Hello everyone! So, I wrote this thing and I'm not going to say too much about it, except for it is loosely based on a season two episode. I don't own anything related to HOC, although it would be really nice for my bank account if I did. I hope you enjoy this!
Claire Underwood readjusts her navy form-fitting Alexander McQueen dress for the millionth time. She does not get nervous, the emotion is not in her repertoire. However, she cannot help but sense this uneasy feeling that is settling in her stomach. Ashleigh Banfield from CNN is about to conduct a live interview of her and her husband, Vice President Frank Underwood. Her finger twitches and some naïve intern glances in her direction, only to immediately jerk their head away when Claire glares at them. No part of her wants to do this interview, she enjoys the privacy despite her husband's occupation. This interview will only give the public permission to pry into her life, but she agreed to it because it will hopefully bring good press to Frank.
Suddenly, her phone springs to life, vibrating against the polished oak nightstand. Claire maneuvers around the bed in order to scoop up her iPhone, smiling when she sees who is calling her.
"Hi, are you almost here? They are setting up downstairs," Claire says to her husband. A frown cuts across her lips when she hears a disconcerting sigh on the other end.
"There is an emergency at the Capitol, an intern opened an envelope laced with some substance. We have been quarantined."
"Oh," Claire is not worried, her and Frank have been through situations like this before. Someone probably sent in some flour to spook the White House. Plus, now that Frank won't be here, the interview is no longer necessary since it won't feature the both of them. In a weird way, this has been a silver lining for Claire.
"You should still do the interview," Frank tells her, reading her current thought.
"Are you sure Francis? You won't be there. It won't have nearly the same effect."
"I don't want to cancel so soon, it might look bad in the press."
"Okay, I'll run it by Connor and see what he thinks." Claire wants to argue with Frank, but what he is saying makes sense. It would not benefit them politically to cancel a live interview last minute, even if the public is captivated by the scare at the Capitol.
"Thank you, I'll let you know when I have an update."
Claire hangs up the phone and slips on her stilettos, carefully walking downstairs, through the throngs of people setting up for an interview that might not happen. She locates Connor speaking to one of Ashleigh's many assistants. Claire waits patiently as they wrap their conversation up so she can speak with Connor privately.
"Connor, Francis is not coming, I think we should cancel the interview." This does not come as a surprise to Connor given that he has heard, along with the rest of the country, about what is happening at the Capitol.
"With respect Mrs. Underwood, I think that would be a mistake. We should still do the interview even without your husband." Claire gives a curt nod and leaves Connor, dialing Frank again to relay her final decision.
"So what did you decide?" Frank asks, stepping away from his conversation with Donald Blythe to talk to Claire.
"Connor agrees, but I'm still hesitant about this Francis."
"I am sure you will do great. Donald and I will be cheering you on."
It is clear to Claire that she would be disappointing a lot of people if she pulls out of the interview, so she reluctantly agrees. She was hoping that Frank would be there so he could field the majority of the questions posed to them. Her original plan was only to speak when a direct question was asked of her, but that has changed.
"Okay, I'll talk to you later."
Claire hangs up the phone and is immediately cornered by a make-up artist waving a brush towards her face. She obliges and motions over to Connor to join her.
"We are doing the interview, tell Ashleigh that I will be ready in a few minutes."
Connor goes off to relay the message while Claire takes a final look in the mirror. Her makeup isn't smudged, every blonde hair is perfectly styled into place. She is ready for battle. An intern escorts Claire to her seat, a chair positioned just-so in the living room. Ashleigh is already seated on the couch across from Claire, gathering her materials for the interview. They exchange polite smiles and wait in silence for the cameraman's signal.
Once the cameraman gives the go-ahead, Ashleigh sits up a little higher in her seat and Claire twines her fingers together to rest on her lap.
"I am sitting down with Claire Underwood, wife of Vice President Frank Underwood. Unfortunately, the vice president couldn't be here due to the emergency at the Capitol, but he is in our thoughts. Claire, can you comment on that?"
"Yes, I just spoke to my husband. He is in good spirits and he apologizes for not being able to be here today."
Back at the White House, Frank pours himself a drink and turns the volume up on the TV. A smile chases across his lips when Claire appears on the screen. Out of the corner of his eye, Frank sees Donald sit down as well, intrigued by the interview playing out before them.
Ashleigh peppers Claire with questions about her childhood, her time at school and how she met Frank. Claire seems relaxed and in control, willing to let her guard down to answer some basic questions about herself. It's when Ashleigh starts to shift her questions towards children is when Claire starts to lose her upper-hand. Her and Frank have discussed potential answers for this topic, but now that he is not here, Claire is unsure of how she should proceed.
"Can we talk about children?" Ashleigh asks Claire. Claire nods and reminds herself to keep the smile on her face. It might turn some people off if she tenses up at the word.
"Sure, of course."
"You and your husband have a daughter, but nobody has really seen her nor have the two of you ever spoken about her publicly. In fact, we don't even know her name. Why is that?"
Frank leans forward, hanging on every word. He and Claire suspected that Ashleigh was going to bring up their daughter, which is a highly guarded subject for them. Nevertheless, Frank softens when a bright, authentic smile stretches across Claire's lips. He can see Donald Blythe staring at him in shock and he presses the rim of the glass to his lips to conceal a grin.
"Francis and I agreed that we would protect our daughter from the press. We believe strongly in the divide between public and private lives. Just because my husband is vice president does not mean that we have to forego our right to privacy."
Claire hopes that answer will be enough to satisfy Ashleigh and convince her to move onto another topic. It's not that Claire does not want to talk about her daughter, she just wants to protect her as much as possible. Talking about her goes against that exact principle. However, Claire can tell that Ashleigh wants to be the one to break this story so she can expect more follow-up questions. Claire will take a cue from her husband and selectively tell the truth, wanting to preserve as much of her daughter's privacy as possible.
"What do you want to tell me about your daughter?" Ashleigh asks, knowing that if she wants the information, they are going to have to do this Claire's way.
There is a slight pause as Claire assembles her thoughts. This is the exact thing she wanted to avoid. By not having Frank here, she has to make decisions for them by herself, which is something that she does not feel comfortable doing. Picking and choosing what to reveal seems to be her best strategy at this point.
Frank snatches up his half-filled bourbon from the coffee table. He feels horrible that he is not there to provide support to Claire and deflect such questions. Whatever Claire decides to tell Ashleigh, Frank will agree to. He trusts his wife knows where to draw the line in regards to their daughter.
Donald attempts to make eye contact with Frank, but he is not playing. This is why he did not want anyone to know that he has a daughter, people will look at him the same way Donald is looking at him now. Frank will not be regarded as soft just because he has a child.
"Our daughter just turned two, her name is Emily Claire." Claire says after a moment of silence.
"Does your daughter look more like you or your husband?" Ashleigh asks. Claire shrugs,
"I don't know. Me, I guess. She has my eyes, but she looks like Francis a little too."
"Why did you wait so long to have a child?"
Claire swallows and readjusts slightly in her chair. She does not have a family friendly answer for that question. The truth, which Claire can't say, is that her and Frank never planned on having children in the first place. When she became pregnant, they considered aborting the baby, but ultimately decided against it. She can't admit that though. Claire has to go with an answer that is easier for the American public to swallow.
"Well, Francis and I wanted to make sure that we were done campaigning. And then he wanted to get established in Congress and my former company, the Clean Water Initiative, was expanding. We were both too busy to have children, until we weren't."
Ashleigh rests her fist under her chin and Claire instantly starts internally dissecting her answer, wondering if she could have possibly slipped up.
"So, you are saying to all the women out there that you think your career should be put before your family?" Ashleigh asks, just to antagonize Claire. She would not be doing her job if she didn't ask the tough questions, hopefully Claire understands that.
Frank watches Claire tilt her head and narrow her eyes a little. He has seen that look many times before, a calculated answer from Claire is sure to follow. Frank glances over at Donald who is intensely focused on the TV, waiting with baited breath for Claire's retort to Ashleigh's question.
"No, I would say that my husband and I chose to wait to have a child until we both thought we were ready to have one. We wanted to provide our child with as much stability as possible and that didn't come until later in life for us. Every family is different. I don't think it's wrong to fault a woman for wanting to be successful professionally before deciding to have a family."
"How do you think being a mom has changed you?" Ashleigh asks, dropping her previous line of questioning. It's clear to her that she was not going to win against Claire, who seems to have a well-thought out answer for everything asked.
"I don't think it has. I'm still the same person I was before I had my daughter."
"Some people think that you decided to have a child because your husband's reelection campaign wasn't going well."
Claire audibly scoffs and reminds herself not to laugh in Ashleigh's face, she does not want to appear callous.
"I don't think those claims are warranted. My pregnancy had nothing to do with the timing of my husband's campaign. Our daughter was not a political ploy of any sort and for anyone to suggest otherwise is ridiculous."
"You do have to admit the timing of your pregnancy worked in your favor." Ashleigh is pushing Claire to see if she is able to garner information from the notoriously private Second Lady. Claire has proved to be a worth adversary, but Ashleigh has over twenty years of interview experience, she will get her talking eventually.
Claire is about to pull the plug on this interview. She has indulged Ashleigh long enough. However, if she backs out now it will look like she is trying to hide something or that Ashleigh could be right about her pregnancy, which she isn't.
"Can we take a quick break? I have to check on my family."
So, what are your thoughts? I know it's a little weird to think of Claire and Frank having a kid, but I think it could work. I have more if you guys want more, let me know!