    “Please, you must understand, this isn’t personal Ally,” said Charles.
                          “You want me to sign something to show I’ll keep my mouth shut?” Ally was annoyed,
     but not nearly as annoyed as she thought she’d be at something like that ..
                          “Things happen in this world, Ally . And we…” he paused, as if catching himself. “… and Mr. Westbrook…He just can’t take any chances. Too much at stake.”
                          A sudden revelation hit her like a hundred anvils. “Do you… have to do this often?”
     she asked. She wondered if she was among a pool of countless women that Hale Westbrook
     conquered and then rendered essentially invisible once he was through digesting each
     girl.
                          “I really can’t speak to that question Ally.” His eyes told a story--it was as if
     he actually felt bad for her in this moment.
    Or maybe she was just going a bit insane with paranoia.
                          “Let me guess, you had to sign one of these things too,” she said.
    He fiddled with the toothpick in his mouth, but didn’t bother responding.
                          “I don’t know if you’ve been reading the papers,” he said.
                          “Not really. No,” she said.
                          “The public, they’re already talking about you two.”
                          She adjusted her posture. “What are they saying?” She felt a rush of excitement fill
     her veins.
                          “Good things. All good things. Yesterday’s polls showed that Hale just took the lead in the campaign,” he looked
     down at the contract and then up at her. “I’m pretty sure you can figure out why,”
     he said.
                          She stared off for a few moments, trying to understand where Charles was going with
     all of this.
                          “You’re good for Mr. Westbrook. And I think he’s good for you,” he said. Ally’s cheeks
     shifted from a pale hue to a deep red.
    She looked at Charles one last time to study the level of sincerity in his eyes. And   fortunately or unfortunately she was still coming down from her Bakersfield cloud. Charles couldn’t
     have picked a better time.
    Ally reached for Charles’ pen. A wide smile crept through the aide’s face. After reading
     through the legal contract, she etched out her best Jane Hancock. She didn’t know
     a lot about Hale Westbrook even still, but she knew from the beginning that anything
     between the two of them would be anything but