Song Lyrics: http://home.comcast.net/~mkforever/songs.htm
Chapter 2 – Heaven's Earth by Delerium
"You like Charlie, don't you?" Tori ask, sitting upright on her bed, looking at Zoey, who sat cross-legged on the pull out bed.
"No…" and a smile, "ok, yes."
Tori just laughed, the sounds filling her with a sense of happiness that she hadn't felt ever since her argument with Josh. Tonight was one of those nights no one could ruin. It had been a few hours since Tori and Zoey left the President's chili night. Everyone was bustling, full of energy, it was exhilarating.
"What would your father say?" Tori teased.
"What does he say to any guy that I might want to date? I'm his last little girl, and he doesn't want to see me grow up." Zoey took a sip of her soda, "Ever."
"Well, in three months you're going to be in Georgetown and he really won't be there to stop you from dating." She paused, "or from doing anything else you'd please."
Zoey rolled her eyes. "Right, and then when the press hears about it…" She watched as the grin faded from Tori's face. She smirked.
"You know, I had almost forgotten about that. It's just one of those nights when we can almost pretend we're normal teenagers. Almost."
"Yeah, minus the Secret Service agent in the next room." Zoey lay back against her sleeping bag and pillow.
"I know." Tori sighed, and then began to get up, "Who knows when dad's coming home. We should snabe the TV while we can." Tori stood over Zoey, who just looked at her with inquisitive eyes.
"Do you think Charlie likes me?"
"I think Charlie was scared shitless by meeting the President's daughter for the first time. I mean, I'm not sure there wasn't something behind all of those 'yes ma'am's' but I think it's hard to tell." Tori grinned, and poked Zoey in the stomach. "Come on Z-boe, let's watch a movie and eat ice cream and gain twenty pounds."
"Sounds good."
"Does it freak you out that the President's daughter is sleeping under your roof right now?" Sam asked Josh, standing in his office.
"Well, they probably aren't sleeping…but yes, yes it does."
"'Cause it would freak me out enough to have my boss's daughter sleeping at my house, but I mean when your boss is the President of the United States, whoo-wee, that'd freak me out."
"Well, thank you Sam. I was starting to be OK with it after two years, but I think you just re-ignited the freaking-out-ness." Josh said, now half worried.
"Sorry," Sam said quickly, "Did you just say 'freaking-out-ness'?"
Josh changed the subject abruptly, "Sam, is there something you want?" Sam looked almost startled by the questions,
"No, just coming to chat."
"Go home, Sam. It's 12:00 at night. Why on earth do you want to be hanging around here?"
"I don't know…" Sam looked worried and puzzled over his own answer. "I have no life, right?"
"Go home."
"Okay, I'm going home." Sam started to head out of Josh's office, but turned around almost immediately. "Why are you still here?"
"I'm trying to cram as much work into one night as possible so I can spend my weekend doing absolutely nothing."
"Okay, now I'm really leaving." And he did, heading back to his office to grab his wool coat and bag. Unfortunately, he wasn't thirty seconds out of the door when he heard Toby shout his name, the yell echoing around the empty office and dark rooms. "Okay, I'm not leaving." He entered Toby's office and then left with a stack of papers.
The Communication's Bullpen was quite, void of the normal sounds of activity. Sam mulled over the papers, pen in his mouth, distracted by the pounding silence. There was something unnerving about the quiet, maybe it was because he was so used to working under the intense, bustling circumstances that now working in the dark peace that was invaded the Bullpen was totally abnormal for him. Or maybe it was the voice screaming loneliness inside of him. He looked up; the blinds on his window were closed, for all he knew there could be thousands of people outside his door, making no noise, their feet falling on air instead of the ground. Maybe the whole world was empty of life but for him, alone and isolated in his office. Sam's heart was suddenly heavy with some unreasonable sadness. But reason is not a part of sadness' vocabulary and for all Sam knew, perhaps there was some reason for him to feel filled to the brim with a morose sickness. Damn the silence, he thought. The silence allowed his loneness to jump up on a soapbox and holler at the top of his lungs. The blankness of his mind was allowing loneness to prepare for the writing on the wall.
Sunday came and Tori was spending the morning laying on the couch, watching TV. She was confined today to the apartment, Zoey was gone for the day and the music center where Tori volunteered was closed. Even worse, her car was in the shop leaving Tori stranded to places she could only access by public transit. It was a day that started out with Tori feeling sorry for herself, determining to be resigned to watching TV and general slothing around the apartment.
Josh came into the room, chipper and full of his usual arrogance.
"Move; I want to watch CNN." He said, sitting down as Tori moved her feet. She sighed and got up, tossing him the remote.
"It's probably not any different from when you turned it on 20 minutes ago." She muttered, heading into the kitchen.
"News happens fast." He retorted, changing the station. "Oh man, what is this?" Josh cried, as CNN's People in the News flashed across the screen. Tori came back, a glass of water in her hand.
"See, I told you."
Josh smirked at her. "Why are you in such a sour mood today?"
"I'm bored."
"Well, go write a song or something." Josh kicked his feet up onto the table. Tori rolled her eyes.
"What are you going to do today?"
"Nothing." He answered, a broad smile on his face, the words rolled off his tongue and felt wonderful to say.
"Well, it's good to know that you still have absolutely no time to spend with me."
"Awe, Tori!" He whined as she walked towards her room. But before he could say anything more, the phone rang. "I wish you'd stop guilt tripping me…" he yelled as he answered the phone, "Hello?"
"Hey Josh, it's Sam."
"Hey, what's up?"
"You know the new bill? Gram's going to speak out against it."
"Why? Argh, this is really not as good of a weekend as I expected it was going to be." Josh grumbled to himself for a moment, "I'll talk to him."
"Don't go yet, I'll drop off some of our position papers for you."
"Yeah, ok." But it wasn't fifteen minutes before he had hung up the phone that it rang again, only this time it was Leo.
Tori walked back into the room as Josh was grabbing a jacket.
"Now what?"
"I have to go into work. Um, Sam's going to come by to drop of some papers. Tell him where I've gone but tell him he doesn't need to come in. Just have him leave the papers here." Tori nodded, not saying anything as her sense of abandonment was blocking up her throat. Josh noticed her biting her lip, trying to fight back whatever out burst of injustice was brewing inside of her. "I'm sorry…" He couldn't offer her any promises anymore, they always became empty words he couldn't keep. He just kissed her on the cheek and then left her, leaning against the doorway to the living room staring at the closed door, listening to the sounds of Josh going away for the millionth time.
The vacant apartment was bland and cold. All of the rooms were painted generic beige, with generic couches, a generic table and a generic refrigerator. A few unimpressive pictures were scattered around the clean walls, trying to bring some personality into the lifeless residence. Josh's room was even worse; it lacked anything that could indicate who was sleeping there. The covers were never made, it was like he was waiting from room service to come and fix them for him. The night stand was barren but for a glass of half empty water and a book he would never read. Inside the draw underneath a lot of forgotten possession lay an unopened copy of the Torah.
Tori's room, however, was vibrant and filled with little part of her soul. Haunting Melody was a deep, burgundy red that was the color of her room; it screamed all of the emotion and elation that Tori wanted to feel. Her vanity was antique white, Victorian, with scrolls and vines carved around the mirror and over the draws like something that would be found in the Secret Garden. The white day bed was much the same with thick metal swirls and flowers that was in stark contrast to the plane white book shelves that rounded her room. But of all of the beautiful and eclectic ornaments that covered her room, the most stunning was the masks that hung over any free space on the walls. Empty of eyes, but painted with brilliant colors, decorated with feathers, ribbons and jewels, the masks were all of the faces of Tori she wasn't allowed to show.
Now at a loss of what to do, Tori lay again on the couch, feet curled towards her chest, waiting for Sam to come.
When the doorbell rang, Tori, drawn out of a light sleep, shuffled to the door smoothing down her hair and fixing her clothes.
"Hi Sam, come on in." Tori said opening the door for him. He stepped inside and motioned to some folder in his hand.
"I have some papers for Josh."
"He got called back into work, but he told me to tell you leave to the papers here and that you didn't have to go," Sam dropped the papers on the table, "to work."
"Oh, okay." He looked around the apartment, "So how have you been?"
Tori, sitting on the arm of the couch, said softly "We never talk anymore." Sam, stumbling with his words couldn't even get anything out before Tori started again, "During the campaign you used to come and we'd talk; now we never do that anymore."
Sam stared at her, mind grappling with a decision that would hurt her even more than she was hurting now but would dissipate the trouble that was brewing between them, just said, "I should go."
Tori looked up at him and Sam saw in her eyes the ever expanding loneliness that he saw in his own eyes that morning. She stood up and went to the door and grabbed his coat. Sam silently followed her, but when they both reached for the door knob and their hands meet he felt the wall of his resistance breaking. They just stood in front of the closed door, the only movement Tori's fingers running over Sam's. When she drew her hand up slowly and laid it on the base of his jaw, Sam knew that it was over. All of tamed desires, the caged lust were broken lose as Sam push Tori up against the door and began to violently kiss her.
Tearing off the clothes that barred their bodies from their raw hunger, was like tearing off everything they knew was wrong and right. As each layer fell to the floor, so did each little responsibility, all of the voices in their heads that told them what they were doing was beyond stupid, beyond reason. (Toby's voice in Sam's head was now lost in Tori's cries and moans)
The emptiness within Tori was quickly filling with Sam's tongue, Sam's touch, Sam's essence inside of her. She thought that this kind of satisfaction could only be found here, slammed up against a door with Sam's body pressed against hers. And as the silence of the house was overcome by cries of ecstasy, both aching hearts found solace in each other's pain and suffering while the world outside was silent and cold.
Chapter 2 – Heaven's Earth by Delerium
"You like Charlie, don't you?" Tori ask, sitting upright on her bed, looking at Zoey, who sat cross-legged on the pull out bed.
"No…" and a smile, "ok, yes."
Tori just laughed, the sounds filling her with a sense of happiness that she hadn't felt ever since her argument with Josh. Tonight was one of those nights no one could ruin. It had been a few hours since Tori and Zoey left the President's chili night. Everyone was bustling, full of energy, it was exhilarating.
"What would your father say?" Tori teased.
"What does he say to any guy that I might want to date? I'm his last little girl, and he doesn't want to see me grow up." Zoey took a sip of her soda, "Ever."
"Well, in three months you're going to be in Georgetown and he really won't be there to stop you from dating." She paused, "or from doing anything else you'd please."
Zoey rolled her eyes. "Right, and then when the press hears about it…" She watched as the grin faded from Tori's face. She smirked.
"You know, I had almost forgotten about that. It's just one of those nights when we can almost pretend we're normal teenagers. Almost."
"Yeah, minus the Secret Service agent in the next room." Zoey lay back against her sleeping bag and pillow.
"I know." Tori sighed, and then began to get up, "Who knows when dad's coming home. We should snabe the TV while we can." Tori stood over Zoey, who just looked at her with inquisitive eyes.
"Do you think Charlie likes me?"
"I think Charlie was scared shitless by meeting the President's daughter for the first time. I mean, I'm not sure there wasn't something behind all of those 'yes ma'am's' but I think it's hard to tell." Tori grinned, and poked Zoey in the stomach. "Come on Z-boe, let's watch a movie and eat ice cream and gain twenty pounds."
"Sounds good."
"Does it freak you out that the President's daughter is sleeping under your roof right now?" Sam asked Josh, standing in his office.
"Well, they probably aren't sleeping…but yes, yes it does."
"'Cause it would freak me out enough to have my boss's daughter sleeping at my house, but I mean when your boss is the President of the United States, whoo-wee, that'd freak me out."
"Well, thank you Sam. I was starting to be OK with it after two years, but I think you just re-ignited the freaking-out-ness." Josh said, now half worried.
"Sorry," Sam said quickly, "Did you just say 'freaking-out-ness'?"
Josh changed the subject abruptly, "Sam, is there something you want?" Sam looked almost startled by the questions,
"No, just coming to chat."
"Go home, Sam. It's 12:00 at night. Why on earth do you want to be hanging around here?"
"I don't know…" Sam looked worried and puzzled over his own answer. "I have no life, right?"
"Go home."
"Okay, I'm going home." Sam started to head out of Josh's office, but turned around almost immediately. "Why are you still here?"
"I'm trying to cram as much work into one night as possible so I can spend my weekend doing absolutely nothing."
"Okay, now I'm really leaving." And he did, heading back to his office to grab his wool coat and bag. Unfortunately, he wasn't thirty seconds out of the door when he heard Toby shout his name, the yell echoing around the empty office and dark rooms. "Okay, I'm not leaving." He entered Toby's office and then left with a stack of papers.
The Communication's Bullpen was quite, void of the normal sounds of activity. Sam mulled over the papers, pen in his mouth, distracted by the pounding silence. There was something unnerving about the quiet, maybe it was because he was so used to working under the intense, bustling circumstances that now working in the dark peace that was invaded the Bullpen was totally abnormal for him. Or maybe it was the voice screaming loneliness inside of him. He looked up; the blinds on his window were closed, for all he knew there could be thousands of people outside his door, making no noise, their feet falling on air instead of the ground. Maybe the whole world was empty of life but for him, alone and isolated in his office. Sam's heart was suddenly heavy with some unreasonable sadness. But reason is not a part of sadness' vocabulary and for all Sam knew, perhaps there was some reason for him to feel filled to the brim with a morose sickness. Damn the silence, he thought. The silence allowed his loneness to jump up on a soapbox and holler at the top of his lungs. The blankness of his mind was allowing loneness to prepare for the writing on the wall.
Sunday came and Tori was spending the morning laying on the couch, watching TV. She was confined today to the apartment, Zoey was gone for the day and the music center where Tori volunteered was closed. Even worse, her car was in the shop leaving Tori stranded to places she could only access by public transit. It was a day that started out with Tori feeling sorry for herself, determining to be resigned to watching TV and general slothing around the apartment.
Josh came into the room, chipper and full of his usual arrogance.
"Move; I want to watch CNN." He said, sitting down as Tori moved her feet. She sighed and got up, tossing him the remote.
"It's probably not any different from when you turned it on 20 minutes ago." She muttered, heading into the kitchen.
"News happens fast." He retorted, changing the station. "Oh man, what is this?" Josh cried, as CNN's People in the News flashed across the screen. Tori came back, a glass of water in her hand.
"See, I told you."
Josh smirked at her. "Why are you in such a sour mood today?"
"I'm bored."
"Well, go write a song or something." Josh kicked his feet up onto the table. Tori rolled her eyes.
"What are you going to do today?"
"Nothing." He answered, a broad smile on his face, the words rolled off his tongue and felt wonderful to say.
"Well, it's good to know that you still have absolutely no time to spend with me."
"Awe, Tori!" He whined as she walked towards her room. But before he could say anything more, the phone rang. "I wish you'd stop guilt tripping me…" he yelled as he answered the phone, "Hello?"
"Hey Josh, it's Sam."
"Hey, what's up?"
"You know the new bill? Gram's going to speak out against it."
"Why? Argh, this is really not as good of a weekend as I expected it was going to be." Josh grumbled to himself for a moment, "I'll talk to him."
"Don't go yet, I'll drop off some of our position papers for you."
"Yeah, ok." But it wasn't fifteen minutes before he had hung up the phone that it rang again, only this time it was Leo.
Tori walked back into the room as Josh was grabbing a jacket.
"Now what?"
"I have to go into work. Um, Sam's going to come by to drop of some papers. Tell him where I've gone but tell him he doesn't need to come in. Just have him leave the papers here." Tori nodded, not saying anything as her sense of abandonment was blocking up her throat. Josh noticed her biting her lip, trying to fight back whatever out burst of injustice was brewing inside of her. "I'm sorry…" He couldn't offer her any promises anymore, they always became empty words he couldn't keep. He just kissed her on the cheek and then left her, leaning against the doorway to the living room staring at the closed door, listening to the sounds of Josh going away for the millionth time.
The vacant apartment was bland and cold. All of the rooms were painted generic beige, with generic couches, a generic table and a generic refrigerator. A few unimpressive pictures were scattered around the clean walls, trying to bring some personality into the lifeless residence. Josh's room was even worse; it lacked anything that could indicate who was sleeping there. The covers were never made, it was like he was waiting from room service to come and fix them for him. The night stand was barren but for a glass of half empty water and a book he would never read. Inside the draw underneath a lot of forgotten possession lay an unopened copy of the Torah.
Tori's room, however, was vibrant and filled with little part of her soul. Haunting Melody was a deep, burgundy red that was the color of her room; it screamed all of the emotion and elation that Tori wanted to feel. Her vanity was antique white, Victorian, with scrolls and vines carved around the mirror and over the draws like something that would be found in the Secret Garden. The white day bed was much the same with thick metal swirls and flowers that was in stark contrast to the plane white book shelves that rounded her room. But of all of the beautiful and eclectic ornaments that covered her room, the most stunning was the masks that hung over any free space on the walls. Empty of eyes, but painted with brilliant colors, decorated with feathers, ribbons and jewels, the masks were all of the faces of Tori she wasn't allowed to show.
Now at a loss of what to do, Tori lay again on the couch, feet curled towards her chest, waiting for Sam to come.
When the doorbell rang, Tori, drawn out of a light sleep, shuffled to the door smoothing down her hair and fixing her clothes.
"Hi Sam, come on in." Tori said opening the door for him. He stepped inside and motioned to some folder in his hand.
"I have some papers for Josh."
"He got called back into work, but he told me to tell you leave to the papers here and that you didn't have to go," Sam dropped the papers on the table, "to work."
"Oh, okay." He looked around the apartment, "So how have you been?"
Tori, sitting on the arm of the couch, said softly "We never talk anymore." Sam, stumbling with his words couldn't even get anything out before Tori started again, "During the campaign you used to come and we'd talk; now we never do that anymore."
Sam stared at her, mind grappling with a decision that would hurt her even more than she was hurting now but would dissipate the trouble that was brewing between them, just said, "I should go."
Tori looked up at him and Sam saw in her eyes the ever expanding loneliness that he saw in his own eyes that morning. She stood up and went to the door and grabbed his coat. Sam silently followed her, but when they both reached for the door knob and their hands meet he felt the wall of his resistance breaking. They just stood in front of the closed door, the only movement Tori's fingers running over Sam's. When she drew her hand up slowly and laid it on the base of his jaw, Sam knew that it was over. All of tamed desires, the caged lust were broken lose as Sam push Tori up against the door and began to violently kiss her.
Tearing off the clothes that barred their bodies from their raw hunger, was like tearing off everything they knew was wrong and right. As each layer fell to the floor, so did each little responsibility, all of the voices in their heads that told them what they were doing was beyond stupid, beyond reason. (Toby's voice in Sam's head was now lost in Tori's cries and moans)
The emptiness within Tori was quickly filling with Sam's tongue, Sam's touch, Sam's essence inside of her. She thought that this kind of satisfaction could only be found here, slammed up against a door with Sam's body pressed against hers. And as the silence of the house was overcome by cries of ecstasy, both aching hearts found solace in each other's pain and suffering while the world outside was silent and cold.