Chapter 7: Senate Hearings - "Did the Senator understand what I said?"

---

 

She stayed as long as she could, but had to eventually leave if she hoped to make the Senate hearings scheduled for two PM.

"Do we have time to pass by the hotel to change, Pete?" she asked.

"Not a chance, Boss," Pete replied from the front passenger seat.

"Well, I guess it's okay to be in my dress blues."

"I think it's fine, Boss."

"Kat, when we get there, you hurry on and find a spot in the gallery. Max, you'll be going with me, and you better hold on to this." She took off her Medal of Honor and handed it to her. "Pete, you find an unobtrusive spot somewhere. We don't want to give the senators more things to obsess on."

"Boss?"

"Senator Dixon has been obsessing about political blue bloods and white privilege for a while now. If they see me with my own bodyguard..."

"Gotcha."

Traffic was fairly bad on the way to the Capitol, and because of which, they were barely on time. Their car had barely stopped when they rushed out and started climbing the Capitol steps.

A few reporters who happened to be there saw them arrive.

"Joey!" one of the reporters said to his cameraman. "Come on!"

They hurried after the four. "Ms Xander!" he called. "Ms Xander!"

"I'm sorry," Effie replied, "I can't stop right now. I'm incredibly late."

"I know," the reporter said. "Why are you late?"

"I was at a memorial ceremony in Richmond."

"But ma'am, this is an important hearing, wouldn't it be..."

"I know it's an important hearing!"

"Effie!" Max said.

Effie took a deep breath and calmed down. "I apologize. But it was a ceremony for the General. I mean, Secretary Tomlin. I felt it my duty to be there."

"Oh... I understand now, ma'am. Is that why you're in uniform?"

"Yes. I was one of the speakers at the General's service." She shook the reporter's hand, and the reporter was a bit surprised by that small sign of apology and consideration.

"I'm sorry. I apologize for my temper. I'm a little harassed at the moment. If you'll excuse me..."

"Of course, ma'am. And good luck."

Effie smiled at the reporter. "Thanks!"

The three hurried, while Kat went in a different direction in search of the entrance for the gallery.

- - - - -

"Good of you to join us, Ms Xander," Senator McLaughlin said.

"Apologies, Mr. Chairman," Effie said as she sat down, with Max beside her.

"Did you have another more pressing matter to attend to?"

"There is no excuse for my tardiness, sir."

"Let's swear her in," one of the junior senators said.

"Wait," McLaughlin said, "before we do, I want to know first - what could be more important that the Attorney General would risk being late for a senate hearing?"

"I can't say, Senator."

"Wait - you can't say or you won't say?"

"I can't say, Senator."

"Mizz Xander - you cannot lie to the Senate."

"Well, firstly, Senator, I am not lying. I am simply not answering. Secondly, I haven't been sworn in yet, so I am not yet under any obligation."

That was a greeted with a smattering of applause.

"Dammit! All right, administer the oath."

Effie was sworn in and was briefed on what was expected of her, and the penalties that would be applicable to her - standard procedure.

After which, she submitted to questions. But it seemed McLaughlin didn't want to let go and again asked her why she was late.

This was greeted again with laughter from the observers, that the senator was so AR, he would not let go.

Again, Effie demurred, even at the threat of being held in contempt.

The framing of the senator's question implied that, if she couldn't be relied on for something as simple as being on time, what made her think that she could play a significant role in government? But Effie just refrained to comment.

No one spoke as McLaughlin stonily waited for a response from her, and the tableu became more and more awkward.

"Mr. Chairman!" one of the other senators finally spoke.

"Chair recognizes Senator Arrapayo from Hawaii."

"Mr. Chairman," the tiny Japanese-American senator said, "I spoke to my husband a few minutes before the hearing was convened..."

"Yes, Senator?"

"He is currently with Mrs. Rose Tomlin and her family in Virginia, attending a private memorial service for the General."

McLaughlin nodded, though a little puzzled. "Please ask Colonel Arrapayo to extend the Senate's and my personal condolences to Mrs. Tomlin and her family."

Arrapayo nodded. "I will. But the reason I mentioned this at all was that my husband told me that Major Xander, ummm, I mean Attorney General Xander, was also at the service - she was one of the speakers that Rose invited to speak at her husband's service..."

This was greeted with silence.

"Also, Mr. Chairman," Arrapayo continued, "according to my own reckoning, I believe Ms. Xander was not actually late, sir. She arrived a few minutes before she was required to appear."

The tittering in the crowd was very loud, but only because no one was speaking. "The senator is mistaken," McLaughlin said eventually. He instantly regretted saying that since it made him look small and petty, to be taking Effie to task for this small infraction, especially when many, if not most were late to committee meetings anyway.

"I believe the Committee's Sergeant-at-Arms would know?" Arrapayo said. There was a bit of commotion as some people at the back tried to check.

"Speak up, young man," Arrapayo said. "We can't hear you."

One of the pages ran over and gave the man a microphone. After a brief squeal from the feedback, the sergeant-at-arms said, "Ms Xander arrived in-committee at one fifty-one PM, ma'am."

Again, there was silence, and then loud and enthusiastic applause from the gallery, and from many of the senators, rolled in.

McLaughlin banged his gavel. "Order, ladies and gentlemen, order!"

"Tell that to yourself!" someone in the gallery heckled.

- - - - -

When everyone settled down, McLaughlin cleared his throat. "Well, now that that is cleared up, we can proceed with this important matter, of vetting the Attorney General for the important position of Vice President of our country.

"I must say, Madam Attorney General, we could have gotten past this misunderstanding much more quickly if you just told the committee where you had just come from."

"Yes, sir."

"That's all you have to say?"

"Sir, I do not shift blame onto others."

This was greeted with cheers and applause.

Clearly uneasy, McLaughlin cleared his throat. "We would hardly blame Mrs. Tomlin for your tardiness."

"Yes, sir."

Mclaughlin sighed. He then made his opening remarks, summarized the purpose of the hearing, and yielded the floor to the next senator, which happened to be Senator Arrapayo.

"Ms Xander, let me first thank you for answering our invitation to this hearing."

"Not at all, Senator. Thank you. I'm honored to be here."

"I noticed that you are wearing your military uniform. It's called your Dress Blues, right?"

"Yes, ma'am. Specifically, it's the Marines' Blue-White 'B' Uniform."

"I take it you wore this to the General's service this morning."

"Yes, ma'am. I had no time to change to less formal attire before coming over. However, it is allowable to wear the uniform while at the senate."

"But you are not in active service at the moment. How is it..."

"That's correct, ma'am - I am in the reserves. However, it is allowable for inactive reserve or retired officers to wear their uniforms during certain situations. This one applies."

Arrapayo smiled. "Well, it becomes you, Major. Or do I call you Attorney General?"

Effie chuckled. "Than you, ma'am. Your dress is very becoming, as well." The people laughed in delight. "Traditionally," Effie continued, "if in uniform, the person should be addressed by her rank, ma'am."

"I see, Major. I see by the devices you have on your uniform, your career was quite eventful. I also know this because my research on you was quite extensive."

"You make me blush ma'am. Thank you."

"But there is one decoration that is not represented, I believe."

"Ummm, Senator, what do you..."

"Are you wearing all your commendations and medals, Major? Is there one missing?"

"Ummm, yes - I'm not wearing my Medal of Valor, ma'am," she said hesitatingly, and blushed. And everyone clapped.

"I am wondering why, Major," the senator said.

"I am very proud of it, ma'am - it's my greatest singular honor to have been given the award by the President... but to wear it here seems... too austentatious, ma'am. People might say that I was showing off... ma'am."

"Oh, I don't think so, Major. But if I were in your shoes, I'd probably wear it all the time, and that would be showing off. But then, it'd be my Medal of Valor. Do you see the difference?" the spectators tittered.

Effie smiled and nodded at that. "I guess so, ma'am."

"In fact, Major, you are a bona fide war hero, and are also a Knight of the Realm, are you not?"

"It's an honorary OBE, ma'am - I am not a British citizen, after all."

"According to my research, you also have a Star of Palestine and the Order of the Nile. Is that corect?"

"Yes, ma'am, but they're Palestinian and Egyptian - so there..."

"I understand, Major. Anyway, my five minutes are up. Thank you."

The hearing was, for the most part, like that, and it continued on until five PM. Fifteen of the twenty-two members of the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, or what most just call the Senate Judiciary Committee, got their licks in. And, for the most part, the senators were quite positive, a handful actually almost fawning, but there were three who were extremely hostile - the senators from Mississippi, North Dakota and the committee chair, McLaughlin.

After the hearing, at the capitol's steps, Senator Warren Oakes from North Dakota spoke with the reporters gathered.

"How did the hearing go, you ask?" he said. "It went as expected, when you're faced with wall-to-wall liberals."

"What are you saying, Senator?" one of the reporters asked.

"Look - I'm very LGBTQ-friendly. In fact, in the past, I have actually come to the defense, physically, of people I knew to be gay, from narrow-minded bigots. So it's not a transgender thing. I question the AG's motivations. I believe she has an agenda - an LGBTQ-centric agenda that she will be pushing, undermining the interests of us normal people. Pretty soon, we'll have soft laws favoring queers, schoolbooks touting gay achievements, advocating abnormal sexuality..."

"'Normal people?!'" someone in the crowd shouted in disbelief and indignation.

"Exactly!" Senator Elizabeth Birch from Mississippi, who was standing beside Oakes, said. "Yes, the LGBTQ community is a very relevant segment of our community. But do you seriously want to integrate their abnormal sexuality and their promiscuity into our national life?"

"Boo!" someone else shouted. "Homophobe!

"I'm not a homophobe, nore a gay-basher!" she said. "Some of my friends are LGBTQ! But we must stop this slow creep of the LGBTQ agenda into out society! We must..."

But the rest of her words were drowned out by yelling from the crowd.

Senator McLaughlin, seeing how it went for his two friends, stayed quiet, and slowly crept back, and then went back to his office in the capitol. From there, he made arrangements for his car to come by the back, allowing him to go home unnoticed and unbothered by questions similar to what Oakes and Birch faced.

That night, the impromptu interview with the two senators immediately went viral, and the major networks played the clip of that disastrous time on the capitol's steps during their nightly news programs.

Effie's popularity was such that most people found the behavior of the two senators quite... distasteful, regardless of whether they were pro-LGBTQ or anti. Condemnation of the two senators was mostly universal.

A significant number of the nation's non-LGBTQ citizens were not really accepting of LGBTQ behavior, or even actually understood LGBTQ people, even though they professed an understanding of them and being friendly to them. But in their hearts of hearts, many well-meaning straight people didn't really like them, though they try, even to the extent of defending them. And in their fear of being considered homophobes, or perhaps, in their mistaken belief that they actually understood gays or trans people, they just quietly professed their condemnation of these senators' behavior, not so much highlighting Effie's LGBTQ status but rather highlighting her major achievements - as a war hero, as an exemplary public servant and as an upstanding citizen.

And that was one of Effie's two advantages over other LGBTQ advocates - that her accomplishments, both as a man and as a transgender woman were over the top (comparatively speaking), beyond question, and totally undeniable. Inspiring, in fact. And her public and private records were spotless and blameless, except for that one blemish - of her being a transgendered woman.

And, even there, her living and being a woman, despite most of the world being against her, was exceptional. She had the advantage of not having to scrabble for a living, of just surviving, as many transgendered people had to, so she was able to live a normal, some will even say a privileged, life. But knowing what she knew, and the seemingly insurmountable prejudice she was faced with, she did not flaunt her transgenderism, nor buttonhole people about it, nor use every opportunity to lecture about transgenderism. That was her second advantage.

She knew how those street evangelists that lecture from street corners or on buses and other public spaces were thought of, and she could not afford for her own particular cause to be marginalized by such scene-causing tactics. So she started her own little movement of one, where "quiet advocacy" and "showing by doing," and "demonstrating instead of telling" was the mantra. And she would tell the same thing to the LGBTQ visitors and friends that "came by" the office and her house from time to time. (Seriously, though, who would "just happen to be passing by" Wyoming? Wyoming was never really "on the way" to any place, so these people made the effort to "casually" pass by, with the express purpose of meeting her.)

Many came, touting a copy of Effie's "Magna Carta for Non-cisgender Citizens," and Effie would dutifully sign them, but she'd also lecture them that they were going about their advocacy the wrong way, and espoused, instead, her own "showing by doing" policy. Sure, marching in the Pride Parade was good, but what was even better was showing people that LGBTQ folks were not weirdos, were respectable, and did not need to be feared or shunned or ridiculed by showing "normals" they were just like regular folks.

The more militant of these visitors came away from these impromptu chats with her disappointed. Instead of getting another soldier in their war to make the world more LGBTQ-friendly, they would say that Effie had been co-opted by the "normals." But many of these eventually understood, finally realizing that any real acceptance would only come with time. And when enough of them "showed by doing," the problems they had been encountering in daily life would start to become less frequent and less... virulent.

It was hard thing, this waiting game, but it was necessary.

The more militant part of the LGBTQ community denounced Effie, as did the more militant of the "normal" conservative folks, but most people just shouted them down, and in a twisted kind of way, this sympathy just bolstered Effie's image and reputation.

- - - - -

The following day, during the second and last day of the Senate Judiciary Committee's hearings, no one wanted to go through what the two senators went through, so a few of the remaining senators yielded their time, and for those who didn't, they didn't really have anything negative to say or espouse or ask about, and just delved into the minutia of Effie's history, hoping to find an anomaly or something objectionable, but Effie's life was totally open and above-board: nothing new was bought up.

Those who weren't really pro-LGBTQ were careful with their words, and did not give the media additional fodder, because they didn't want to commit political suicide, just like Senators Oakes and Birch did (the consensus was, barring some kind of miracle, their political careers were essentially over). Even Senator McLaughlin understood this and was very mellow during this last day.

A few, though, tried to use their time by using Effie's opinions as springboards to discuss their own pet issues. Thank goodness Effie was completely up-to-date, and wasn't completely caught unaware. And McLaughlin was very casual that day, and was willing to let the hearing meander, and lots of topics were brought up, and the hearing started to sound more like a regular session on the senate floor instead of a hearing for a prospective VP.

In any case, the upshot was that this last day was smooth sailing for Effie.

The following week, however, the United States House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, began their own hearings. It took longer, of course, since they had forty-one instead of twenty-two committee members, but Effie and Max were prepared for the worst.

However, with the hard lesson from the Senate learned, the House Committee members kept their talking points above-board, and since they did, the matter of Effie's transgenderism rarely came up, or some just didn't cross-examine Effie at all and passed on the opportunity to ask her questions. The committee scheduled the hearings for the afternoons, from Monday to Thursday, but since a lot of the members decided to yield their time, the hearings finished by Wendesday - a day earlier than was expected.

- - - - -

Instead of returning to Wyoming right away, since Effie's schedules had already been moved to the following week already, she, Kat and Max had nothing to do for Thursday and Friday, so Effie decided to take the entire Thursday off to go shopping or playing tourist, and to go home Friday, as originally scheduled. However, typical of Max, Max decided to go back home right away - she was desperate to reduce the office backlog. So she said, though Effie, Kat (and Pete) knew that she was really missing her family, and this was a convenient excuse. So Effie didn't force her to stay.

They weren't completely free on Thursday, though. Thursday evening, Kat had a party to go to - she was invited to a party for various celebrities, models and famous fashion designers being organized by Sarah Michelle Rhodes from Blumenfeld House. Sarah organized these yearly parties for partners, clients and supporters of Blumenfeld House, which included Kat - Kat had been creating designs for Blumenfeld's glamour lines for a while now, and over the last few years, she had become a fixture at Sarah's yearly shindig. Recently, Kat had even created several designs exclusive to Blumenfeld's fairly new Young Adult line (and though Kat's Blumenfeld designs were selling well enough, the rest of the Blumenfeld's new YA line wasn't doing as well).

In any case, Sarah was counting on Kat to come, and Kat had already RSVP'd: the turnout at such parties were usually high, but when Kat RSVP'd early this year, the confirmed invitees became particularly high this year.

- - - - -

Innocently, as Kat and Effie helped Max pack up and see her to the hotel car that would bring her to the airport, Kat had asked Effie to accompany her to the party, and after Max had left, she called Sarah to ask if Effie could come. Sarah was quick to say okay, of course. Normally, Kat didn't really need to ask, but since it was a strictly-by-invitation thing this year, she had to let her host know. And, of course it was totally okay. Kat did mention to Sarah that Effie would have a bodyguard with her, but Sarah said that was also okay, although she made some cryptic comments about it being a fashion event. Understanding right away, Kat giggled and said she would take care of it. (Sarah was referring to the attire for the event, so Pete, Effie's bodyguard-and-sidekick, would have to be appropriately attired, just like everyone.)

Anyway, after Kat's call, Sarah told many of her guests that Effie was coming, and everyone got very excited about it. Because of Effie, Sarah got lots of last-minute requests, and though Sarah tried to include as many of them as she could, she was forced by Mindy, her executive assistant, to not exceed the earmarked number of invitees, otherwise, there won't be room for them to sit in the mini-fashion show, and some people will go hungry. As it was, Mindy was going half out of her mind trying to brief her people about new invitees, and arranging seating for the mini-fashion show, and the after-show sit-down dinner.

Sarah reluctantly had to turn down a lot of requests, but did say yes to several movers-and-shakers, which included Anna Benson-Reynolds and her husband, California's very popular ex-Governor, Matt Reynolds. She also included Melody Piper, the CEO of the large conglomerate PiperCorp, and her daughter, Tracey. With Mr. Simon Thadeus Tate, Jr., the president of the even-larger, giant conglomerate Tate & Company, and his wife already having RSVP'd before, it was a coup of sorts for Sarah.

- - - - -

After Effie, Kat and Pete finished dinner at the hotel's swanky rooftop restaurant, Kat asked if Pete brought his "special suit" (after Effie attended her first important reception as Wyoming's AG, a need for Pete to have a nice tux-type suit appropriate for fancy, red carpet-type parties became obvious, so Kat arranged for Pete to have some custom-fit suits appropriate for fancy parties specially tailored to hide his sidearm. This allowed him to accompany Effie, and sometimes Kat, to red-carpet events without sticking out).

Knowing about Kat's party, Pete said he brought one just in case, as well as the appropriate shirt, shoes and other accoutrements. Kat went with Pete to his room to get them, and had them dry-cleaned and pressed.

"That takes care of Pete," she sighed. "Now, how about you, sis?"

Effie showed her everything she brought, but nothing was good enough for the party.

"Dammit, Effie!" Kat complained.

"What!" Effie exclaimed, and giggled. "Ain't my fault. You picked my wardrobe for this week."

Kat grumbled and went out to the balcony with her phone. Effie and Pete looked at each other with a small chuckle, amused by her concern about clothes again.

While Kat stood out in the balcony, she called the fancy, little fashion store located in DC's posh and fancy 14th Street that sells her designs. Kat had ties to several small shops scattered all over the country to sell her designs - some, like the one on 14th, even sold them exclusively, with no other clothes on their shelves. It was part of Kat's strategy to make her name known among the indy and hipster communities, and it seemed her strategy is working. (Kat made arrangements with Blumenfeld and the other houses who manufacture her designs, to sell them to "her" stores at cost - but these fashion houses didn't mind this since the amount of stock that these tiny stores tool were miniscule, and that was a small price to pay to get exclusive rights to manufacture Kat's designs.)

Kat came back in shortly. "Okay," she said, "I've made arrangements for you to have an appropriate outfit for tomorrow night. They'll deliver it early tomorrow afternoon."

"Great," Effie said.

- - - - -

In the morning, after an early breakfast, Effie got the hotel to arrange a nondescript chauffeured car for them, and they went to the usual touristy places, like the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial and its surrounding cherry blossom trees (they weren't in bloom, unfortunately), the Newseum, and because Pete suggested it, the International Spy Museum.

As Kat and Effie took in the sights and took photos and selfies, many early-bird tourists couldn't help but notice Kat and Effie - two statuesque redheaded beauties just couldn't escape attracting attention, but besides this, Effie was eventually recognized.

The behavior of most people toward them were positive, and these tourists were surpised that Kat and Effie didn't have any sort of entourage with them, but when asked, Kat explained that was how they preferred it.

In any case, a lot of these tourists asked for pictures, and Pete obliged, taking their cameras or their phones, and took the pictures for them.

There were a few people that were less than friendly, though, but Pete's six-foot nine, 300-pound presence was enough of a deterrent. Heowever, while near the Jefferson Memorial and the cherry blossoms, Pete and Effie spotted someone who seemed to about to bring out some kind of rifle, presumably to shoot at them and the small crowd that had formed around them. and while Effie brought out her own sidearm, Pete announced himself to be a federal agent (which he was). Many in the crowd screamed in fear, and the trenchcoat-wearing would-be shooter, not expecting to be spotted, took off, and Pete gave chase.

Some patrolling officers saw Pete running after the other man, and called for them to halt.

Pete stopped immediately, took out his wallet and put up his hands.

While one of the officers went to Pete, the rest gave chase. Pete readily gave up his IDs, which included his military ID, his special permit-to-carry card, and his FBI ID card identifying him as Effie's specially-assigned military security detail.

"Sorry, sergeant," the police officer said. "Had to be sure." He holstered his sidearm and gestured for Pete to lower his arms.

"No trouble at all, officer," Pete said. "You were just doing your job." He gestured towards Effie. "If you don't mind, I'd like to introduce you to the Major, I mean, Ms Effie Xander, and her sister, Kat."

"Really?" the policeman said. "the Fox? Sure!"

Pete pointed to Effie and Kat, who were presently walking towards them.

"Oh, wow!" he said. He took off his policeman's hat, combed his hair with his fingers, put his hat underneath his arm, and straightened his tie.

"Oh, wow..." he repeated, and that made Pete chuckle. "The guys will never believe I got to meet The Fox!"

- - - - -

In minutes, the media heard of the incident with the gunman, and they let their field people know. They sent their second-string people to the gunman, which by then, had already been caught was currently being processed in the Park Police District One station, the police station nearest the Jefferson Memorial, while their top crews went to look for Effie and Kat, who, by that time, had already left.

After giving the starstruck policeman a short statement, and promising to be available to be witnesses or whatever, the three continued with their day out playing tourist, and the newspeople eventually caught up with them at the National Gallery of Art.

Effie shushed them when they started causing a commotion inside the gallery, and promised them an interview later outside.

But, instead of leaving them alone, even though they kept quiet and kept their distance, they following the three through the gallery.

The paparazzi ruined their touristy mood, so they decided to cut their day short, and went out to the gallery's west entrance, where they had an impromptu interview.

"Ms Xander," one of the TV reporters began as Effie and Kat stood on the gallery's steps.

"Which one," Kat quipped, and everyone laughed.

"Ummm, either, ma'am," the reporter smiled.

"Okay," Kat nodded. "Shoot."

"How are you enjoying your time in DC?"

"Oh! We're njoying it very much so," she said. "Effie and I feel privileged to be able to visit our nation's capital, and were just looking at the usual sites. I don't know about Effie, but my favorite was the Lincoln Memorial. It was a bit sad, but it was also very inspiring and beautiful. President Lincoln is my favorite historical figure."

"How about you, Attorney General?"

"I agree completely with Kat," she said, "but she beat me to the Lincoln Memorial." Everyone laughed. "So I guess I'd say the Jefferson Memorial and the cherry blossoms. They're not in bloom now, but even so, the trees are still pretty lovely."

"Where to next after this?"

"Well, I wouldn't be telling you guys, otherwise, you'd follow us." Everyone laughed again.

Another reporter raised his hand.

"AG Xander," he said, "any thoughts on the Senate and House hearings? What do you think your chances for confirmation are?"

Effie shrugged, and everyone laughed again.

"Seriously, ma'am. The entire town is saying your confirmation is a sure thing."

"Well, seriously, I can't say. It would be improper, as well as impolite to second-guess the Senate and House Judiciary Committees. I guess I have to wait for the final vote, just like the rest of the country. I'd like to take this opportunity, though, to give my thanks to the President, for giving me his trust, and I hope I comported myself such that I did not let the President's trust down."

All the other reporters couldn't shake Effie and make her comment about about how the hearings went.

However, one of the reporters brought up the comments of Senator Oakes and Senator Birch, and also mentioned Senator McLaughlin's very combative words during the Senate hearings.

"Well, I cannot speak to Senator McLaughlin's words," Effie said. "After all, he just took exception to my being late to the hearing, and when it was definitively proven that I wasn't, he didn't bring it up anymore. Anyone can be mistaken from time to time. As for the public's neagative reaction to the LGBTQ-unfriendly comments of Senators Birch and Oakes, it wasn't surprising. Let me lay some numbers on you:

"A conservative estimate of the size of the adult LGBTQ population is about seven percent of the total adult population in the country. This has remained fairly constant since 2019, and almost one hundred percent of these folks are politically active, meaning to say, almost all of them vote, and almost all of them are more vocal about politics and politicians than, ummm, regular folk, especially in social media;

"The total number of citizens today is roughly four hundred fifty million, which is up by one hundred twenty-three million from 2018, and the percentage of citizens under eighteen has remained almost constant since 2018, at twenty-four percent. This means that the adult population of voting age is seventy-six percent; and,

"The percentage of actual people who vote versus the country's total adult population has also remained mostly constant since 2016, at about sixty-one percent.

"So, considering all of these numbers, this means that the total number of citizens who vote is around two hundred million, and out of this, around twenty-four million are LGBTQ. This represents a solid twelve percent of the voting public. If we use the Pareto Rule for a conservative estimate of the LGBTQ-friendly portion of the remaining voters, i.e. a conservative twenty percent, that would be a total of thirty-five point two million. Meaning to say, there would be close to sixty million voters who would be offended by the two senators' statements.

"Now, if we include twenty percent of the non-voting adults, which would be around twenty-seven million, then we have a a grand total of eighty-seven million adults that aren't happy with the senators Oakes and Birch."

The reporters looked at each other, and then at Effie.

"Wow," one of them commented. "Those are amazing numbers, ma'am."

Effie chuckled. "I know," she said. "Blame my assistant, Max. She's very big on math. Anyway, I'm sure you can play back the video and review my numbers. But all I'm saying is that it isn't surprising that the senators pissed off a lot of people."

A confused kind of murmuring followed. One of the senior reporters commented that he hadn't heard so many numbers since the late, great Senator Bernie Sanders, which was then greeted by laughter.

Effie used that momentary lull to make their excuses, and made their way to their car.

"Pete," Effie said as they rapidly walked to the car while the reporters tried to hurry after them, "I want you to take over the driving. I want you to lose these reporters, and let's find a quiet spot to have a drink or something."

"Right, Boss," Pete responded.

Effie and Kat sat in the back while Pete had a talk with the hotel's limo driver. Pete was sucessful in convincing the driver, and allowing him to drive this time.

"Buckle up!" Pete said, and while the newspeople, finally realizing Effie and Kat were leaving in their car, scrambled to get to their own cars, Pete stepped on the gas. With his training and experience, he expertly wove around the cars on the street, and it was like they were the only ones moving in the traffic-clogged street. In a minute they were already three blocks away from where they started while the reporters were just getting into their cars.

Seeing the next stop light just turning yellow, Pete speeded up and hung a left and just made it before the light turned red. He did it a couple more times, and they had effectively lost the reporters.

"Mission accomplished, Boss!" Pete said.

"Ooorah!" Kat said in a small trembling voice. It seems she almost peed her pants from Pete's demolition derby style of driving. Pete and Effie chuckled, and Effie gave Kat a kiss on the forehead.

"No need to be scared, honey," Effie said to Kat. "You can trust your life to Pete's driving. Believe me."

"The bad news, however, is I think we're lost now," Pete said. Effie and Kat laughed.

"No, we're not lost," their driver-now-passenger said. "I know DC like the back of my hand. We're just a few blocks from Dupont Circle. Where do you want to go, anyway?"

"We're looking for a quiet place to have a drink and a bite," Pete said. "Preferrably somewhere that those newspeople won't find us."

"I think I know a place," the driver responded, and started giving Pete directions.

After a little bit, they found themselves in CityCenterDC, one of the most eclectic and semi-upper scale neighborhoods in DC, which was made up of a mix of shops, restaurants, apartments, condominiums, office buildings and public common areas. They got out of the car and left their driver to look for parking, and the driver gave them a business card with a link that they could log on to with their phones. This app would then allow the driver to be paged, and help him find them, sort of like the Uber app.

Effie and Pete left it to Kat to find them a nice place to sit and have a bite, and true to her reputation as a super-shopper, she unerringly steered them to a nice little bistro. Effie and Kat had a mess of panninis and a deli-style sampler plate, and shared a nice half-bottle of sparkling prosecco. Pete sat down at a table a dozen feet away, and enjoyed a big meatball sub and a glass of milk (he was on duty so nothing alcoholic for him) while he watched out for trouble, poised to spring into action at a moment's notice.

After that late lunch, they were finally able to get to their shopping, but barely an hour into it, the paparazzi was finally able to track them down.

"Dammit!" Kat exclaimed as they saw a bunch of reporters and camera men coming towards them.

Effie gave her a hug. "I'm sorry, kid."

That's okay," Kat said, and hugged her back. "Not your fault. But, y'know, if you do become the VP, this is going to happen more and more. Guess we have to get used to it."

So the two sisters put on smiles and faced the oncoming hoarde of reporters.

- - - - -

After they cut their shopping trip short and went back to the hotel, Effie found her new dress in their hotel suite. The dress was laid out on her bed, still in it's disposable garment bag. Effie called Kat.

"Yeah, sis?"

"This the dress?"

"Yep," she dimpled. "Pretty, huh?"

"Don't you think this is a bit over the top?"

"You don't know these Blumenfeld parties. This is just the right outfit for it. Try it on and see how it fits."

Effie skinned down to her bra and bikini panties, and, with help from Kat, started to put it on.

"Oh, wait! Put on the shoes first, though," Kat said.

Effie got the high-heeled shiny lemon-gold stiletto pumps from the foot from the bed. Kat watched how effortlessly Effie put them on and maneuver in them - a skill she envied - and then, with her helping, Effie was able to shimmy into the dress.

"Tight," Effie commented.

"It's meant to be," Kat said. "Don't worry - the fabric is a spandex mix: it'll stretch and make you look faaahbulous, darling."

It was a strapless gown in lipstick red, featuring a figure hugging mermaid/trumpet silhouette, strapless neckline, and draped details at the skirt.

"Smokin' hot, Effie!" Kat giggled. She turned to Pete, who was watching from near the door. "What do you think, Pete?"

Pete blushed furiously and cleared his throat. "I, ummm, think I'll check if my suit is ready." Embarassedly, he rushed out, presumably to go to his room and check if the hotel laundry had delivered his fancy suit.

Effie and Kat laughed.

"You're gonna knock 'em dead, sis," Kat said.

"Given Pete's reaction, I don't doubt it," Efffie giggled.

"I asked for this dress specifically since this isn't scheduled to be released until next week," Kat said. "This way, your dress'll be one-of-a-kind. That's important in a fashion event."

"Kat," Effie scolded her little sister, "you know how I feel about..."

"Hey! This isn't a designer dress! This is off-the-shelf!"

"You know what I mean, Kat." She sighed. "Leave it to you to get around my..."

"I didn't go around anything!" she exclaimed.

Effie made a patting gesture. "Okay, okay! Simmer down. I'll wear it."

"Oh, it comes with a gold diamond choker and a gold clutch." Kat took out the tiny clutch from its box, handed Effie the clutch, went to her room and came back with a diamond-encrusted gold choker, which she put around Effie's slim neck.

Effie went to the full-length mirror in the living area, and admired herself.

"Wow! Kat... I can't say anything! It's so sexy!"

Kat giggled. "I'm good, aren't I?"

Effie looked at the choker. "Wait... Kat, this is mother's!"

"Relax, Effie," Kat said. "Yes, it's mother's. And I'm just lending it to you, 'kay? So chill."

When their folks passed away, and brother and sister were sitting out the reading of their parents' will (Effie was still Marty at the time), Kat got all of their mother's jewelry and other things, while Marty got their dad's. But Marty asked for mom and dad's wedding rings, and Kat and the executor agreed. And when Marty had finally transitioned to Effie, he, now she, wore the two rings on a gold chain around her neck.

Little did Kat or Marty or their parents know that Kat's big brother would eventually become her big sister, and Kat tried to give Effie some of their mom's jewelry after Effie's transition. But Effie didn't agree - she said the jewelry was given to Kat by their mom. Kat argued that if their mom knew about Effie, that might not have been the case, but Effie shook her head. From time to time, Kat tried to give her some of them, but Effie would always turn her down. Eventually, after she had turned down several offers from Kat, Effie explained that she wasn't spurning them, or, for some reason, was bitter that their mom didn't give her any of her prized jewelry. Rather, it was Effie's way of honoring their parents. It was a bit illogical, she knew, because, as Kat put it, if their mom knew of Effie's transgenderism, she probably would have split her jewelry between the siblings.

Effie gave Kat a kiss on the cheek that time, and said she knew how illogical she was being. But it was just her way of honoring them, just like the the time she picked her new forever name.

So, eventually, Kat quit trying to give Effie any of her jewelry, but instead would "lend" her sister some of them from time to time, and if Kat forgot to take them back, well... It was a gambit that Effie was yet to catch on to.

- - - - -

At around seven, they were ready for the party. Pete was looking especially handsome in his fancy suit, while the two redheaded sisters were drop-dead gorgeous: Effie in her red dress and Kat in a very sexy, shiny, emerald green bandage dress (of her own design, of course) with the hem being several inches above the knee, displaying Kat's very sexy legs to their full advantage, and a plunging neckline that made her not-so-modest B's look a lot more... full and inviting.

The three made their way down to the hotel's front drive where their hotel limo was waiting for them, and they were off to partay...

to be continued...

 

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