"A speech?" Brennan began, but she was already gone. Ah, well... he'd figure something out. He sat down and picked up his quill. But instead of a speech, he wrote his Clara a darling love letter complete with rhyming poem. She'd LOVE it.

Forrester watched as Reagan got out of the minister's office quickly and didn't even notice. Now I can get back to work! Forrester thought to himself as he knocked on the door and asked again if he could come in to protect the minister.

"Time to go already?"

"Not actually minister Cooper, I haven't got a word from Mrs. Reagan yet. But I am here to keep you safe as we are very concerned about your well being" Forrester replied truely. For now his one concern was to keep the minister as safe as possible. That was crucial

A note came flying towards Forrester, he grabbed it and opened quickly.
"Minister cooper I have to tell you that the convention has finally started" Forrester revealed to the minister. "I think it's better if we move now"

Brennan stretched and rose to his feet. "Let's go then. Where are we going again?"

Forrester looked strangly at the minister how could he forget something as big as this? Forrester asked himself.
"Minister cooper we are getting to the International wizarding conference that we are hosting here on our tenth floor" Forrester replied. "Are you ok Minister?"

"Tenth floor," Brennan agreed and headed for the door. "Lead the way."

"Of course I will surely do!" Forrester said as he turned around got his wand out and opened the door of the minister's office. He inspected the hall and after being sure that no one was around, returned to the minister and asked him to follow him as they made there way towards the lifts and to the International Wizarding Conference

Brennan followed the Auror into the hall.

Reagan rapped her knuckles twice against the wooden door before letting herself in. She pulled the door nearly closed behind her, not worried about closing it completely because she knew the Minister would be safe with a Security wizard outside the door.

She entered the office and greeted, "Good morning, sir. Ms. Egypt Greenwood from Ministry Security has arrived to reinforce the protections on your office. After the events at the International Conference, I thought it best to ensure your safety by securing this office even more than in previous times. I hope you do not mind her coming into your office for a few moments. It shouldn't take long."

Reagan looked into the face of her Minister and wondered where his spark had gone. He didn't seem to have the same fervor in his facial expressions that he once had. Maybe he was worried about this being an election year. Hmm.

Egypt stood dutifully outside as Reagan went in to speak to the Minister. She tried to look busy and not listen at the door. She muttered a few charms and protections around his door as she did so.

"Yes, fine. Let her in," Brennan waved his hand absently. His desk was clear and he seemed to be perfecting the fine art of staring off into space. "Miss Taylor, where is my tea?"

"Sir, I am assuming that Angelina, your personal assistant, would have a better idea of where your tea is. Afterall, my focus has really been on your re-election. There is still no one who has stepped up to run against you, yet I'm afraid your popularity in the polls is a bit lower than in previous months. Without someone to compare you to, I'm afraid the public may not see you favorably; however, if we could get someone to run for Minister opposite you, we could highlight how much better you are compared to them... and perhaps your popularity rating would rise again." Reagan wasn't sure if this statement would generate anger, so she immediately followed it up with, "I will check with Angelina and have your tea brought up straightaway."

Egypt's ears perked up when she heard the words re-election. Her wand work slowed down as she tried to take in all the information. She hated ease dropping, but she couldn't help it. Her mouth hung open at the tactics Reagan had to use to smooth over the Minster's ego. She went back to her work as Reagan might be coming through the door any minute to check on the Minister's tea.

"If no one runs against me, then who cares if they like me or not? They always come around. Things go bad, they hate me. Things get better, they love me. They're bloody idiots and they have no one else to vote for. I prefer it that way. They're all cowards," Brennan slapped his desk a few times for good measure.

Reagan cheeks flushed with frustration. How could he say such things about the people in this community!? How could he no longer care for the people he once vowed to represent? Biting her tongue to hold back what she'd really like to say to him, but with a rather tense tone, "Sir, with all due respect, what do you think the people will say when no one runs against you? They're going to assume foul play, that you either frightened the competition or you paid someone off. And that line of thinking could lead people to drastic measures...

"You saw what just happened to Minister Benoit when the recklessness of one person changed our community. Would you really dare risk your own safety, or Clara's, when there will be groups of reckless and angry people who feel robbed of their right to express their opinion and choose their leader? Better to let them elect you themselves."

"Fine," he flicked a hand at her dismissively, but no one must ever harm his Clara. "Fine fine. Whatever you say. Find someone to run against me who won't try too hard. Who will put up a pretty little show and then will lose. You can run, Taylor." He laughed heartily to himself over that. Taylor run? She was barely competant as an assistant. Pretty, but not pretty enough. Charming in... her own way. It was laughable.

Reagan breathed a sigh of relief when Minister Cooper acquiesced. He didn't seem to realize how important it was for him to regain the support of the people in the Wizarding World. That relief was short-lived and replaced by offense as Minister Cooper laughed at the idea of her running against him. Sure, she had always been loyal to him and would never dream of running against him on her own, but she was a very capable and intelligent witch! Not to mention she'd practically been doing more than half his job for the last few months.

But she couldn't. For as long as he was her Minister, she was loyal to him, even if he was pompous and inconsiderate of others' feelings. He'd once been a good leader and she still had faith in him. She just had to figure a way to reignite his spark for the job. She replied, "Sir, I don't think I should be the one... who is going to run your campaign if I'm the one running against you?"

She had a million reasons not to run against him. It could completely ruin her career afterall. In order to make Cooper look good, she'd have to look bad. And what if she wanted to run for Minister in the future, after Cooper had retired? How could she repair the damage that he would most certainly do?

Egypt's face flushed with the retort she wanted to march into his office and say. How dare he call us cowards, and we voted for him! She covered her mouth with her hand as she heard him pounding on his desk. Who did he think he was?

She stamped her foot when he basically called Taylor a loser! Taylor had more sense in one of her French nails than Brenny Penny had behind his receding hairline! "Not on my watch." She muttered under her breathe. She would do everything in her power to help Taylor beat the Minister, if it was the last thing she did at the ministry.

"I'm a shoo-in, Taylor. Who cares who is running my campaign? It's a big show, right?" He laughed. "It's brilliant. You know all the right things to say to make it a good show. You're a bright young witch. I think this will work."

Reagan was beyond angry. She was livid. Furious. The arrogance of this man who had not a second thought about using her as a pawn! The inconsideration for her career, her future...

And then something hit her... Minister Cooper had just given her a loophole. He wanted it to be a good show, which means she could ACTUALLY run for Minister. Sure, it was earlier than she intended to make such a move in her career, but now that the opportunity had arisen, could she really pass it up? Certainly not! And besides, if she lost, she still had her job as Undersecretary and Cooper would just be convinced that she was doing her job to make it a good show... it was brilliant!

The corners of her lips twitched a bit as she replied, "As you wish, sir. Do you have a preference for who you'd like to be your campaign manager? I could send them a memo asking that they come up to your office immediately. Perhaps, a department head in whom you trust?"

Brennan couldn't stand to admit that he was going to have trouble remembering anyone's name. "You choose. I trust you to choose."

Reagan nodded her head once, "I will do that, sir. I'll send them up once I've found someone suitable, so that you can speak with them. And I'll be sending in Ms. Greenwood right now to add those protections that I mentioned. And I'll be sure to check on your tea."

Without leaving him time to change his mind, Reagan quickly turned and headed for the door, a unsettled look upon her face.

Gesturing to Egypt, Reagan explained, "The Minister is aware that you'll be performing some protections. Go ahead on in and take as much time as you need." Her stomach was fluttering and her face was a bit pale.

Egypt was glad she hadn't been caught listening to their conversation. That would have been the height of embarrassment. "Alright, I won't take up too much of the Minister's time. I know he is a busy man." Egypt said as she walked into the office.

"Good afternoon Minister." She smiled broadly. She walked around the room checking the current charms. She added a few modified charms of her own as well.

She walked around his desk checking the personal protection charms that had been placed around him and making sure they were still in tack. She had a few charms against a love potion or one of cupid's arrows. That woman was in love with the man for whatever reason and Egypt didn't want to give her an opening on any front. After muttering the last few spells she stowed her wand in its holster. "Thank you sir for your time. Good day." She told as she smiled at him and backed out of the room.