Take Me Back To The Start
Chapter 1- Do you still love me?
As Elizabeth lay in bed she couldn't help but look over at her sleeping husband. He was still so handsome after all these years. 31 to be exact. This is how she would spend most of her nights these days. Wondering when everything went wrong and why they couldn't have the relationship they did before she became Secretary of State. She knew the reason for their failing marriage though. It was because she was Secretary of State.
She blinked a few times before sighing and rolling over onto her side, trying to will herself to sleep. Sleep usually never came though. When she first took the job as Secretary of State she told Henry that she would quit in a heartbeat if the job threatened what they had. She wished he would have just listened and told her to quit. Elizabeth knew in her heart she was to blame also. She knew that the marriage was starting to fail a few years into her term and she decided to continue her job anyway. She figured that if Henry didn't care than why should she?
Eventually, Elizabeth started drifting off to sleep but what felt like minutes later her alarm started blaring in her ear. She groaned lowly and reached over to the night stand to silence the noise. She looked over at Henry's side of the bed and sighed when she didn't see him. Elizabeth laid in bed for a few more minutes before throwing the covers off of her and started her way downstairs.
"Hey you." Elizabeth said with a small smile as she made her way into the kitchen.
"Hey yourself." Henry said with a smile to match hers, flipping over the pancakes that were on the skillet.
"Smells good." She whispered as she made her way behind him, snaking her arms around his stomach.
This is about as close as they had been lately and she was starting to crave the feel of his body against hers. When Henry turned around to kiss her head she looked up at him lovingly, rubbing his sides before she made her way into the dining room. She knew that they were both trying as hard as they could to be the most loving couple they could be but the tension between them was undeniable.
She had started noticing a change between them once Alison and Jason were finally out of the house. Empty nest syndrome was starting to set in for Elizabeth and she delved more and more into her work. As Elizabeth took more time away from the house Henry started doing the same and soon enough they really only saw each other late at night when they came in from work. They barely communicated like they used to and when they did it was just pleasantries. Nothing of substance like they were used to.
She sat down across the table from Henry as he placed the pancakes down, smiling a little at him. She would do whatever she could to try and make this relationship work. The last thing she wanted was to lose him completely. Divorce was never a topic they discussed and if things did not start changing she was afraid that one of them would bring it up.
"How about you meet me for lunch?" She asked and raised her eyebrows at him.
Henry's brow furrowed a little as he started to eat, he couldn't remember the last time they had actually eaten lunch together. It might have been a few years.
"I would like that." He said and smiled back at her, noticing that she was trying to put some effort into their relationship lately. Something he desperately wanted from her.
Elizabeth ate her pancakes quickly and looked at the clock, sighing softly "It's that time again." She said with a small laugh and got up, going over to kiss Henry quickly.
Henry nodded and kept his eyes on her, "I'll see you at noon." Elizabeth nodded and quickly made her way upstairs to get ready for the office.
She made her way into the state department about an hour later and sighed as she plopped down in her chair. As always Blake was right there when she arrived, ready to perform any duty she needed.
"I feel like a sitting duck. Everyone just waiting until the President's term is over so they can take over everything we've done." She said, smiling at Blake. "You know if you want to stay here I'll put in a good word for you."
"With all due respect ma'am, I appreciate the offer and everything you've done for me but I think I am officially retiring from the state department. It's been a wild ride with everyone but I think I've had enough stress from the last six years to last me the rest of my life." He said and nodded at her, "I think it's time for a vacation."
She laughed and stood up as she saw Nadine rush in, patting Blake on the shoulder as she walked past him to see what the big rush was. He had been a good soldier since the day she hired him and she would certainly miss having him around every day.
"Ma'am you're needed in the situation room, North Korea seems to be acting up again." Nadine said and handed her a briefing that the President had sent over. "They just couldn't let me enjoy the last few months of this job quietly could they?" She said with sarcasm laced in her voice as she followed her security team out to her car.
After about five hours of debating with the leader of North Korea, Elizabeth finally made her way back to the state department. She walked into the building and was once again greeted by Blake who had a concerned look on his face, "Ma'am your husband is here and has been for the past few hours."
Elizabeth's eyes widened and she looked down at her watch, "Crap." She mumbled to herself before looking up at Blake. "No one comes in my office." She said as walked as fast as she could to her office. She knew this wouldn't turn out well.
Blake stood there confused before shaking his head and walking to his desk. He should be used to this by now.
Daisy and Matt couldn't help but see the exchange and made their way over to Blake's desk, "So what gives?" Daisy asked, eager as always to get the inside scoop on the Secretary's private life.
"Don't you two have something better to do like plan a wedding?" He asked, raising his eyebrows at them.
"Well we would be doing that if Daisy would stop dragging her feet." Matt said as he rolled his eyes, looking over at his fiancé.
"I thought we both said that we would get married once we were done here." She snapped back, crossing his arms and standing up straight.
"We did say that but I figured, you know, plan the wedding while we're still here and then get married right after we leave. I'm not getting any younger you know." He said with a tilt of his head, mimicking her body position.
"Trust me I know." She glared at him.
"Ok well as entertaining as this is I think that we all have some work to attend to." Blake said and clapped his hands together, "So why don't we all go our separate ways."
As Elizabeth stepped into her office she could see Henry sitting in the chair across from her desk, his head in his hands. She closed the door behind her and moved across from him, leaning against the front of her desk.
"Henry I am so sorry. Something came up and I…"
"Forgot to call." He interrupted, looking up at her. He looked so defeated and tired and it made her feel even guiltier than she already had before. "You forgetting me in general seems to happen a lot these days." He said as he looked up at her with the saddest eyes she had ever seen him make.
"Babe, I don't know what to say, I am truly sorry." She said sincerely, moving closer to him as he stood up.
He nodded and reached out to rest his hands on her hips, looking down, before looking back up at her "I know you are but I don't know how much longer I can deal with this." He said softly and rested his forehead on hers, "We need to have a discussion at home." He whispered before making his way out of her office.
Elizabeth swallowed hard as she watched him leave, wanting to chase after him but her legs weren't moving. After a few seconds of just standing there, looking at the door, Elizabeth moved to her desk. As she sat down in her chair, she could feel her eyes build with tears. She cleared her throat quickly and willed the tears away, knowing a breakdown wouldn't help anyone. Soon enough someone would come barging in and the last thing she needed was for her staff to see her like that. They never had in the past six years and she wasn't planning on changing that. She slid her glasses onto her nose and started going through the paperwork on her desk. She was in no rush to go home tonight.