Page 34 of State of Suspense

“Thanks for taking one for the team.”

“Anything for you.”

He ran his fingers through her hair in a soothing motion that helped to relax her into sleep. Tomorrow would be there soon enough, and the craziness would begin anew. For now, though, they were just a husband and a wife, settling in for the night, not the most powerful couple in the world.

Sam entered her office in the East Wing at one minute before six the next morning, still half asleep and groggy. She carried the to-go cup of coffee that Nick had made for her while she was in the shower. Ten cups wouldn’t be enough to jumpstart this Monday morning. Of course Lilia was there waiting for her, looking fresh, pretty and put together, as always. Today, she wore a black suit with a teal silk blouse.

“How do you do that at the butt crack of dawn?”

Lilia knit her brows. “Do what?”

Sam flopped into one of the chairs in front of Lilia’s desk. “Look so freaking perfect with every pearl in place at this ungodly hour.”

Lilia laughed. “I took a shower and got dressed.”

“I did the same thing, and you’ll note there’s a big difference between how you look and how I look.” Sam wore jeans, a sweatshirt and running shoes in anticipation of a long day. “Elegance meets roadkill. I still say we need to have you play me for the next three years—except in the bedroom, of course.”

Her adorable chief of staff turned bright red. “Stop it. No one in this world could play you better than you.”

“Oh, please. Anyone could, and we all know it.”

“What would Mr. President say?”

“He’s biased.”

“Yes, he is, and his opinion is the only one that matters in this debate.” Lilia handed over a printed sheet. “That’s the schedule for tomorrow, beginning with your tea with Courtney Hutchinson, the prime minister’s wife.”

“Do I have to drink tea? I hate it.”

Lilia’s lips quivered with amusement. “We can have some coffee brought in for you.”

“Make it decaf, or I’ll be awake all night.”

Lilia made a note. “You got it.”

“What am I supposed to talk to her about?”

“I made a list of potential topics, including family, children, your favorite causes and hers.”

“How do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Anticipate what I’m going to ask you and be ready with an answer.”

“That’s my job. We’ve worked together for a while now, and I’d like to think I understand what you need. Most of the time, anyway.”

“All the time. You get me. It makes a huge difference, and I’m not sure I tell you often enough how much it means to me to have you and Roni and the others making me look good when I’m barely ever here.”

“We enjoy making you look good. Speaking of that, Roni would like to schedule some time on an upcoming weekend for a photo shoot to use for upcoming social media needs.” Lilia handed over another sheet of paper with a long list of pending dates, holidays, religious occasions and other important things that would need commentary from the first lady. “Our thought is to take maybe half a day, six to ten different outfits, with hair and makeup on standby to change things up here and there. That’ll cover us for the next couple of months. And before you can balk, we’d do all the work. You’d just have to show up and smile.”

“God, that feels so fake.”

“It’s not fake. It’s you doing your best to manage two very demanding jobs.”

“What if they found out I phoned it in ahead of time and wasn’t here for any of those events?”

“That’ll remain between us and the presidential photographer. We’re all under ironclad NDAs, Sam. What goes on here stays here.”

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