King of the Mountain:
Part 39
Lynn Jepsen
Brutus is sleeping on top of the Presidential seal. I think he's mocking
me. We'll talk later. Sinking down into my chair, I glance at my watch.
You know, today hasn't been so bad. Now if only the next one thousand,
four hundred and sixty days could be as easy. I know they won't be, and I
know, from experience, that there will be days I want to go back to
California. We'll deal with those as they come.
"Mr. President?" Josh sticks his head in the door, and I motion him
inside. I want to know how everyone's getting along. First things first,
Josh, you've got to stop this 'Mr. President' stuff. It's nine-thirty.
We're alone. If you don't call me Sam, I'm going to follow through with
the attack dog plan. Josh chuckles at me, and I stand up and cross the
room to the couch. Sitting down, I wait for Josh to join me.
"Toby has the Communications staff hiding under their desks whenever he
walks through the bullpen. Diana brought them tootsie rolls. There's
definitely a stick and carrot act going on over there." Well, we knew
that was how it was going to be. Hell, Diana makes me look mean and
grumpy. Josh shakes his head. "Give it a few years. She'll get more
cynical over time." That's not a comforting thought. "Leo faxed over a
plan to reorganize the DNC." Fine. I'll sign it in the morning. "CJ has
been on the phone all day with the leadership on the Hill. We're putting
out some feelers for the State of the Union. Lily and Ramon started
putting together some names for State Department officials. Oh, and
Carol's going to have a list of credentialed press for you in the
morning." Anything else? Josh shakes his head, and I stand up, sticking
my head out the door to send Margaret home.
Come on, Josh. "Uh, that's okay. I'm, um, meeting someone for dinner."
Oh! Sure. Tell Diana hi for me. "What makes you think that...." You're
not fooling anyone, Josh. Just remember, you poker face sucks. "Okay,
well, I've got to..." Go. Have fun.
*
"What exactly is the penalty for killing the Vice-President?" Lisa grins
at me as she asks, and I shake my head. Why? "I'm having lunch with Alice
tomorrow." Oh, great. Can I go hide now? Rachel dashes through the family
room, then, and I'm stuck staring after her. When she reappears a moment
later, her skirt and blouse have been replaced by leather pants and a red
halter top. Okay, where are you going, and with who? "Let her go, Sam! I
said it was okay!" Rachel yells her thanks to Lisa before dashing out of
the room. I am so not in control of this family.
Moving towards the dining room, I can't help but stare at the candles
arranged on the table, and the food Lisa's setting out. She turns towards
me and smiles. "Zoey and Charlie are spoiling your daughter. I
thought...." She shrugs then, and I have to chuckle. Trust Lisa to
understand that this might be the last evening in eight years without a
crisis. Then I hear Josh's voice. Oh come on! He's standing between two
agents, yelling into his cell phone, and muttering something about San
Francisco. Should I guess or are you going to tell me?
"There's a protest on the Marriage Rights Act. The press is all over it.
I already called the staff. Diana's downstairs pulling together some
people." Okay, just let me.... When I turn around to go grab Lisa, she's
standing in the doorway, arms crossed, and she waves me on. That's what's
been odd today. The only time I've seen her in the office was when she
came to grab Elle. I'm used to her contributing more. Extending a hand, I
take her by the wrist and pull her towards me. We're doing this thing the
way we always have - together.
Josh yells at someone on the phone then, and Lisa rolls her eyes,
grabbing him by the shoulder and directing him out the door. The first
time we were all in a room together, we were fighting with each other
about the Labor bill. Two congressional staffers fighting with Leo's
Chief of Staff. Now we're going to have a fight about repealing the
Marriage Rights Act without shooting our one-day-old Administration in
the foot. The President and First Lady fighting with the White House
Chief of Staff. It never ends, does it?
Then Lisa squeezes my hand, and Josh drops his arm across our shoulders
as we traipse through the White House towards the West Wing and Oval
Office. No, it never ends, and I don't want it to.
The End
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