CJ stared blankly into the dregs of her coffee as she sat in the booth of the hotel restaurant at 5:30 am. She vaguely considered signalling the waitress to ask for more, but concluded she couldn't be bothered quite yet.
"May I join you?" CJ looked up to find the First Lady standing beside her.
"Of course." She gestured to the seat across from her. The waitress hurried over and they both ordered coffee. CJ tried to come up with a topic of conversation and failed miserably. Her brain just wasn't up to it quite yet. Abbey didn't seem to mind. The silence was amicable.
Their coffee arrived, and Abbey proceeded to dump a container of milk into hers. CJ just started drinking it. Abbey grimaced. "Black?" she asked.
CJ nodded. "I need to wake up." She explained.
"Me too" Abbey smiled, "but black coffee?" she grimaced again.
"I like it this way." CJ took another sip to prove her point. Abbey shook her head.
"Okay…" they lapsed back into silence.
Another cup of coffee later, CJ was much more conversational. "What's on your schedule today?" she asked the First Lady.
Abbey blinked. "Jed's speech at 10, meeting with the governor, meeting with the director of a women's shelter downtown, dinner, and then we fly." She took another sip of coffee. "Yourself?"
CJ sighed. "Senior Staff meeting at 6, press briefings, the President's speech, a meeting with the governor, more press briefings, dinner, and then we fly. Joy."
"You enjoy it." Abbey teased. CJ smiled.
"I know." She looked at her watch "I'd better get to that meeting." She stood up and stretched, surprised at how Abbey looked at her when she did so. "I'll see you at the dinner, if not before."
"Bye Claudia Jean."
CJ was curled in a chair, briefly closing her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose against the headache that was forming. It was midnight, and they had finally taken off only an hour ago. She sighed. At least most members of the press corps were asleep and no emergencies appeared to have developed quite yet. She heard a body drop into the seat beside her.
"Are you okay, Claudia Jean?" Abbey's voice was concerned. CJ opened her eyes to look upside down at the First Lady.
"I have a headache, ma'am."
"Abbey!" Abbey hissed.
"Okay!" CJ held her hands up in defeat, closing her eyes again.
"Why don't you try and get some sleep?" Abbey suggested. "You were up at 5, after all."
CJ smiled. "So were you." Abbey rolled her eyes.
"You're the one with the headache. You're being stubborn."
"Why doesn't the plane carry painkillers?" CJ asked in exasperation. "I'd be fine if I could just find some of those."
"Claudia Jean, as a doctor, I suggest you try and get some sleep. They'll wake you if anything happens." Abbey petted her hair softly.
"Okay." CJ murmured, enjoying the sensation of having her hair stroked. Abbey smiled. She kept stroking until she was sure CJ had fallen asleep, then found a blanket to cover her with and sat back down, opening her book.