***
“What a difference a year makes,” Steven said as he hugged me and brought me to the conference room.
“It hasn’t even been a full year yet. I can still remember my legs shaking the day I walked into your office. You were so kind to me.”
“Life, it’s a crazy ride, that’s for sure.”
“So how did you end up at this charity?” I asked as I looked around and admired the high quality of furnishings in the room.
It did seem a little odd to me that a charity would have such expensive furniture and artwork on the wall. But I assumed it was some sort of charity that was funded by rich people who just wanted a good tax write off. The good thing about it though, any charity work for a tax write off works just as good as charity work for a full heart.
“I’ll be honest with you Steven, you and I both know I don’t have any experience that I can bring to this position.”
“What are you talking about? You are very qualified and I’m not just saying that because you married the Vice President.”
I had to laugh at the way Steven was talking to me. He appeared to be trying to make me feel better about my qualifications. It was something I had seen many times before when people would come to the college and donate money. I worked with the Dean for a short period of time and he would always build them up and ask if they would consider teaching a class. The Dean would tell them how smart they were, and their business ideas were innovative, etc. But basically the college just wanted high-level donors to feel like that were really involved so they would keep donating more money.
“Steven, it’s just you and I here. How can you say I have any skills that would qualify me for this position? I understand my marriage makes me a good candidate, but you don’t need to snow me with praise.”
“Listen here Kayla. I wouldn’t put myself out there and offer you this job if I didn’t think you could do it. Look how amazing you were with whipping those votes for Mr. Storm when he was Senator. You have a way with people and I think it will go over well in our charity. That’s why I asked you to come talk with me.”
He seemed genuine in his reasons for inviting me and it threw me off a bit. I had thought I was only being asked because of my name and my position, I hadn’t considered the possibility that they actually wanted to hire me because of my skills.
“Okay, so tell me a little more about what you’re looking for. What would my job be exactly?”
“It’s easy. You’ll need to organize our large gift donors. This will include planning a gala dinner. Some other small events. You’ll visit the big donors personally and might even travel overseas to where the fresh water wells are being erected so you can place custom plaques for the high-level donors.”
“Wow, that sounds great.”
“There was one thing my boss wanted me to ask about and please don’t take offense by this. Are you pregnant? I mean, obviously, we would still want you here, but we are just trying to plan a really big event a few months from now and would need to know so we could plan accordingly.”
I busted out into laughter immediately. I suppose many people had the same questions. I had even fielded them from my family back home. But it was funny to get asked such an inappropriate question during an interview. I guess when you’re the Vice President’s wife all questions are fair game.
“No, I’m not and we have no intentions of having children within the next year; at least.”
“I’m sorry for asking, but thank you for answering. So when can you start?”
“Um, probably next Monday. Would that work for you?”
“Yes, that’s perfect. Thanks, Kayla,” Steven said as he shook hands with me and stood up.
The interview had only lasted about five minutes and I was on my way out the door. Even George seemed a little surprised by how quickly things had happened.
“Did you get the job?” He asked with a look of anticipation in his eyes.
“Yes, but I don’t think it was really an interview,” I laughed as I got into the SUV. “Would you mind swinging by my old apartment so I can grab a few things?”
“Sure.”
No one had liked the idea of Matthew and I keeping the old apartment so we had decided to sell it. Well, obviously, I liked the idea of keeping it; but none of Matthew’s advisers thought it was good. ‘It might look like you two aren’t really living together,’ his new aide said.
We quickly made our way to my old apartment and George insisted on escorting me upstairs and helping me with whatever I needed to grab. It was quickly becoming daunting to have to bring a secret service person with me everywhere I went. I wasn’t sure how I would ever get used to such a thing.
We stood waiting for the elevator and the awkward silence was deafening. I didn’t have anything in common with George at all. At least, the last guy had been closer to my age and I felt like I could talk with him. George felt like my creepy uncle who was there to supervise me, but he wasn’t creepy; just old.
When the elevator door opened, I jumped at the opportunity to get inside and at least, have something else to do besides stand there silently. But as I rushed into the elevator there was a man rushing out of it. We ran smack dab into each other.
The run in instantly put George on alert and he was right at my side.
“Sorry miss,” the man said as he walked away.
“Let’s be more careful,” George said firmly to the man.
I was a little bewildered for a moment, but certainly not harmed at all. My brain was stuck on the face of the man who had run into me, though. I knew him. He was familiar. I ran through possible scenarios of how I knew the man and I just couldn’t remember, until we got to the hallway in front of my apartment and saw Matthew and his security detail leaving. That was when I very vividly remember who the man was that had just run into me.
“Hello, dear,” Matthew said as he wrapped me in a hug and kissed my cheek. “You know I could have picked up anything you needed here.”
“It’s alright. I just had some jewelry in the nightstand. What are you doing here?”
“Just checking to make sure we had the fridge cleaned out, didn’t want a disgusting smell to scare off any new buyers. I’ve got to run, I’ll see you at dinner,” Matthew said with another quick kiss to my cheek.
I did my best not to show any sign that I knew something was going on. But the presence of Matthew and the man from the shadows had me on high alert.
The man I had seen in the elevator was the same man Matthew had been talking to the day before the Vice President’s disappearance. Certainly it wasn’t proof of anything and sometimes I thought I believed Matthew that the man was a reporter, but in that moment, I felt an unusual dread that I just couldn’t shake.
“George, do you know who that man was in the elevator?” I asked, hoping he might have had some sort of idea.
It was hard to get my brain around what was going on. I knew that man in the elevator. I knew he was the one who Matthew had handed a lot of money to in secret before. But Matthew had explained that all away as the man was with the media. Why on earth would Matthew need a man in the media now? Or if he wasn’t in the media, if he did something much more sinister; why would Matthew need anything like that now?
Matthew had what he wanted. He was the Vice President of the United States of America. In just a couple of years he would be able to run for President and would likely get voted in for a full term. I couldn’t think of a single reason that Matthew would need to be plotting or working in secret.
“No, did you get hurt? Should we go to the doctor?”
“Oh, no, no. I just thought I recognized him.”
“Well, you used to live in this building. Maybe you saw him here before. That happens to me all the time. I feel like I know someone but then can’t remember where I know them from.”
“Yeah, that’s probably it,” I said as I tried to sound convincing. “Would you mind if we made another stop after this? I’m sorry to have you running all over the place.”
“Miss Kayla, we can go anywhere you’d like.”
“Okay then. I’d like to go visit another George I know,” I said with a smile.
“Sounds like a good guy to me.”
I looked around the apartment to see if there was anything weird that I could notice from Matthew being there. It all looked just like I had left it the last time I was there. But as I was getting ready to leave I looked inside the fridge. It was still full of old rotten food.
“George, can you help me here?” I said as I grabbed a garbage bag and handed it to him to hold. “Apparently, Mr. Storm forgot to do what he came to the apartment to do,” I said with a forced smile.
We finished emptying the refrigerator and dropped the contents off at the garbage shoot before I had George drive me over to the Senate offices. My stomach was in a horrible knot as I tried to figure out what exactly it was that Matthew was doing at the apartment, with that man he had paid off before.
I still had no idea what he had really paid that man off for the night I saw him on Matthew’s lawn talking about their deal. The truth was, I probably would never know who the man was. But I had a horrible feeling something was about to explode and I didn’t want to be smack dab in the middle of the explosion when it happened.
“George, I know your job is to keep me safe. But do we have to tell anyone that we are going to the Senate office? I mean, I don’t want you to get into trouble or anything.”
George looked back at me as we waited at the red light. His eyes were kind and I felt like he understood why I was so worried. Although, he clearly hadn’t been told anything more than I had. But the way he looked at me, he really did seem genuinely on my side; whatever that side was.
“Miss Kayla, we’re just going for a drive and stopping at the grocery store. There’s nothing to tell,” George said with a big grin.
“Thanks.”
George was the perfect security guard for me after all. I needed someone who would let me go where I wanted to go and just be there to make sure I was safe. I hoped I would get to keep George around for a very long time.
We parked and made our way up the elevator to Senator Masson’s office. I needed to ask him something. It wasn’t going to be easy to figure out the right words, but I needed to talk to him and only him. There was no one else that I trusted with the question I had to have the answer to.
“Kayla!” Marge said as I walked through the door.
Senator Masson’s secretary and I had gotten along since the first moment we talked to one another. It was nice to see her smiling face and she quickly came over to me and hugged me. I couldn’t help but hug her back. She was a great woman and I really liked her a lot.
“Hi Marge, I’m sorry I can’t talk much. I need to talk with George, is he available?”
My secret service officer, George, stood behind me and Marge looked from me to him and then back to me. A look of concern came across her face as she realized I was now the wife of the Vice President and I was standing in her office with a secret service officer.
“Is it an emergency?” She asked looking concerned.
“Oh, no. Nothing like that, but I really do need to talk to him.”
“He’s just getting done with a meeting. If you can wait five minutes, I can get them to wrap it up.”
“That would be great. Thanks so much Marge.”
George and I sat down in the corner of the waiting area as Marge made her way down a small hallway to the conference room. She peeked her head inside and then was back out to us in a matter of a minute.
“They will be done shortly,” Marge said as she came over to sit by me. “So how are you darling? Are you feeling alright?”
It was the easiest way to ask if I was pregnant without coming out and asking if I was pregnant. I had to smile at the implication; it was quite comical that everyone thought I was pregnant and that Matthew and I had only gotten married so quickly because of it.
The truth of it was I didn’t want to get married so fast. I had had big plans to wait and see how things went with him being the Vice President. But Matthew was a hard man to say no to. It was clear that I was going to be living with him and the press would have given him a horrible time about that. It was just easier to get married.
“I’m feeling well, thanks for asking,” I responded. Not wanting to go into the real reason she was asking me about my health.
The meeting wrapped up quickly and Senator George Masson came out with a group of other men. Including Alex, who had been Matthew’s previous Chief of Staff. It was pretty damn awkward to be standing there with both of them looking at me and no idea why I was there.
“George, Kayla came to talk to you,” Marge said as she pointed out that I was obviously standing in his waiting area.
“Sure, this way,” George said as he brought me back to his office and I left my security detail out in the lobby.
I could still very clearly remember the last time I had been in his office as I sat down on the same couch I had been on before. But things were different this time, everything was different than before.
George Masson had been defeated by Matthew, in more ways than one. He didn’t appear to have the high energy or drive that he had once had. Instead, he was subdued and kept his distance as he sat in a chair across from me.
Senator Masson looked at me as if I was about to be his enemy. His arms were crossed as he sat back in his chair and waited for me to talk.
“George, I need to ask you something and I need the real answer. When everything was going on between you and Matthew, I followed you to a grocery store parking lot and watched you hand money to a man,” I said as I started to notice George getting really nervous.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said very defensively.
“George, this isn’t some trick. I just need to know who that man was. Is he a reporter? Matthew told me he’s a reporter and you two were trying to get him to leak stories about each other. Is that true?”
George sat very stoically as he appeared to be contemplating his words very carefully. He looked at me with a stern eye as he began to speak very calmly. His tone was angry and I felt like I had missed something between us. I didn’t think we had ended things so horribly. But the way George was looking at me it seemed like he thought I was trying to set him up or get him into trouble.
“Kayla, I like you, but I don’t know what you’re doing here. I can’t help you,” he said as he stood up and made his way toward his door.
“George, tell me. Am I in danger?” I blurted out. “I’m sorry, I know it’s not an appropriate question to make you answer after everything that went on with you and Matthew. But I love him and I don’t know if I’m in danger. I’ve heard so many rumors and then I think I get worried for no reason. I’m sorry George, but you always told me like it was. I just need to know the truth.”
The look on his face was instantly softened. I felt tears building up and I tried my best to hold them back. I was afraid. I didn’t know why certainly it wouldn’t serve Matthew any purpose to have me killed off. But I realized at that moment that anything was possible with Matthew.
“Why do you say that? What’s going on?” George asked as he came and sat next to me on the couch.
“I don’t know. I saw Matthew talking to that man. I’ve seen him talking to that man before, but I saw you talk to him as well. Then the Vice President died and I don’t know. I just don’t know what to believe or who to trust,” I babbled on and on while he sat and listened. “I’m too young to be the wife of a Vice President. I don’t know what I’m doing. I can’t lead fundraisers or meetings. I wear jeans and t-shirts, not dresses. It’s all too much!”
I broke down in utter sobs as I continued to talk. He was very kind as he patted me on the arm and tried to soothe my tears. There probably wasn’t much he could do that would have made me stop crying, though. I was so overwhelmed.
“Kayla, do you love Matthew?” George asked simply.
“Yes. Well, I think I do. I mean he’s a little scary sometimes.”
George just laughed as he leaned back and put his arms on the back of the couch. He seemed much more at ease than he had when I first came into his office. His face had totally relaxed as he turned toward me to talk.
“He’s not going to murder you, sweetheart. Matthew is a scary guy in the political world, but he’s not a murderer,” George said with a chuckle. “I think you’ve been watching too many spy movies.”
As I wiped my tears away and looked at the relaxed look on his face, I felt so much better. It did seem pretty silly that I always thought Matthew was going to hurt someone. Maybe I did watch too many spy movies.
“Oh, God. I’m so sorry for coming over here, George. You must think I’m an absolutely crazy woman.”
“No, I think you’re a brilliant young woman who has a lot on her plate right now. You should probably take a week off and relax, then maybe look at working at a charity or something.”
“That’s so funny you say that. I just talked with Charity Water today,” I laughed as I finished cleaning up my tears.
“That sounds like a great place for you. I bet you’ll make a wonderful fundraising Vice President,” George said as he walked me toward the door. “You stop back in here anytime. My door is always open. But I happen to know Matthew cares about you a great deal and would never do a single thing to harm you.”
“Thank you George. Oh, by the way, this is my secret service officer. His name is also George,” I said as I introduced the two men.
“Always nice to meet another member of the George crew,” my security detail said with a firm handshake.
“Thanks again George, I’m sorry for bothering you,” I said as we made our way out of his office.
It was a relief to see that even Matthew’s nemesis thought he wasn’t dangerous. I had obviously just let my imagination get way too out of hand. It was a gift and a curse all at the same time.
“Are we ready to head home?” George, the security guard, asked as we pulled out of the parking lot.
“Yes, thanks. We better stop and grab those groceries, though,” I laughed and so did George.
It was one hundred percent clear to me that I liked my new security detail and I was going to be very happy to keep him around for as long as he decided he wanted to keep working. We made our grocery stop and then pulled back up to the house right at six o’clock so I could get dinner started and have it ready for Matthew when he arrived home from work.
A quick batch of spaghetti and I had the table set and waiting for Matthew as he walked in the door. I wasn’t a good cook and Matthew had known that when we decided to get married. But I did feel like I wanted to continue to learn how to cook and I hoped someday I’d be able to surprise him with a fancy meal, but for the time being he’d have to settle for some simple spaghetti.
“Now aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” Matthew said as he grabbed me and put me on the table.
“Oh, no, no, no. We aren’t doing that again. The security cameras are on down here. I don’t want the secret service guys watching us.”
“I’m just kissing my lovely wife, nothing more.”
“Oh, sure,” I said as I felt his hands on my thighs. “You’re full of energy tonight. How was your day?” I said as I pressed him away and climbed back into my chair.
“It’s a good day. I love life a lot today. I think we should take the night off from work talk, though. How about we eat dinner and then cuddle up on the couch and watch a movie?” Matthew asked with a huge smile.
“A movie? You never want to watch movies with me,” I laughed.
Since Matthew and I had seen each other, I could only remember one other time we had actually watched a movie together. Matthew didn’t like them, he had said they were a waste of our time in reality.
“I’m trying to be the sweet husband you adore,” he said with a kiss to my cheek. “I’m going to be that husband that all your girlfriends are jealous of.”
Matthew kissed me passionately and I instantly felt my body react to him. That chemistry between us was certainly undeniable. No matter what crazy thoughts rushed through my mind, I couldn’t deny that our bodies felt perfect together.
“Then, I’ll take you up on it,” I said as I kissed him back. “I’d love to watch a movie with you.”
We ate our meal and enjoyed a little small talk about the weather. It was a little awkward, but I supposed that was what happened when people got married so quickly and when they knew they were on secret service cameras.
“How did your interview go at the charity place. Did you get the job? Was it for the office manager or what was it again?”
I had to laugh. I was pretty sure Matthew had been the one to arrange the position, although I was positive he wouldn’t admit to it. But he couldn’t even remember what the position was for. Even George Masson had remembered I was applying for the fundraising position.
Then it hit me, like a ton of bricks; that stomach feeling again. The one I had when nothing seemed to fit at all. I hadn’t told Senator Masson what the position was that I had applied for. I couldn’t be certain, but my memory had me telling him I had applied for a job there; not what it was. But how on earth would he have known about the position at all?
“The interview went well,” I said as I got up and went to the refrigerator to look for some seltzer water.
“Everything alright?” Matthew asked.
Everything was not all right. Something was going on and I wanted to know what it was. First Matthew had gotten rid of Clint, the head of his security because Matthew said the man was too honest. Who the hell gets rid of a secret service officer that is honest? It didn’t make sense.
Then Matthew was at my old apartment meeting the same man that he had met the night before the Vice President disappeared. And Matthew had lied right to my face about why he was at the apartment, he certainly wasn’t cleaning out the refrigerator.
But I wasn’t in any position to start raising red flags. I was smarter than that. Instead, I put on a smile, grabbed some 7-up and made my way to the couch. Could Matthew have worked with Senator Masson to get me a job at Charity Water? I didn’t know why on earth they would work together. Then I remembered that George Masson’s wife was involved in a lot of charity work. Perhaps Matthew had reached out to them in an effort to mend some fences now that he was the Vice President.
One thing was for sure, I would never be able to figure out all the secrets that Matthew had. I could only learn to live with them. Certainly no harm was going to come from me being at the charity organization, in fact I might actually be of use to them. My conversation with Steven had convinced me that I would be helpful to them, plus it would be so exciting to travel overseas and see the fresh water wells get installed. I was excited about the position, no matter how I got it.
“Just a bit of indigestion,” I said as I pulled Matthew with me to the couch. “I’m excited to watch a movie. Does this sweet side of Matthew mean that I get to pick where we watch it? I’d much rather cuddle with you under the covers in bed,” I teased.
Matthew did not like that idea at all. He pulled his hand away from me and went right over to the television and turned it on. For whatever reason, Matthew wanted to spend the night on the tiny couch in the living room. I hated the idea that the secret service officers could watch our every move, but I figure that I needed to get use to the idea sooner or later. It might as well be that night.
“I think down here will be better,” he said definitively.
“Okay.”
We settled in and Matthew let me pick the movie. It was nice to have him there with me and not thinking about business or anything else. At that moment, I really thought we could make this marriage work. We already had enough sexual chemistry to last for decades. If we could get the day to day life stuff figured out then we were going to have a really good chance at a future.
Sometime after midnight, I drifted off to sleep with Matthew behind me and a big blanket covering both of us. But around two o’clock in the morning, we were both woken up by a commotion coming from the secret service offices in the basement.
“They sure are worked up about something,” Matthew joked. “Maybe they found a mouse.”
We both laughed, but then two officers appeared from the stairwell and were standing in the living room.
“I don’t think it was a mouse,” I said seriously.
“We need to go to the White House,” George said sternly as he stood near the front door.
Matthew helped me up and then went over to George to talk to him. I couldn’t hear what they were saying but it certainly didn’t look good at all. Both men had concerned looks on their faces.
“What’s going on Matthew?” I asked.
“I’m not sure yet. Get your things, we need to go.”
“Do I really need to go?”
It was the middle of the night, I certainly didn’t see a reason that I would need to go to the White House with Matthew. Whatever the national emergency was I was pretty positive that Matthew and the President could handle it without my help.
“You need to come Miss Kayla, it’s for your own safety,” George said firmly.
George’s words had me more worried than anything I could have thought up. My safety wasn’t ever an issue, was it?
“Sweetheart, we need to figure out what is going on. For now, will you please just gather your things and come with us?” Matthew said calmly as he kissed my cheek.
I did as I was asked and gathered my purse and followed the men out to the SUV. Matthew let me in first and then slid in next to me. When I got into the vehicle, there was already a secret service officer sitting on the other side of the bench seat.
All of the officers looked very bleak. They were concerned about something major and all I could think about was it was some sort of terrorist event. 9/11 had certainly scared our entire country, but I was in a whole new position with Matthew and I was probably in much more danger of terrorist events because of our marriage.
We quickly made it through the White House gates and pulled into a garage off to the side of the building. The secret service officers got out first and then ushered us into the building quickly. I looked around for Elizabeth’s familiar face, the First Lady had been there to greet me the last time I was at the White House. I hoped that she would know what was going on and could tell me a little bit more about how I was supposed to handle these types of situations.
But as I looked around I just saw a lot of secret service officers, security and staff members; no one looked familiar to me at all. One of the staff members brought me to a sitting room where I waited with a secret service officer outside the door. Matthew was ushered into a different room with some of the staff people.
I waited for what seemed like forever as I drifted in and out of sleep. I had no idea what was going on or why we were at the White House. There continued to be a lot of commotion going on but I wasn’t privy to any of the actual information about what was happening.
Then, about thirty minutes after I was brought into the room, Raphael the makeup artist came through the door. It was shocking to see him there at such a late hour.
“Raphael, hi. What are you doing here?” I asked in total surprise.
“We need to get you ready,” Raphael said as he moved quickly and started to apply makeup to me.
“What? Wait a minute. Ready for what?”
Raphael looked annoyed at me as he quickly applied makeup and then another woman came in and brought me a horrifically ugly blue skirt and jacket.
“Put this on,” the woman said as she left.
Raphael walked out with her and stood at the door. “Hurry, we don’t have much time,” he hollered in toward me as he held the door shut.
I had no idea what was going on, but I felt obliged to put the outfit on as requested. I didn’t seem to be in any position to deny requests at the moment. So I quickly slid into the long skirt and put the white blouse on. I pulled the jacket on and then Raphael came back in. He did some touch ups on my makeup and then pointed me toward the hallway.
“That way,” he said.
“I’ll take you,” the secret service officer said at my door.
As I walked down the hall, I realized we were going to the oval office. It must be some really big emergency if the President was making a speech at that hour.
“So is it terrorists? Is the President making a public statement?” I asked the secret service officer.
The officer put his hand on the door knob and opened it slowly.
“The President was killed at Camp David tonight,” the officer said as he guided me into the oval office.
I felt the blood rush out of my face as I looked at Matthew standing behind the mahogany desk. To his left was George Masson.
“This way Michaela,” a young woman said as she guided me to stand next to Matthew on the other side of the desk.
I watched as George Masson’s wife was brought in and stood next to him. There was one camera pointing at Matthew and at least a dozen people in the room. I felt myself getting dizzy as I tried to take in everything that was going on.
“We are live in five, four, three, two and one,” the cameraman said as he pointed at Matthew.
“Today is a day that we will forever mourn as a country. The details are still unfolding, but I am here with Senator George Masson to show that our country is ready to fight this fight. As your new President and Vice President, we will ensure that whoever has committed this atrocious act will pay. We will spare no expense to bring this evil to justice.”
Matthew paused and looked over at me and then grabbed my hand gently. He held it tightly as he continued to talk. I saw a glimmer in his eyes. It was something I had seen only once before. I had seen it the day he took office as the Vice President.
“This country is safe. As your President, I will ensure it is safe from all that is evil and wrong.”