October 8, 2017, 8:30 a.m.
President Maxine Caulfield looked at her reflection in the mirror. This was the first time she'd had an opportunity to take a closer look at her appearance. The medium haircut that Max had had in her own timeline had been replaced with a similar bob that she had had in high school, although more precise and neat. The few grey strands that she used to have were nonexistent in this distinguished do. She couldn't put her finger on it but she felt that her face wasn't fully natural even though she couldn't find any scars giving away possible plastic surgery. Well, at least the rack still feels the same.
The graphite grey two-piece suit consisting of a jacket and a knee length skirt wasn't certainly what she would call her comfort zone as her own wardrobe consisted mostly of frocks and cardigans, complimented by jeans and hoodies. The mandatory U.S. flag pin adorned the lapel of the jacket. Max had chosen a white blouse, which collar button she had left open. Black sheer stockings and court shoes with two inch heels completed the outfit. Ready for the snake pit again, shaka brah.
Walking with the two inch heels proved to be slightly cumbersome as Max usually wore flat moccasins or sneakers. According to Courtney, who had helped Max to choose her outfit, the heels made her look more authoritative.
Max cast a final glance at the mirror before she walked out of the dressing room. She followed Courtney out of the residence. Agent Dana Ward was standing in the corridor.
"Good morning, Madam President," the President's assigned Secret Service agent greeted the brunette. She didn't extend the same courtesy to Courtney, though.
"Morning, Dana," Max responded. "Have you been here all night?"
"Oh no, Ma'am," Dana answered as she joined the two women. "Doe and Valkyrie are on the move," she spoke on her microphone. "I did get a few hours of sleep at the Horsepower."
Max made a mental note to google up 'Horsepower'. She did her best not to stumble in her high heels as they walked towards the West Wing or the Blackwell Wing as it was affectionately called by the current White House staff. While they were walking, Max reflected upon what she had read from the Wikipedia at the breakfast table. She, Chloe, Kate, Victoria, Warren, Dana, Alyssa, Juliet and Courtney were what the Wikipedia and other media called the Blackwell Nine. They all were survivors of the tornado and they all had actively contributed to the restoration of Arcadia Bay. After Arcadia Bay was on back on its feet, the student life and careers had taken each to their separate ways but Max's election had brought them back together.
The threesome arrived to a corridor that consisted of several office desks. Most of them were occupied. All the office workers greeted the President and Max did her best to return the courtesies. One desk was empty and Max noticed Courtney's name tag on it. The last desk before the door that Max suspected to lead to the Oval Office was occupied by an elderly woman.
"Good morning, Madam President," the woman greeted her
"Good morning..." Max squinted the name tag. "Edith?" Max couldn't hide her surprise, when she recognized the name and then the eyes. Pretty much everything else had changed, though.
It was Edith Thompson, the homeless lady that had resided at the alley behind the Two Whales diner. She had died pretty soon after Max had returned to Seattle in her own timeline. The Edith Thompson sitting behind the desk couldn't be further away from that homeless lady even if she tried. The navy blue suit, the healthy looking grey hair tied in a bun and the designer eyeglasses was a textbook example of a senior in her prime.
"Err, how are you today, Edith?" the brunette finally managed to ask, when she had recovered from her surprise.
"I'm good, Ma'am," Edith said. "The knee is acting up but it always is this time of year."
Max was about to go to the Oval Office but she stopped and turned on her heels. "Edith, do you happen to have the First Lady's schedule?"
"Of course, Ma'am. What do you need to know?"
"I wanted to send her flowers and I needed to know where she is or where she will be," Max explained.
"Well, let me check," Edith made a few clicks with her computer. "According to her schedule, the First Lady should be visiting the Kingsbury Center Special Needs School right about now."
"Let me check," Dana cut in. "Johnson, what's the 20 on Tank Girl?" she talked into the microphone.
So that's Chloe's codename, Max thought. Quite becoming.
"Roger," Dana said into the microphone. "The First Lady is running about 15 minutes late from her schedule. They should be arriving at the Kingsbury Center in ten."
"They have scheduled an hour for her at the school," Edith Thompson said. "What flowers do you want to send her, Ma'am?"
"Cornflowers have always been her favorite," Max said. "Send a bouquet of those."
"Any message?"
"'Sorry for waking you up last night. XOXOX, Your first mate'," the brunette said.
"I'll have them sent to her, Madam President," Edith promised. "Oh, I almost forgot. The Vice President is waiting for you in the office."
"Kate's waiting for me?" Max cheered up. "I better not keep her waiting, then."
"Do you need me, Ma'am?" Courtney asked.
"Not right now," the brunette answered.
"I'll be at my desk, if you need me, Ma'am." the aide said and sat down at her desk.
Max walked the last steps to the Oval Office door with Dana. The agent stepped in front of her and opened the door to check that everything was all right. She then let her boss in.
"Kate!" Max said cheerfully as she saw the blonde woman standing by the bar cabinet.
"Maxine Caulfield! You really are a fucking piece of work!" Kate Barkley said angrily.
The brunette halted and stared at the smaller woman flabbergasted. This was the first time ever, when she heard Kate use the F-word.
"Kate, I don't understand," the brunette said bemusedly. "What is wrong?"
"What is wrong..." the blonde paused to open the bar cabinet, take a bottle of single malt and pour some in a glass. "...is that you vetoed my equal health care act!" she huffed and nearly emptied the glass with one swig. "I know that you're hell bent to get your gun control act through. Hell, I want it too and I was willing to support you, but that was before you decided to screw me over to get the votes you needed."
Max just stood there and stared her friend with her mouth gaped open. She'd never heard Kate use so foul language or much less drink whisky like it was water. She also couldn't believe that she, or her counterpart in this time would do such a thing to Kate. Max was about to say something, when the hidden door to the oval office opened and Victoria walked in.
"Kate, the President realizes the significance of an equal public health service, but trust me, when I say that the time isn't right for that," the taller blonde said with a smirk. "A bit early for a Scotch, isn't it?" she added.
"Oh, don't you dare to patronize me!" the Vice President scowled. "I had the necessary votes for the bill. It would've passed!"
"That was the price of getting the votes for the gun bill," Victoria said. "After what happened in Orlando and Houston, people are more amenable for the restrictions regarding weapons," she continued. "This has to happen now, while there's at least a remote chance it'll pass."
"A new gun bill won't change anything, unless you ban the guns altogether!" Kate poured herself another glass. "We all know that's not going to happen."
Victoria smiled shortly on the smaller blonde's remark. "Look, we're in the beginning of our first term. Even the gun bill is pushing it, if we consider running for second term. Trying to push the both bills on first term would jeopardize the President's re-election."
"The President can speak for herself!" the smaller blonde huffed. "Maxine, is this where you stand?"
"I… Kate…" the brunette stammered. "You know how I feel about guns…"
"Yes, I do know!" Kate slammed the glass on the table. "Good luck getting your bill passed without my support!" The Vice President marched out of the room.
"Kate!" Max took a few steps towards the door but stopped and looked heart-struck at the closed door.
"Don't worry, Ma'am, she'll come around," Victoria assured.
Damn! That was a really shitty thing to do to Kate, the brunette thought. Maybe I should try to do something about it.
Max raised her arm and rewound back to the moment, where she had just entered the room. The small blonde turned to stare angrily at the door but her expression turned into puzzled as there was no-one there even though it had just been opened and closed.
"Kate," Max said from her side, startling her a bit. That provided the moment that she needed before Kate began her angry outburst.
"Look, I know that you're angry about the veto and you have every right to be," the brunette said, gesturing the smaller woman to hold. "Trust me, if there had been a chance, I'd gotten your approval before agreeing to the deal but I had to make the call right there and then."
"Oh I bet Hartman and Lyme put your back against the wall," Kate said, still peeved. "Those old sumbitches wouldn't love anything more than to see both bills go to oblivion. My team and I worked our asses off to get the necessary votes for that bill, all for nothing."
"I know and I appreciate all the work that you've put into it," Max said as Victoria walked into the room. "It's just that after Orlando and Houston, the general population is finally more amenable to gun restrictions. This may be our only window of opportunity to get that bill passed."
"I suppose you got a point there," Kate said.
"Still, I didn't do right by you and I want to make it up to you," the President looked the Vice President in the eyes. "If you're willing to leave your bill on the table until the re-election, I promise that it will be the first thing on my agenda on my second term." Max could see the dismay on her Chief of Staff's face as she made the proposal.
"Madam President, maybe we should take a moment to consider-," Victoria started but Max raised her hand to hush her.
"This decision is not open for discussion, Vic," the President said determinedly. "Kate, I would really need your support on the gun control act. All I can give you at this point is my humblest apology and my word."
The smaller woman looked Max straight in the eyes. The next moment her eyes brightened like she'd been reunited with a long lost friend and she let out a hint of smile. "Very well, Maxine, you have my support."
"Thank you, Kate," the brunette said with a relief on her voice. "Let's have tea some time real soon," she suggested.
"I'd like that," Kate said and smirked triumphantly to Victoria as she walked out of the office. The taller blonde didn't bother to hide her chagrin.
"Madam President, I thought you agreed with Hartman and Lyme that the equal health care bill wouldn't be brought up again while you are in the office."
"I can't afford to lose Kate's trust and support," Max said. "We'll find a way to make it happen, if and when we get re-elected. - And you really should be nicer towards Kate. We go way back, you know."
"With all due respect, Ma'am, why should I be?" Victoria said with frustration. "You are my number one priority. If something would happen to you and Kate Barkley would rise to presidency, she wouldn't hesitate one moment to replace me with her own chief of staff. I bet she still holds a grudge against me about that picture I took of her at the Vortex Club party twenty-four years ago."
"You mean you posted that picture into the Blackwell Usenet?" Max asked with surprise. She had remembered seeing the picture in the Usenet binaries section. The picture was of Kate dancing on a table, wearing just a bra and skirt and waving her shirt above her head. Kate had been devastated and acted nearly suicidal after that. In her timeline, when Nathan Prescott had been arrested after Chloe's shooting, the truth had been revealed and Kate's honor restored.
"Technically, I didn't post it," the blonde defended herself. "I paid one of the school nerds to scan the picture and upload it. How was I supposed to know that Nathan Prescott had drugged her so that psycho Jefferson could take pictures of her?"
"Did you apologize to her?"
"Of course I did!" Victoria huffed. "First thing, when you had talked her down from the dormitory roof and it was possible to go visit her in the hospital."
"Talked her down? You mean…" Max blurted in shock. Kate had actually tried to kill herself?
"Yes, can't you remember that?"
Boooooommmmm...
"Of course I did!" Victoria huffed. "First thing, when you had talked her down from the dormitory roof and it was possible to go visit her in the hospital."
"That was a rough day, wasn't it."
"Yeah, with that freak eclipse and all," Victoria concurred. "Anyway, I had the Blackwell Usenet group administrator to remove the picture. Not that many people would have seen it anyway. Only geeks used the Usenet back then. It would be a totally different case now with Facebook, Instagram and Twitter."
"Still, I think you should give Kate the benefit of the doubt," Max said. A wave of melancholy washed over her as she came to realize that in this reality, Kate and Victoria weren't happily married to each other like they had been in her own.
The blonde didn't seem to react to the request in any way. "Ma'am, did you go through the daily brief?" she asked instead.
"I did," the President responded.
"The main topic of this morning's meeting will unsurprisingly be the missing Pakistani warhead," Victoria said wryly.
Max remembered the top bullet in the brief. According to the intel reports one of the Pakistani warheads had gone AWOL during transport from one facility to another. The same reports also indicated that Sayid Bin Abdullah might be linked to the disappearance of the warhead.
"The others will be here in fifteen minutes," Victoria informed. "We have time to go through the other issues in the brief.
-ooo-
They were all sitting around the small table in the middle of the office. Max had seen this gathering in numerous movies but she could've not even in her wildest dreams imagine that she herself would be in such a meeting, much less that she would be the one calling the shots.
She was sitting in one of the two armchairs next to the fireplace, knees crossed. Victoria was sitting on the other armchair on her left. Fernando Alvarez was sitting on the right-hand sofa, closest to Max. An elderly man was sharing the sofa with him. His name was Robert Hotchkiss and he was the Secretary of State. Max was secretly disappointed as she had half hoped Téa Leoni to be her SecState.
On the left-hand sofa, there was Warren, sitting opposite to Fernando. Next to him was a woman in her fifties. She was Stacy Kowalski, Director of FBI. The third person on the sofa was David Madsen.
"All right, let's start," Victoria said. "The Director of Homeland Security wasn't able to make it this morning and Fernando is covering for the Director of Intelligence." She cast a quick glance at the paper in her hands. "Any development regarding that missing warhead? Fernando?"
"Our assets in Pakistan say that it has been smuggled out of the country," Fernando reported. "We have not been able to gather any evidence to support that."
"What are your own estimates about it?"
"It is most likely that it has been smuggled out of the country, most probably by sea," the CIA Director of Operations answered. "None of the extremist groups have not claimed to be in the possession of the warhead yet, although we regard the Crimson Crescent the most likely suspect."
"Bob, have you been in talks with the Pakistani government about this? How is it possible that whoever stole the warhead, managed to get it out of the country right under their noses?" Victoria asked agitatedly.
"I've been in talks with Prime Minister Rahani," the Secretary of State replied. "He insists that the warhead is still on Pakistani soil, as they closed all the ports and border stations as soon as they noticed that the warhead was unaccounted for. This of course after they even admitted that the warhead had gone missing."
"So basically they don't want to admit that they've let the warhead slip through their fingers." The Chief of Staff let out a deep sigh of frustration. "Is there anyone at this table that actually has some idea of that warhead's whereabouts or shall we just wait for the kaboom?"
Max had not partaken the conversation, rather than concentrated on listening and observing the others. She noticed that David Madsen was glancing her furtively. Was he still holding a grudge about last night or was it something else? He couldn't possibly suspect that she wasn't who she claimed to be, could he? Well, technically she was still Max Caulfield, she just wasn't President Max Caulfield. The brunette shook the thought off.
Victoria on the other hand seemed to carry her title as the Wicked Witch of the West Wing with the same pride as she had carried the Queen Bee's title at Blackwell. Max was the only person that she seemed to address formally and politely. With others the Chief of Staff didn't waste energy to professional courtesy. She was efficient at her job and she expected the same from her subordinates and co-workers and was frank in pointing out their shortcomings.
"We pump billions of dollars annually into our intelligence agencies!" Victoria snapped. "How is it possible that we can't locate one goddamn warhead?"
Max began to think about her dream. Was the nuclear blast actually a vision of the future, or possible future?
"What kind of destructive force are we talking about?" the brunette asked, interrupting Victoria's rant about the inefficiency of the intelligence agencies.
"The missing warhead has an estimated yield of 20 kilotons," David Madsen answered. "It could cause significant damage in any major city of the United States."
"Is Crimson Crescent capable of detonating the bomb?"
"We have to assume so," Warren answered in turn.
"Can they get the warhead on the American soil?" Victoria asked from the Director of FBI.
"DHS has all the major ports and border stations under enhanced surveillance," Stacy Kowalski answered.
"But can they get the warhead on the American soil?" Victoria asked again, slightly more peeved.
"I… I don't believe so," Kowalski said a bit more uncertain.
"God damn it!" the blonde huffed angrily. "Can they or can they not?"
Kowalski's face was beginning to turn beet red. Based on what Max had read at breakfast, Stacy Kowalski had risen to her position from the Director of Behavioral Analysis Unit fairly recently, so she was clearly out of her home turf with this.
"Madam President, I assure that the FBI and the DHS will do everything in their power so that the warhead will not enter the American soil," Kowalski finally managed to say.
The meeting went on a while longer. Everyone's top priority was to locate that missing warhead. After Max had given her 'okay' to the orders Victoria had issued to the others, the meeting was adjourned. Max took the chance to change a few words with Warren.
"How are Brooke and the kids?" the brunette asked.
"Brooke, Ma'am?" Warren asked bemusedly. "You mean Brooke Scott? I haven't been in touch with her since we graduated from Blackwell."
"I'm sorry, what was your wife's name again?"
"Kristine, Ma'am."
"Kristine, as in Prescott?" Max asked, not being able to hide her amazement.
"You were at our wedding, don't you remember?"
Boooooommm….
"How are Kristine and the kids?" the brunette asked, trying her best to keep a straight face. Warren married Nathan Prescott's sister? Well she was a bit of a family black sheep at least in my timeline.
"They're fine. Kristine's busy with her charity projects, Shawn has started high school and little Nate is going to middle school.
"Isn't it funny how time flies," the brunette wondered. "You must come over for dinner sometime. It would be fun to m-, see Kristine and the kids again."
"I'll pass the invitation to my wife, Madam President."
"And when you arrive, be sure to leave the 'Madam President' at the porch." Max poked the National Security Advisor's shoulder with her fist, winking her eye.
"I will, Ma-, Maxine," Warren chuckled.
Has Hell frozen over or why the other me has gone back to being 'Maxine' again?
-ooo-
"...we'll be arriving at the Portland Airport at 3 p.m. Pacific Standard Time," Courtney Wagner went through the schedule for the trip to Arcadia Bay on the tenth. "Marine One is waiting for you there to fly you directly to Arcadia Bay Lodge. I've made the usual rooming arrangements."
Max was tempted to ask what the 'usual rooming arrangements' were but let it be.
"The event starts at noon the next day," Courtney continued. "The principal will introduce you. You'll keep the speech after which the ribbon will be cut and you'll be taking a tour in the new dormitory. There's a quick lunch with the Principal and the other dignitaries of the town. After the lunch, Marine One will take you back to the Portland Airport, where Air Force One will be standing by."
"All right," Max commented. "Who is the current Principal by the way?"
Courtney made a few swipes on her iPad. "Micelle Grant."
"Wow! She must be in her seventies by now."
"73 this fall, Ma'am."
"It was nice of them to name the new dormitory after Rachel," the President remarked.
"Is there anything else you need, before I leave, Madam President?" The raven-haired woman stood up and gathered her belongings.
"That'll be all, Courtney. Thanks!"
"Goodbye, then, Ma'am."
"See you in the morning."
Max was now alone in the Oval Office. The day had been quite exhausting altogether but somehow she had managed to make it through without blundering too much. She had not spent a full day in this reality and already she felt like she was a prisoner. The cage may have been gilded but a prisoner nonetheless. Her day was well planned and programmed ahead and the thought that she'd gone out and dropped by a local Starbucks or a Gap on a whim was completely out of the question. Well, I suppose it could be worse, the brunette thought as she went to the bar cabinet and opened it.
The contents of the cabinet weren't quite what she expected. Instead of wines, coolers and tequila, the cabinet was filled with a selection of single malt whiskies and vodka, along with some mixers. Apparently her counterpart in this reality had at some point developed a taste for malt based products.
Well, I could really use a drink right now, so I might as well give this stuff a try, Max thought and picked a bottle of 10-year old Aberlour. She poured some in a glass and was about take some ice, when she stopped. If I remember correctly, Scotch whisky should be drunk neat. She put the ice back into the container and took a sip.
Hmm, this doesn't sting at all like the Bourbon I've tasted. The taste was almost like creamy caramel, before the burning sensation of the alcohol kicked in. The brunette took another sip and walked to the Resolute Desk that stood boldly in front of the window. She rolled back the chair and stared at it as it looked awfully familiar. Where have I seen this chair before?
Max sat down. Wowser! This is cozy! She took another sip of her drink and began to study the desk. I wonder... She pulled the first drawer slightly out, then the second one some more and the third one all the way. The brunette sighed in disappointment when no click could be heard.
"I hate to disappoint you, Madam President but the Resolute Desk doesn't really contain any secret compartments," Victoria Chase said as she walked into the room. "Reagan had it actually x-rayed but nothing was found."
"Oh, bummer," the President said, leaning back on her chair and straightening her legs on the table. "So you probably know that the table was a gift to Rutherford B. Hayes from your namesake, Queen Victoria," she continued, intentionally emphasizing the last two words that they implicated the blonde woman standing in front of her rather than the ancient monarch.
"Oh, I'm quite aware of that, Ma'am," Victoria said, not showing any visible reaction to the pun. She made her way to the bar cabinet and helped herself with a glass of Absolut vodka and some ice.
"Victoria, can I ask you something?"
"Ma'am?"
"How come you didn't run for president? I mean, back in school you loved to be the center of attention and you certainly seem to have what it takes to get the job done."
The blonde smiled shortly and took a sip of her drink. "Being the President would require to be nice to people, at least some of them, and I do have a reputation to maintain." She looked out the window. "Seriously though, after the tornado, I realized I was good at administration. I found that I liked it more than being in the limelight. People that I work with know that I wouldn't demand from them any more than I would from myself. I'm bitchy but fair."
"You certainly appear to be taking your job seriously," Max noted. "Well, I suppose I'm going to head back to the residence," she said, emptying her glass. "Good night, Victoria."
"Good night, Madam President," the White House Chief of Staff wished.
-ooo-
Max closed the door behind her and entered the First Family residence. She couldn't be happier to get out these clothes and into something more comfortable. Her feet were killing her, so she took her court shoes off and rubbed her soles. Authoritative or not, tomorrow I'm wearing flats!
The brunette walked into the master bedroom. Chloe was sitting in a chair. She was still formally dressed but she had removed her prosthesis leg, which was leaning against the chair, next to a graphite cane. The stump of her left leg was peeking just below the hem of her skirt.
"Oh, hi honey," Max greeted, hoping that the pet name was at least remotely valid. She noticed that the bouquet of flowers was lying unopened on the nightstand. The First Lady scowled at her spouse.
"I thought we already agreed that I'll come to Arcadia Bay with you," Chloe said angrily. "What the fuck do you want from me now?"
To be continued...
Welcome to the fourth installment of 'Executive Rewind'! It's been almost a month since my last update. Having multiple stories in progress tends to make the interval between updates a bit long.
Some of you may a nod to 'The American President' in the scene between Kate and Max. Special thanks to fellow and LisFans member Outsyder for suggesting to use the health care as one of the bills. Cheers, mate! I used it mostly to establish the character for the Max or Maxine of this timeline. Our grunge hipster is beginning to find out things about her counterpart that she may not agree with.
I'm also giving some of the limelight to Victoria. I may have said it before but I really like writing about Victoria as she gives so many possibilities. I just hope I managed to fleshen her out a bit so that she doesn't come across as one-dimensional. We also get introduced to Kate here and while she may appear a bit out of character, you have to keep in mind that all our gals are middle-aged women. I also incorporate one of my original Characters, Stacy Kowalski from my earlier stories 'Obscura' and 'Once Upon a Time on Hellaween' here, also older than she was in the aforementioned stories.
Both Chloe's and Courtney's codenames get revealed in this chapter. I considered Riot Girl for Chloe first but ended up using Tank Girl instead. Also I had another codename for Courtney but chose Valkyrie, after her surname, Wagner.
Lyta Halifax: Thank you for the kind words! I couldn't resist putting a bit of a reference to 'Black Swan'. It was also fun to make a 90's version of the Kate's viral video. Hope I managed to nail it.
GrumpyCat42: Thanks! As you probably noticed from the chapter name, the West Wing has a snappy insider name.
Guardian of Azarath: Thank you! I've actually tried to refrain to read 'Grande Dame', although I'm definitely planning to do it. I am aware of GD Chloe's political path, though and having that in mind, I tried to make Max's path a bit different. But unless you're an actor or just filthy rich, there isn't actually that many paths to presidency.
Thank you for all the reviews! Please keep 'em coming! I'm going to publish a one shot next and then I'm going to take a little vacation from writing. I'll be back on August with a next chapter to either 'Executive Rewind' or 'Ships in the Night'.