The morning after the night before

It was still dark when CJ was woken the next morning by the sensation of a hand gently caressing her back as she lay sprawled across the bed, her head buried in the pillow. She opened her eyes, slowly, not entirely sure what she'd see, not entirely unconvinced that the whole of the night before hadn't been some kind of dream.

She soon realised however, that it hadn't been. The combination of having woken in the President's bedroom and having Abbey perched on the edge of the bed beside her told her that.

She struggled to sit up, pulling the sheets up and around her, to cover her nakedness, feeling at a slight disadvantage since Abbey was already dressed in a smart red suit, her hair swept into an elegant chignon, "Hey," she murmured, running her fingers through her hair, trying to neaten it, like that would make a difference, "What time is it?"

"A little after 4." Abbey replied, looking apologetic, "Sorry, but I'm getting the red-eye up to New York and I didn't want to leave without saying goodbye."

CJ laughed, regretting it as she did so, wincing as an alcohol induced headache stabbed away in her brain, "Abbey, only you would refer to Air Force Two as 'the red-eye'. You're spoilt."

Abbey smiled, moving her hand from CJ's back to her neck, caressing it gently, "I am after last night. That was quite something."

There was no need to question what she was talking about; alcohol induced or not, CJ remembered the night before all too well, and it had been quite something. That said, she wasn't really sure how to respond. She'd enjoyed the experience herself, but whether because she was hungover or still half drunk, or simply because it was just too huge to comprehend, she didn't have the first idea how she felt about it.

"I liked it too." She said, opting for honesty and then instantly kicking herself at how wishy washy her response sounded. She tried to think of a way to make it better, and failing decided it would be better to change the subject altogether, "You said New York. You're giving a speech, that's right isn't it?" It felt good going for 'business as usual', it came more naturally to her, "Zoe's going with you. Its just for the day."

Abbey nodded, "Yes, that's right. I'll be back this evening. Jed too."

There was an awkward silence, as they realised in the same instant that it might have been better for both of them if the President had never been mentioned, but knowing it was too late to take the words back.

For CJ though, it was also helpful. She saw it as a clear message. Jed will be back. In other words, you'll be surplus to requirements. If it stung in any way the alcohol took the pain away and the truth was, she'd expected it. She smiled genially, "Have a good trip."

"We could talk tomorrow." Abbey blurted out, but CJ shook her head. She didn't need letting down gently. She was a big girl; she'd known from the start that a one night stand with the First Lady wasn't going to lead to a marriage proposal. It wasn't like she wanted one. The whole thing was no huge deal, it was just a thing. A thing that would be forgotten.

How could it possibly be anything else?

X X X

"This is all very interesting," Jed said, leaning against the wall of the cloakroom, as CJ remained huddled on the floor, "but I'm not so sure I need the history lesson. I remember the day in question well enough. My wife jumped my old and aching bones the minute I walked in through the front door. I thought it was because I was hot." he continued, looking more than a little put out, "I realise now she was probably just reaffirming her heterosexuality or whatever you lesbians call it."

"Sir," CJ said hesitantly, concerned by how outwardly calm he seemed and aware the situation could change at any moment, "I don't think that's what she was doing."

"Do I care what you think?" He responded curtly, "Although, actually if you're offering up opinions, do you think they changed the sheets in between? I mean this is The White House, they'd have changed the sheets right?"

There was a long awkward silence as CJ wondered how much she should share, how much her boss would be able to take. Eventually she realised that since he'd made it this far, she didn't see how much more damage she could do.

"I changed the sheets. After Abbey left."

He snorted, "Are you expecting me to thank you?"

She said nothing, just shaking her head on the off chance that it wasn't a rhetorical question and he expected an answer.

"Right," he said, once she'd nodded, ploughing on once more, "I have absolutely no interest at all in the awkward silences between you and she. I'm liking the idea of awkward silences more and more to be honest, but awkward silences didn't result in," he nodded in the direction of 'the' photo, the major hot potato between them that sat discarded in her lap, "that, did they CJ?"

X X X

4 Weeks Earlier

It was one of 'those' days. The Press Corp. were being badly behaved to the point of being riotous, Zoe and Charlie had been caught making out by the JFK memorial at Arlington (CJ was choosing not to ask why), there was a Welsh Male Voice Choir in the lobby and the President had a photo opportunity with a Galapagos Island tortoise at 14.45.

And then when in a five minute break, she thought she might just be able to sneak away the briefest of moments of peace and tranquillity in her office, what should she discover there but the First Lady. Feeding Gail.

"Hey."

"Don't hey me," Abbey glared at her fiercely, putting the fear of god in her as she found herself wondering what she'd done. As far as she was concerned she'd been the paragon of virtue since their little liaison; changing the bed linen, keeping her distance, not to mention the tiny little matter of keeping it all to herself. As far as she was concerned she hadn't put a foot wrong.

And as it happened, Abbey agreed, "Don't hey me," she repeated, "when you've left this poor defenceless creature to starve." She smiled, indicating Gail who was happily munching her way through the half pot of fish food she'd dumped in the bowl.

CJ rolled her eyes, "Gail would eat your finger if I stuck it in with her. She's a gannet. She'd eat anything."

Abbey's smile widened into a grin, "I could say the same about you."

The innuendo was hard to miss, and CJ found herself blushing a particularly vivid shade of puce as the memories of their night together came flooding back. She looked at Abbey curiously, "Are we talking about this?"

Abbey shrugged, "I 'wanted' to talk about it two weeks ago. Now I 'need' to talk about this. Is that OK with you?"

CJ nodded, somewhat lost for words. She'd thought a lot over the last couple of weeks about what had happened, and chalked it down to experience, one hell of an experience, but experience all the same. She'd never in a million years thought that she'd find herself having this particular conversation, especially not considering the way things had been left. Which, as she thought about it, made her question Abbey's words;

"You wanted to talk about it."

"I said I did." Abbey moved over and shut the door, turning the lock, obviously determined there would be no interruptions, "You were the one who said no."

"With respect," CJ sat down at her desk, feeling dizzy at the turn the conversation was taking, "you were the one who had just brought your husband into the equation. You said,"

"Jed was coming home." Abbey lowered herself into the seat opposite as she finished CJ's sentence, "You thought that was a sign? It was fact Claud. He was coming home. He got back to the residence 5 minutes after I did. I was telling you I wanted to talk then but I couldn't."

Gail was still eating, swimming around, munching away, and CJ envied her. Oh, to have a life that simple. Not to be totally scared of saying the wrong thing. She looked up at Abbey, completely po-faced, "What makes you think you can call me Claud?"

Abbey's turn to blush. To stare shyly into Gail's bowl.

"Because no one else does."

She wasn't about to admit it, but CJ liked the answer. She also liked how girlish and coy Abbey was acting. It brought back a lot of memories. Good memories.

"And what do I get to call you?"

Abbey looked up, smiled, "You can call me Abs."

Again it was cute, but CJ was nobodys fool. She looked at Abbey skeptically, "Does your husband call you Abs?"

She shook her head.

"Good." CJ took a deep breath, and braced herself. This was the big one, the life changing bit, "So, what would you have said, if I'd agreed to talk?"

There was a very pregnant pause, then Abbey reached across the table and grabbed her hand, squeezing it like she'd never let go.

"I'd have told you that one night would never be enough."

X X X