The card Emily found on her desk right before the inauguration made her reconsider her own actions, even if it was only for a short moment. The card was... Sweet, without a doubt, but at the same time it struck her as a goodbye note. At first she'd hastily thrown the card into one of the drawers of her desk when Seth had walked in, but over the last few months she'd taken it out over and over again, her fingers smoothing over his handwriting and words. It was their most recent personal interaction, and she couldn't bring herself to get rid of it.

Being left alone with Aaron had turned out to be easier than she'd thought. He still spent enough time in the White House and they were even in the same room often enough, but there was always someone there. She was probably never getting used to him having Secret Service protection. Another thing she didn't think she'd ever get used to was him having his own Chief of Staff. Her name was Tricia, and she was smart, professional and unafraid to speak her mind. Often Emily found herself wishing she could still deal with Aaron directly, instead of going through her. Maybe he wouldn't even have minded, but she was determined to play by the rules this time when it came to him.

As she entered Seth's office, she found him standing over a large cardboard box, gleefully pulling out letters.

"What are those?" she asked, frowning.

Seth chuckled.

"Aaron's fan mail."

"Fan mail? He gets fan mail?"

"Yeah. I mean, look at this. Some of these women send their underwear," he replied, removing a rather skimpy pair from the envelope in his other hand.

"Gross. Are they us- nevermind, I don't want to know."

He laughed again.

"Fine, I won't tell you."

"You should have his office handle them," she told him tensely.

"I know, I was just having a bit of fun," he sighed back.

Her eyes were glued to one of the screens in the press secretary's office. Aaron was giving a speech in California.

"Sacramento today, right? They're opening that new campus library building," she said quietly.

"Uhmmm... If you say so. Probably. You know his schedule by heart, don't you?"

She threw her head back and let out a laugh, one that she knew Seth would see through.

"Of course I don't. It was just a lucky guess."

"When did you last talk to him? You know, just out of curiosity."

"Last week, you were there, too."

"I meant alone."

"We don't have much to talk about anymore."

"You know what? I don't believe you. I think you should talk to him when he comes back, or hell, give him a call tonight. You're on the edge all the time, Emily."

"No, I'm not."

"You know his schedule better than anyone although it's not really your job, you watch all his speeches, and yet you can't have a one-to-one with him. It's crazy," he huffed, shaking his head.

"It's not crazy."

"You used to be friends."

"We still are."

"You can't be friends with someone you never talk to."

"I didn't say we were close friends."

"Emily..."

"Let's change the subject, okay? I came here to do my job, not to talk about the Vice President."

"Oh, so now he's the Vice President?"

"Cut it out."

"Fine."

Aaron told himself it was a good thing that he had time to give speeches at campus library openings and such, but it still felt like a colossal waste of time. He didn't feel like he was getting anything done. All the important decisions were in the hands of Kirkman and his staff. God, how he wished he was still part of that crew. Sure, he got to make policy suggestions to the President, but as far as seeing them through? That wasn't his job anymore.

He would spend the night in yet another hotel room, but his new place in Washington didn't feel any more like a home than the neat suites did. According to the Secret Service, his previous apartment had been impossible to secure properly, so he'd moved. Now he even had a guest room, which nobody used except for Nadia occasionally. His problems were still small compared to what his own family had endured when he'd been younger, but he couldn't say this was making him happy. Sighing, he grabbed a beer from the minibar and dropped onto the bed, flicking the TV open. A game of basketball, or hockey, or football, or whatever, should take his mind off his troubles nicely.

He'd been keeping his phone on the bedside table in case his mom called, as she usually did after every public or half public speech he gave, and she didn't disappoint him that night either.

"Wonderful speech today, Aaron. Absolutely wonderful!" she exclaimed. He grinned, shaking his head. His mom had to be his biggest fan.

"You always say that," he replied.

"I know, but it's true!"

"How are you? How's Dad?"

"We're fine, still so very proud of you. I wish you could visit."

"Me, too, but you know it'd be difficult to arrange."

"We could come to see you in Washington."

Aaron hesitated. On the other hand, he wouldn't mind having his parents over for a while, but on the other... He wasn't sure if he wanted them to see the way things really were. His mom in particular was perceptive, if he uttered one wrong word, she'd know something was wrong.

"Come on, Aaron. Let us come."

Ugh.

"All right, fine."

"Good boy. Now, have you been sleeping and eating properly? You look very tired on the TV."

"Yeah, I've just been busy. That's all."

"Mmmm... We will see about that when we come to Washington."

"Mama..."

"Don't give me that! Of course I'm allowed to worry about the well-being of my only son."

He chuckled. Most of the time he adored his mom, but she could be too much.

"Say hi to Dad for me, okay? I've got to go, talk to you soon."

"Good night, Aaron."

Placing the phone back on the table, he unmuted the TV once more. When the phone rang again after only a minute has passed, he actually jumped a little. He didn't even bother checking the called ID this time.

"Can we talk tomorrow, Mama?" he asked. It was only then that he thought to confirm it was actually his mother on the phone again. It wasn't. Shit.

A low chuckle filled the line.

"Emily? I'm sorry, I thought it was-"

"Your mom? I figured as much."

"Yeah, I'm really sorry. I just talked to her..."

"It's okay."

He couldn't believe Emily was calling him, not after all this time. She'd barely seemed to want to have anything to do with him professionally, much less personally. This could easily be a work call, too.

"Uh, did you need something?" he inquired carefully, clearing his throat.

She didn't answer him straight away, and it gave him hope. Okay, maybe this wasn't a work call after all.

"I just wanted to tell you that I saw your speech earlier today. I thought it went really well."

"Thanks," he said, knowing there hadn't been anything special about that day's speech. He'd given many better ones recently.

"And... I wanted to know how you were doing, with all these changes. I know you had reservations."

"It's been... I've had to adjust. A lot." I miss my former job. I miss you.

"I heard you had to move."

"Yeah. You should come by sometime."

"Yeah, sure. I'm sure Seth would like that, too."

Ouch.

"Well, if you want an afterwork drink with me, there's no going to a bar anymore," he joked.

Emily laughed. It felt good to hear the sound again. He'd missed that, too.

"We can set it up when you come back. See you on Thursday," she said.

Aaron frowned, impressed she knew when he'd be coming home.

"See you then. And Emily?"

"Yeah?"

"It was nice talking to you again. It's been a while."

"Yeah, it has. Goodnight,"

"Goodnight."

He went to bed later with a considerably lighter heart than he'd had only hours earlier. One phone call wasn't much, but it could be a start.