3:45 am.

Emily groggily turned off her alarm clock. She was so distracted last night that she didn't get any work done, so she refused to let Aaron come over. She needed to get to bed early, so she could wake up early to make up some work. That and her emotions were raw, and she just needed to have a good cry.

Her eyes were red from crying, and no amount of makeup could hide that. She washed her face and put on copious amounts of eye makeup. It would have to do.

5:00 am.

Emily walked into her office, coffee in hand. This was her safe place. She had a job to do, and emotions had no place here. She starting checking the pile of files from her deputy, one by one. Surprisingly, they were all correct.

6:00 am.

Emily was deep into her work, reading through the pension bail-out bill sponsored by the Democrats. She would be briefing the president on it as soon as possible, and she was brainstorming which Republicans to target for support. She checked her email for the corresponding CBO report when she heard a soft knock on her door.

"Aaron, you're here early." Emily was surprised. When Aaron had walked her to her car last night, he said he would be in at 7, his normal time, not that Emily noticed what time he came and went. "Don't tell me there's an emergency?"

"No, no emergency, just couldn't sleep. Here." He handed Emily a coffee cup, and Emily smiled.

"You know you're too good for me, right? You deserve better." Emily laughed to lightened the mood, but her tone and her face were serious. She took a swig and smiled. She drank a lot of coffee. It was the first thing most people noticed about her, but she didn't drink it for the caffeine. There was just something about a hot cup of coffee that was comforting to her.

Aaron chuckled, "I'm not looking for better. I already have the best." Emily's eyes widened, and she couldn't stop herself from laughing, causing Aaron to laugh even more.

7:30 am.

Emily was sitting in the Oval Office discussing the bill with the president when she heard the door open and could immediately feel Aaron's eyes on her. She refused to look at him or acknowledge him for fear of her heart eyes showing in front of the president. The meeting started immediately, and Emily had trouble concentrating, and breathing, by listening to Aaron talk. She really needed to get a grip, but she also trusted Aaron completely, and they rarely disagreed about national security.

As the meeting ended and Aaron stood up to leave, Emily approached the president. "Sir, I have just a couple more things." The president nodded, and Emily could feel Aaron's eyes as he hesitated before he left the room. "A personal matter, sir." Emily's voice was steady and calm. She was in crisis mode.

"Sir, I understand there was a conversation concerning my role in the investigation with the national security advisor. Is there a legal or political issue?"

"No, Emily, there was not." The president leaned against his desk. "Emily, we've known each other a long time. I know there was something going on with you and Aaron. Frankly, I didn't consider it when I gave you the list of names to investigate, and I regret that. I noticed that the dynamic between you and Aaron has changed, and I feel responsible. I wanted to help fix that."

Emily nodded in response. Heat was pooling in her chest, and she could feel it rising up her neck. She was a patient person, a patient Chief of Staff. She rarely lost her cool, but she was angry. Ever since Kirkman became president, they had grown further apart. It wasn't personal. There was just too much that needed to get done, and no time for idle chit-chat.

"I appreciate your concern, sir, but there is nothing to fix. I'll set up the meeting with the Financial Advisory." Emily turned to leave and heard the president sigh behind her.

11:30 am.

Emily had meetings all morning. She hated days like today, back-to-back meetings, no time for a second or third cup of coffee. It also meant that she would probably be here late doing actual work.

Two senators and their aides sat across from her in the conference room discussing a tax reform agenda. Emily opened the file containing their proposals and started taking notes. She turned a page and saw a lime green post-it.

"Dinner? -A"

She couldn't help but smile.

6:30 pm.

Emily finally entered her office. She hadn't been back since lunch to grab some files and was flying from meeting to meeting. She immediately took her shoes off and practically fell into her desk chair. She wanted to go to Aaron's office, but her feet hurt too much, and she was too tired. She picked up her desk phone.

"Hey, can you stop by when you have a chance?" She smiled just from hearing his voice.

Less than five minutes later, Aaron was walking into her office. Would she ever get used to the way he looked at her? He never failed to make her heartbeat or breathing faster. She hoped it wasn't noticeable.

"Hey," he smiled, and Emily could feel herself blush. He stood right next to her chair and leaned against her desk. She could smell his soap, and she breathed in deeper. She held the post-it up. "You," she asked, "or Kirkman?" Aaron laughed in response.

"That one was all me," he said smoothly, looking at her slyly.

"Ah, good." Emily couldn't help but smile. "My place. Bring pizza," she demanded.

"Anything" Aaron responded as he stood up straight, "for My Lady." He bowed towards Emily causing her to laugh.

"Aaron, you're ridiculous."

8:00 pm.

Aaron was standing at her door, pizza in hand. That sight made her very happy.

"I'll get the beer," Emily said as she abandoned Aaron in the doorway. She was starving, and it had taken a lot of willpower to not eat an entire bag of chips while waiting for Aaron.

"So, it was definitely Kirkman?" Aaron asked as Emily opened the beers and set one in front of him before taking a swig of her own.

"Yes, he admitted it today when I confronted him." She sat on the couch close to Aaron. Her leg was against his, and her arm brushed up against his whenever they moved.

"Wasn't my first guess," Aaron responded taking a bite of pizza.

"Yeah, I think we should turn the tables," Emily's voice had a tone in it that she wasn't sure Aaron had heard before.

"What do you mean?" Aaron asked slowly.

"Set Kirkman up. Pretend we aren't together in front of him." Emily smiled at Aaron. She wanted to laugh at the face he was making. He definitely had not seen this side of her, playful.

After deciding their plan for the next morning's meeting, Aaron started cleaning up the remnants of dinner.

"Em, you should get to bed," Aaron's voice was soft. "You look tired."

Emily nodded. She stood up and pulled him with her to her bedroom.

10:00 pm.

Emily was lying in bed next to Aaron, arms touching. She knew she should be sleeping. She hadn't gotten much sleep the past couple of days, and she was up early that morning. Aaron was breathing steadily beside her, indicating he was already asleep. Besides a simple kiss goodnight, Aaron hadn't tried anything intimate. Emily felt disappointed and knew she would be up for a couple hours analyzing everything. Logically, she knew that he was probably just tired, but she was letting her emotions get the best of her, which seemed to be happening quite frequently the past couple of days.