Chap 10
She was apprehensive, to say the least. She knew this was what is best for her family, but in the back of her mind she couldn't help but question this undoable decision. The seriousness of her situation weighed down on her shoulders, causing her tense muscles to ache. Her steps were heavy, as she approached the door. She stopped with a sigh, and turned to the young assistant. "Is he free?" She muttered. The previously preoccupied young woman abruptly stood from her desk, realizing who was present. "Yes, Madam Secretary." She answered, formally. Lizzie nodded her head, turning towards the door. This was it. She could still change her mind, but she stepped forward instead.
He looked up at the door, hearing the click of the doorknob. "Elizabeth." He greeted her, a bit surprised to see his Secretary of State. "Mr. President." She said, slowly approaching him. She came to stand directly in front of his desk, patiently waiting for him to finish up whatever he was working on. Lizzie had her head down, and her hands behind her back. After Conrad set his pen down, and looked up from the document on his desk, he asked, "What can I do for you, Bess?"
Elizabeth connected eyes with her friend's, and swallowed. She brought her hands out from behind her, and handed him the piece of paper. He accepted it willingly, not knowing the meaning. "My resignation, sir." Lizzie said, lowly. The President's head snapped up to meet her gaze. "I can't accept this." He fought, shoving the file back at her, but she didn't reach out to accept the paper. "Yes you can." She said sadly, but sternly. "I won't." He clarified, shaking his head in disbelief. "Sir." She protested. "Don't make this any harder." Elizabeth added. "This is a rash decision." He said quickly. "I've thought about it, a lot." She argued, crossing her arms over her chest. "Well think about it some more." POTUS proposed. "It's what's best for you and your administration, and for my family." She noted, trying to give reason for her choice. "Bess…" He began in disagreement. "Conrad, this scandal is tearing me apart… it will rip your reelection to pieces." Lizzie told him. The President was silent, staring straight ahead until suddenly he thrusted the sheet of paper back across his desk, towards her. "Take some time, and think this through. Bring this back if you really believe it's best." He explained.
Elizabeth slowly made her way through the halls of the West Wing to the empty bowels of The White House. She walked down the dark and dingy hallway until she stopped in front of the familiar door, and entered the room. "You really think that's the best option?" Russel sounded unconvinced. "If we want to get this done, and fast than yes, I do." Mike answered. Lizzie stood frozen in the doorway, lost in her own thoughts. Her fingers were fiddling with the piece of paper that POTUS refused to take. "What's that?" Mike asked. The Secretary looked up to see two curious faces. "What's what?" She replied, unsure if the previous question was directed towards her. Mike nodded to the file she was holding. "It's my resignation." Elizabeth disclosed.
Mike's eyebrows shot up towards his hairline. "Woah woah, why didn't I know about this?" Mike protested. Lizzie took the few steps to the table, and sat down in her normal seat. "This doesn't concern you, Mike." She declared. He held up his hands for an explanation. "I'm your lawyer. I'm the one who's supposed to talk you out of these kinds of things, especially when you're not in the right state of mind to make such critical choices." The feisty man fought. She looked over her glasses at him, staring him down. "Now, before you make any stupid decisions that you can't take back I have a plan B." Mike announced. Bess opened her mouth to reply, but the shrilling of her cell phone interrupted her. She answered with a 'hey babe.' Russel assumed or rather hoped she was speaking to her husband. He watched as her features turned to shock, and then quickly to anger. "He what?" She rose her voice. "I'm on my way home." She said as she nearly jumped out of the chair.
Henry was waiting for her by the door when she arrived home. She sighed when she saw him. Henry instantly wrapped his arms around her, sensing she needed some kind of physical contact. "Where is he?" She whispered. "In the kitchen." He answered. She looked up into his eyes. "He's really suspended?" She asked in disbelief. Henry nodded. "And Preston's nose, it… it's really broken?" Bess questioned. "Apparently, Jason has a pretty good right jab." Henry tried to joke. "I can't believe we're talking about our kid." She told her husband. "You're the one that wanted to go for three." Henry replied. She cracked a smile at his remark. "God, I'm so used to him getting in trouble for saying the wrong thing." She muttered. "I guess he figured out that actions speak louder." Henry responded.
"You got suspended!" Elizabeth said loudly, upon her and Henry's entry into the kitchen. Their son glanced up from his notebook, but didn't say anything to his mother. "Jace, what happened?" Lizzie questioned, before sitting down at the breakfast table. Jason shrugged. "Preston was saying some things about you." The boy admitted. "I understand that it can be frustrating, but Jason you cannot hit anybody." She told her son. He nodded, showing he understood. "We have a meeting with Dean Ward, and Preston and his parents later today." Henry spoke up. Jason huffed. "Quaker rules. And you have to make this right, bud. The Dean expects a formal apology." Henry said to his son.
Craig followed The President's chief of staff through his office door. Russel went straight to his desk while Sterling stood in the middle of the room, appearing out of place. "Have a seat. Coffee?" Russel offered. Craig accepted. "You've been having a rough time in the Situation Room, haven't you?" Russel opened up the conversation, before pouring two cups of coffee, and taking a seat in the chair next to Sterling. "You could say that." He replied vaguely. Russel stayed quiet, giving him the chance to elaborate. "I've been having some issues getting my opinion heard ever since McCord ran that risky op getting our operatives back." He admitted. "Well what can I say, it's your word against The President's star pupil from CIA. I don't like your odds there." Russel justified. Sterling simply eyed the chief of staff. "Look I know you're not a fan of hers, and right now she thinks I'm working against you. But if we play our cards right, we can turn the tables. Box her out for good."
"Which you want because?" Craig asked. Russel took a sip from his mug. "She's reckless. That op she ran is one of the latest examples. She's running around like she still works for The Company. Not to mention this whole scandal thing is going to negatively affect The President's reelection prospects. She's a liability, and I just don't like her." He proclaimed. "We need to ice her out; keep her away from POTUS, and steer Dalton to you. He still values your counsel." Russel went on. Craig nodded. "You want her to crash and burn." Sterling clarified. "She's already on the edge, with everything with her husband." The chief of staff made known. "Her husband?" The man questioned, not knowing anything about the topic. "Oh yeah, they're on the brink of divorce. There's been talk of him stepping out on her but…" He trailed off, shrugging his shoulders. "Everything with her past in the CIA stirs them up. I mean come on, he's a religious professor. We all knew he was going to have some major problems with the ethics and morals of a torturer." Russel snickered.
"Jason." Elizabeth began. "Hmhm." He mumbled. "Look at me." She demanded. Jason turned his head, and looked at his mother from across the car. "You're going to apologize." She commanded. "But I'm not sorry." Jason defended. "You're not sorry about breaking another kid's nose?" Lizzie mused. "No, no… Okay I am sorry I hurt him that bad." The teenager divulged. "Good you should be. You lost control. And no amount of self-righteous anger can justify that." Henry said. "Okay. I'll apologize." Jason responded. "But only for punching him. Not for defending mom." He added. "I can live with that." Bess replied. "Professor?" She asked, wondering her husband's opinion. "Yeah. That works for me." He agreed. "All right, great. How much longer, Matt?" She asked her DS agent. "Five minutes until we reach the school, Madam Secretary."
"Jason, in the spirit of Westmore's founders, and in accordance with the honor code, are you willing to shake hands and apologize?" Dean Ward asked. Jason stared across the table at Preston. There was a moment of silence. Lizzie swallowed, waiting to hear her son's reply. But Jace simply nodded his head. Both the boys stood, and Preston extended his hand, while Jason shoved his in his pockets. "I'm sorry about your nose, Preston. But I'm not sorry I stood up to you." The McCord boy stated firmly.
"Jason, you owe Preston an unreserved apology." The Dean announced. "He said awful things about my mom. And not to mention the pictures he put up." Jason argued. Bess's eyebrows knitted in confusion. "This is your last chance." Dean Ward warned. "Woah, pictures?" Elizabeth butted in. "That has already been dealt with." The Dean explained. "Excuse me, but we weren't informed about this." She spoke up, glancing at Henry. Jason looked over his shoulder at his parents, and swallowed. "They were inappropriate." Jason said. "Inappropriate, but they're all over the news for anyone to see." Preston's dad chimed in. Lizzie looked at the man, and then at Henry. Her mouth hung open, showing how she was feeling. "This is your final warning, Jason." The Dean reminded. "Well, Dean Ward, if I may…" Bess began. "You may not." The woman cut her off. "Jason did just apologize." Elizabeth went on anyways, ignoring her. "Your son is expelled." She stated. "Seriously?" She asked in disbelief, standing up as she did. "What?" henry asked at the same time.
"Did you not hear him apologize?" Henry fought, standing next to his wife. "He didn't mean it." The Dean argued. "Really? So you read his mind?" Lizzie criticized. The older woman rose from her chair in opposition. "Madam Secretary…" She began, but was interrupted by Bess saying, "Because if you can do that, I am sure the CIA would be thrilled to learn your technique." Preston's father scoffed at her words. "I'm sure that would make you happy. You wouldn't need to torture innocent people to get your answers." The man justified. "You're out of line!" henry yelled while Lizzie muttered a simple, "Excuse me. You don't know what you're talking about."
"This is a Quaker school. Nonviolence is one of our core values." The Dean said, keeping the families on topic with the matter of discussion. "So is integrity. Our son is following his conscience. And you behaving like a tyrant is in direct contradiction to the basic precepts of the Quaker faith." Henry countered. Elizabeth pointed to her husband, and said, "World renowned religious scholar. Nailed it."
"I think it's time for you to leave." Dean Ward announced. "Really? That…" Henry started, but Bess turned to him and said, "Okay, wait a minute." She turned back to the Dean. "Let's just be reasonable. You're not expelling Jason." She remarked. "Madam Secretary, I'm sure you're used to getting your way at The State Department, but I'm in charge here." The older woman affirmed. Lizzie nodded her head, and chuckled slightly. "That's cute, but if I ran The State Department the way you run this school, the world would be a smoldering ember." She fumed.
Henry stepped in seeing as this was beginning to get out of hand. "Uh, babe, that's enough." He mumbled. "Okay. Get out, or I'm calling security." Dean ward demanded. Elizabeth laughed again. "Oh really? Are you sure you want to do that? Because I don't like their odds against my detail. I mean given the whole, you know, nonviolent thing." She said as she moved towards the door.
They both stood back, watching on as Jason cleared out his locker. "So you got everything?" Henry asked after their son closed his locker door. "Yeah." He muttered. "I'm sorry buddy." Henry apologized. "I should be the one apologizing. This wasn't your fault. My whole mess caused all this." She admitted. Jason shook his head. "I'm the one who punched him mom, and I'd do it again for you." Lizzie gave a slight smile, and patted Jason on his shoulder.
The man answered with a hoarse 'hello.' Craig paced his dimly lit living room, holding the phone up to his ear. "Keep an eye on Mr. and Mrs. It seems their marriage is circling the drain. Get back to me soon." Sterling commanded.
AN: Well here's the next update. Thanks for everyone who has been leaving reviews! I love reading what you have to say. So only a few more chapters left of this story :( I'm sad, but if you have any prompt ideas, send them my way. And someone asked where I decided on college. I chose the University of Cincinnati! They have the 2nd best program in the country for what I want to do, so I'm excited.