Chapter 1

Sam ran a hand through his hair tiredly as he put the final touches to a speech. It was already 8 p.m and he had hoped to leave the White House early to drive back to New York in time for dinner with Noreen. But he had little hopes of Toby letting him leave till he was completely satisfied with the speech.

The thought of his wife brought a smile to his face and he was looking forward to spend some quality time with her. He decided to call Dean at the airport, the mechanic and part time pilot on hire to get his private plane Sal fuelled up.

"Hey Dean, Sam Seaborn here. How are you doing?"

"Hi Sam. Good to hear from you."

"I plan to fly to New York tonight. Do you think you can get Sal ready for me to leave in an hour or so? Sorry to bother you so late, but I was hoping to get away earlier and drive down, but it is an impossible task when you are working in the white house. "

"Sure, Sam, no problems. I am working late tonight anyway at the airport, got a couple of other planes to check too. I will keep her ready to fly in an hour. See you later."

"Thanks a lot Dean, you are great. Bye."

Feeling better already, Sam hit the print button on his laptop to get a hardcopy of the final draft of his speech.

"Here is the final copy." Sam said as he handed over the speech to Toby. "Can I leave now ?"

Toby looked up from the papers he was studying on his desk and replied. "Don't go just yet, I may still have some changes."

Sam sighed: "Come on Toby, that is the fifth time that I have modified it. I promised my wife that I would be in New York for dinner tonight."

Before Toby could reply, another voice piped up. "Hey Sam, you still here, I thought you were going to NY for the weekend."

Sam turned around and saw Leo at the door. "So did I", he grumbled. "But Mr Grouch here has decided not to let me off the hook tonight and has made me modify the speech atleast 5 times."

Leo looked at Toby: "Let him go Toby, it is late and he is a married man."

"Oh all right", Toby said glaring at Sam, "You can go, but be sure to be in early monday"

Sam grinned, "Sure thing Toby. Thanks Leo". He quickly went out before Toby changed his mind.

Leo watched him go and smiled. "You push him too hard Toby. He is young and he is an asset to the team. Be careful, we need him more than he needs us. I think given a choice between work and choosing a family life, he is more likely to quit the administration and go back to New York."

As Sam gathered his stuff to leave, his cell phone rang. He smiled as he looked at the number displayed. "Hey Norry, I am just getting ready to leave. I am flying down."

"Darling, I thought you were going to drive down. I do not like you flying down when the weather report has announced a storm." replied Noreen.

"Honey, the storm is not supposed to hit the coast before 11 p.m and I will be home by that time. I am leaving for the airport now. Dean has got the Sal all ready to go."

"Ok Sammy, be careful. I will see you soon. Love you":Noreen

"Love you more, bye": Sam signed off.

As Sam closed the door of his office, he saw Josh and Leo talking. He called out. "Bye Josh, Leo. See you on monday."

Josh smiled. "Bye, Sam, say Hi to Noreen from me. You driving down to NY?"

"No", Sam replied. "I am flying down. I am heading down to the airport now. My plane should be ready."

Josh frowned. "Not a very good idea. Sam. You do know that a storm is supposed to hit the east coast."

"Yeah, well I will be home long before that. It will take me an hour to fly down. And the storm will not hit NY before 11 p.m. I have flown in worst before."

"Be careful, buddy and let me know when you arrive in NY", Josh said, realising that there was no way he would be able to persuade Sam to drop the idea of flying. He knew that Sam was an experienced pilot considering that he was an Air Force Reservist.

"Will do, bye Josh.' and Sam left.

"So has the golden boy of the administration left?". Toby's sarcastic voice spoke behind Josh. Josh turned and glared at Toby annoyed with him for keeping Sam behind late. "You should have let him leave earlier Toby. Now he is going to fly back in stormy weather. What if he gets caught in the storm and something happens?" shouted Josh. "If he gets hurt, it will be your fault."

Both Leo and Toby looked surprised at Josh's outburst. Josh suddenly feeling self conscious, muttered. "I got work to finish and then I am out of here too." Toby caught his arm. "Sorry, Josh, I did not do it on purpose and I did not know that Sam had planned on flying to NY tonight."

"Whatever, I got work to do", Josh pulled away from Toby. Leo said "We know that Sam is an experienced pilot. He will be ok."

Josh nodded and went back to his office. Leo also returned to his office. Toby went back to his desk feeling slightly guilty that he kept back Sam later than required.