There were pillars of light and pillars of dark. Josh shivered slightly as he stood in one of the shadowed strips. Inside, high and sweet, a violin played 'Oh, Come All Ye Faithful'. Further down the colonnade splashes of colour spilled through a window onto the flagging. Somewhere beyond the music Josh heard sirens. He shook his head a little. It was the dark of December in Washington DC – there would always be sirens.
Josh pulled his coat tighter around himself. At the edge of the colonnade snow covered bushes and lawns and his breath puffed out in misty clouds. He thought of Donna, blizzard-bound in some mid-western town, did she remember sirens and fear sometimes when she heard carols? He knew she still worried about him – it had taken the president to send her home for Christmas. Both of them would always remember when he had been… broken. He looked back towards his office and remembered the other man who had broke and discovered that you could live broken.
"Josh?"
He turned to face the president. Sam rested a hand on his shoulder and stood beside him to look out over the snow-covered gardens.
"And I could be in California…. Are you sure I want to run for re-election?" Sam asked wryly.
They exchanged grins, neither needing an answer. Both knew the words were just a way of burying memories.
A clear soprano soared in a somersaulting chorus of glorias and Josh leaned into the president's hand. How do you tell someone that you've found your way back?
"Leo didn't drink again."
Sam nodded. "I know"
They turned and, trailed by Secret Service, walked back inside. Behind them, sirens wailed along dark boulevards.