The story is mostly complete but the later chapters are still being beta'd so I'm posting only a few chapters at a time; should be all up by the weekend.
It turned out the first minute the president had was nearly 9pm. Leo stopped at the door between their offices and removed his tie; this would not be mistaken for a business discussion.
He knocked once and entered without waiting for the okay. Bartlett was behind the desk, rearranging papers into folders and shoving them unceremoniously into his valise.
"Glad to see you back." Although Leo held enough to protocol not to use his friend's first name, especially in the Oval, he figured he could signal his casual intents by withholding the ever present 'sir'.
Jed looked up briefly and gave an acknowledging grunt.
Leo stood quietly waiting for a moment. Without looking up Jed spoke, "Listen, do me a favor okay? Don't be pissed at CJ. She tried to keep it on track but I railroaded her. I thought we should stay. If you're going to be angry let it be at me but give CJ a break, okay?"
Leo nodded, "I'm not pissed. Like I said, just glad to see you back." He kept his tone open and sincere.
Jed glanced over the rim of his glasses to make eye contact with Leo for the first time, "I thought you were being sarcastic."
Leo shook his head, "No."
Jed looked confused for the breadth of a second before nodding and returning his focus to the desk.
"So I guess I missed a few things around here?" he spoke again without looking up.
Leo nodded, "A bit. With the Germans out the door there's nothing that can't wait until tomorrow."
"So then why are you standing there like you need to tell me something?" Jed kept his focus on the papers.
Leo rocked on his feet and cast about his mind for what he could use as an opening. "Actually," he began once he had formulated a plan, "And this isn't easy for me to say...but, well it's been a rough couple of days and I'm feeling a little too tense to focus, I've been thinking I need to distract my brain."
Jed put his folder down and straightened, regarding Leo with a critical eye. "What are you talking about? Are you okay? I know you haven't been to a meeting since the thing with Hoynes..."
Leo's heart broke, a bad fight with the Republicans was all it took for Jed to be worried about Leo's well being but when Jed's daughter was kidnapped and his wife effectively left him Leo had left him to deal with it on his own. His already burdensome guilt blossomed.
"No, no, no. I just meant maybe some chess. You know, order some tissue paper thin deli meat, whiskey for you, seltzer for me, and a chess board. We could make a night of it, be just a couple of guys playing chess and eating prosciutto."
Leo had formulated this plan as a way to get Jed to relax and talk to him but as he spoke he realized how much he really wanted that evening for himself as well. Jed wasn't the only one worn down by the last 6 months, the whole staff was feeling it. It had been too long since a poker or chess night. Leo began to think maybe he really did need Jed to say yes even more than he thought.
The man in question nodded slowly. "Okay, but to be honest I don't really feel up to a chess match tonight. The African Queen is showing on one of the cable stations, I was going to watch it. Why don't you come on up."
Not exactly what he was looking for and the President not being 'up to a chess match' set off alarm bells in Leo's brain but he would take what he could get and he nodded his agreement. "Okay."
Jed glanced at his watch. "Look, I haven't called Zoey yet today so I'm going to do that, why don't you come up in about 30 minutes." Without waiting for a response Jed flipped his briefcase closed and left the room.
Leo watched him leave but didn't move right away himself. He reflected on everything he knew, all the signs his friend was showing and suddenly felt this may be a bigger challenge than he thought. A couple glasses of whiskey and a quick talk wasn't going to fix this. For a moment he considered calling Abbey but he knew his boundaries and even as a best friend he wasn't going to insert himself into that.
He needed help, but it wasn't going to be there. He went back to his office and called to Margaret.
"I'm going to be going to the residence for a couple of hours. I'll have my beeper but no phone calls and don't send anyone up there to find me unless there's a nuclear bomb involved."
Margaret nodded. "Will you be back?" Leo looked at his desk and grimaced, "Yeah, later, but you should go home when I head up."
She nodded again and turned to leave when he stopped her,"You can actually leave now but first, do this; get Stanley Keyworth on the phone before you head out."