I was right, too. Marilyn returned later in a black peignoir set that was pretty much transparent. Everything was clean enough to eat off of, so that's exactly what I did! She returned the favor, and while she didn't need a gag (not that we even had one; my kinks don't quite go that far) she did end up moaning into the pillow while I finished by plowing her ass from behind. Saturday night we did a very nice date night, with dinner and a movie, and Marilyn without any underwear. I teased her by telling her I'd let Marty know how wild she still was, and she retaliated by telling me that when Marty was visiting, I was cut off, so there wouldn't be any 'embarrassment.'
Chuck lasted through Wednesday before pissing me off for the last time. It started out as a scheduling issue, but then he tried a workaround through Mindy, scheduling something on my calendar without clearing it ahead of time. I had also asked him to figure out when some of the troops would be getting back from the Gulf, as I was planning to co-sponsor a 'Welcome Home' party in Fayetteville with the USO. He ignored that. I simply couldn't trust the guy. I asked him to stay late Wednesday, and then after sending the rest of the staff home, I cut him loose. He protested his innocence six ways from Sunday, but I simply took his keys from him and showed him the door.
Thursday morning I called the staff in and made a simple announcement that Chuck had left to pursue other opportunities, and that I was in the market for a new chief of staff, but that we were on our own until then. I kept a smile on my face and looked around the room. The response was interesting. The more junior people looked relieved, and the senior people simply nodded to each other. After that, I sent everybody back to work, although I kept Babs, Mindy, and Sherry behind.
"Okay ladies, let's go over today's plans.", I said.
Mindy and Sherry nodded. Babs asked, "Are you planning on hiring a new chief of staff?"
"Probably. Do you think I should? What are your thoughts?" I pointed at all of them. "What do all of you think?"
It was Mindy who answered first. "It might make things easier when you're not here.", she said timidly.
Sherry nodded and Babs added, "I'm not going to miss Chuck, but somebody needs to do it."
"Just don't hire somebody who orders people around like he did. You need something from Legislative, ask me, or Bobby if I'm not around, not one of the kids.", commented Sherry. Bobby was Bobby Hisert, her assistant.
I looked at the others. Mindy wasn't in charge of anybody, and was one of the more junior people, but she was dialed into the grapevine. "He do that a lot? Going around people?" They nodded. "Okay, that's not good. I used to be in the Army, and I'm a big fan of the chain of command. Okay, I need to replace Chuck. I got his name from Gingrich, but I don't want to go back to that well. If any of you know somebody, let me know. Now, what do we have planned?"
That got us off of Chuck and back to something useful. Babs reported on the usual missing Social Security checks and help needed with Health and Human Services by a town in the western end of the district. Babs handed me a sheet of paper with a name and a phone number and a script of sorts, a bunch of talking points, really, for when I called over there. I was to wave my Congressman badge around and get somebody to do something. I was also handed a second sheet with a name of somebody over at Veterans Affairs. Same deal, call over, be a Congressman, get something done.
Next, Sherry mentioned something about a bill called the 'Gore' bill, because Tennessee Senator Al Gore was pushing it. It was going through the Science, Space, and Technology Committee, and she thought I might be interested. I scratched my head at that. Al Gore? What was he up to? "What's that about?", I asked.
She riffed through some notes. "It's something called the 'High Performance Computing and Communication Act'. Something to do with computer networks, I think."
Holy shit! It was Al Gore's Internet bill, the one that tied ARPANet and NSFNet together! I sat upright. "Okay, I want to know all about it. If it's what I think it is, I want in on this.", I told them.
"Al Gore's a Democrat and a Senator.", she replied, curious at my interest.
I nodded. "Ladies, long before I was an investor or a soldier, I was a scientist. In case you didn't know, I'm not a lawyer, I'm a mathematician. I have a doctorate in computer networking. If it's what I think it is, this is an important bill, and I want my name on it somewhere. Does he have any sponsors in the House? I might not know how this works, but I know you need to sponsor this in the House as well as the Senate. Get me involved!"
Sherry nodded with a surprised look on her face. "Yes, sir. Let me look into this. Give me a few days and I'll get back to you."
I tilted my head towards Mindy, but kept talking to Sherry. "Get in touch with Al Gore's staff. Feel free to set me up with a lunch with the Senator, my treat. Schedule it with Mindy for me."
Next I turned to Mindy. "I want you to call somebody at either the Pentagon or Fort Bragg. Find out when the 82nd Airborne is going to be coming back from the Gulf. Then get in touch with the USO. I donate to them every year, and I would bet that they are planning some sort of 'Welcome Home' party. Feel free to use my name, but I want to help. They'll want some money, so remind them I have contributed in the past and will continue to do so. Also, figure out about any troops from the Maryland Ninth. We can have a party back home for that. I'll want to attend both."
Mindy was scribbling furiously. The others eye me curiously. "You were in the 82nd, right?", asked Sherry.
"Yeah."
The others all nodded. "So, we should stop selling you to the lobbyists, and actually try to get something accomplished?", commented Babs.
I smiled. "Chuck didn't quite get it. Let's see if you ladies and whoever I get as my next chief of staff can figure it out." That got some laughs, and I shooed them out of the office.
I spent the rest of the week learning how bills got introduced and passed in the real world, and not how they teach you during Orientation. It was too late to make a name for myself with the Gore Bill. Al had introduced it to the Senate on January 24 as S .272, and George Brown had introduced the related H .656 to the House four days later. George Brown was the head of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, thus the bill was pretty much a done deal. The best I could manage was being a co-sponsor, which I would just have to be happy with.
I talked to Sherwood 'Sherry' Boehlert over lunch that week about the bill. That was pretty interesting, since he had been my Congressman back when I had lived in New York on my first trip round. He was a decidedly moderate Republican, much like myself, and by the Nineties was constantly being hammered by the religious right about being pro-choice. He finally gave it up in 2006, deciding not to put up with the increasingly hard right tone of the party and got out while the getting was good. He was a fellow member of the SST Committee and was already listed as a co-sponsor. I would have a chance to get on as a cosponsor in April.
He also warned me that this was considered a 'Democratic' bill. He was the only Republican sponsor, and warned me that co-sponsoring it would bring me to the attention of the party leadership, and not in a positive fashion! He could get away with it because he had a reputation as a moderate, and had been in Congress for eight years already; I was a newbie with no reputation. I don't think he gave a damn about what Gingrich thought, and was only four years junior to him anyway. Gingrich was only the Minority Whip, but he was very, very ambitious and Boehlert figured he was trying to maneuver into the Minority Leader's seat, and hopefully become Speaker of the House. That was one of the subtexts of everything involving the legislation, this or any other. Newt was pushing to reverse the Democratic domination of the House, and if he managed it, he would oust Michel. I needed to watch my ass. My counter was three simple letters - P -H -D! I could flaunt my interest in computers and my years of experience in the business, and otherwise pass myself off as simply naïve in the workings of Congress. I told him to count me in.