Susanna sees Leo first. I follow her gaze, holding the pile of papers she gave me when we first arrived. We hadn�t even got our drinks when she was already explaining, tearfully, that the building�s owners wanted to sell the building to developers. I offered to look through the paperwork for her. She seemed surprised that I had a law degree. But I didn�t want to upset her further, so I let it pass. Josh walks off, bored, as we talk about landlord and tenant stuff. Then I see Leo. And he sees Josh. Who waves vaguely behind him as he stands in the middle of a crowd of White House staffers. Susanna smiles at him, and I wait until he�s close enough to hear over the background noise of voices and music. �Leo. Drink?� Susanna smiles. �It�s okay, Sammy. We�ll do this later. Go and have some fun.� �Do what later?� Leo looks at the papers I put on the bar. Susanna shakes her head slightly. �Later, Sammy.� I leave them alone, taking my drink with me as I walk over to Josh. At least I don�t have to worry when he slides his arm around me. I know he likes people to know we�re together, and I know that part of the way he does that is to hold me when we�re standing beside each other. I never hold him. Not in public. I�m not comfortable with it. But when Josh holds me, it�s nice. I feel safe. Loved. Wanted. And I know it relaxes Josh. And now he can do it with Leo around, it�s nice. He did it when we were having lunch. After Susanna called, we didn�t talk about anything other than her lease. But Josh did risk holding my hand as we talked. And we managed almost twenty minutes before Donna interrupted us. And I had to pull my hand from Josh�s. Otherwise, I swear he would have left it there when Donna walked in. Age is making him weird. **************** �What�s this?� I don�t want Leo thinking about my problems, so I put my hand on his, lifting it away. �Nothing. Just a problem with my lease.� His eyes are instantly full of concern. �Want me to look?� Somewhat flippantly, I say: �You have a Law degree too?� He nods. �Yuh.� �Maybe later. How was today?� I look across the dance floor to where Sam and Joshua are holding court. And each other. Leo takes my meaning and says: �Okay. I watched them all day�� I can�t help but scold him. �Leo! They�re not going to do it on the desk in the Oval Office, are they?� He smiles. �Not while I�m around.� I laugh. �If they hadn�t told you, you would not have known, would you?� The sentence is so logical, Leo can do no more than shrug. �I guess not.� �So, be sensible about this. They�re obviously comfortable with their relationship. Just work out a way of coping with it.� Leo is nothing if not honest. �It makes me�� �Uneasy?� He feels mean, and says quickly: �No. Not exactly. But�� �You would rather have continued in blissful ignorance.� �Yeah.� �Too late.� He sighs. �I know.� ****************** I can see Leo and Susanna. They are sitting on a sofa at the edge of the room. Their body language alone tells me that they�re comfortable being that close. Then Leo�s hand goes to Susanna�s face, his thumb gently wiping her cheek. She says something, then laughs and he smiles in response. �JL?� I turn suddenly. �Lit?� �Drink?� I smile. �Yeah. Why not.� Sam�s gaze follows mine, and he sees Leo�s smile. �That is one relaxed Chief of Staff. It�s good that he�s happy. After today�It was Jen�s birthday.� �Today?� Sam hadn�t known. It was in my diary. Donna had written all the important dates in my diary for the whole year. And, without thinking, she had copied the dates of Leo and Jennifer�s birthdays and their wedding anniversary in. When I flicked the page this morning, there it was, in Donna�s neat handwriting. �Jen McGarry�s birthday. Call Jen.� �Yeah. Today. Leo sent her flowers. She didn�t call to say thanks or anything. Just left a message.� Continued in Part Eleven Home