Chapter 9:
Sometimes big secrets are better left unsaid.
White House. Inside the Oval office. The following morning.
Mackenzie Allen had put on hold her personal problems for a while. She was preparing herself to assist a TV show where she would be interviewed a couple of days after her birthday. She was completely focused on that when Dickie and Kelly entered in the Oval office.
Dickie- Ma'am President… we need to talk to you….
Mac- ok… tell me, what's going on?
They both looked at each other and then Dickie decided to talk first…
Dickie- We have a small problem.
Kelly- It could've been a small problem… now is a medium-sized problem because certain people didn't deal with it on time…
It was obvious that by "certain people" Kelly meant Dickie. He answered Kelly's accusation…Dickie- I don't think the problem is that big…
Kelly- Even when is a small problem; we could have avoided it if we had caught it on time…
Dickie- But we caught it!
Kelly- yes… At 9:45 AM. That is not very good… by that time the news had already gotten all over the country….
Mac got tired that seeing those two arguing instead of explaining what the problem was.
Mac- Guys, do you need me here for this meeting?
Dickie- I'm sorry, Madame. It's about the morning news. The third story on the News this morning is that Rod and Cristina Macalister were at a protest rally where they burned a flag.
Mac was shocked… that couldn't have happened… it was more than weird.
Mac- Today!
Kelly- About 25 years ago… it was a protest against abortion…
Mac sighed… that definitely made more sense. But she was still amazed because the press bothered covering something like that.
Mac- Let me see if I got this: The third story on the morning news is that two people, 25 years ago, when I didn't know them, participated in a demonstration where no laws were broken to protest against something that a lot of people disapprove? Just out of curiosity, what's the fourth story?
Dickie ignored that question and simply said…
Dickie- I think it's important, when we deal with it, that we…
Mac interrupted him talking in a serious tone…
Mac- Don't deal with it.
Dickie- Excuse me?
Mac- They just want me to comment on Rod's relationship with that woman. I wont give him the satisfaction.
Kelly and Dickie looked at each other again really worried because it was time to tell the President the other news.
Kelly- well… "That woman" is here in Washington…
Mac- What! Why!
At that moment Jim Gardner entered in the Oval Office and heard while Kelly explained to Mac…
Kelly- She is hiding from the reporters in the apartment her brother has here…
Jim- he came to hid in Washington! I'm sorry ma'am President… but Is that woman brain damaged or something?
They all gave glares at Jim but they had to admit that he wasn't so wrong… it had been incredibly dump from Cristina to come to Washington. But suddenly Mac had other idea in her mind…
Mac- so… she is in Washington…
Then she stood up, and firmly said…
Mac- I want to see her….
Two hours later….
Vince entered in the Oval Office and announced to the President.
Vince- Ms. Macalister is already here ma'am, she is waiting for you in the Roosevelt Room…Mac stood up, with a mixture of nervousness and excitement.
Mac- ok… thanks Vince…Mac walked out the Oval Office and walked down the hallways until she reached the Roosevelt Room… She was a bit nervous… she hadn't seen Cristina in 20 years and the purpose of the encounter wasn't even clear to Mac herself… She just needed to confront that ghost from the past that now was haunting her marriage. A secret service agent opened the door for Mackenzie and Cristina stood up immediately.
Mac- Cristina Macalister… I haven't see you in a long time…
Cristina was still a very beautiful woman, and Mac hated that.
Cristina- Ma'am President, I'm glad you invited me here… It's a honor, really...Mac noticed that Cristina was really nervous and a bit scared. Obviously, Cristina didn't know what to do with the fact that Mackenzie Allen, her old rival, a woman whose death had wished, was now the President of the United States of America. And Mac loved intimidating Cristina like that.
Mac- Cristina… Do you have any idea why I wanted to see you?
Cristina- not really… is it because you think I'm sleeping with Rod? Because if that's it I can tell you right now that I haven't touched Rod in more than two decades…
Cristina was getting more nervous and Mac was really enjoying that…
Mac- Come on! If I thought that Rod is sleeping with you I would have had the secret service kill both of you by now…
Mac obviously meant it as a joke… however Cristina became more nervous.
Cristina- look… ma'am President…
Mac interrupted her.
Mackenzie- listen to me, this isn't a meeting with the President of the United States… this is just two women reunited after 20 years to talk about the husband of one of them who happened to be engaged with the other… You shouldn't feel threaten because I'm… you know….
Cristina completed the phrase for Mac…
Cristina- The most powerful person in the word?
Mac- yes, Thank you… well… that's just a political distinction that comes with the office. Right now I'm just a woman who wants to ask another woman one simple question…
Cristina- what question would that be?
Now Mac look at Cristina's eyes and asked very seriously.
Mac- is my husband cheating on me?
Cristina- no.
Cristina's had answered automatically. She hadn't hesitated, not even a second. Mac knew she was telling the truth.
Mac- then, what's going on between you and him?
Cristina- I hadn't seen Rod in 20 years… then, one day, four months ago I bumped into him and he found out that I live in New York now… and, since he is kind of living in New York too, we decided to meet some other day to catch up… we met, we talked, we decided to be friends, and that's it…
Mac- that's it?
Cristina- yes… he just needed a friend…
Mac nodded, she could relate to that feeling.
Mac- I see… so nothing happened… but he wanted something to happen. Didn't he? Cristina thought carefully her next words. Cristina- What he wanted was to hurt you. "Mission Accomplished, Rod" thought Mac. Mac- but you turned him down? Cristina sighed. Trying to figure out the right way to explain everything to Mac. Cristina- One night he invited me to dinner in a fancy restaurant and he spend three hours talking about how upset he was with you, how disappointed he felt, how your Presidency made he feel less as a man and how much it hurt him something you did and he couldn't tell me what it was. He talked about how much he had wanted to be there for you but you wouldn't let him be there in the way he wanted. And he talked about how much he wanted to get back at you for all that. But then, at the fourth hour, we realized that he had spent the last three hours talking of nothing but you. He loves you very much, Mac. He really loves you. Mac was now very moved… Mac- and you don't have feelings for Rod anymore? Cristina- no, I got over him… I married somebody else and I was really happy until my husband passed away last year… I didn't even think about Rod again until I ran into him four months ago. Mac- and in that moment, when you saw him again after 20 years, didn't your old feeling for him come back to you? Cristina shook her head. Cristina- getting over Rod was the hardest thing I ever had to do… but I did it. I'm not willing to go through all that again. Mac nodded, she could totally relate to what Cristina was saying. Mac- I see… Cristina- look, ma'am President, I only came here today because I wanted to fix this misunderstanding… all my life is in the press now, I want it to stop… and is insulting that everybody thinks I'm trying to steal a married man…. Can you make the press to stop writing about me? Mac laughed at that… Mac- if only I had that power! Look, Cristina, it will be over as soon as the press finds a more interesting story to cover…. Your 15 minutes will be up soon… Cristina suddenly looked at Mac and a realization hit her… Cristina- wow… I just realized that… this might be my 15 minutes of fame, but you have to live with this everyday… you have to cope with people judging your personal life everyday… Mac nodded… then she laughed remembering something really stupid she read… Mac- the other day there was a poll in a magazine that said: "Who do you think is the right woman for Rod Calloway? A- President Mackenzie Allen. B- his old love, Cristina Macalister. C- Neither. He should change them both for Kelly Ludlow, the young and hot press secretary." Both women laughed. Cristina- And who won? Mac- Kelly… and I came up third… Cristina- oh, I'm sorry… Mac- I'll get over it… Cristina smiled, feeling good for finally being able to talk to Mac. Then Mac got serious again. Mac- look… there is something else… Cristina, I found the letter…. Cristina's heart stopped for a few seconds.Cristina- Listen, I'm sorry about that… it was a mistake. I know that Rod and I were never meant to be together…and I was really heartbroken for a while but my life turned out all right. I realized a long time ago that what happened was our true destiny… He ended up where he belongs… and so did I.
That explanation was all what Mac needed. Somehow, she felt a lot better.
White house. Residential part. Following day, very early in the morning. (The day before Mac's birthday)
It 4:30 am and The President is still asleep. She is alone in her bed but then the phone woke her up… she picked it up, and half sleep said…
Mac- ok...put her through. (Long pause) Kelly, it is 4:30 a.m. If this isn't an emergency you will spend the rest of your career cleaning my toilet…. (She listened while Kelly said something and then became fully awake) You must be joking! (Listened to Kelly again) Yeah... all right.
Horace's room…Horace woke up and then looked around and saw Tim trying to quietly dress himself and gather up his things.
Horace- Tim? What are you doing? Oh God! We feel sleep! Crap!
Tim turned around and smiled at him…
Tim- don't worry… Nobody will see me. I'll leave the building before the press corps gets here.
Horace- funny… That's what I try to do every day of my life….
Suddenly Mac busted in the room feeling very angry…
Mac- what the hell were you two thinking? I support you but I never said Tim could spend the night in the White House… are you two insane?
Both boys felt completely embarrassed; they knew they had done something stupid.
Tim- I'm so sorry ma'am President… It was an accident, we feel sleep…
Horace- by the way… How are you even awake at 4:30?
Mac- Kelly called me… she is in on her way up…
Horace- Why!
Mac couldn't answer because at that moment there' was a knock on the door.
Mac- Come on in, Kelly….
Kelly came in and Mac took a deep breath.
Mac- so… how bad is the situation?
Kelly- They're camped out at every exit.
Tim and Horace looked at both women very confused…
Horace- Who? Who's camped out?
Mac- The press.
Kelly- Tim, you really should have taken a taxi to came here! They saw your car parking outside all night and recognized it…
Tim couldn't believe that the press even knew his car. Then Dickie entered in the room.
Dickie- Good morning, everybody. I came over as soon as Kelly called me.
Horace- Thank God!
They ignored the sarcasm, and Dickie continued talking.
Dickie- I think the important thing is not to make it look like we're panicking.
Mac- and I think the important thing is actually not to be panicking.
Dickie- the big dilemma is how do we exit Tim from the building and how do we explain all this?
Kelly- we just need a diversion.
Tim looked at everybody very concerned.
Tim- a diversion!
Horace- Don't worry… by diversion they are not suggesting we set the White House on fire.
Tim- good
Mac- No, please, let's do that.
Mac was clearly kidding but Dickie was everything too seriously.
Dickie- I can't be part of anything illegal…
Kelly- Good for you, Dickie! We need more honest citizens like you…
Dickie- Tease me all you want, but it's always the guy in my job that ends up doing eighteen months in Danbury Minimum Security Prison.
Mac rolled her eyes.
Mac- Relax Dickie. We're not creating any illegal diversion… not even a legal one.
Dickie- we are not creating any diversion? What are we going to do?
Mac- well, Tim's car must be surrounded by reporters so we will have somebody take him home.
Kelly- And what about the press statement?
This time Mac spoke to the young boys.
Mac- Look, you guys, from now on you're gonna be asked questions about your relationship every day. If you want to answer them, that's entirely up to you. But the White House's official position is to say "no comment".
Tim and Horace nodded understanding everything, but Dickie looked disappointed…
Dickie- No comment?
Mac- exactly… The White House will not comment on the First Son's personal life.
Dickie- We can't just leave it like that, Ma'am.
Mac- you know what, Dickie? We just did!
Dickie- But, Ma'am President...
Mac gave Dickie a very angry look and he and Kelly understood that the meeting was over and left the bedroom… Mac talked to the boys…
Mac- well Tim… the Secret Service will take you home…. And Horace, for God's sake… go call your father… we don't want him to hear about this on the news…
To be continued…HOPE YOU LIKED THIS CHAPTER!
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