1
It’s a freezing January morning in Washington DC. Snow was covering the city, and transforms it into an image worthy of a postcard. Downtown, security measures were extreme, and of course, that detail killed the entire scenery. But today was no ordinary day, because it was the day a new President would be sworn in. The nation would have a new leader for the next four years. That had been a very close election on November. Too close to call, as experts quoted. People had split opinions, but as always, they were the ones with the choice.
Senator Josh Werner stood in front of a mirror, fixing his tie. He was very excited over today, thanks to the fact that after his term with the previous President, the soon-to-be appointed one had chosen him to serve in his administration. And who knows? Maybe he would run for President in the next election. After all he was young, handsome and had pouring charisma with people and the press. Suddenly, there’s a knock on the door. Werner tells that person to step in. Liz, the Senator’s personal assistant comes in. She is bringing a coat with her.
“Thank you, Liz” he said with a half-smile.
“You’re welcome, sir”
“Anything else?”
“No, sir. I’ll let you know when the car is here” Liz turned her back and closed the doors, walking out. Werner sat down and poured himself a cup of coffee. He then grabbed the newspaper. While he browses through the political section, he stops at a column named ‘Capital Beat’, written by Lauren Caffrey. This column had become a real pain in the ass for him when it obviously talked about him. Last year, he had declared Caffrey his ‘number one enemy’ in public…even though she was a mystery, and no one knew if Lauren even existed…but she didn’t care! The door opens and Liz appears. She tells him that the car would take him to Capitol Hill was here. Both leave.
“Liz?” he asks.
“Yes, sir?”
“If I ever run for President, would you vote for me?” he asks. Liz laughs.
“Dream on, Senator”
“Answer me”
“Yes, sir. I’d vote for you” she replied. When they get to the car, the driver attends them and drives off.
Meanwhile, Lauren Caffrey was already wandering through the halls of Capitol Hill, accompanied by a friend. She was there because she had to cover the inauguration ceremony and express her opinion about it on her column. Caffrey wasn’t exactly a supporter of the new President, but what could she do? She got paid to give her opinion in objective matters, not to discharge her emotions on a certain somebody. Lauren was also an urban legend in the political scene, and everybody feared her, even though she liked to hide in the shadows. She and her informant (Jack Burke) sit on an outside bench.
“Lauren?” Burke asks. When she doesn’t give an answer, he puts his hand in front of her face.
“Earth to Lauren Caffrey…Hello!” he yelled. Lauren turned around to face Burke.
“What?” she asks, scared.
“What’s wrong? You look strange today”
“Nothing. I was just a little distracted”
“You’re a bad liar, Caffrey. You knew that?”
“If you EVER repeat a word of what I’m about to say, I’ll deny it to the grave” Lauren said, defensively.
“Okay, tell me”
“I’m feeling under HUGE pressure. Pete has me at the edge of my sanity because of the columns. And let’s not talk about my family! I’ve been in a fucking downward spiral since the election! Thank whatever I’m a loner”
“Oh, Lauren. Don’t worry about all that. Everything will be okay” Burke says, trying to hug her. But she immediately recovered her composure and dignity. Always a lady.
“We better head in. Ceremony’s about to start” she says. They both stand up and head to where the event would be held and mixed with the crowd.
When Werner got out of his car, he saw the big number of reporters and photographers that expected his arrival. Everybody knew he could be the next President, so with his trademark charisma he answered a few questions and headed in, escorted by his security people. Upon arrival, Werner recognized many familiar faces and greeted half of DC that was there as photographers took snapshots of him. Looking up, he spotted his pubic foe, Lauren Caffrey, by the stairs in the press area. He wanted to approach her, but in that moment the elected President had stepped up with his family and the Chairman of Congress, ready to be sworn in. The eyes of the world were fixed on that as a hand was on a bible and the other raised.
“I do solemnly affirm that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States” the now-President Stevenson said as oath and the chairman congratulated him to make it official. Everybody was cheering, but when Werner turned around, Caffrey had vanished…
“Guess who was checking you out during Inauguration” Jack Burke said with just the right touch of sarcasm as he drove Lauren back to ‘The Beltway Gazette’, where she worked. They were hearing the rest of the ceremony on the radio and she drank coffee to cope with the frozen outside.
“That idiot of Josh Werner?”
“Yeah. He wanted to get close to you, but those gorillas he has as escorts didn’t let him. What could he possibly want with you?”
“I don’t know. Maybe threaten me so that I stop writing about him?”
“What are you talking about? Mr. Perfect has dirty laundry?”
“Hell yes. I handle a lot of dirt on him that I will be forced to publish one day. I mean…it could destroy his career. He knows that, so he named me his enemy. And you know the funniest thing? He has never seen me in person! Today doesn’t count”
“Wow!”
“Keep your mouth shut and take me home instead” Lauren orders. She was known to have a really strong temper sometimes, so Burke turned submissive and did as he was told.
“This was fun. We should hang out in these things more often” she says while stepping out of the car.
“See you tomorrow, my pretty?” he asks. Everyone who knew Lauren called her that.
“Yeah, right” she replies. And Jack Burke was left perplexed when the door was slammed in his face…
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