Chapter two: The President

The Games could not be held off forever, though they would need a drastic overhaul Julia thought. Julia would not rush to failure though she would have to put it together deliberately and carefully. It would be slow work. No detail would be too small to analyze and then reanalyze. Everything must be perfect. The Games that her grandfather had built had seemed so perfect, how could she make them any better? Julia sighed and saw her breath in the air. Her mind always pulled her back into the Hunger Games even with so much work to be done. She spun around in her chair; the sun was starting to rise and illuminate the cold dark room. She tapped her foot on the red velvet carpet so hard that it was almost more like stomping. She put her hand up to her temple and held it there like she could draw the answers out of her brain with her hand. Why had the Games failed after 73 consecutive Games that went off without a hitch or so much as a whiff of rebellion? She asked herself. Julia got up out of her chair still in the same high heels and soft pink suit. She was about to resume the pacing that she has begun last night but as she got to her feet, she realized just how exhausted she was. She looked at the paperwork on her desk stacked into neat piles. Evidence of all of her hard work from last night. She had settled much of the renewed country's affairs. She had drawn up a proposal for the new tax system, how the country could pay off its debt, a food rationing program for the Capital that would phase out as things become more stable, and then there was the plan for "BANG"!

A loud bang on the door of her office jolted Julia out of a trance, then entered her husband. The President. President Joshua Love. He was much older than her, but he wasn't ugly. He was handsome and refined. Tall at six foot three, with chestnut hair with a red gleam in it that was tousled from sleep. He had a square chin and high cheekbones and freckles that seemed to be lightly dusted across his face and framed his light green eyes. He was still quite handsome for thirty-three. He wore a simple cotton dark gray long-sleeve shirt and black sweatpants

"Wow, still working huh?" Said President Love in a voice that was of a higher pitch than you would expect from such a towering and large man but by no means high pitched. She hated his voice. It was so, naive.

"Just finishing up actually." First Lady Love replied coolly, trying not to sound tired. She brushed her skirt trying to smooth out the thick wool fabric. She could not wait to have silk again. Silk, they said was a waste of labor.

"Will you ever come to bed Julia?" asked Joshua in a voice that almost whined. This man was insufferable Julia thought to herself. With all the work that had to be done all he could think about was sex.

To his credit, he had been faithful to her throughout their seven-month marriage. Though sometimes she wished he would just go sleep with someone else and stop pestering her. He was the President after all he could have anybody he wanted. The highest-ranking person in the land, and nobody would stop him. Why bother with her? Joshua walked toward her and put his large hands around her small face. It took everything in Julia to not push his hands away. She stood there and cast her eyes down to the ground. He bent his knees and tried to look into her eyes.

"Please look at me" he almost whispered. First Lady Love snapped her head up to look at him with her cold blue almost cat-like eyes that were menacing and striking.

"It's not fair," Julia said looking deep into his eyes trying to price his soul. "I should be the President. It's my birthright as the last remaining Snow. The fact that not only did I have to marry you but they also made me take your name, it just….." she trailed off, failing to find the words. "It's not fair" she finished. Her expression began to soften. Sometimes Joshua forgot that his wife was still a teenager. She so rarely lost control of her emotions. Julia was always so cool, calm, and collected. Stoic.

Joshua had never imagined himself being the President of anything much less Panem He still considered himself a simple military man. He had fought and led loyalist troops to take back power from the rebels. Not necessarily because he agreed with the loyalist but because it was his duty. He had taken an oath to protect Panem from all enemies foreign and domestic as a peacekeeper and in his mind that did not stop when the rebels took over. He was a simple soldier who followed orders. Joshua accepting the promotion from a major to the President was him once again following orders and fulfilling his duty. He didn't have much of a head for politics and he was thankful that Julia not only loved it but thrived on it. He could never do all the work that she did. Her softened gaze brought back a memoir.

One night when they were about a month into their marriage, they were eating dinner sitting on opposite ends of a long rectangular table.

"Husband?" Julia said breaking the silence they had grown comfortable in. This surprised Joshua, she had never addressed him as husband or anything affectionate at all.

"Wife" he replied playfully back, and she put down her fork and knife with a clatter, and she looked at him. She really looked at him.

"I want to ask you something."

"Ummmm sure, anything," Joshua retorted back nervously.

"Can I have it?" Julia asked hesitantly. Joshua looked at her with confusion. Have what? He thought to himself. As if Julia could read his mind she said, "the office".

Now, this was all making sense. She was talking about the Presidential office. He turned it over in his mind. He never used the office for work. It had become more of a hangout place for him and his boys. Now that he thought about it, he never felt very comfortable in there. The red velvet carpets were unsettling to him. The old wooden chair was stiff and hard. The memorial to her grandfather that Julia had insisted be put in there was unnerving to him. Creepy. The parlor with its comfortable coaches, soft yellow walls, and bar would be a much better place for him.

"Yes of course" Joshua replied cheerfully. "I'll take that small desk that is in our bedroom that you use and put it in the parlor if that is all right with you?" Julia got up out of her chair and dashed to his end of the table and kneed in front of him. She took his hands into hers.

"Thank you, thank you very much," she said with a happiness that he had never heard or seen on her face before. She looked up and him and stared. Joshua pulled her to her feet, there was no need for her to be on her knees for such a small thing. When she was fully on her feet she kissed him. Not deeply but this was only the second time since their wedding day that they had kissed and the first time she had been happy about it. As she pulled away, she thanked him again and ran off. Probably to clear her desk in their bedroom and move into the office. That night even though Jousha was eating alone he felt happy, connected, and not so alone for the first in this huge palace.

Her face in his hands reminded him of that time. "I know it's not fair but according to the Constitution, you are not old enough to be the President. As soon as you are old enough the presidency will revert back to you. You know this" he gently reminded her. That was the whole reason he had been selected to be her husband was that apparently a very long time ago in the 1700s whoever had come up with the presidency had decided that the person holding the office had to be at least thirty-three. Apparently much had changed in the Constitution but this was one thing that Paneam was not willing to change. Though there was no rule as to how old the first lady had to be. "The name thing who cares about that? It will never change who you are. I think there is still a lot of pain associated with the Snow name. Think of it as a fresh start not only for the country but for you too."

Julia drew in a deep breath. She knew that everything Joshua said was true no matter how annoyed it made her feel. "I know" she admitted, "but it still doesn't seem fair". Julia put her arms around her husband and pressed her body into his. Sometimes she got like this, and she didn't know why. There were times when she just needed somebody to love her. When times like this rolled around, she was unable to control herself. Joshua hugged her back and pressed gently into her. She was so small, so fragile.

"Harder," Julia stated and so Joshua squeezed tighter, and the sun had fully risen. The room was flooded with sunshine. Julia let out a gasp. Joshua immediately loosened his grip. "No," she said. "Don't let go." Joshua in response squeezed her tighter and she let out another gasp. Joshua realized it was a sexual gasp. He loosened his grip on her. Not like this, he thought. He put his hands on her shoulders.

"Go to bed," he said. Julia's cheeks flushed red with embarrassment she had never lost control of herself like this.

"I am rather tired, and I need my rest. Have a good day." Julia said remembering herself, and she went off to bed.