�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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