Chapter Text
“Her Majesty the Queen has asked me to form a government and I have accepted.”
Those had been Ezra Fell’s most important words, at least during his political career, and if he was honest with himself, in his life. It had been a long and hard way, from just being a member of the Green party, to not only gain the majority of seats in the House of Commons with them, but also actually becoming the new Prime Minister. He had never dared to dream this could actually happen, back when he had been first interested in politics in school and started his campaign to become Head Boy.
Not to imply that it had been an easy way, it really hadn’t been. Especially since he had decided to become a member of a party that had been very small in the beginning and because he was an openly gay politician. Yes, the world had become far more open than when he had been a child, but it was still hard, and he still had to fight against prejudices and bigots ever so often. But in the end, he had prevailed and won. He was the first openly gay Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and he couldn’t be prouder of the social change it might signify, not only to his own country but to others as well.
What he hadn’t anticipated though, was the heavy workload and stress his new position would put him through. Hard work was what got him to where he was now, but it’s on another level when you’re the head of an entire state.
Especially since his opposition deliberately made his work even harder. They were blocking almost all his ideas and decisions at first and he had to work even harder to get things through and make them change their minds. It was hard work, but he knew it was needed, to change the country for the better and actually help his people.
He already had been PM for almost a year, and yet he still hadn’t found a balance between the workload and some relaxation. His temper was short, and he didn’t even know anymore how his shoulders had felt when they’re not all tensed up. It was safe to say, that he needed to find a way to relax once in a while or he would burn out way before his term as PM even turned into it’s second year.
That was the main reason, why his assistant and personal friend was now in his office in 10 Downing. He had met Anathema when he had been studying at Oxford. She actually had been studying philosophy, while he had been at the end of his political science and literature degree. One fateful day he had wanted to get a book on some old prophecies, that had been important for an essay of his, when Anathema had grabbed it of the shelf just bare seconds before him. They had argued for a bit and then he had learned that it had been written by one of her ancestors. And after that day they had become quite good friends and she had decided to join him in his political career and became his personal assistant, when he had become a MP for his constituency. She always knew when he had made a mistake and didn’t hold back on telling him, which is why he was now in her company.
“I can’t believe you actually snapped at Shadwell. I mean don’t get me wrong, the man is an ass at the best of times, but he is still part of your government and you really need to be more civil to them or they will turn against you. You know better than that. Making decisions is already hard enough for you with Angely and his cronies always being against whatever you propose.”
He sighed and rubbed his tired eyes. Anathema was right, of course, and he had been pretty harsh to Shadwell earlier, who had just brought him the wrong file and nothing particularly major. He had just snapped, the stress and the workload finally getting the better of him. He wasn’t proud of it and he knew he had to apologize to the older man sooner rather than later.
“I know, I know. I will apologize to him later. I don’t know what came over me and I am truly sorry”
“Yeah, I know but you really need to get your stress under control. This isn’t good for you. I haven’t seen you this worn out since before your graduation. It’s not healthy.”
“Well, I can’t just decide to take a step back and not work. Issues must be addressed; decisions have to be made. It’s very important after all. You know that,” he countered, the tired tone in his voice downplaying the seriousness of the statement.
“I understand that Ezra, but I worry about you. You look like you haven’t slept for months and that just can’t be healthy. I might have an idea how to get you to relax, though,” she said and thanks to her cheeky grin Ezra already knew what she was going to propose.
“Absolutely not. We already had this discussion far too many times, dear girl. I do not need to get laid. I don’t want to get laid. And even if I did want to, what do you think I should do? Just go out to a local pub and find some young man to spend the night with? We both know that is highly unlikely and not just because I’m the Prime Minister. Plus, the media would have a field day. No thank you.”
“But you need a way to relax or you’ll burn out sooner rather than later, we both know I’m right. And who said anything about going to a pub? There are other ways to find people to sleep with nowadays. There’s always Tinder or Grindr for example. Although that might also be problematic, thanks to you being in the position that you are,” she mused, “I do have one other alternative though. You probably won’t like it but think about it, will you?”
With that she put a business card on his desk and then looked at him again, this time gracing him with an encouraging smile, while she stood up, ready to leave his office.
“Just think about it. I believe it is something that could highly benefit you, in ways you might not think it would.”
With a fond smile on his lips, he shook his head, once she left his office. Anathema really was a peculiar woman, with far too much believe in destiny. He looked down at the business card she had placed before him.
Beelzebub’s Escort Service
We have someone for everyone. Highly trained and professional escorts for your every need.
Ezra let out a huff and shoved the card a bit away from him. Was he really looking that desperate? Anathema couldn’t actually be serious, could she? An escort service? He didn’t really have experience in this sort of thing, but it seemed a bit shady, in the least. Was it even legal? It must be, otherwise Anathema wouldn’t have suggested it, whatever her intentions might have been. And since he knew her pretty well, he knew she probably was serious about this.
He knew his laws. He knew that sex work was legal in England but keeping a brothel wasn’t. Would an escort service be considered a brothel, though? He didn’t know. Wasn’t sure if he really wanted to know.
Why was he even thinking about it? It’s not like he actually considered agreeing to this crazy idea. It was ridiculous and preposterous, especially in his position. He didn’t need to get laid, and he could definitively find something else for stress relief. Something that didn’t involve paying for sex.
After one last glare at the business card, he crumpled it up and threw it into his rubbish bin, where it joined several pieces of other crumpled up paper.
He sighed one last time and stood up, needing a glass of wine and then a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow he would tell Anathema that, while he appreciated her concerns for him, he could find his own way of stress relief.