Something was running across her shoulder blade, making its way up her neck at a tantalizing speed, until it settled in her hair. Nadine cuddled closer to her pillow, smiling at the mystery sensation. Slowly, her eyes peeled open. The blur of morning gives away to the clarity of consciousness. She was in bed, but not her own….the walls were white here, and the walls in her bedroom were a moody slate gray. There were pictures on the wall she'd certainly hadn't taken, or bought. And that thing in her hair was a hand. A man's hand.
'Mike?" She choked out, all the pieces coming together from the night before.
"Yes?" His voice was a whisperer placed directly in her ear.
She flipped around in the bed, coming face to face with Mike B, the hatchet man. Hair undone, shirtless, and smirking. "Good morning, and I must say, that was one good night."
Half of her was mortified, the other not so much. After all, this was the sixth time the process of waking in a strange bed before realizing it was his had been acted out in the past two months.
And he wasn't lying, that had been one good night.
"Good morning." She managed. She sat up in the bed, roving the floor for her abandoned clothes.
'I folded them and set them on the chair." Mike pointed to a blue wing chair in the corner. "I know how you hate wrinkles." He wiggled his eyebrows. "I hope you have a backup outfit at the office, lest your colleagues clock that you are re-wearing yesterday's outfit…"
Nadine got out of the bed, wrapped her arms around her scantily clad body and jogged to the chair. She could feel Mike's eyes following her as she snatched up her clothes and disappeared down the hallway.
"The bathroom is on the left!"
As Nadine crested the steps to the seventh floor landing, she was grateful that her early years dancing had primed her body for a lifetime of fitness. She wasn't in as much pain as she could be in after jogging up the Truman buildings stairway, but her quick breaths did echo throughout the liminal concrete space as she paused to catch them. She had forgone the elevator in order to avoid her colleagues. Especially Blake - the younger man was a fashion maven, guaranteed to note her repeat outfit.
She pulled open the heavy metal door that led to the office's side entrance and tentatively went in. It was 8:56. Luckily, government workers liked to clock in exactly at 9:00, not a minute before, leaving the office empty.
Within ten minutes, Nadine changed into a black sheath dress she kept in her office closet, made a cup of coffee, and was seated at her desk as the State Department filled in.
"Good morning!" Blake blew into her office. The young man was dressed in a navy blue suit with a white tie and orange kerchief square. He plopped a raisin muffin on her desk as he sat down. "I got you a muffin." He said, the subtle question of 'have you eaten yet?' hidden behind his wide brown eyes.
Usually the food item would metaphorically bounce between them for a few minutes- Nadine instant she wasn't hungry, Blake insisting that she needed to be- before it was eaten. But this time, Nadine just nodded and took a bite. Her appetite was heightened this morning, probably by last night's activities.
"Thanks." She said, trying not to laugh at the shocked look on Blakes face.
"Your-you're welcome!'
She shook her head in amusement, flipping open the leather binder on her desk. "So, for this morning's schedule…."
"Budget reviews." Blake supplied. He read from a binder of his own.
"Oh?" Her eyebrow arched in surprise. She scanned the papers, convinced that this day was going to be as pressing and stressful as almost everyday of the year had been.
"Yep." Blake popped the p. "It's a slow day today. I might even play hookey and leave before the sun goes down."
Nadine looked out the window. The view from her office was nice. The tops of D.C's famous cherry trees created a terrain of pink and white, and she could just make out Lincoln Memorial in the distance, white stone juxtaposed against the crisp blue sky. Downtown was to the right, the little shops and restaurants standing in classic red brick facade. Though the important work she did usually kept her content to be cooped up in an office, she couldn't deny that it was a beautiful day. Maybe she could find something in it.
"You know what?" She said, propping her chin in her hand and drumming her fingers on her cheek. "Maybe I will to."
By three o'clock the 'calm day' started to get to everybody. It was nice, sure, but as she passed through the halls of the department, Nadine could see that everyone was, for lack of a better word, bored.
She herself was not as intellectually stimulated as she preferred to be, but she wasn't about to let that stop her from enjoying the rare occurrence. The binders in her hands were the last of her to-do's, and once she went over them with the Secretary, she was free to leave.
Nadine knocked on the tall mahogany door of her boss's office and announced herself.
"Come in!"
Elizabeth McCord was sitting behind her desk, wearing a gray suit, army green blouse. and a placid expression familiar to the ones Nadine had seen in the hall. She waved her chief of staff further into the room. "Are those the finals for budget suggestions?"
Nainde took a seat across from her. "Yes Ma'am." She spread the binders on the desk and began pointing to each one. "These two are fiscal, this one is monthly, and this one is weekly."
"Ok, thanks Nadine." Elizabeth shifted in her chair, her pumps swinging up to sit on her desk in one swift movement. She exhaled and fixed her eyes on Nadine with what she could only describe asthe personal look."So, what are you going to do with the rest of your day? Have any special plans?"
Nadine felt a warm flush crawl up her neck that was guaranteed to show through her alabaster skin. "No, I was going to head home, spend a nice day in. Or maybe take a nice walk…out."
It was true, those were her plans. She had absolutely no intention in meeting up with or even calling someone. Any someone.
"That sounds nice." Elizabeth closed her laptop and glanced at her phone. "I might just leave too." She waved a hand towards the files with a smirk. "We don't have to go over these. I trust your work on this. Besides, math is not my strong suit. Any suggestions from me can only mess it all up."
"I'm sure that wouldn't be the case Ma'am." Nadine responded dutifully.
"You flatter me."
The women both stood up, the Secretary with her briefcase in her hands.
"You know," Elizabeth had a wry smile on her face as she gazed beyond the window, "I think the universe owes me a quiet evening for once. Maybe even with a decent glass of wine."
Nadine raised an eyebrow, smirking. "Quiet? In this job? Madam Secretary, that's almost adorably optimistic."
"Optimistic? I'd call it a calculated dream. It worked out this time."
"I'm more of a realist." Nadine chuckled softly. "My idea of optimism is leaving the office before eight."
Elizabeth digressed, nodding. "Touché."
As they stepped out into the main office, the usual hum of activity seemed oddly muted. Staffers were still at their desks, but many had their heads bowed over their phones. A few were glancing at their screens with furrowed brows. The faint sound of a news alert chime cut through the air, followed by another.
Elizabeth frowned, her senses sharpening.
"What's happening?" she asked Nadine, who paused mid-step, fixing her with a curious look.
"Ma'am?"
Before Elizabeth could respond, a burst of movement drew their attention. Daisy, Matt, Jay, and Blake came rushing in from different corners of the building, each looking tense and disheveled. Blake was clutching his tablet so tightly his knuckles had gone white.
"What is it?" Elizabeth asked, stepping forward, her voice calm but edged with concern
Jay, breathing heavily, answered first. "There's been a massive earthquake. San Francisco. Just hit. Early reports say it's bad—like, really bad."
Elizabeth's face tightened. "How bad?"
"Major structural collapses," Daisy responded, her head buried in a laptop as she rattled off the facts. "Fires breaking out, houses crumbling, docks overturning, cars crashing into buildings. Communications are spotty. They're calling it a 8.4 magnitude."
Beside Elizabeth, Nadine straightened, her hands tightening almost imperceptibly around the binders. Her posture was composed, almost too composed, as if she were bracing herself.
"Madam Secretary," Blake said, his eyes were wide and red ringed. "The President is requesting an immediate briefing. They want input from the State on international support for potential aid."
"That's a good idea," Elizabeth replied, her eyes narrowing slightly as they studied Nadine's face before turning towards Matt. "I need you to start working on an address. There's bound to be a death toll, so aim it towards…consoling."
"Yes Ma'am."
Daisy interjected, pulling out her phone. "We'll also need to monitor reports for any potential international ramifications—trade disruptions, foreign nationals affected."
"I'll compile the necessary data," Nadine said quickly, her tone clipped. She didn't look up, her focus fixed on a distant point.
Jay glanced at her, then at Elizabeth, his brow furrowing. "Nadine, are you... okay?"
Nadine ran a haphazard hand across her face to fix a strand that wasn't there. "Of course," she said after a moment, but the words came out strained. "I'll get started on the outreach."
"Nadine," Elizabeth said, her voice softer now. "What's wrong?"
The question broke through Nadine's fragile composure. She stood silent for a long moment. Her breathing shallow yet halting at the same time. When she finally spoke, her voice was barely audible.
"My sister," she said, the words catching in her throat. "She lives in San Francisco."
The room seemed to pause. Elizabeth's face softened, and Daisy took a step closer.
"Have you been able to reach her?" Matt asked gently, then his face screwed as he mentally kicked himself. Of course she hadn't. She just found out two minutes ago.
Nadine blinked rapidly, not even noticing Matt. "I just talked to her this morning. She had the day off of work…She was going to take her grandkids to the park after lunch."
Elizabeth placed a firm hand on Nadine's shoulder. "Take a moment. Step into your office, try to get through to her. If you can't, let us know. We'll escalate it."
"But—" Nadine started, looking torn.
Elizabeth cut her off. "We've got this. Right now, you need to focus on your family. That's an order."
Nadine hesitated, her professional instincts warring with her personal fears. Finally, she nodded, her voice breaking slightly as she said, "Thank you."
Daisy stepped in. "I'll help. Let's check every line, and if we can't get through, we'll figure out the next steps."
As Nadine followed Daisy to her office, Elizabeth turned back to Jay and Blake. "All right. Let's get moving. We've got a lot to do and not much time to do it."
The team scattered, the hum of activity in the office transforming into a focused, purposeful buzz. Elizabeth spared one last glance toward Nadine's office, silently willing her colleague to get good news, before turning her attention back to the crisis at hand.