The Senator

On a dreary September evening, there is a lake by a forest, and on that lake sits a small cottage. 

In this cottage is an old woman, sitting in front of a fire. She is on the phone, listening intently to the other person. In her other hand is a steaming cup of tea. The TV is on, a local news station reporting that an environmental bill failed. 

In the kitchen is the old woman’s daughter, making some blueberry muffins. The old woman loved blueberry muffins, and the daughter was able to get fresh blueberries from the nearby forest. 

Suddenly the old woman screwed her face into a frown. She furrowed her brow, and started yelling into the phone.

“What do you mean the legislation wasn’t passed? Oh shut up, I know what it means! Why did it not pass? Who voted no?” 

A pause.

“Yes, I know you aren’t allowed to reveal who voted for what, just tell me goddamnit!”

Another pause.

“Michael, I swear to God, if you don’t tell me right now I will come over there with an apple peeler...”

A final pause.

“There we go, that wasn’t that hard, was-”

She stopped mid sentence.

“You little twerp, you think you can just go back on your word? You dare to make a mockery of me, Katherine Jones? You wish to call upon the storm?”

The old woman slammed the chunky analogue phone and rose from the chair, knees shaking. 

“Martha!” The old woman’s voice was much louder than one would expect from such a frail body, “We’ve got a job to do.”

“Comiii~ing!” A sing-song voice floated from the kitchen. “I’ve got muffii~ins!”

Martha floated from the kitchen, carrying a tray of fresh muffins topped with an impeccably smooth layer  of icing. The blueberries shone like gleaming sapphires whose beauty was only rivaled by Martha’s smile. 

“We don’t need your damn muffins!” Katherine slapped the tray out of Martha’s hands, scattering them to the floor, “We’ve got an actual job to do!”

Without skipping a beat, Martha quickly cleaned up the muffins and threw them in the garbage. Her face never deviated from the joyful smile. 

“Oh Mother, you should at least let me put them away. I know how much you love your muffins.” 

“None of that matters Martha, we need to get ready to head out. I need to meet with a soon-to-be-former senator.”

“Alright Mother. Do you want the monkey wrench or the wire cutters?”

The old woman stared incredulously at Martha. “What the hell are you on about?”

“Ohhh, I see what you’re talking about.” Martha winked.

“Oh shut up you stupid girl, we are just going to talk to the man.”

Before Martha could defend herself, her mother was already putting on an old jacket and hat.

“Should I bring anything, Mother?”

“Oh please don’t, you’ll just embarrass me again.”

Wordlessly, Martha got her coat on. She took a small detour into the kitchen to surreptitiously grab some homemade cookies. 

“Martha! Do you have your phone?”

“Of course I do, Mother. We need it to record our meeting, I know that.”

Martha quickly came to the door, ready to go. 

“You have everything Martha? You’re not...” Katherine eyed Martha’s jacket pocket, “bringing anything you shouldn’t?”

“Of course not. Let’s get going, I want to make you some more muffins when we get back.” Martha led her mother out the door. 

The drive to the senator’s office was uneventful. Martha drove while her mother muttered to herself. Her mother never really liked cars, they were too noisy and stinky for her taste. 

When they finally got to the office, rain had just started falling. The two women stood beside their car, enjoying the rain for a few moments, before walking into the office.

“Mother, make sure to hurry. The office closes at five, and it’s already 4:25.”

“You there, girlie, take me to your boss!” Katherine never bothered with the subtleties of the office. Sometimes that helped her cut through red tape.

“Ohhh, I’m ever so sorry, but he’s in a meeting.” The receptionist, barely 18 years old, stressed each vowel to its breaking point, “If you want, I can leave a message and he might call you back.”

She slid a yellow pad of lined paper towards the women, and returned her attention to her computer. 

Throwing the pad of paper on the floor, Martha’s mother slammed her fist on the table. “Listen here, I was just on the phone with your boss and I told him I was coming. You go in there right now and tell him that Katherine Jones is here to see him.” Fire burned in Katherine’s eyes.

The teen, however, wasn’t fazed at all. 

“I can’t, they just started and it will go on for,” she looked at the clock and did some math, “about forty five minutes. Sorry.” The receptionist stressed that sorry for far too long. 

It took a moment before Katherine exploded in rage. 

“You little shit. You think you can just sit there and tell me what I can and cannot do? Do you know who I am? Who I work for? I don’t need your permission to go anywhere.” Katherine stormed past the receptionist, her small form producing loud booming steps.

Lazily the receptionist picked up her phone, pressed a button, and calmly said a single word “Security.”

Within a few seconds, a large, portly fellow in a cheap security guard uniform came up the stairs.

“I’m sorry ma’am, but I’m going to have to escort you out of the building.” But, when he placed his hand gently on Katherine’s shoulder, he recoiled in pain. 

While Katherine was entangled with the security guard, Martha slid towards the receptionist.

“I’m terribly sorry about my mother, she’s... getting on in years.” Martha reached into her pocket, “I made some cookies for the senator. Can you at least give them to him, and tell him that Katherine Jones was in?” She placed the bundle, containing nice oatmeal raisin cookies, on the counter.

“I’ll see what I can do.” The receptionist slid the cookies behind some paper as Martha went to her mother.

“Mother, maybe we should go. It looks like you aren’t feeling too well.”

Martha touched Katherine’s shoulder, and Katherine’s face went blank.

“Huh? Where am I? Is this the cafeteria?” She looked at the guard, “Are you my son?”

Understanding flooded the guard’s face, “No, ma’am, you’re at the senator’s office, and you tried to walk into his meeting.”

The guard ushered the two women out of the building and waved them goodbye. As they entered the car, Katherine turned to Martha. “I really hate playing the old woman, you know that. And did I see you give something to the receptionist? What the hell did you give her?”

“Oh Mother, I just did what had to be done. I knew the senator wasn’t going to listen to reason anyways. This way is... simpler for everyone involved.”

“No.” Katherine’s voice was extremely stern, “You don’t understand what you’ve done. That receptionist is an innocent bystander, and if she gets....” Katherine’s voice trailed off.

“Oh don’t worry Mother, I told her the cookies were for the senator. Everything will-”

“You gave her the cookies! You daft girl, do you even know what those things can do? We have rules against this sort of thing! What will the others think?”

“That’s why I got us out of there when I did. Besides, it’s all for the greater good.” With that, they rode the rest of the way home in silence.

The next day, the two women turned on the TV to see a breaking news story about the senator’s building. There were police, ambulance, and animal control all crowded around. Neither of the women were paying much attention. Katherine was on the phone again. 

“What do you mean the legislation wasn’t passed? Oh shut up, I know what it means! Why did it not pass? Who voted no?”

Martha was in the kitchen, humming to herself while baking some lovely cookies.