Bringing up Baby the Old Fashioned Way
April K
Thursday AM. Sam's car. Washington DC streets.
Sam breathed a sigh of relief as he made it a block from Mallory's apartment
in one piece.
"Damn DC drivers."
No matter how long he'd lived here, he didn't think he'd get used to their
way of driving. Drivers in DC tended to be like politicians. Wishy-washy. In
the
golden state of California driving was a state of mind, heck, even he could
drive in his sleep. He remembered wistfully that Lisa'd always driven in New
York. He shook his head because he did not want to dwell there for long.
Too much pain.
He vaguely watched the DC landmarks disappear as the thought about the
upcoming senior staff briefing took over his concentration. He really didn't
want to go. The more he thought about facing Leo the sicker he felt. The
closer he got to the White House the more butterflies he acquired in his
stomach. His collection seemed to be growing by leaps and bounds. Good thing
he hadn't eaten.
He then came up with another very good excuse to turn the car around. He
didn't want his friends and coworkers to find out what a complete fool he'd
made of himself last night. They'd know soon enough, but hopefully for the
day at least, the news would be confined to Mallory, Leo, Abbey and the
President.
His main priority right now was how to make it through the briefing with Leo
and the President without losing face. That wasn't going to be easy. He
respected Leo so much and he was afraid he'd disappointed him. Leo was like a
father figure to him and since his relationship with his dad was less than a
"normal father-son relationship" should be, he sort of recruited Leo for that
role. As he fought the bouts of queasiness, he sobered up to the fact that
last night may end up costing him more than just his self respect.
Then his thoughts shifted momentarily to the President and he really didn't
want to
go there. He likened standing before the President to standing before God. He
didn't relish either one of those prospects right now.
He tried shifting his focus towards Mallory. As soon as he did he realized he
was disappointed with that direction also. Just when he thought he was making
progress with her, he'd had to go and do something stupid. At least it was
something stupid in her dad's eyes, last night that is. Same difference.
He was still amazed that after all that happened, Mallory had actually made
love to *him*. Wow! He had a hard time believing his good fortune. He'd had
relationships and sexual encounters before but he was always the dominant
male. Last night something changed. He'd changed. He couldn't get over the
adrenaline high of pure ecstasy he'd shared last night with Mallory. A new
experience with possibilities he wanted to explore but feared at the same
time.
He wryly thought that this town had some kind of adverse effect on him where
women and relationships were concerned and he wasn't sure whether he liked it
or not. He'd never had problems with women in California or New York, well
maybe one problem but Lisa didn't count. He shifted his glance from the dash
to the traffic in the rearview mirror.
"Why do I always end up flat on my face? Sam, don't answer that. I don't need
to know." He watched his reflection in the mirror as he answered himself. "
He switched radio stations with his right hand. He immediately stopped as a
husky deep sexy female voice expounded on the topic of astrological sun
signs, planets, and sex. The word *SEX* was what did it. She went on about
the sign of Pisces, one of the water signs being considered a feminine sign.
The qualities being: passive, nurturing, practical and introspective.
Compassionate but impressionable.
He groaned and drummed his fingers nervously on the steering wheel as he
realized her context of the word. "Okay. That's what she meant by sex." The
disappointment oozed from his voice.
"Now the stars have plotted against me. They figure out at work my sun sign
is feminine and I'm done for. Toby and Josh will be like dogs with bones.
Face it, you can't win for losing, Sam."
"I wonder if Mallory and I are even compatible? Sign wise that is? Sex seems
to be no problem. We fit together well."
"Sam, you're losing it man. That's like talking to one of those late night
psychics. This stuff is stupid. Next thing you know, we'll be consulting a
Ouija board and having a seance." He quickly switched the radio station from
astrology to rock music. "That's better. Safer topic for the moment, anyway."
He'd made it halfway to the White House when he realized he'd forgotten to
stop at his apartment and pick up the Social Security Speech for Toby. If he
didn't have it in hand, he was afraid that Toby would do something drastic.
He didn't fear Toby that much but he didn't want to give Toby a chance to
leave him out of the loop again.
"Damn."
He'd still felt the slight, although he realized after he cooled down that
he'd been party to it by setting up the meeting without Toby to begin with.
It was his own oversight that started it. It still hurt deeply that Toby
thought he was somehow responsible for the leadership breakfast fiasco even
when everyone watched him try to help Toby out the only way he knew how.
He hadn't realized when he finally concluded that Toby was genuinely scared
and worried about reelection. The fact they might not be in the White House
for another term if they didn't straighten up and fly right was very real and
very probable. That thought made him feel even queasier.
"I told Mallory that's where I was going. Why couldn't I remember? That was
less than
twenty minutes ago. I'm thirty-two. I'm a lawyer. No make that speechwriter.
I work for the President and I'm losing my mind. You've got to get out of
this daze you're walking through before people start noticing."
He chalked his failing memory up to being overly tired and realized that once
he got some sleep, it would improve. That is if he could remember how and
where to sleep. Toby's couch had to be skipped at all costs.
"Maybe I hit my head harder than I thought on those stairs? Remind me to ask
Margaret if she remembered where I put my medical discharge sheet with
instructions for follow up care on it."
"That light was green, right?" He quizzically glanced at the reflection he
caught off the light from the corner of his eye. "What the...This day just
can't get any better."
He turned the corner and noticed a blue light flashing in his mirror. A
female officer in a cruiser motioned for him to pull over.
"Just great Seaborn. That light must have been red. Now you're really going
to be late. Don't have to worry about sitting across from Leo and the
President now. CJ will be pissed. Toby will have a stroke and Josh will never
let this one go. Not to mention you probably won't have a job, either. Talk
about a real nightmare."
He watched nervously as Officer *Xena* got out of her patrol car and headed
towards his car. He looked to see if *Gabrielle* was possibly in the car with
her? He shook his head as if he was trying shake cobwebs out.
"Just my luck." He sarcastically laughed and then groaned as he slid down in
the seat as far as the seatbelt would give from pure embarrassment.
He tried to muster enough courage to speak as she approached the car but his
voice just wouldn't obey. His first instinct was to crawl under the car and
disappear.
"Yes, Officer..." came out as a choked whisper.
"Sir, there was a stop sign back at the corner on Constitution Avenue..."
Her voice, she couldn't be could she? He must have been hallucinating.
The only words that came to mind were 'Beam me up Scotty' and he knew he
wasn't on the Enterprise. He knew this was going to be bad on every level. He
shut his eyes, took a deep breath. He addressed a silent plea of help, to any
available spirit within hearing distance then he tried to speak again.
Part 5
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