King of the Mountain:
Part 10


Lynn Jepsen


"Unbutton the jacket but don't take it off."

"Are we back to this again?"

"It's important. We need a presidential image."

"Enough."

"No, Toby, not enough."

"Unbutton the jacket but don't take it off."

Okay, this is too much insanity. I think the staff is out to kill me.
Josh and Leo have been arguing about Reynolds all week, and if we weren't
a week away from the primary, I'd strangle them. Now I have to listen to
CJ, Toby, Diana, and Ramon arguing about whether I should leave my jacket
on or take it off during the debate. Haven't we had this argument often
enough before? Didn't CJ and Mandy have this argument before Rosslyn? I'm
through here. There are important things I have to deal with. This isn't
one of them.

"Sam! Wait up." Lisa jogs up to me and I relinquish one of my crutches to
lean on her instead. We talked a little bit when I got out of the
hospital. We didn't resolve anything, but I think we both feel better
about the way things are, at least, I feel better. "Am I allowed to lock
Leo and Josh in a room and let them duke it out?" What did they do now?
No, wait, I don't think I want to know. Do I? She's shaking her head.
"Never mind, I'll take care of it." Thank you. Please, just don't make me
have to mediate those two.

We pause outside my office, and Lisa grabs the bag of Chinese Margaret
offers up. It's peace offering. I finally figured out exactly what she
and Josh were doing to my schedule. It's safe to say I was not amused. We
end up sitting on a battered blue and green couch Lisa confiscated for my
office, and I prop my cast up on the coffee table. Just hand over the
crab rangoon and no one gets hurt. "Leo thinks you ought to do the
debate." Leo's a smart guy. "Josh thinks you ought to wait until you're
better." Excuse me? "He might have a point, Sam. I mean, your ribs still
hurt every time you breathe, maybe..." Her voice dies out and I'm
guessing the look on my face says it all. I will not quit before we cross
the starting line. No way, no how.

She grabs a container of fried rice and leans back against the couch
then. "Have you talked to Carol recently?" No, should I have? She shakes
her head and chalks it up to idle curiosity. In the last week, the
campaign staff has tripled, and Josh has started tapping people to run
state offices. I'm sort of embarrassed to admit I hardly know any of
their names. Of course, as busy as things have been, I doubt anyone's
noticed. "Zoey's enjoying California." That's nice. Is Charlie getting
along alright in the office? Lisa nods through a mouthful of rice and I
have to wonder why my wife has a better handle on my staff than I do.

"Oh, I might have forgot to mention something to you last week." Um, I'm
sure many things weren't mentioned to me while I was recovering. The
thing that bothers me is she has this look - this look like I'm going to
hate whatever it is she forgot to tell me. "Mother and Phillip are coming
to visit." Excuse me? Don't I have enough to worry about without...."Oh,
and Paul's coming down from New York now that the semester's over."
Great. I have to deal with her mother, her stepfather, and her brother.
Great. "You know they love you, Sam." Yeah, they just have unique ways of
showing it.

"Governor, the reporter from Channel 4 is here. Josh promised him...."
Yeah, I know. Lisa gathers up the Chinese containers and helps me move
over to the desk. She and Margaret vanish into the hallway as the
reporter of the day blows into the room.

*

Tell me I can sleep now. Just tell me I can sleep, even if it's a lie.
Please? Lisa gives me this endearing look then. "Sorry, dear, but we're
scheduled for dinner." No! With who? Tell me we can cancel. We can
cancel, can't we? "No, we can't." NO! I don't want to go to dinner. I'd
be perfectly happy never eating again. I haven't had more than four hours
sleep since I got out of the hospital. "Josh and Sarah are joining us for
dinner." Okay, that doesn't sound so bad. We're all sleep deprived, and
we're all friends. It'll be fine. "Oh, and Mother and Phillip are coming,
and Paul." And just when I think it'll be okay, she kicks me when I'm
down.

She walks across the office just to straighten my tie. "Now listen hear,
Mister. Just remember, I could turn into my mother in another twenty
years." Okay, now that is a scary thought. Lisa, if you turn into that
woman, we are getting a divorce. She laughs then, and I don't think I've
heard that sound since we started this adventure.

We meet up with Josh and Sarah on the street. They're waiting with one of
the cars, and I'm glad we're not taking that limo. I always feel like a
pompous jerk riding around town in a limo. Lisa and I stand there for a
moment, and I can feel amusement radiating off of her. You know, I wish
they wouldn't do that. I clear my throat and Josh nearly jumps out of his
skin in his rush to break the lip-lock he's got going with my baby
sister. Before we can say anything either macho or stupid, Lisa is
guiding me into the back seat of the car, and Sarah's ordering Josh to
drive. It's only been two weeks and she's already got him so well trained
it's funny. Lisa and I knew each other for years before I was that well
trained. Of course, Josh and Sarah have known each other for years too,
so maybe that's not the best comparison.

"Just remember, don't kill the in laws." Easy for you to say, Josh. I'm
the scariest person left in Sarah's family. Lisa's mom, she's pretty
scary. That, and she hates me. I'm not talking about a normal hate. No,
that would be too easy. She's too creative for that. Throw in the fact
that Phillip reminds me of a wet noodle, and I'm sure tonight will be
fascinating. Pulling up outside the restaurant makes me cross my fingers
and hope this meal isn't on me. Lisa must sense my desire to whine some
more, because she pinches me and tells me not to be such a baby.

Lisa throws her arms around Paul as we walk up, and I shake my head.
Somehow, even when he washes off the paint, he still looks like an
artist. It's gotta be the clothes. "Sam." He disentangles himself from
Lisa and offers me a hand. I juggle the crutches a bit to return the
handshake. Might as well not alienate my lone friend in the family.

"Elizabeth, darling, how have you been?" Her mother kisses her on the
cheek and gushes a bit as we're shown to our table. "You shouldn't work
so hard, darling. Samuel should take better care of you." See this look
on my face? I'm just going to keep reminding myself that this meal will
eventually end.


King of the Mountain: Part 11

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