On Monday, Jed was finishing last minute details for his South American trip, which started tonight.
The itinerary was packed for a five-day trip. Air Force One was leaving Washington at 9:00 pm and flying to Rio to meet with the President of Brazil. After spending all day Tuesday in meetings, Jed would then fly to Buenos Aires where he would spend the night, and on Wednesday, have a day's worth of meetings with the President of Argentina. After a State Dinner, Air Force One would leave Thursday morning and fly to Lima, Peru for a one-day Organization of American States meeting where all the leaders of the Americas would gather to discuss common issues of concern. Late Friday, he would fly into Mexico City for a State Visit Saturday with the President of Mexico. Then, early Sunday morning, Air Force One would return to Washington.
Because most of the trip was going to be spent in meetings or in the air, Abbey had decided not to go, but instead had accepted an invitation to go to Los Angeles and address the International Cancer Congress on Thursday. She would then fly into Mexico City Friday afternoon for the State Visit on Saturday, and return to Washington on Sunday with the President.
Accompanying the President would be his Chief of Staff, the Communications Director, the Press Secretary, his personal aide, the Secretary of State, and various assistants, aides and translators. As usual, the Head of Presidential Security and a number of Secret Service personnel would accompany the Presidential Party.
Of course, the normal press contingent was accompanying the President. Representatives from the major networks, newspapers and digital outlets were, as usual, included. But because the trip was headed to South America, Toby had made sure to give credentials to representatives of Univision, Telemundo, and the new network, Unimás. He also credentialed La Opinón, El Diario La Prensa and El Nuevo Herald, some of the biggest Spanish newspapers in the country.
The President would give two toasts at the State Dinners and one lengthy speech at the OAS conference. Sam and Toby had written all three and the President had finally signed off on them. He had read briefing books for the last month and felt prepared for the many topics that would be discussed. Even Leo was satisfied at the President's preparation for this trip. And it was hard to have Leo satisfied.
Jed sat back at his desk and pulled his glasses off. His eyes were bothering him because of all the last-minute reading he had been doing. He just needed to rest them before attempting to do anymore.
"Mr. President, are you okay?"
Jed opened his eyes to see Leo's worried face.
"Yes, Leo. My eyes are just strained from all of the reading I've been doing."
"Sir, it's 4:30. Why not go back to the Residence and have some dinner and rest before we leave at 8:00 for Andrews? I think you've done all the reading you need to do right now. I'll take care of any last-minute details. You know you won't sleep on the plane, so take the time now."
He sighed. "You know, Leo, that sounds like a great idea. Why don't you have some dinner as well? Want to come up and have some with me and Abbey?"
"No, thank you, Sir. I have some more things to catch up on before we leave. I'll get something from the Mess. You go on and enjoy dinner with Abbey. You won't see her again until Friday night."
Jed stood and checked his briefcase. "Okay. But I'm sure you'll miss some great vegetables, Leo," he replied sarcastically. "Charlie!"
"Yes, Sir?"
"I'm going to leave my briefcase here and go to the Residence. Please make sure it gets in the limo. I'll meet you there at 8:00."
"Yes, Sir."
"Last chance, Leo."
"No, thanks, Mr. President."
Jed laughed and went out the opened Portico door. Leo also laughed and made his way back to his office.
"Margaret!"
She came through her door." Yes, Leo?"
"How about ordering me a pastrami sandwich from my favorite deli down the street? And make sure they give me the freshest pickles they have."
"Sure will, Leo."
As she disappeared, Leo smiled even deeper. "Might as well treat myself to some comfort food before I leave and have to eat crap food for a week. This will make that food at least tolerable."
Jed made it upstairs and opened the door to the bedroom.
Abbey was sitting on the sofa, reading a book, and sipping a glass of wine. She looked up in surprise. "Hey. I didn't think you would be back up."
"Yeah, me neither. But I'm tired and hungry. Leo urged me to come up and eat and rest before I leave here at 8:00. Have you eaten yet?"
"No. What would you like? I'll order it." She stood up and gave him a kiss.
"I don't care. Maybe a hamburger. I'm going to be eating all sorts of fancy food for the next week. Something plain sounds great."
"Okay. Fix yourself a drink and I'll get dinner for both of us." She picked up the phone and ordered two cheeseburgers with chips and small salads. While Jed was fixing himself a drink, she took the opportunity to glance over at her husband. The dark circles under his eyes showed that he hadn't been getting enough sleep and his slowed motions also indicated his lack of energy.
Jed caught her looking at him. "Okay, Dr. Bartlet, what's your diagnosis?"
"Jed, really."
"No, I saw the way you were looking at me." He sat down in one of the high back chairs. "Yes, doctor, I'm tired, but I'm been preparing all week for this trip. You've seen my schedule and it's packed with meetings in several, very diverse places filled with critical issues. I had to really study so I could get to the heart of the issues that had to be discussed."
She also sat down so she could look directly at him. "Jed, give me a break. I know all that. But I still worry about you. I know you don't sleep on plane trips and this one has you flying from place to place several nights. You don't really stay in hotels that much."
"I know that. It's all for convenience."
"Can I still worry?"
"Yeah. I'll let you. But I'll be fine."
"I hope so. Between you and Leo, a woman worries."
"I know what you mean. I'm really concerned about Leo too. He wouldn't tell me anything about his visit last week with his doctor. I think he's hiding something."
Abbey smiled. "Yeah, like most men do. If I wasn't a doctor, I would think you would try and hide things from me."
Before Jed could protest, he was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Come in."
The door opened and the steward rolled in the food cart. Abbey got up and took it from him. "Thank you."
"I hope that's dinner."
"Of course it is. Come and get it."
As they ate, they chatted about the latest information from Liz about the grandchildren and about Zoey's schoolwork at Georgetown. Neither one of them had heard from Ellie, so Jed made Abbey promise to call her this week while he was out of town.
After finishing their meal, Jed took a quick shower, put on fresh clothes, and made sure his travel bag was ready. His two suitcases was already abroad Air Force One.
A knock on the door and the agent's voice signified it was time to leave.
"Gotta go, Abbey. Have a great week. See you Friday night in Mexico City."
She walked over to him. "Try and get some sleep. Will you? Don't stay up to all hours and give me a call when you can. You won't be changing too many time zones so it should be easy to reach me."
"I promise. Give a great speech in LA. I love you." He leaned in and gave her a deep kiss.
She returned it until the agent repeated his request. "Mr. President, we need to leave."
"Yeah, I'm ready."
He walked out and closed the door. Abbey stared at the closed door for a few seconds and then turned away. She knew she would see him again in a few nights, but she would still miss him. She always did.
