Lauren sighed as she stapled the decorative boarder to the wall, the chair wobbling under her feet as she stood on her toes. Steading herself with a hand on the wall, she carefully hopped down and stepped back, admiring the work before her.

"Best as it'll ever be," she muttered to herself, moving forward to collect the mess that settled on the shelf.

With an hour to herself, as her students played tag in the school gym, Lauren took the time to decorate her classroom for Halloween. Taking down the vibrant "back to school" projects down, up went the orange wallpaper and lime green boarder. Soon, projects of "silly pumpkins" and "handprint spiders and ghosts" would go up, along with several other projects she had lined up for her kindergarteners. Slipped her feet back into her heels, Lauren threw out the trash and carried her stapler and the stack of projects back to her desk. With less than fifteen minutes until it was time to pick up her students, she had enough time to sit down and eat a quick snack. However, just as she reached for her lunchbox, the classroom phone started to ring.

Dashing quickly to the other side of the room, Lauren picked up. "Yes?"

"Lauren! You're never going to believe it!" Dolores, the office secretary, shouted into the phone. "The President of the United States is coming next week!"

"Why?" Lauren frowned, leaning against the wall. "What did Roger do now?"

Roger Conway, the principle of Hearst Elementary School, was currently under fire for abandoning the Common Core curriculum; something that no other principle was willing to do, despite the number of students opting out from taking the exams. "

From what I heard, and this was from a few girls up at the district office, he's supposedly reviewing the common core!" Dolores said. "Maybe he'll force the state to give it up? All I know is that Roger is beside himself! He's going to hold a staff meeting this afternoon about it! So prepare to stay until at least five today!"

Lauren suppressed a groan, "Sure," she sighed. "It's not like I have anything else to do with my life. Nor do I have anyone waiting at home for me, except my cat."

Dolores sighed, "You really need to get out more, honey," she said, sympathetically. "You're still young! You shouldn't spend your weekends, holed up in your house with an animal. A girl your age and with your looks? Men should be throwing themselves at you!"

"Yes, well," Lauren sighed. "Some of us don't have the money to blow on a bar crawl, when they have rent and student loans to pay. Nor, do I have the time to date. The men in this city are all the same; lawyers and wannabe politicians. And none of them are cute."

"You know," Dolores started. "The President is a single man, Lauren. What if you two met and it was love at first sight? God, he's such a handsome young man. He's probably so lonely, living in that big ol' house."

Lauren suppressed a groan, "Dolores, I'm sure he's just fine," she started. "For all you know, he could have a little black book in his bedside table, with all the top escorts in DC. Christ, his secret service buddies probably sneak them in, after hours so he can have a party or two."

Dolores scoffed, "You're ridiculous," she said. "Just you wait, Lauren. I'll bet my retirement, that by next fall, there will be an engagement announcement. You two would make a perfect couple; think of how cute your children would be; your red hair and his blue eyes. If you had a boy, it would be a splitting image of his father."

"You're insane, Dolores," Lauren laughed, as she looked down at her watch. "Anyways, I need to go and pick up my babies," she sighed. "Thanks for the heads up though, D. Hopefully the president will skip my classroom all together. The last thing I want, is to sit through hours of hearing my Mother plan a wedding "to die for". My sister still cries to this day, over the wedding that she didn't want."

The older woman giggled, "Just be on your best behavior, Lauren," she warned. "We all know how you feel about politics and politicians."

Saying goodbye, Lauren hung up the phone and headed back to her desk to grab the classroom keys and her grade book. Only a quarter to two, there was roughly an hour and a half left before dismissal; enough time to pick up some food, head home to feed Onyx and change, before returning back for the staff meeting. Flicking the lights off, she stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind her, locking it. If she could get through tonight, she thought as she walked, then she would get through this surprise visit.

...

The day before the "big visit," Lauren stayed late after work, to have her room inspected. Roger stood in the middle of the classroom, and looked around, taking in all the decorations and work that Lauren and her assistant did earlier that day.

"Well," he sighed, turning to look at Lauren. "I guess it'll do."

"It'll do?" Lauren frowned. "Roger, not all of us can afford to shell out tons of money, just to decorate our classrooms for one day. Some of us have rent to pay and bills!"

He held up his hands, "I understand," he nodded. "While this visit is last minute, I don't expect everyone to go out and buy decorations for their classrooms. But we also need to make this place presentable, Lauren. This is the President of the United States!"

She suppressed an eye roll, "He's not royalty, you know," she shrugged. "He's probably only going to be here for ten, maybe fifteen minutes tops, Roger. Shake a few hands and take a few pictures, before waltzing off back to the White House…"

"Your hatred of politicians, never fails to surprise me," Roger said, sarcastically. "Please try to keep your opinions to yourself, if the President should come to your room for a visit."

"So, I can't tell him that I get underpaid and still own almost thirty-five thousand dollars in student loans?" she asked innocently. "I can't beg him to pass a bill that will excuse all debt for struggling post-college adults like me?"

When Roger didn't respond, giving her a blanket stare, Lauren sighed. "I guess that's a no, huh?" she asked. "This is why I don't vote..."

"Lauren," he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Just… mind your manners, please? Make sure your students are well behaved tomorrow and that your room isn't a wreck."

With that, he turned and walked out of the classroom, closing the door behind him. Lauren shook her head, heading back to her desk to collect her things. In less than sixteen hours, President Benjamin Asher and a team of secret service agents would be sweeping down the hallways of Hearst Elementary; scoping the walls that were covered in heavily detailed spreads of the hours Lauren and her fellow co-workers spent, cutting and gluing together. The artwork; from the littlest students to the eldest, ranging from cutesy pre-cut animals to more hands-on paintings and drawings of stick figures.

Now, at five-thirty, Lauren was ready to end her long day of teaching and cleaning, as she locked up her classroom. Turning her keys in at the office, she clocked out and headed out into the chilly evening air. It was a ten-minute drive from the school to her home, as she parked her car at the curb. Locking it, Lauren quickly dashed up the front steps, collecting the mail before unlocking the door. Stepping into the welcome warmth of her house, Lauren set everything down on the hall table, before kicking off her shoes.

"Meowwwww."

A small, tuxedo cat came barreling down the stairs, rubbing up against her now bare ankles.

"Onyx, you sneaky boy," she tsk'd, scooping him up into her arms. "Were you sleeping in Mommy's bed again? Did you leave all your little black hairs on my pillows?"

The cat butted his head against her hand, as she went upstairs to her bedroom. "Ah, what does it matter?" she asked him, as she stepped into her bedroom."You're my number one man, after all."

Setting him down on the bed, she went about undressing, setting her work clothes into the hamper. Pulling on a pair of sweatpants and a long sleeved shirt, Lauren sat down on the bed and pulled on a pair of wool socks.

"Ready to eat?" she asked, as Onyx rubbed against her arm. "Then we'll watch some television and call it an early night? I have a big day tomorrow, unfortunately."

The cat meowed again, as she scooped him up into her arms. "No, Onyx," she sighed, starting for the hallway. "Mommy is not thrilled about tomorrow. Maybe we can switch places and you can go to work for me? I'm sure the kids would just love you."