Brew laughed at me. "Yeah, holy shit. Dude, you need to sit down!" He pushed me back towards an armchair. "Make a hole! Dead man walking!"
Marilyn was laughing at me, and after I was pushed down into the chair, she sat on my lap and wrapped her arms around my neck. I finally came around when she began kissing me, so I returned the favor. She pulled back after a moment, as my friends laughed at me. "Wake up, Dopey! You won!"
I finally grinned back at her. "Holy shit, I won!"
Marilyn kissed me again, but then hands were on me, pulling me to my feet and slapping my back and shaking my hand. "Now what?", I asked, to nobody in particular.
"Now we wait until I can confirm this with Stewart's people.", replied McRiley. "In the meantime, don't drink anything more. I want you sober when this goes on television."
"Shit!", I muttered. I turned to Jack. "Hey, you think you can call anybody over at the police station? Maybe they could send somebody over to run a few breathalyzer tests. You know and I know, somebody is going to get wasted here tonight."
"Maybe even you!", he replied, smiling.
"Yeah, just maybe!", I answered, grinning back at him.
I circulated around the room, shaking some hands, and waiting for a call to come through. After a few more minutes a cell phone rang. We crowded around as Brewster pulled it out and answered. I couldn't really hear what he was saying, but he had a very consternated look on his face, and then he hung up the phone, shaking his head. He looked up at us and said, "Well, now I've heard everything. Andy Stewart isn't going to call to concede."
"He thinks he's going to win?", I asked.
"No, he's just not going to call you and concede."
I looked around me and found some other very confused faces. "I'm not following you.", said John.
Brew shrugged and said, "I'm not sure either. That was his campaign manager, Bart Billings. Bart told me that Andy knows he's lost, and they talked about it, but Andy refuses to call you and give you the time of day. He said to tell you to go..." Brew looked around and saw the women in the room, and stopped. "He said to tell you to go, uh, pound salt."
I gave him a very confused look. "So, what does that mean? He's going to contest it? Demand a recount or something? Wait until the election is certified?" That wouldn't happen for several more weeks.
"No, he's conceding, I guess, he just doesn't want to talk to you."
"Christ, what a prick!", commented Bob Destrier. "Sorry, ladies!"
None of the women seemed to care. His wife, Millie, however, asked, "So, what do we do?"
"Let's throw it back into his face, force it on him.", I replied. "I go down there and make my victory speech, and specify that we have heard from his staff. If he wants to complain about it, he can take it up with the news stations tomorrow. Let him answer their questions." There were a lot of agreeing nods around the room. "Okay, let's do it!"
I made a few shooing motions towards the door, and everybody started heading out into the main room. I checked my appearance in a mirror, and took a deep breath. I turned to Marilyn, who was standing next to me, and said, "Show time!"
"Let me go first. I need to tell the reporters you're coming in, so they can report it live, or whatever. Give me five minutes!", ordered Brew.
I nodded and we waited. After a few minutes one of the worker bees, a wildly grinning car salesman who had joined the campaign after hearing me speak at a Chamber of Commerce gathering, came running up, to tell us Brewster said we could go. As I left the room, cheers erupted, along with some applause, from some people in the hallway. I just grinned at everybody and continued on into the main room, where the pandemonium became truly raucous! I went up to the podium we had put at the end of the room. We had a backdrop there, along with an American flag and a Maryland flag. The noise continued until I made some quieting motions, and then things got quiet. I looked over at McRiley, who was talking to the reporters. Some really bright lights came on and then he turned and gave me the go-ahead.
"Thank you. We just received a call from the Stewart headquarters conceding my victory tonight in the Congressional race for the Maryland Ninth. This is it, folks. We won!"
There was a bunch of cheering and applause, and it took a moment to get things under control.
"I have so many people to thank for this, I'm not sure where to start. First and foremost, I have to thank the voters who voted for me. They have placed an awesome trust in me. I promise not to abuse that trust, to be a Congressman that every citizen of the Ninth can be proud of, whether they're a Republican or Democrat."
There was a smattering of boos at the mention of the Democrats, but I had been expecting that. I held my hands up and said, chidingly,
"Now, let's be fair. There is no possible way I would have won without the votes of a lot of good Democrats, people who are trusting that I will represent them better than they have been represented in the past. I am not the Republican Congressman, I am the Congressman for the entire Maryland Ninth, for all of us, Republican and Democrat, and I welcome and appreciate their support!"
"Next, I have to thank the people in this room, and elsewhere - you guys!"
There was a lot of cheering at this.
"This is a team sport, and you were the team! I wouldn't be up here without you! I could never have done this alone! Thank you for all the hard work you've performed! I won't forget it!"
"Next, I need to thank the people responsible for getting me into the race in the first place - John Steiner, Jack Nerstein, Bob and Millie Destrier! They were the ones to convince me to give it a shot. I've spent the last year alternately thanking them and cursing them, and I'm still not sure which I want to do more, but they got me into the race, for better or worse! We can always figure out a way to blame them!"
That got some laughter.
"I have to thank Brewster McRiley, our beloved campaign director. I had no idea what I was getting into when I started this. Brewster did, but he never told me! Brew come up here!"
Brewster was dragged up to the podium amidst more than a little joking, and I gave him a one-armed hug around the shoulders. Then I sent him off.
"One of these days I might just forgive him!"
More laughter, and then I reached out and took Marilyn's hand and pulled her close to me.
"And finally, more than anybody else in the room, I need to thank my wife, Marilyn. No matter what happened, Marilyn believed in me and supported me, just like she has since we first met back in 1974. Whatever I've done in my life, she's the one who said I could do it. No matter how dark it seemed during this campaign, Marilyn believed in me. She's the reason you can all be sure I'll do the best job I can as Congressman, because whatever I do, I want to make her proud of me, and not ashamed. So thanks, honey, because none of this means anything without you by my side!"
I looked down and found her crying. I was on the verge of saying I was sorry, but then she wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me. I handed her my handkerchief and she wiped her face and gave me the best smile in the world.
"Okay, so much for the great words! This is a really big night, and I think it's time to party. Now, let's not get stupid and drunk and crazy. We're going to check everybody as they leave and take your car keys away if you can't drive. I have no intention of ruining this night, and I'm going to need your help to make me the best Congressman I can be. Can we all agree on that?!"