They jumped onto the subway and made their way over to shop for new clothes. He bought a pair of khaki pants, a white shirt, and an off the rack blue blazer. She purchased a simple black dress and some shoes. After the mall they headed back to her hotel.
The day had gotten away from them, and by the time they showered and changed it was almost time to leave. Frank said he had an idea that might help clear their heads, and one that might be interesting as well so they could burn the thirty minutes they found themselves with.
They jumped in a cab and asked to be dropped off at the Capital. They held hands and walked along the National Mall, making their way back to the White House. They both enjoyed the architecture along the way of the various Smithsonian buildings. The crisp evening air added to the pleasant experience.
They finally found themselves at the visitor entrance to the White House. After showing their ID’s, an escort appeared, as if from nowhere, “Hello, I am Chris Gintz, personal aid to the President. Captain Banner, Miss Cooper if you would follow me, the First Lady is waiting, but the President, and the Chief of Staff will be another five or ten minutes.”
“I know we are a few minutes early and we can wait someplace out of the way if that would be easier, we don’t need to bother the First Lady,” offered Frank.
“Oh no, I can’t let you do that, Mrs. Press is very excited to see you again,” he said as they walked along, “They really don’t get much of a chance to be social, at least not without the press taking pictures the whole time. I don’t think they are used to all the attention they get here. They didn’t have to deal with anything close to this over in the House of Representatives,” he said.
Finally after leading them through a maze of hallways, doors, then some stairs, he knocked on a door and opened it without waiting for a response, “Ma’am I have the Captain and Miss Cooper for you.”
She came forward to meet them. She was wearing simple black pants and a white blouse, “Welcome back you two, please, sit. Can I offer you a drink of any kind?”
“Oh, no thank you ma’am,” answered Frank.
The First Lady shook hands with Frank then Sandy, and paused noticing her new ring, “Miss Cooper! Is this what I think it is? Oh it is lovely. Did this fine young man really pop the big question? You do know my husband can’t really order you to do that Frank?”
Sandy blushed and nodded. She never imagined the first person to hear the news would be the woman in front of her. She made a mental note to call her mother as soon as possible. Perhaps it was better to wait until she could tell her in person. That was a problem for later.
Alexis Press hugged them both, and in the process instantly took them even further out of their comfort zone, “Well congratulations. Now, let me be the first to say that you two are going to have to learn to relax. Scott and I are just people. We are as normal as the two of you. I have no idea why he asked you to come back, but he said he wanted to make certain that you start to think of us as Scott and Alexis, parents of two daughters, entrepreneurs, patriots, and not as President and First Lady. His words, not mine. I would have stopped with Scott and Alexis, but well, he does have his ways.”
“Well, Alexis, if that is what you expect of us, I, for one, will need to take you up on your offer of a drink, and perhaps have a glass of wine or maybe three,” Sandy couldn’t help but laugh nervously as she spoke.
“I am sure we can dig that up for you,” said the President as he came through the door with Lester Johnson right behind him.
“Welcome back,” said Lester shaking each of their hands.
“Scott, I believe they wasted no time. If you look oh so carefully, you will find an engagement ring on her finger. A very nice one I might add,” said Alexis.
“Well, I didn’t really mean that comment I made at dinner as an order Frank but, congratulations to the both of you!” said Scott.
“Thank you Mr. President,” the young couple said in unison.
“Come, sit,” he motioned to some chairs in the ornately decorated living room.
Frank and Sandra waited as the President made his way to a chair. No one would sit before the President, except his wife, she couldn’t care less that he was President. To her she was still the man who couldn’t pick his shirt, not to mention socks up from the floor next to the bed without being reminded, and reminded again.
Once everyone was seated the President opened the conversation, “Frank, let’s just get this out of the way so we can enjoy dinner and get to know each other better. As I told you on the phone your face is starting to appear on some news outlets as we speak. If my staff is correct it will break in wide circulation in the next few hours, and could even make the tail end of prime time television news tonight. It will certainly be out there before the morning news cycle.
“I want you to know that you have done nothing wrong. From what we have seen there was no way you could have avoided it. You destroyed the car it was taken from, yet somehow that camera survived. None of that matters, your life is about to change dramatically.”
“Mister President, I really don’t want the attention. Are you sure they will be able to put a name with the face?” asked Frank.
“They will find out it is you. The press is like that. They will stake out every Special Forces compound in the world. They will show your picture to everyone they can until you are identified, located, and interviewed until you can’t be interviewed anymore,” said Lester confidently.
Sandy and Frank exchanged a look that could only mean, “Oh shit.”
“Mr. President if this causes any loss of momentum on the war effort, I sincerely apologize,” said Frank. He was unsure of what he should do in a situation like this. His mind was racing trying to find a solution.
“It won’t. They will attempt to use it as propaganda. Historically when they use that approach it actually causes us to pick up support. As you know, without public support my job convincing Congress and Senate to do anything at all gets significantly harder. I know from when I was in the House it helped me figure out how much support we could give a particular piece of legislation or initiative. Voters really should have a say in our representative democracy, and their opinion matters,” said the President.
“However, a result may also be that your safety will be put at risk with an attempt of Iranian retribution. You are as of now, their new public enemy number one. I am afraid for the time being you will need to carry your sidearm with you at all times. In addition to that I am going to assign to you a temporary, which with hope may turn into a permanent, Secret Service detail, same goes for your lovely fiancé here,” the President added.
“Sir, I can’t have them follow me around while I do my job. It just isn’t realistic. I can take care of myself,” protested Frank.
Sandy was about to speak up when the President held up his hand asking for her to pause.
“Well, I was going to wait until we were eating dinner to inform you of this. I would like a few things to happen which will, perhaps, make it so you can do your job, and help me with mine at the same time. However, your job title will have to change just a little bit,” the President said hinting at more news to come.
“Mister President, I like the job I have, but I will do anything I can to help with this situation,” said Frank.