1:00 pm.

Halfway through the day. That's what Emily is telling herself even though it doesn't look like she will get home until late tonight. She escorts Ambassador Petrov into a conference room. "The president will be with you momentarily," she says with a forced smile, "Can I get you anything?"

"Ah, no thank you. A lovely lady such as yourself should not have to worry about such silly things as politics." Emily was prepared for this. She didn't let her smile falter this time. It wasn't the first time she had met the ambassador, and she knew this was coming. She had purposefully left space between them, so he couldn't accidentally brush up beside her like last time.

"I'll be back with the president, Ambassador Petrov," she smiled. As soon as the door shut behind her, her smile faded...again. A lovely lady? A lovely lady would have been able to handle the growing pressures of the job, would have been able to tell a man her feelings. She smoothed out her skirt and took a deep breath as she headed to the Oval Office.

She knocked loudly and opened the door. She paused for a moment, but it felt like many. She knew this was coming. She knew she had to see him every day, but she kept putting it out of her mind. So when she walked into situations like this, her confidence was gone, and she was left floundering for short moments. She knew now that her boss could see right through her, but she was playing pretend.

"Mr. President, Ambassador Petrov is here," she said confidently, locking eyes with the president. She refused to acknowledge anyone else in the room and denied herself from stealing little glances, but she could feel him.

She could feel his presence, feel him looking at her. It felt like his eyes were burning into her skin. She turned and smiled at the president, leading the way to the conference room.

1:11 pm.

She couldn't focus. Both men were speaking a mixture of English and Russian. She took notes when she could, but her mind was elsewhere. There was a dull ache in the pit of her stomach, and the warmness was creeping over her again.

Her phone softly vibrated, and she looked at the incoming message. Aaron.

She knew she needed to get over this. She had to work with this man every day. She needed to act like a normal human being.

"Royce is here."

Three words. That's all. Is this what they have become? Not looking at each other. Barely talking.

She responded quickly and professionally. She was getting better at this facade. She could fake it, but part of her knew she was growing into a shell of a woman. Did she even care anymore?

3:17 pm.

"Hey Seth. Here's the talking points for tomorrow." Her voice didn't sound right, not to her. She hated hearing it. It sounded wrong, tired, ready to collapse. She sat in a chair across from Seth waiting for his comments.

"Looks good. So what's really going on?" Seth folded his hands in front of him and watched her, keeping her in an eyelock, daring her to try to get out of this.

"Exactly what the memo says," she responds icily. She knew what he meant, but she's tired of this. Two hours ago, she thought she could fake it. Now, she's not so sure.

"No, why is Kirkmen worried about you?"

"What are you talking about? He's not worried about me." Emily sighed. She knew that the president could read her easily. She also knew that if he was genuinely concerned about her, he would try to get to the bottom of it and fix it.

"He asked Aaron if he knew what was going on with you. He thinks something's up. Well, he knows something is up. So what's going on?"

"Nothing is going on, Seth. We've been busy fighting fires. That's all." Emily pinched the bridge of her nose. She could feel the tension headache forming.

"Evasive. You're only evasive when you have something to hide. Last time you acted like this, you were investigating Aaron for treason." She winced at his words, but he continued. "And since Kirkman doesn't know why you're so flustered, it can't be anything relating to work. Or is it?"

"Seth, I really don't know what you're talking about. Have your comments on my desk by tomorrow morning." She whipped around and headed back to her office. She could feel tears burning the backs of her eyes, but she would never allow them to fall.

She collapsed into her desk chair and started organizing the files needed for tomorrow. She had to focus, block everything out of her mind. She didn't even hear her deputy enter her office.

"Emily, are you ok?"

If she heard that question one more time today….

She begrudgingly smiled at her deputy. "Sorry, Steve. Everything ok?"

"Yeah, yeah. Just wanted to let you know everything's a go for the 4 o'clock executive order signing. Do you need help with anything?"

"Thanks, Steve. No, everything is on track for now. Thanks." Emily smiled some more. Her cheeks hurt from so much fake smiling today. Fake it till you make it. She was going to plaster that slogan all over her office.

"Okay, well, I'll be working on Friday's files if there's nothing else." Emily simply nodded and went back to typing on her laptop. Steve was always eager, a little too eager.

3:56 pm.

Walking down the hallway behind the president, Emily knew it. This was it. The signing would last anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes, and she would be free. She planned on heading back to her office and doing paperwork and preparing for tomorrow - that thought put the first genuine smile on her face all day. No more meetings. No more dealing with people. No more chances of running into him.

Her phone buzzed. Him. She felt that punch in the stomach again.

"Emergency. NK."

She knew it was going to be work related, but she was hoping it wasn't.

"You need to take over the signing," she whispered to Steve who was right behind her, trailing like a puppy dog, and with that, she twirled on her heel and went in the opposite direction to the one person's office she dreaded most.