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Part of him was not surprised that he had been invited to Paul Ryan’s acceptance speech – they were friends, after all – but the other part of him was. It was a little unexpected, truly, as Mitt Romney, the failed presidential candidate, was the one who was unable to carry them to the White House that November a few years ago. But, obviously and thankfully, Paul Ryan was still a friend. So, there Mitt was, sitting in the audience with Ann as John Boehner was speaking.
“The honorable Paul D. Ryan of the state of Wisconsin has received 236, the honorable Nancy Pelosi of California has received 184,” John reported the results of the election of the new Speaker, a handful of names following those main two. “Therefore, the honorable Paul D. Ryan of the state of Wisconsin, having received a majority of the votes cast, is duly elected Speaker of the House.”
“Mister Speaker. The Speaker-elect, Paul D. Ryan of the state of Wisconsin,” was stated to finalize the results. With that introduction, Paul Ryan finally entered and waved to people as he walked to the podium and as those in the House stood up to clap. Mitt was one of the first to stand and commend him, his wife joining him just a moment later. Once the applause died down, he returned to his seat with a subtle smile on his face.
Nancy Pelosi then gave her short speech, transferring the seat to the Speaker; “...In the people’s name, it is my privilege to hand this gavel to the Speaker of the House, Congressman and honorable Paul Ryan.”
“Thank you. Thank you very much,” Paul replied, generously shaking Nancy’s hand as he took the gavel. “Thank you, Nancy.”
As Nancy left the podium and Paul took her spot, he placed the gavel down, opened the binder with his speech, and folded his hands. “Before I begin, I would like to thank all of my family and friends who flew in from Wisconsin and from all over for being here today,” Paul spoke, gratitude evident in his voice despite his early hesitation to run for the seat. “In the gallery, I have my mom, Betty, my sister, Janet, my brothers, Stan and Tobin, and more relatives than I can count on a few hands.” He paused to let the audience applaud. “Most important, I want to recognize my wife, Janna, and our children Liza, Charlie, and Sam. I also want to thank Speaker Boehner…”
Mitt listened to the speech carefully, catching every word and laughing at some of the funnier things that his friend said. Mitt stood up with the rest of the audience to further commemorate the occasion when Boehner was complimented, when Paul reached across the aisle in an attempt to strive for bipartisanship, and at several other instances. They may have not won the election in 2012 but this was the man that he chose as his running mate, and by God was he qualified. He was one of the most talented politicians in Washington, and it was stunning to see him further his career after that loss.
The speech lasted a good fifteen minutes or so, and it soon came to a close.
“My friends, you have done me a great honor. The people of this country – they have done all of us a great honor. Now, let’s prove ourselves worthy of it. Let’s seize the moment. Let’s rise to the occasion. And when we are done, let us say that we left the people – all the people – more united, happy, and free. Thank you.”
As Paul finished off the speech, Mitt and Ann both stood up to clap. It went on for a long moment, which Paul Ryan most certainly deserved.
It was only when Paul ended the speech, took the oath of the office, and had the resolutions stating that he had been elected as the Speaker of the House of Representatives sent out that Mitt was able to go say hi to him. It had been a while. Too long, in fact. They had distanced since their run. But this was one of a handful of chances to spend time with him, and Mitt had to take it. They were unable to see each other too terribly often as Mitt was not involved in Washington and lived in Massachusetts instead of Wisconsin. So, he was not about to let this opportunity slip away. He kissed Ann on the cheek and told her that he was going to tell Paul a quick hello before they returned to their hotel for the night. Mitt then stood up and went to find Paul, who had already been shuffled away to some hallway in the Capitol.
He pushed through the crowd of people leaving and to one of the several exits. Taking a deep breath of the fresh air, Mitt made his way through the Capitol building in hopes of catching sight of his former running mate. Paul was simply in a somewhat-private hallway; one that people would have to go out of their way to get to. The press could be overwhelming and suffocating at times, so he usually tried his best to avoid them. Thankfully, though, due to spending a lot of time with Paul during the 2012 race, Mitt was at least a little familiar with the layout of the Capitol and was able to locate the secluded hallway fairly easily. It was not labeled as 'authorized personnel only' or anything like that. So, it did not take long for him to catch up to Paul.
Once he had approached him, Mitt gave Paul a pat on the back as a greeting, offering a smile and a "Hey!" He received a grin in return.
"Mitt! Hi, buddy," Paul exclaimed, stepping forward to embrace him in a quick, tight hug. It lasted no longer than a couple seconds before they let go of each other. "How long has it been? A few months? How are you?" Of course, they kept in touch via texts and such, but this was different. Both of their faces showed joy. And if he were honest, seeing Paul again face to face gave Mitt an excited feeling in his stomach.
"Oh, I'm great. Overall things are going well," Mitt answered, a smile still ever so present on his face. "Nothing exciting has happened to me lately; definitely nothing like this." He gestured his hand towards Paul. "What about you, Mister Speaker?"
"Ha," Paul uttered a small laugh at being addressed with his new title. Mitt rarely used formalities with him but he figured that this was an exception. "I'm glad to hear you're well. I am, too, but, uh." Paul scratched the back of his head and showed a somewhat sheepish smile. "I'm a bit busy, as you can probably imagine."
"Oh, yeah, I wouldn't expect anything less. But I'm sure you'll do a great job as Speaker. I'm not sure if– if anyone else would've been better for the job," Mitt replied truthfully.
"Thanks, Mitt. I appreciate it." Paul nodded. "I really do." He glanced at the people he had been talking to before. He turned back to them. "Do you mind if we–?" Paul asked, raising his eyebrows and gesturing at the former governor beside him. When he received a couple nods, Paul quickly said bye and placed a hand on Mitt's back. "Alright, c'mon, let's go to my office."
Of course, Mitt obliged, politely waving to the other people before Paul led him to his office. Once there, Paul opened the door and gestured for Mitt to go inside first. He stepped inside with a quiet "Thank you," and took in a deep breath. This was a new office – one in the Capitol, for the Speaker of the House.
Paul followed a second later and shut the door behind him. He made sure to lock it, as well. He turned to face his desk and placed his hands on his hips as he took a quick, deep breath. "Well, here we are."
Mitt's eyes glanced around at the various books and photographs that were on the walls. He knew that Paul would soon have a good amount of photos of his wife and children in here once he was finished settling in and Boehner took the last remnants of his terms out of the office. Yep, he was still a family man. It was no surprise that Paul flew out to Janesville, Wisconsin as often as he did. He really loved his family. "Janna and the kids," Mitt said, turning his gaze from the pictures up to the congressman. There was a small hint of awkwardness between them – had it really been that long since it was just the two of them? "How are they doing?"
"Good. Good." Paul stepped towards his desk as well. “The kids are doing well in school and Janna's fine. But, ah," he laughed a bit, "she wishes I weren't so busy but, y'know, that's expected of any wife of a politician."
Mitt knew that all too well from when he served as Massachusetts' governor. "Of course. Ann used to be exactly the same way even though she encouraged me to run for office in the first place. But with you, Paul. I'm sure it's worth it. You're an amazing congressman and your constituents love you. The whole Republican Party loves you. It has to be worth it." The awkwardness from before was quickly dissipating; they were longtime friends by now, and all they needed was to break some ice with pointless smalltalk.
"Yes," Paul agreed, nodding. "Yes, you're right. And I don't– I don't regret it." He looked back to Mitt. "Even if it took a lot of pushing to get me to run for Speaker, well–" he shrugged his shoulders, "I'm happy I did it."
"I am, too," Mitt replied, stepping a bit closer to Paul. "You're– You're one of the best politicians in Washington. And, y’know, I’ve missed you lately, and it’s really impressive to get to see you again with such a high position. I mean, gosh– you’re closer to the presidency than I could’ve ever been!”
Paul laughed. “Mitt, buddy, you’re flattering me,” Paul held his hands up in faux defense. “I’m still only a congressman. Just like anyone else in the House.”
Mitt raised his brows. “Only a congressman? You’re not giving yourself enough credit. As Speaker, you’ll be able to make some real change in this country,” he praised, closing the distance between them by going so far as to resting his hands on Paul’s sides, an action that received a quiet inhale of breath. “I mean, I chose you as my running mate for a reason.”
2012 was always a nostalgic year for the two of them. Paul sighed gently at the thought; those exhausting hours upon hours of campaigning, only to get up and do it again the next day, among other things. And honestly, the both of them missed it. If only they could do it again. “Maybe you’re right,” he muttered, accepting Mitt’s hands on his sides letting his hands move to fiddle with Mitt’s suit. There was a small smile on his face and he could feel his heart rate increasing a bit at the intimacy as he raised his hand to slowly loosen Mitt’s tie (it was blue. Paul always thought that blue looked great on him). “Yeah. We’ll win back the White House, and with a Republican majority in the House we’ll be able to–…”
“Exactly,” Mitt interrupted, leaning closer. “And you’ll lead the House, passing Republican bills, and then, well– you bring change.” As soon as he finished his sentence, Mitt closed his eyes and pressed his lips to Paul’s own.
Paul took a deep breath, parting his lips and allowing his own eyes to fall shut. His arms moved to rest on Mitt’s shoulders as he felt himself being just barely bent backwards over his desk. Mitt’s arms moved to support Paul’s back as he leaned closer and wrapped them around his torso, their bodies pressed immensely close together to make up for the time they had not seen each other.
The moment lasted several minutes, neither of them gathering the ability to call this off. They quickly got into it, both of them gasping for air and curling their fingers into each other’s clothes as more time went by. It was incredibly tempting to just undress each other and–.
Mitt pulled away abruptly and caught his breath. He knew that it was incredibly easy for them to take this too far, to get carried away (on Paul’s desk, no less!). "Ann," he breathed out, taking his hands off the desk and stepping a bit away.
Paul was caught off guard and went to to close the distance that Mitt had just made between the two of them. "Huh?" Paul uttered against Mitt’s lips in a small daze, letting his hands fall onto the edge of his desk to help support his weight as Mitt was no longer helping to hold him up.
"Ann. My wife," Mitt clarified a bit louder, pulling himself away from Paul and stepping away to fumble around for his phone in his pockets. He received a small noise of acknowledgment. "I told her that– that I'd only be a few minutes. She's waiting for me, uh–. H-Hang on." His words were airy as he was trying to catch his breath. Once he had his phone, he quickly opened his messages app and typed up a text.
[text to: Ann] I'll be a little longer. You go ahead back to the hotel, I'll just get a cab. You don’t have to wait for me to go get something to eat for lunch either but can if you want. Love you
Mitt hit send and placed his phone off to the side of the desk and turned his attention back to Paul, who only gave Mitt a lopsided smile. Guilt briefly struck Mitt as the reality of the situation fell upon his shoulders and a look of embarrassment crossed his features. His wife was waiting for him and here he was, against a desk with the new Speaker of the House of Representatives.
But, really, this was nothing new. He would be lying if he said that he and Paul had never done anything like this on the campaign trail back in 2012 – and even sometimes after the race for the White House had ended. The shame was always there. He could never seem to push it away; turning it off, in a sense, had not worked. Paul felt that guilt, too, so at least Mitt was not alone in feeling it.
“Paul,” Mitt muttered quietly, the word leaving his mouth as a whisper. He closed the distance between them again and pressed his body and lips against Paul’s once more, being much more gentle than he was previously. He had to savor the moment for as long as he could. This time, Mitt opted to place his hands on either side of Paul’s face. He let the kiss last for a long moment before, once again, he was the one to break it. He lowered his hands and pulled Paul into his chest as he embraced him. Paul naturally wrapped his arms around Mitt in return, resting against his shoulder. His breathing was heavy and his knees felt weak; Mitt felt just about the same. He could have sworn that this was about to be a time where they couldn’t control themselves; and it likely would have been if Ann hadn’t come along with Mitt to watch the speech. But, given these circumstances, they had to have at least a bit of self control…
They stood in silence for a moment, focusing on the contact that they had missed so much. But, it couldn’t last forever. Mitt let go and stepped back, averting his gaze. Paul looked to the ground, and it was he who broke the silence.
“That was, uh–...” Paul uttered, an awkward smile on his face as he looked back up to Mitt, “That was nice, huh?”
“Yeah. It … It was.” Mitt’s fingers worked to flatten his clothes and retie his tie as he spoke. “And I, I really hate to say it, but I should get back…”
“Oh, of course,” Paul replied quickly, nodding in agreement. He didn’t want to keep Mitt for too long. “I’d walk you out, but the press…” Paul trailed off, knowing that Mitt understood how they could be.
“Yeah. Yeah, no,” Mitt shook his head, waving him off. “You’d be stuck out there forever being bombarded with questions.” He gave a soft laugh. “And who knows what, uh, rumors the media would spread if they saw us together. Thinking I’m going to run for office again and got advice from you … that, or…” He made a nonsensical gesture with his hand. “Y’know.”
“Right. Well, uh,” Paul stepped away from his desk and to the office door, opening it for Mitt. “It was great to see you. I missed you, a lot.”
“It’s mutual,” Mitt assured, smiling fondly. “I’m glad I managed to … catch up with you before you found yourself too busy with work. I’ll see you later, buddy.” He patted Paul on the arm before he stepped outside into the hall. The door was shut a second later.
He nervously double-checked to make sure that his tie was fixed properly and his clothing didn’t look too sloppy as he made his way towards the Capitol exit. Once outside, he glanced around for a taxi and managed to wave it over. He quickly got inside once it was at the curb.
It was only a minute or two after Mitt gave the driver the directions to the hotel when his phone vibrated in his pocket. It was probably Ann. Heaving a sigh, he pulled out his phone and read the text. Ah. It wasn't Ann.
[text from: Paul Ryan] We’ll have to get together another time
The typing symbol popped up at the bottom of the conversation just a few seconds later and another message came through.
[text from: Paul Ryan] Soon I mean. We’re not going that long without seeing each other again
It got a smile out of Mitt. He took a moment to think of what he wanted to respond, and he sent out his reply:
[text to: Paul Ryan] Of course. You’re busier than me so let me know when you’re free, Mr Speaker :)
And with that, he put his phone away and grabbed his wallet to pay the taxi driver once they arrived. Perhaps Ann had not yet left for lunch ... it was like her to wait even though he said that it wasn't necessary. So, now it was his wife with whom he was to catch up. As the taxi driver arrived at the destination, Mitt thanked him, paid, and stepped out onto the sidewalk, pondering what he wanted to eat.