The next morning was probably one of the best in Emily's entire life. Waking up with Aaron was something she could do all the time. She turned around carefully in his arms, trying not to wake him. Emily studied his face under her exploring fingers and realized how different he looked in his sleep. His face didn't show the stress lines of work that it usually did.
"Ye gods, what are my feelings?" she sighed with a smile, quoting the ancient love story of Daphnis and Chloe. Emily reached up and ran her fingers through his curls. Her touch must have woken him up because he began to stir.
"Morning," he muttered, opening his eyes.
"Morning," Emily replied, sounding much more awake.
"What time is it?" Aaron yawned.
She sat up a little to look at the clock on the bedside table behind him.
"7:30," she said.
They were typically expected at work by 6, but Kirkman had planned ahead, knowing that it would take his staff more than a few drinks to get through a Press Corp event, and had told them to be there at 9 instead.
"I need to get up,"
"No, you don't," Aaron sighed, pulling her back down.
"Aaron," she whined in half-hearted resistance as he began kissing her neck. "We have this thing called work, remember?"
"Ten minutes," he mumbled, pinning her down.
"Five," she smirked, flipping them over so she was now on top of him.
"Damn, Em," he nearly gaped at her ability to overpower someone nearly twice her size.
"I grew up with two older brothers. Joey was a linebacker and Nick did MMA, so let's say I learned a few things," she grinned, leaning down and capturing his lips with hers.
They stayed like that for ten minutes instead of five, but Emily wasn't complaining.
"See you at work," she said, stopping at the door.
He leaned down and kissed her one last time, leaving her wanting more.
"Yeah, see you there," he said, smirking at the effect he had on her.
Now 7:45, Emily took a quick shower, did her makeup as fast as possible without messing it up, and got dressed. She decided on a sleeveless pencil dress with a simple black skirt and white bodice.
Upon arriving at work, she didn't even make it to her office before her Deputy, Brenna Anderson, ambushed her.
"We have a briefing in the PEOC," Brenna said, slightly out of breath from catching up to her.
"Right now?" she demanded.
"Yeah. Ava told me that the President said it was urgent. Here, she gave me your materials. I'll take your things to your office and meet you down there. Oh, and I also grabbed you this," she explained, handing Emily the cup of coffee she'd been holding, along with her briefing packet. "Thought you might need it."
"Thank you, Brenna. God, you're a lifesaver," Emily sighed, handing the girl her purse and work bag.
"Don't mention it," she replied.
Brenna was young, only 24, and almost fresh out of law school. She completed her bachelor's degree in Political Science at Georgetown in only two years, her law degree from Harvard in three, along with having two summers of Senate internships and a year of being an attorney in the Office of the Legislative Counsel under her belt. She was also incredibly charismatic and had become more of a friend to Emily than her Deputy.
Emily didn't see Aaron until arriving in the PEOC, he sat in the seat closest to Kirkman, and she sat beside him, an empty seat to her right which was reserved for Brenna. Her Deputy came in only a few minutes later.
"It appears as if everyone is here. Admiral, you may begin." Kirkman announced.
"Thank you, sir," Admiral Chernow said, standing up. "At approximately 2:30 a.m, the United States embassy in Manila was attacked by a local terror group aligned with the Islamic State. The terrorists stormed the building and now have it under siege. Ambassador Marcus Emerson was freed and given a message to relay to us. We received a call from him around 4 a.m reporting what had happened. To his knowledge, casualties were minimal, however, they are currently holding everyone in both embassies for ransom,"
"In exchange for what?" demanded Secretary Moss, who sat to the other side of Kirkman, along with Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter.
"All US military action in Syria must cease and all personnel must be withdrawn from the country."
"Well there's no way in hell that's happening," Aaron piped up.
"And that's exactly the problem,"
"Then what do suggest we do?" Kirkman asked.
Chernow looked down at the man sitting next to him and nodded, sitting down as the other man stood.
"Mr. President, General Donovan Lewis, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs," he introduced himself. "I propose using Navy SEALs,"
"Excuse me, I'm sorry, but don't you think that's only going to further endanger the lives of the hostages?" Emily interrupted.
"I don't suppose you have a better idea?" he snapped back.
Emily's fists clenched and her shoulders tightened. She was already tense before, but this was only making it worse.
"I could probably think of one that wouldn't put the lives of even more American citizens in danger,"
"Well, I think I have a bit more military experience than the White House Chief of Staff,"
"Right now it doesn't really-"
"Em, that's enough." Kirkman said, stopping her mid-sentence. "I agree with Ms. Rhodes, General Lewis,"
Suddenly, Emily felt another hand on top of her clenched fist under the table. Aaron had noticed how tense she was. She visibly relaxed almost immediately, her shoulders loosened and her fists unclenched. She turned her open hand over and intertwined her fingers with his.
"Did the terrorists give a set amount of time?" Aaron asked.
"Yes. We have 48 hours to respond before they begin executing the hostages. After the 48 hours are up, they'll begin executing one every hour, then two, then three, and so on and so forth." Admiral Chernow explained.
"Alright. Admiral, General, you have 12 hours to get back to me with a plan I can agree on. Also, nobody here talks to any press of any kind about this, understood?"
The people around the table all said collectively "Yes, sir".
"Good," Kirkman said, standing up and walking out.
She let go of Aaron's hand before standing and gathering her materials. The two of them and Brenna got into the elevator with the president.
"Despite what's happening, things need to be business as usual around here. Aaron, I need you to draft a memo for Seth about the situation in the Philippines. Emily, I just need you to stay focused on pushing for the new Healthcare bill. I believe that bill is going to benefit millions of low-income families if it goes through."
"Of course, sir. I have meeting with Senator Michelle, Chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, scheduled for 5 pm. I'm also meeting with both majority leaders tomorrow at noon and 2 pm."
"Good, thank you." he said as the elevator dinged.
Aaron headed to his office to write the memo, while Emily headed to hers with Brenna.
"What the hell was that?" Brenna gawked as soon as the door closed, wide-eyed.
"What?"
"You and Aaron," she said, Emily's stomach dropping. "How long has that been going on?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," she lied, pretending to be indifferent.
"Don't give me that. First of all, when it comes to him, you have absolutely no poker face. Second, I also heard from Seth that Aaron left to go find you last night." Brenna said with a quirked brow.
"That proves absolutely nothing," Emily stated, not even looking up from the file she was leaning over.
"Oh, and I also saw you holding hands under the table."
Emily groaned putting her head in her hands.
"I knew it," Brenna exclaimed excitedly. "Seth owes me $200."
"You guys bet on our relationship?"
"Yes, but that's not the point. How long has this been going on?"
"Long before you got here," Em mumbled.
"Seriously? It didn't seem like anything was actually going on between you guys since recently."
"Well, because it wasn't, exactly. We ended up making out on the couch over there the night of the MacLeish confirmation. The next day we were going to go out, but everything went to shit immediately after. It's part of the reason he resigned. I'll tell you about it sometime but it's too long of a story for right now." she explained, being bluntly honest.
"Wait, so last night did you guys-"
"No." Emily interrupted before she could get any farther. "We got into an argument and I left last night. He showed up at my door and we exchanged apologies. We just kissed and fell asleep. And if you promise not to tell anyone other than Seth, I'll let you tell him about it and rub it in his face."
"Deal."
"Alright, now let's get to work," Emily chuckled.