"I really don't know what I'm going to do, Ginge. I've got a black dress, but I don't know if it'll match up to what any of the other women there will be wearing. I just don't want to embarrass Sam," Kate said worriedly as she picked at her sandwich. The two of them met for lunch occasionally and had become close over the 4 months that Kate and Sam had been together. He asked Ginger to take her out one day, and the two of them had been doing it ever since.

"You won't embarrass him. He does enough of a job on that on his own," Ginger replied, laughing. "Besides, he tells everyone about you. Even in the office, I can tell that he's excited about the Dinner, and I know it's because he's bringing you. He didn't act like this at all last year." She could see that she was nervous. This was her first really big "event" since the pictures that were taken of the two of them at the Northwest gate and Ginger knew that she was concerned with making a good impression.

"Listen, does the dress make you look really good?" Ginger asked.

"Yeah, I look really nice in it. It stops at the knee and has two large shoulder straps. It's all in the same fabric, and I've had it altered so that it fits me really well. It's a very plain dress, that's why I'm worried."

"Don't be. I heard Sam saying to Josh one day that he liked it best when you were just in jeans and a plain t-shirt. He said that you're at your most beautiful when you wear something simple. You are so damned lucky. You have any idea how many women in the building would kill to be in your situation?"

"I know that I'm very lucky. I just… I don't know. I don't want anything to go wrong, I guess."

"Don't worry about it. I assume you've already got heels to wear with it?"

"I've got a pair of ½ inch blocked heels. I can't handle regular heels. I walk like a duck in them and can barely stay upright. One of us has to appear like we can keep our balance that night. You really think this'll be OK?"

"I'm sure. Bring your stuff by the office tomorrow night and you can come to my place to get ready."

The two of them finished their lunches & headed back to their respective offices. Kate had wanted to go back with Ginger to surprise Sam, but things were so busy at her office that there was no way that she could afford to that day. She made herself content with the thought that she'd see him tomorrow night.

He saw Ginger return to her desk from lunch and noticed the expression on her face. He knew that she and Kate'd gone to lunch together, and he could only assume from the look on her face that something had happened. He walked out to her desk.

"Hey, Ginger. How was lunch?"

Ginger looked up at him in surprise. Sam rarely asked her about her lunch. He was considerate, but some things he didn't usually ask about, and how her lunch had gone was one of them.

"It was fine, Sam. Kate wanted to come back with me to surprise you, but her office is so busy that she had to go back."

He could tell there was something else going on. He motioned for her to follow him into his office, closing the door once she was inside.

"Ginger, what did you and Kate talk about at lunch?"

"Nothing much, Sam. Typical girl stuff."

He knew she was holding out on him about their conversation.

"Ginger, please tell me. Is there something wrong with Kate that she won't tell me?"

"Sam, you know I don't like being in the middle of this."

"I know, and I'm sorry, but if there's something wrong…."

"Nothing's wrong. She's just…she's scared about tomorrow night. Really scared."

"What do you mean? She's going to look beautiful, no matter what she wears."

"I know that and you know that, but she's terrified that she's going to make you and the President look bad if her dress isn't up to par."

Sam ran his hand through his hair in frustration. He should've known. Her shyness and insecurity had a miserable habit of rearing its head at the worst times. It wasn't her fault that she couldn't control it; hell, she couldn't control the fact that she was shy and insecure. He knew that all he could do was be reassuring and supportive, but there were times when he didn't know how much more he could take.

Sighing, "OK. Thanks, Ginger."

He knew he'd have to work on her that night. She was going to be the most beautiful one in the room, he was sure of it. Now he just had to convince her of this fact. Pushing that thought to the back of his mind, he got back to work revising the speech that Toby'd just given back to him. The President was speaking at the SME conference in Chicago at the end of the next week and this had to be ready.

Sam didn't get back to his place until late that night. He came in as quietly as he could, for fear that he'd wake her. She'd developed a habit of waiting up for him the nights that she got to his townhouse first. Usually, she'd be up when he got home, but there were times when he'd come home to find she'd fallen asleep waiting for him.

He came in to find everything dark. It was then that he realized Kate wasn't there. Normally, she'd leave at least 1 small light on for him, even if she was going to be asleep. Snapping on a light on the end table as he walked through the room towards the answering machine, he noticed a note by the phone. He smiled as he recognized Kate's small script:

My sweetheart,

I couldn't stay. I had to go home and get everything ready for tomorrow. I'm going to Ginger's to get ready for the dinner and she and I will meet you at the Hilton. It's going to be hard to sleep without you tonight. I love you.

-Katie

"If it's going to be so hard for you to sleep without me tonight, then why didn't you stay?" he wondered aloud as he reread the note. He placed it back where he'd found it as he hit the button on the answering machine. He hoped that she'd gotten home all right. He didn't like it when she went home late. Her neighborhood wasn't safe at all. She didn't live that far from Charlie, and from what he'd told him about his neighborhood, he could only assume that Kate's was the same or worse.

"Hi, sweetie. It's just me. I know that you'd worry if I didn't call, so I wanted to tell you I got home OK. I miss you, even though I know I'll see you tomorrow night. Night-night, Sam. I love you."

He smiled wistfully as he listened to her message a second time. She knew him too well. He closed his eyes, and for a moment, he could feel her in his arms. She wasn't the only one who missed someone. He had no idea that her absence would be so palpable. Locking up for the night, he went upstairs to the bedroom to finally get some sleep.

Settling into bed with a sigh, out of instinct he reached over to where Kate would lay. His hand came to rest on a shirt that she'd slept in a few days earlier. Pulling it to him, he could smell something like lemons and powder. It was a soft, sweet scent, "Just like her," he thought. He looked at the picture of the two of them on the nightstand; he was holding her as they leaned against a cherry blossom tree in bloom, both of them looking out towards the Tidal Basin. Smiling at the memory, he said softly, "I miss you, too, Beth. I'll be with you in your dreams." Settling his head on the pillow, shirt still in his hands, he quickly fell asleep.