"It's probably safer if we don't have any contact," Aaron says, and she knows he's right. She wishes he weren't. She doesn't want this to be their last moment together, this hurried goodbye. They're both shocked and scared and desperate, and she's trying not to think about the man she killed. He had wife. A teenage son.
"Goodbye, Aaron." It sounds so final. Why can't it be 'goodnight' or 'I'll see you soon'?
It had seemed that this… whatever they are- has been building all day, for longer than that if she lets herself admit it, and she always took for granted that, when this was all over, they'd be able to sort out their feelings.
Now all that is ending so abruptly, and she feels lost.
He steps forward, closer to her, gently putting his hand on her arm. She can barely breathe now, and she knew the heat pricking at the backs of her eyes is tears. For now, in this moment, she is content to lose herself in his eyes. She lies to herself, pretends that this won't ever end. They'll be standing here, together, forever.
They never had a chance, she knows. The unbalanced First Lady and the dedicated Secret Service agent? It was doomed from the start. If there ever was a start.
They are standing closer than they ever had, he leans in. Their noses almost brush.
"Thank you," he whispers, so softly he had to strain his ear to hear it. For what, she wants to ask. She tilts her head up, ever so slightly, wishing.
An unspoken thought passes between them. She knows with a devastating finality that this secret, intangible thing between them will never amount to any more than this almost-kiss, this moment that should be a beginning and is instead an end.
They will never have more; never stop thinking about what could have been, if only they were two other people. In another, simpler world, they might have fallen in love. They might have been happy.
They pull away, and nothing more is said. He opens the car door, with one last glance back at the woman he might have loved, if only…
Then the car is pulling away. Martha stands there and watches him disappear. She is left alone with her hopes and fear, and a desperate wish for a simpler life. They were doomed, she knows. Still, she dreams of what could have been.
Then he is gone, and she cannot lie to herself anymore.
