The Morning After
By: Eve Karma
Third in a series. Please see part one ("The Bubble Room") for disclaimers and such. :)
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"How do you feel?" I asked my boss as he got into my car.
"Like...total shit." he groaned.
I should have known.
"Look in the glove box," I instructed.
He opened it and looked inside.
"Uh, no, back father." I blushed.
"A condom?
Ooops. Now I was really red.
"Put that back."
"Fine, fine..." he said and continued rummaging
around in the glove box.
"Here," I plucked my water bottle out of the cup holder and handed it to him.
"Thanks," he said and took the pills.
"Now," he said as I turned the radio on, "I want to know why you keep condoms in your car."
"Sam, drop it or I'll make your head hurt even worse than it already does," I warned him.
"When's the last time you actually got some, Kate?" he asked a few minutes later as we walked into the White House.
"I am never letting you drink in my sight again.
"Why can't you just answer the question?"
"When's the last time you slept with someone?"
"Uh..." he snapped his mouth shut.
"My point exactly, Sam."
~~~~~
Sam was standing next to my desk while I went over his
schedule for the day when CJ walked in.
"Anyone care to explain this?" she asked and threw the Post onto the desk.
"Uh oh..." Sam whispered.
"Big uh oh," I turned to look up at him.
The front page of the paper featured a rather large photo.
Which would have been fine, really, if the picture wasn't of Sam and I dancing at the Bubble Room.
"I'll let you two decide on a story." CJ said and stormed out.
I picked up the paper and read the caption to Sam.
"Well, at least they didn't know who you were," Sam sighed.
"That's because it's my backside that's
prominent, not my face.
"So what do we do?" I asked him.
"I don't know," he answered.
~~~~~
Sam came out of his office just as I was hanging up the phone.
"Who was it?" he said, tilting his head towards the phone.
"Charlie," I said.
"But I have the meeting with--"
"No, Sam.
"Oh.
~~~~~
Charlie, Zoey, Sam, and I sat on the sofa in the Oval Office, looking at each other nervously.
"So, who wants to tell me what happened last night?" The President asked as he perused the front page of the Post.
"I guess I will," Sam said, looking around at the
rest of us before going on.
"I know that, thank you.
"It's my fault, daddy," Zoey spoke up.
"Where were the Secret Service agents while the four of you were out partying?" he asked.
All we could do was shrug.
"What happened at the club?"
"We were just dancing," Charlie told him quickly.
"Were you two drinking?"
"A little."
The President sighed and looked at Sam.
"Maybe I overdid it a bit," Sam admitted.
"So, what else happened?
"Nothing," three of us said hastily and shook our heads.
"Oh, god, I can't live like this," Zoey groaned
and held her head in her hands.
"What?" her father bellowed.
"I was crowd surfing...but Kate stopped me and made us leave."
The President sighed and put his hands in his pockets.
"You can go," he told us.
Sam, Charlie, and I stood and filed out, hanging our heads.
***
"So, what happened last night?" Josh asked when he caught up to Sam in the hallway.
"Oh, god, you saw the picture?"
"Saw it, for Christ's sake, I have three copies of it pasted on the wall in my office," he laughed.
"Oh god," Sam moaned and walked away.
***
"Sam," I stood in the doorway of his office, "CJ wants us to make a statement to the Press."
"What?" he looked up from his computer,
"Uh," I looked at my watch, "About ten minutes from now."
"This is officially the worst day of my life," Sam whimpered and banged his head down on his desk.
~~~~~
CJ was finishing her statement to the Corps as Sam and I walked into the Press Room.
"...and as I said before, the group was safe and no
one was hurt.
She glanced over and saw us standing there, nervously eyeing the reporters.
"Okay, here is Deputy Communications Director Samuel Seaborn and his personal aide Kate Montgomery."
She motioned us over as she stepped away from the podium.
Sam stepped up to the podium first.
"H-hi everyone.
Oh no.
I stepped up next to Sam and he instantly stepped back.
"Good morning, everyone.
At once, all the reporters were waving their arms at me and
yelling my name.
"Who had the idea to go to the club?"
"Zoey Bartlet.
I pointed to another reporter, whose questions were
followed by a few other reporters.
"Kate, how close are you to the President's daughter?"
"Well, I've only known her for about six months, but
we've become friends very quickly.
"What kind of relationship do you have with Sam Seaborn?"
Uh oh.
"He's my boss and we're good friends.
"Were alcoholic drinks served at the club?
"Okay, thank you.
"Who from your group drank at the club last night?" Was his follow-up question.
"Obviously Zoey and Charlie didn't because they aren't
old enough.
"The picture implies that you and Mr. Seaborn are very
close.
"Of course not.
"Do you know who took the picture and is there anyone
you would like to say to them?"
"I don't know who the photographer was; I don't think
anyone knows and I hope that anyone who does would come forward.
That got a laugh from the reporters.
I stepped back from the podium and in a flurry of camera flashes Sam nearly dragged me out of the room and back to his office.
"Sam, are we hiding from someone?" I asked him as he practically shoved me into his office and closed the door behind us.
"I'm just hoping that it'll take CJ long enough to get to us that she'll be calmed down a bit."
"What do you mean?"
"Didn't you see how she nearly fell over when you started taking questions?"
"No."
"Oh.
"Sam, how big did I just screw up out there?"
"I don't know how CJ will take it, but you saved my
ass.
"No problem.
"I know.
Then, CJ burst into the office.
