The Last Darling by Cloud Buchholz Page B

three brothers and two sisters in a constant power struggle. His clothes and toys were second hand and, in many cases, once belonged to his sisters. His parents managed to scrape together enough money for one of their children to go to college, but the bank took most of it when the house payments fell behind, so John had to work two jobs to make his way through a small state college.
    When hundreds of people, including his father, had their benefits cut and their pensions in jeopardy of the same, John temporarily left school to help the union organize. His work was so efficient, both for the company and the workers, that it was featured for two full days by the national media.
    The senator took notice, almost immediately hiring John as a legislative assistant. John worked under the senator for four years, learning the intricacies of government and the best ways to avoid a scandal. One early afternoon, the senator’s daughter arrived for a lunch date with her father, but due to a late meeting, the senator told John to accompany her instead. John’s charm and winning smile lead to several more dates and eventually a wedding engagement. John, at first, would assume his pleasant personality and dashing good looks had won her over, and for a brief time they had, but she had grown bored of his respectful distance and unwavering ethics. When he proposed, she took three days to give him an answer.
    The truth was, the senator’s meeting had not run late and, in fact, had never taken place. The senator, being a skilled manipulator, had planned for his daughter and John to meet. Over the years, he had come to respect and admire John, so much so, that he wanted John to take his senate seat. After he had been diagnosed with lung cancer, the senator knew there was no way he could run in the next election. He could not stand the thought of leaving politics and planned to live vicariously through someone. He had encouraged his daughter to be active politically, but she had never shown an interest. John, on the other hand and with a little bit of work, would be the perfect candidate, but their bond needed to be more permanent, so when the senator’s daughter told him how she planned to refuse John’s offer of marriage, the senator persuaded her to reconsider. He knew her hesitation came from the sexual exclusivity that marriage required, and so he explained that John, like all politicians, would have many affairs over the course of his career and that it was only fair for her to do the same. She accepted his logic and John’s offer the next day.
    The marriage occurred five months later and was one of the largest social events of the year. The senator used it to announce his retirement and to endorse John as his replacement. With the senator’s money and John’s skill, the senate seat remained in the family.
    John pursued the obligations of his career vehemently. He traveled through his districts often, making lasting friendships with the local business owners. He found ways of cutting costs without cutting jobs and he remained on good terms with the labor unions. He spent nearly a third of the year, regrettably, away from his wife. During that time, he never once thought about cheating. His wife, however, could not claim the same. Within the first six months of marriage she had already had fourteen sexual encounters with three different partners. After a year she was pregnant and, knowing the child was not her husband’s, she immediately bought a ticket to D.C. and abruptly had sex with him on the large wooden desk in his office. Almost a month later, full of surprise and excitement, she would tell him she was pregnant.
    The ex-senator, keeping tabs on his son-in-law, was surprised to learn that John had remained loyal. He decided, for the betterment of everyone involved, John needed to sleep with someone other than his wife, and so the ex-senator hired a discreet and sophisticated call girl (from an agency he was already very