Page 78 of Powerless

“I received an email from the Smithsonian asking if I’d like to donate anything to their First Lady collection. So, I’m donating my inauguration gown. They sure work fast. I thought the request wouldn’t come for a few weeks, but as it turns out, they were quick and emailed me yesterday. So, I replied and asked if today would be convenient.”

“Wow, that’s very fast. Does Grayson know?”

“I filled him in yesterday, and they’ve done whatever they have to do.”

“Okay, that’s good.”

“I’ve also been thinking about working, or volunteering somewhere. The campaign work is finished for now, and I can’t sit around doing nothing all the time.”

“We touched on this yesterday. What do you want to do?”

The door opens, and Liam stops when he sees me. “Mrs. Adams, I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were here.”

“Liam, please, it’s Kathryn.”

He smirks and nods once. “I can come back.”

“Is it urgent?” Bennett asks.

Liam darts his eyes to me and shakes his head. “It can wait.”

“I promise you can have him in five minutes.” I hold my hand up showing him all five fingers extended.

“Perfect.” He smiles and closes the door.

“So, what are you thinking about?” Bennett picks up the conversation easily.

“I’m considering either asking the Smithsonian if I can volunteer there or...” I look down at my wringing hands. “Working with teenage homeless kids. What do you think?”

“Well...” He runs his hand through his hair, rustling it up a bit. “I think you have to do what makes you happy. If you want to volunteer, then do it. You studied to be a librarian. Maybe you could work at the Library of Congress.”

I scrunch up my nose. “I don’t want to work there.”

“Then volunteer, if that’s what you want to do.”

I purse my lips as I stare at Bennett. “I don’t know. I’ll speak with the Smithsonian, and see if they’d like me to volunteer for them.” I lift one shoulder in a half shrug. “We’ll see, I guess.”

“You know what you do need to do?”

“What?”

“You need to organize a staff. A personal assistant to start with.” I roll my eyes and huff. “Don’t you roll your eyes at me, Mrs. Adams.”

“Why do I need a personal assistant? I’ve never had one before, why do I need one now?”

“Because this is only the beginning, and you’re going to have too much to do on your own. Oh, speaking of which, I need you to organize a state dinner for the Austrian president and his wife.”

“Austria? Why?”

“Because I reached out to him and invited him for an informal meeting.”

“But a state dinner isn’t informal.”

“I want the country and the world to know I’m serious about taking steps to make America safer and more appealing for everyone. And this is how I start, by interacting with countries that are at the top of the safest places to live in the world. Austria is consistently up there, and I want to learn from other countries.”

“I like that. Baby steps.”

“Exactly.” He nods and looks at the watch I gave him.

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