A/N: This story is a little different. It was inspired by a Tumblr post and prompt about Sharon as President of the US. It got me to thinking, and this little story was born. It is told in short scenes. I may continue it if there is interest, so please let me know what you think.
Disclaimer: These are not my characters, I am just borrowing them.
Madam President by Kate Rosen
"Come in," Chief of Staff Louie Provenza called to the door of his office after hearing two swift knocks. His deputy, Andy Flynn, entered then. It was only 6am, but he already looked fired-up about something.
"Did you see the Times this morning?" Andy asked. "This is ridiculous."
"What?" Provenza answered. "I've got it here, and I've been skimming it. Which section are you looking at?"
"It's an editorial by Ricardo Ramos. Listen to this: If she chooses to run, President Raydor's greatest obstacle to reelection will likely be her husband. First Gentleman Jack Raydor's philandering tendencies and propensity to spend his evenings in bars or casinos is perhaps Washington's worst kept secret. Can you believe that dirtbag?" Andy scowled.
"Which one? Jack or Ramos?"
"Aww, damnit!" Fritz Howard swore as he threw his newspaper down and quickly drained the rest of his morning coffee. He was so tired of reading about the the President's husband and his latest escapades that it made him want to scream. Her staff were constantly having to play defense with the press. It had reached the point where they were having trouble getting any real governing done.
Why couldn't he have just won the Democratic nomination? His personal life was much more stable than Raydor's, and he could have really made a difference in the White House. Instead, he had settled for joining her ticket as Vice President and working for an administration that was constantly in the shadow of scandal.
"Is she still here, Amy?" Andy asked the President's personal aide later that evening. He glanced at his watch. It was after 9, but he had a feeling that she would still be working.
"Yeah, she's in there," Amy answered, looking up from her computer to meet Andy's eyes. "You can go on in."
Inside the Oval Office, he found her at her desk with her glasses perched on the end of her nose intently reading a report.
"Madam President?"
At the sound of his voice, her face softened slightly and she glanced up at him. "Come in, Andy."
"Is that the economics report?" he asked as he approached her.
"No, I'm finished with that one," she motioned to stack of papers to her left, "and let me assure you, it's a real page-turner. Now I'm looking over this report on the status of sex education." Her lips curled into an easy smile and Andy couldn't help but smile back. It had been awhile since he'd seen her with anything but a stern look on her face.
"We've done a lot of good, haven't we, Andy?" she mused, "I mean, we got the education bill passed, and we created something like 100,000 new jobs with our employment initiative." She stood up and moved to stand beside Andy, who was leaning against the front of her desk.
"Yes, we have, Madam President, thanks in large part to you and your leadership."
Removing her glasses and placing them on the desk, she paused to pinch the bridge of her nose in an effort to stave off the headache which had been lingering just behind her eyes since the afternoon.
"Then why is it that all the press seems to care about is the fact that my husband has a big mouth and can't keep his pants zipped?"
The Raydors hadn't slept in the same bedroom since before she was elected. They should have gotten divorced years ago, but they had stayed together for the sake of her political career. She never dreamed that she'd go any further than Congresswoman for the State of California, but her good friend Louie Provenza had convinced her to run for president. He said he could get her the Democratic nomination if she let him run her campaign, and he had kept his word. Divorce would have made it impossible to get elected. No one would vote for a single woman to be President, everyone told her. Now here she was, the first ever female President of the United States. The fact that she was a positive role model for little girls all over the country should have made her feel better, but all she could think about presently was how exhausted she was.
"Why don't you head over to the residence, Madam President?" Andy suggested, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "The sex education report will still be here in the morning. And you do have that 7am call with the Prime Minister."
She didn't return the grin he offered this time. Her face looked pale and drawn. The dark circles that she so painstakingly covered with makeup every morning were beginning to show again. "When I think about doing this for four more years…" she began, but her voice trailed off as she dropped her eyes to the floor.
Using his thumb, he lifted her chin so that she was looking at him. Then, spreading out his fingers to cover the entire side of her face with his palm he said, "You deserve so much better, Sharon," and leaned down to kiss her.
Somewhere deep in the recesses of her mind, she knew that this was a bad idea, but at the present moment, she couldn't fathom as to why. How long had it been since someone had kissed her? She couldn't even remember. And the way he said her name. No one called her by her first name anymore. She was either "Madam President" or "Ma'am." Obviously Jack still called her Sharon, but the way that he voiced it, with his emphasis on the second syllable, made her skin crawl.
Until this very moment, with Andy's lips and tongue tenderly caressing her own, she hadn't realized how alone she really was. Sure she was surrounded by people all day long. Her staff and advisors, many of whom she'd even consider friends, had her back, gave her sound advice, and any one of them would take a bullet for her, she was certain of that. But at night, when she was alone in her bed, how she longed for someone to not only touch her as gently as Andy was right now, his nimble fingers kneading that spot on the back of her neck where all her tension seemed to gather, but also for someone whom she could truly confide in, to share her hopes and fears with.
But it couldn't be, she thought, and the realization brought tears to her eyes as she softly placed her hand on his chest, hardly exerting any pressure at all, but even her subtle touch was enough for him to begin to back away. Although it had been she who had caused it, Sharon still sighed in frustration at the loss of contact, and her fingers desperately clung to his jacket of their own volition.
"Andy, I… we can't. I'm sorry," she rasped, then leaned her forehead against his and fought to slow her breath. She may have needed to stop their kiss, but she wasn't ready to fully let him go yet.
"I know. It's okay. I'll wait," he whispered.
Sharon lifted her eyes to meet his. Reaching up, she placed her hand on his cheek. "I can't ask you to do that, Andy."
Removing her hand from his face, he held it in both of his and placed a gentle kiss into her palm. "You're not asking me. I'm telling you that I'll wait for you. As long as it takes. Whether it's another year or another term, I'm not going anywhere."
Andy loved her, he honestly did, but he didn't say it then. It wouldn't be fair to either one of them. He would just continue to stand beside her every day until the time came when she would be free to love him back.