Gretchen is walking into the capitol after her lunch break when she spots Mary.
Gretchen: The hell is this? There’s never this much of a crowd here on a Wednesday morning! And why would there be? It’s not like anything ever happens here to pique anyone’s interest.
Mary: It’s Pratt. She’s holding a press conference.
Gretchen: That does not explain the crowd, believe it or not.
Mary: I think it’s a major one.
Gretchen: And she didn’t run whatever it was by me first? That’s unlike her.
Mary: I think she’s still jealous of Jeanne.
Gretchen: Oh, god. She needs to get over herself. I would never endorse Jeanne, I’ve been over that with Pratt, move on.
Mary: I also think she is, indeed, moving one.
Gretchen: Why do you say that?
Mary: Just watch…
Mary and Gretchen approach the podium where Samantha is speaking.
Samantha: And so, I feel that, naturally, the next step in my political journey is to ask you, my beloved constituents, for your vote, as I seek to be your next governor. I know this is a road I’ve traveled down - unsuccessfully - before, but I am committed to this run. I have fifteen months until the primary, and I will spend every day of those fifteen months meeting with Rhode Islanders and ensuring you that you have a friend in Samantha Pratt. I will be a hands-on governor, much like my friend and governing partner, Gretchen Raymond. And I will help continue the progress she has made, and even build upon it, as we seek a new political future for Rhode Island! It has been an honor to serve as lieutenant governor, and it will be an honor to serve as governor. Thank you!
Samantha leaves the stage.
Gretchen: Well, you know what they say…
Mary: The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results?
Gretchen: I was going to say “early bird gets the worm,” but yours is probably more accurate.
Mary: Can you believe it’s already time for people to announce they’re running to replace you?
Gretchen: It’s just hard to believe. Time flies.
Mary: When you started your first term, I was married, living in Virginia, my ferret Sparkles was still alive -
Gretchen: You were into self-help woo-woo magic -
Mary: I was going through a lot, I needed a bit of assistance. I evolved! But also, most notably, I wasn’t a politician. Couldn’t have ever imagined becoming one back then!
Gretchen: I’ve sure gone thought a lot in the last eight years. I went from hated to loved to hated again, now I’m on the up-and-up again. I was almost vice president, then I wasn’t. I lost us a minor league baseball team, then I got us a major league team. I brought Bake Your Heart Out here, then I lost them. I still, somehow, have custody of our mother. Please take her, I can’t stand it anymore.
Mary: Oh, you love it. You’d be lost without her!
Gretchen: No, I would not, and I really don’t know why she insists on staying with me, her least-favorite!
Mary: Her only joys in life are torturing you, bingo, and, lately, the WNBA. And really, torturing you is a solid 85% of her joy. Moving out would make that task much harder.
Gretchen: How did I get so lucky? Why couldn’t she pick on Eddie?
Mary: Eddie’s boring. He doesn’t react like you do. She gets under your skin.
Gretchen: She does not!
Mary: So, anyway, enough looking at the past. What are you gonna do when you’re done here?
Gretchen: Hell if I know! I’ve still got another year and a half, I haven’t even begun thinking of what comes next.
Mary: It’s gonna be hard, you know, working with a governor that’s not you.
Gretchen: Yeah, negotiating with a governor that’s not your blood relative is really going to put your political prowess to the test.
Mary: Are you kidding? Getting your sister to listen to you is WAY harder than getting some stranger to!
Gretchen: That is true. You’re a pain in my ass.
Mary: Feeling’s mutual!
A bit later, when Gretchen returns to her office…
Carol: That was a long lunch.
Gretchen: Oh, the things I’ve seen.
Carol: What now?
Sarita: You look scared.
Carol: I’ve got every reason to be scared!
Gretchen: It’s nothing too bad. Well, not for us, anyway. Pratt has announced she’s running for governor. Getting off to an early start, I suppose.
Carol: Oh, that’s gonna go great.
Gretchen: Yeah, I know. We’ve known this was what she wanted to do for a long time, though. It’s her decision to make.
Sarita: She could win, no? Who else is going to jump in and stop her?
Gretchen: Literally anyone?
Carol: Even Jeanne?
Gretchen: Okay, anyone but her.
Carol: Who do you think it’s going to be?
Gretchen: Massachusetts, make sure the door’s locked.
Sarita: Got it!
Esther: Am I allowed in on this?
Gretchen: Yes.
Esther: Good! Because I was going to listen through the door if not, and that would’ve looked bad.
Gretchen: Okay.
Carol: Is this information top-secret, Gretc?
Gretchen: Sure is!
Carol: Oh boy. We’re scheming!
Gretchen: It’s not necessarily “scheming.” I just don’t want to break the confidence of the person who privately told me she was weighing a bid.
Sarita: We’re dying to know how?
Esther: Is it your sister? I think going from freshman rep to house speaker to governor in two and a half years may be a little quick, but that’s your decision! Well, hers.
Gretchen: No, not Mary. She’s happy where she is. Carrie Lione!
Esther: Who’s that?
Sarita: Do you even work here?
Carol: So, she’s dumping her plans to challenge Jeanne to go for governor instead? Ambitious!
Gretchen: Nothing’s set in stone. It would break Pratt’s heart if she could out I knew about it and didn’t want her. And, shockingly, I find myself NOT wanting to break her heart. So, we’re not discussing this campaign again. Not for a long while. The primary’s not until next September, so we have plenty of time to see how the field comes together, how they’re polling, all that. No need to strategize now.
Carol: All right, time to get to work on the judicial reform bill!
Gretchen: The what?
Carol: Oh, just something the progressive camp’s been pushing for. It’s a bill restructuring the Rhode Island judiciary to make it more justice-minded and younger. The big selling point is mandatory retirement ages, people really want younger judges.
Sarita: For good reason, look at the Supreme Court!
Gretchen: Oh, good, now I get to be labeled “soft on crime.” Awesome way to go out!
Carol: You’re not going out! You are going to be governor for a long time yet.
Gretchen: Yes, eighteen months.
Carol: That’s it? God.
Gretchen: The sun is setting, my dears. What a run we’ve had.
Sarita: I haven’t even been on the team that long, this feels unfair.
Gretchen: We could always try repealing term limits! I’m sure the people of this state would love that!
Later that day, as Gretchen is leaving the state house…
Reporter: Governor Raymond!
Gretchen: Whoa, the press is swarming! Don’t see that everyday!
Reporter: What do you have to say about the lieutenant governor announcing her campaign for governor today? Will you endorse?
Gretchen: Not at this juncture, no. It’s still far out, I want to give a fair shot to any candidate that comes forward. The lieutenant governor is a good friend, though, she knows I will be there for advice and she’ll get my full support should she win the nomination.
Reporter: So you won’t be endorsing anyone?
Gretchen: I have not made any decision, but I do believe the decision should be in then hands of the voters of Rhode Island, I have no interest in playing kingmaker. Just not in my nature.
When Gretchen returns home…
Gretchen: What a day!
Lucinda: Make dinner.
Gretchen: I SAID “what a day!”
Lucinda: You say that every day!
Christina: Don’t worry, I’m making dinner.
Lucinda: Gretchen, get in the kitchen!
Christina: There’s no way you find’t intend to hurt my feelings saying that.
Lucinda: I want an edible meal, I’m sorry if that offends.
Anthony: Christina, your cooking is wonderful.
Gretchen: Wait, wait, back it up. Mom, you like my cooking?
Christina: She just insulted mine!
Gretchen: But my mother just gave me something of a compliment! I have to savor it!
Lucinda: Deflate the head a bit, I just said it’s better than Christina’s inedible slop.
Gretchen: You’re almost too sweet.
Anthony: So what happened today?
Gretchen: Well, Samantha Pratt announced she was running for governor.
Anthony: Oh. Interesting.
Gretchen: You don’t sound amused.
Anthony: You and Pratt are so hot and cold, I don’t know if her running is supposed to be a good thing or a bad thing.
Gretchen: Neither, really. I do like her, but I don’t know if she has what it takes, you know?
Lucinda: I don’t know if you’re the one to judge that. I mean… come on.
Gretchen: What is that supposed to mean?
Lucinda: I think you can figure it out.
Toby: I think she’s calling you a bad governor.
Anthony: Toby, she could’ve figured that out herself. Didn’t need to say it aloud.
Lucinda: I’m glad he did, though!
Toby: I don’t agree with her! I just couldn’t stand to hear everyone dancing around it for five minutes like they do any other time she insults you.
Lucinda: I respect that.
Gretchen: Anyway, ignoring the gentlelady from the peanut gallery, I’m just not sure about Pratt’s campaign, but I’m already getting asked about it. I don’t know what I’m going to tell her when she asks me about it.
Anthony: Just be honest.
Gretchen: You want me to tell her I don’t know if she’d be a good governor?
Anthony: Tell her you’re not sure about making an endorsement yet. It’s the truth, just without the nastier part included in there.
Lucinda: Or, woman up and tell her that she’s incompetent and would be an awful governor.
Gretchen: I’ve never said that about her, I’d never say it.
Lucinda: I know, it was my own assessment.
Gretchen: You have such a way with words.
The next day…
Jeanne: Gretchen! Can we talk about the judicial reform bill?
Gretchen: Um, I think Carol knows more about that than I do. If you want to -
Samantha: Raymond!
Gretchen: Oh, Pratt!
Samantha: We need to taaaaaaalk!
Gretchen: Of course we do.
Jeanne: I feel like I know what this is about. Don’t worry, I know you’d never endorse any campaign of mine, so you two working out an endorsement doesn’t affect me in the slightest! But, you know, if you’re willing to reconsider endorsing her…
Gretchen: Jeanne, come on.
Jeanne: I know…
Samantha: Come on, let’s go.
Gretchen: You’re excited to talk!
Samantha: My office!
Gretchen: I can only walk so fast, I’m fifty-seven and wearing heels!
In Samantha’s office…
Samantha: Gretchen, I saw what you said yesterday.
Gretchen: Oh, uh, um… uh…
Samantha: Don’t stammer, it’s okay.
Gretchen: It is?
Samantha: Look, we’ve face our fair share of turbulence over the years. We’re friends now, but it took time. I always complain about how my job has no responsibilities. I haven’t done much so far to prove to you that I deserve an immediate endorsement. So, I want you to see how the field shakes out, and let me make my case to you and the state, and then we can talk about this again. I don’t want to pressure you.
Gretchen: You’re being very mature about this, I really thought you were expecting my endorsement.
Samantha: No, and even if I was, it’s your choice to make freely. I don’t want this to mess with our working relationship. Plus, the last time I ran for governor, I took you on directly. I’m sure there are some hard feelings there.
Gretchen: Oh, no! I won! Now, if I’d lost…
Later that night, when Gretchen gets into bed…
Anthony: What’s up?
Gretchen: What do you mean?
Anthony: You don’t look yourself. Something’s weighing on you.
Gretchen: I’m just not ready for it to be over.
Anthony: For what to be over?
Gretchen: This job. This life. I love being governor. I love my office! I love talking to my constituents, I love working for them. And, yes, selfishly, I do love the power. I love the title. I love my co-workers, I even somewhat like Pratt. And in eighteen months, it’s all going to be gone. I’m not ready to move on.
Anthony: Eighteen months is longer than you may think.
Gretchen: No, it’s really not. It’ll be gone before I know it. I’ll be gone.
Anthony: You’ll always be here. With your family.
Gretchen: Ah, yay, more time with mom!
Anthony: You love her!
Gretchen: I do, but she drives me nuts! You all do! You, less than the others.
Anthony: I appreciate the addendum there.
Gretchen: I’ll just miss this job, and all the antics it entails. And hearing Pratt launching her campaign, hearing others gearing up, being asked about endorsements, it makes it so real! This is all going away, and there’s nothing I can ever do to stop it. I’m the unstoppable force, and my retirement is an immovable object. I want to keep going, but the law says I can’t. So, what do I do?
Anthony: I don’t know, honey. But whatever you do, you’ll do it well. You’re brilliant.
Gretchen: I don’t want to be brilliant. I just want to cry, and mourn the life I know I have to lose.
Anthony: Go ahead, then. Your feelings are entirely valid.
Gretchen: Why does moving on have to be so hard?
Anthony: It’s not meant to be easy. But it being so difficult to move on means that the time you did spend on it was worth it. It means you were doing something you loved enough to know you’ll miss it now that it’s gone. It’s a good thing.
Gretchen: What if you ran?
Anthony: Good one!
Gretchen: It’s been done before.
Anthony: Say goodnight, Gretchen.
Gretchen: Goodnight, Gretchen
What did you think of the season finale of Raymond Island? Let us know in the comments, and make sure to read the season premiere of The Princess Royal next week! Raymond Island will return this fall for season 7!
