‘Sir?’ ‘Leo, what’s going on in Manila?’ I
get up, abandoning the crossword. As I follow him
across the office into the Oval Office, the President is
firing questions at me, and I’m doing my best to answer
them, although, even now, my mind isn’t on the
Philippines. Or the job. Or the state of the country. I’m
thinking about Susanna. And Jen. And when I picture them
in my mind, their faces merge until I’ve got
Susanna’s eyes, Jen’s lips, and a weird mix of their
hairstyles. Long, short, dark, blonde, straight,
curly… ‘Leo!’ ‘Sir?’ ‘What is it?’ I shake my head. ‘Nothing, Sir.
Just
had a bad night.’ ‘Leo, I wanna know about this.
Don’t start trying to keep things from me,
okay?’ ‘Sir…’ I want him to know that this isn’t what’s
happening here. ‘I was gonna come and brief you,
but…’ ‘You thought you’d do the Times crossword
instead?’ I sigh at his sarcasm. ‘No, Sir. I was just trying
to get things clear…’ ‘By doing a
crossword.’ There’s no reasoning with him when he’s in this kind of
mood. I get up from the sofa and walk to the
door. ‘Leo, where are you going?’ ‘Sir…’ ‘Leo, are you
feeling okay?’ Oh, I’m great Jed. My ex-wife couldn’t
even be bothered to thank me personally for the roses.
Josh and Sam are gay. I’m thinking about having a
relationship with a woman who owns a night-club. I didn’t get
any sleep last night because a couple of newly-weds
have the apartment next door, and they seemed to make
love all night. So I’m fine, how about you? Apart from
the MS, the death threats your assistant’s still
getting, and the fact that your Deputy Chief of Staff
looks like he might have a nervous breakdown any
minute.I force a smile. ‘I’m fine, Sir.’ Then he
remembers. ‘How was Josh’s party?’ ‘Oh, the Karaoke kids
enjoyed themselves.’ I see his puzzled look, so I
explain. He laughs as he listens. ‘I gotta remember
that. Those two? Singing? I’m sorry I missed it.’ And I
see the look in his eyes. He wanted to come. But he
knew the Secret Service would have had a collective
heart attack if he’d said he wanted to attend Josh’s
birthday party in a DC night-club. So he had wished Josh
‘Happy Birthday’ late in the afternoon, and missed the
evening’s fun. Fun. Perhaps that was the wrong word. Or
maybe not. I had fun. ‘Leo, we’re going to the club this evening. Wanna come?’ I see the beginnings of a smirk Josh is trying to hide. ‘No thanks. I’ve got plans.’ ‘With Susanna?’ I frown, and Josh gets up off the edge of my desk, finally reading the signals. ‘No.’ ‘Oh, okay. Night.’ As he leaves, I look at my watch. Almost nine. I pick up the ‘phone and dial. I get the machine this time, and I leave a message. Just who I am and where she can reach me. Okay, so I don’t have plans. Well, I did have. My plan was to go round to Jen’s. To talk. But she’s either not there or she’s screening her calls. Either way, I won’t just go there. I’m not afraid of turning up unannounced. It is my house. Well, it was. But I don’t wanna make things awkward. So I sit and work through another file until I hear even Jed calling out and I realise I’m alone. I sit back for a moment, then reach a decision. I grab my jacket and flick the light off as I leave.
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