by D J Small
Val scowled. Addison didn’t have to give her explicit details; she could read between the lines quite well. Some leaders still held backwards worldviews and didn’t believe she was a competent leader due to her gender. Val huffed in annoyance. “This is the twenty-second century, and I’m going to show those individuals how a real president gets things done.”
Addison grimaced. “Please don’t cause an international incident; you’re already a divorcée president whose ex-spouse is a whore. You can’t have another scandal.”
Val pinned Addison with a hard gaze and said, “Get the conservative leaders on the line and tell them I will be calling them after the tour.”
Addison sighed. “Yes, Madam President.” She began to make her way to the door.
Val leaned back in the office chair once the door had closed behind Addison. There were several fires burning in front of her, but it wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle. She lived for the chaos her job possessed, but the personal chaos Summer’s presence created was something she would have to deal with in small doses. Moving closer to her desk, Val waved her hand over the holographic phone and said, “Connect to Senator Graham’s office.” As the device connected to the senator’s office, Val began to mull over what she would say to Summer. There was no good option in front of her. The senator’s face appeared on the screen, and Val gave her a wide smile. “Good afternoon, Senator,” she greeted before getting to the purpose of her call. Summer would have to wait until later.
Chapter Three
Summer ran through the thick jungle the exercise simulator had created for her. Knocking away a large leaf blocking her path, she jumped over a piece of deadwood. Besides the food, this was one of the best reasons to be back at the White House. The gym had the latest equipment and technology, and it didn’t smell like juiced-up muscle heads. Summer ran two more miles then ended the simulation. She got off the treadmill and headed over to the table her water bottle and towel sat on, picking up the towel to wipe the sweat off her face and shoulders.
When she finished Summer got her water bottle, and as she took a long drink from it she glared at one of the Secret Service agents standing watch over her. There were three other agents in the gym, and usually they ended up becoming part of the background, but not this time. Instead they were another reminder of how much she hated this place. Summer lowered the water bottle, deciding to spar with one of the agents. It would give her something to do, since her phone and personal computer had been taken from her. A scowl came to Summer’s face.
She still didn’t know why she was here, and the temptation to contact the press and tell them the president of the United States had taken her hostage was growing to exponential heights. Having not seen Val since earlier made her stewing anger worse, and every time she requested to see her, Summer got some line about her being busy, which added more fire to her rage. She grunted softly to herself. It was possible Val was busy, but not busy enough to where she couldn’t come and explain the reason why she had taken Summer hostage.
She had thought about the various reasons why Val would have brought her back to the states, but the last news report she had paid attention to regarding the U.S. had been months ago and about the troops that had been sent to support the forces of the Middle Eastern Alliance. Summer had no idea why they were there, and if Val had brought her in as some sort of consultant for whatever ridiculous plan she and her advisors had come up with, she had another thing coming. Summer refused to get involved in military bullshit. If this were a different point in time, she would have been all for it and ready to serve her country, but that level of patriotism from her had died the moment she had woken up from her coma.
Summer took another drink from her bottle as she continued to think about why Val had brought her back to D.C. instead of the darker thoughts threatening to run wild in her mind. There were too many possibilities to consider, but the idea of Val figuring out some way to get back at her did stick out. If that were the case, she could potentially have Summer involved in a military assignment and it could possibly be one of the numerous dream missions she used to have. Summer pursed her lips as she considered the possibility. It wasn’t too far-fetched. Underneath Val’s patient, mild-mannered exterior lay a woman who had been spurned, and after the low blow she had lobbed at Summer in the conference room, she was certain her ex-wife was capable of it. Summer scoffed and tossed her towel onto the table, then set her water bottle down. The verbal jab had been unexpected, and she couldn’t believe Val had gone there.
Yes, when she had initially enrolled into the Air Force Academy it had been in defiance of the plan her parents had laid out for her and a big “fuck you” to them for thinking they could control her life, but as she progressed in her education and training, Summer had found her purpose in life and ended up in a job she loved. Being a pilot and going on missions had been everything to her, but it had been snatched away from her. Summer clenched her jaw as anger for what her life had become threatened to take over.
“You,” she called out as she pointed to the tall Secret Service agent standing off to the side of the gym. Confusion flashed across his face. He managed to school his features quickly, but Summer had seen the slip-up and the corner of her mouth turned up in a smirk. “Suit up. We’re going to spar.”
“Ma—Colonel, I don’t know—”
“Agent,” Summer said, cutting the man off. “If you do not put on your gym clothes, I will tell your pain-in-the-ass boss that you refused to do as I asked.”
The agent ran off, and Summer chuckled quietly to herself as she began a series of stretches, and her mind wandered back to Val. Being in the White House more than annoyed her, but Val using her authority to drag her across the globe had caused a disruption to Summer’s life, and she would have to deal with the aftermath from it. Despite what Addison had said, she did have work to do, and though she didn’t have any say in her current situation, her parents weren’t going to be too thrilled with her abandoning her duties at the foundation. Her mother would use the opportunity to criticize her. Summer rolled her eyes.
Being the chairwoman of her family’s humanitarian organization, The Armstrong Foundation, had been something Summer had reluctantly agreed to several months after leaving D.C. Her mother and father had threatened her with an ultimatum because they refused to watch her blow her money and theirs on booze and extravagant traveling. Summer had only wanted a small, insignificant role in the foundation, but her dad told her it was time for her to take over, and he had stepped down as chairperson, leaving her to fill the role.
To secure the vote with the board and to make sure she would become the foundation’s chairperson, her dad had explained to the members of the board that Summer’s affiliation with the president and the White House would give the foundation a little more political clout in Washington. The moment he had begun to use her connections with the White House, Summer had immediately countered his point and vehemently told the board her former connection to the White House was not something she would ever use, and if they thought otherwise, then they could vote for someone else. At the time, she truly hadn’t given a single fuck about the foundation, but now Summer had more of an interest in the organization.
In the year that she had been the foundation’s chairperson, Summer had expanded the organization’s areas of interest. Before her the foundation had primarily focused on humanitarian causes and environmental issues, but Summer’s recent expansion had resulted in the creation of two new divisions for the foundation and they focused on veterans and their families and social justice.
She and her mother had argued about the development, and her mom had told her the new divisions were unnecessary since the country had come a long way in both areas, but Summer had ended the discussion by calling her mother narrow-minded and blaming her for having a skewed perception of the world. The accusation had provoked another argument, but her parents could only blame themselves. They were the ones who had wanted her involved with the foundation, and she was,
but on her terms.
Summer glowered as she continued to stretch. She had to call her mother; not knowing what Val wanted her for was forcing her to do so. There were meetings to cancel, or reschedule, and she also didn’t want to listen to her mother’s nagging if she didn’t show. She looked at the agent standing by the entrance to the gym and said, “I need a compact holo.”
“I apologize, Colonel, but we’re under direct orders from President Hawkins to restrict your access to all forms of communication.”
Summer began to seethe with anger. “Are you fucking kidding me?” she shouted. She stalked over to where the agent stood. Balling her hands into fists at her side, her hard gaze bore into the woman. “Where the fuck is Val?”
“I cannot disclose that information,” was the agent’s automatic response.
Summer stared at her as she drew in slow, deep breaths. Punching a federal agent was a serious offense. Summer clenched her jaw as she tried not to give into her desire to hit the woman. Then a thought came to her, and a slow, triumphant smile appeared on her face. “I would like to speak to Val’s chief of staff.”
The agent opened her mouth to respond, but instantly closed it. Summer could see uncertainty shimmer in her eyes. She had to have been a newer agent; she couldn’t maintain her stoic front well. Summer felt quite confident about her request—she was certain Val hadn’t extended her reach to include Addison since they too were on bad terms. The agent gave her a curt nod and said, “I will contact Ms. Connors’s secretary.”
Summer’s smile turned into smug one. “See that you do.” She walked over to the sparring mat and continued with her stretches. Her anger hadn’t abated, and she still wanted to find Val and take it out on her, but apparently talking to the woman who had put her in this situation seemed to be damn near impossible.
The agent she had ordered to change came back into the gym, and Summer was more than ready to work off the tension in her body and focus her anger on something else. As the agent joined Summer on the mat she said, “Do not go easy on me. If you go easy on me, I’ll embarrass you in front of the other agents.” The man nodded. Summer pointed at her prosthetic leg. “This may look real, and it may feel like an actual leg, but it is not. If you try to kick it from under me, it will dislodge. This is your only warning. If I lose my leg during this sparring match, I will kill you, and I know about fifteen to twenty ways to kill a person with my bare hands. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Colonel,” the man replied earnestly.
Summer began to pace in front of the agent, and she kept her eyes on him, studying his body language for an opening. Seeing one, she pivoted on her good foot and delivered a light jab to his ribs. The man grunted, and Summer grinned. This was exactly what she needed.
Summer and the agent fell into a rhythm of light punches and jabs while performing various holds on one another. At first, the agent had gone easy on her, despite her warning, and when Summer punched him hard in the ribs he changed his approach and gave her everything he had. It allowed Summer to focus on engaging with him instead of the anger and irritation which continued to fester inside her.
Thirty minutes later, Summer and the agent had worked up quite a sweat, and both were breathing heavily from the amount of energy they were putting into the sparring match. Neither wanted to be shown up by the other. At some point during their match, Summer had decided that she liked the agent and learned his name. “Come on, Simmons, my WASP of a mother can hit better than you, and the only thing she can hit is a vodka bottle.”
A smile appeared on the agent’s face, but at the same time Summer heard Addison comment, “I’ll be sure to tell Cassandra the lies you’re spreading about her.” Summer signaled for Simmons to stop and turned to face Addison, glaring at her. “My secretary tells me you demanded to see me.”
Summer’s scowl worsened, and she moved closer to Addison. “First, I can’t see Val, and then I learn I can’t have access to any form of communication? What the fuck is going on?” Finding the whole situation absurd, she forced out an indignant breath. “I can’t even call my fucking mother because of whatever high horse Val has placed herself on.”
“I called your mom, so you have no worries there,” Addison stated, but it did nothing to soothe Summer’s anger.
“I wasn’t fucking worried, but I am beyond pissed by this entire situation.” Her hard gaze continued to bore into Addison as she threatened, “If I don’t find out what the hell is going on in the next hour, I will find a way to contact the press, and I will tell them about this.”
Addison smirked. “I would love to see you talk to the press. I’m sure they have several other questions for you as well.”
Summer’s jaw muscles bunched up at Addison’s words. Her interaction with the press had been limited to small speaking engagements at foundation events, and nothing else. When she had first left the White House, Summer had walled herself off from them. Two years later, and they were still hungry to find out the real reason why she had left Val. The administration had told the press they had filed for divorce due to irreconcilable differences while providing little details.
Addison nodded, knowing she had won this round. “I will speak to Val and see if she will let you have access to a monitored holo-phone so you can contact your parents. You do know there will be stipulations like not telling them where you are, right?”
“And if I do?” Summer challenged, wanting to see what Addison would threaten her with.
Addison smiled. “I hear maximum security is nice this time of year.”
The taunt was the last straw for Summer. “What the fuck is going on, Addison?” she demanded, the volume of her voice rising. “I’m fucking dragged here without so much as a, ‘Hey, the president is going to fuck up the next few days of your life’ and you and Val expect me to just fucking go along with it.”
“I’m not at liberty to discuss this with you—”
“Fuck you, and fuck Val too!” Summer interjected. “I’m fucking leaving this goddamn nightmare.”
“Summer, you do not want to force Val’s hand on this,” Addison warned. She sighed. “She needs you, shouldn’t that be enough of a reason?”
The question and wearisome tone threw Summer off, and she stared at Addison. “Maybe before, but not now.” She exhaled a tired breath. “Talk to her, Addison. Tell her whatever she needs me for, I can’t do it. I’m useless. Trust me.” Refusing to open doors that she wanted to remain tightly shut, Summer ended the conversation. She turned and headed for the gym’s changing room, and two of the four Secret Service agents followed her.
~~~
Val removed her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose as she squeezed her eyes shut. The day had been a long one, and all she wanted to do was finish reading this piece of legislation and go to bed. She had spent the rest of the day meeting with senators about the budget and trying to get it passed, and after her meetings she had spoken with a couple of leaders from the Alliance to see if they would talk to the more conservative ones and get them to speak to her. It was irritating enough that they didn’t want talk to her, but for her to have to send someone else to get them to do so was downright insulting.
There was a light rap on the study door and Val placed her glasses on top of the document sitting in her lap. “Come in,” she called out.
The door opened, and her valet, Caroline, poked her head into the room. “I came to check on you, ma’am.”
Val gave her a smile. “I’m doing all right, Caroline. Just making my way through the education bill.”
Caroline grimaced. “Sounds thrilling.” She and Val chuckled, then she asked, “Have you eaten anything since dinner?”
Val pressed her lips together. She hadn’t even eaten dinner; she had been too busy working on the budget while juggling the ongoing situation in the Middle East. “I didn’t eat dinner,” Val admitted with a sheepish smile.
Caroline released an exasperated sigh before giving her head a slight shake. “Val, you ca
n’t run the free world on an empty stomach. Not only would the press have a field day if you passed out from not eating, but how embarrassing would that be?”
Val couldn’t help but to laugh at the absurdity of it. Passing out from exhaustion would be minor compared to some of the press she had been getting over the last few years. She took a deep breath. “You are absolutely right, Caroline. I didn’t mean to skip dinner. I got caught up with work. Would it be possible for you to bring me something to eat?”
Caroline smiled and replied, “I will bring you a sandwich and something to drink.” She paused, and the hesitation on her face made Val wonder what thoughts were going through her mind.
“Is there a problem, Caroline?”
“No, ma’am,” Caroline answered quickly. She then asked, with some reluctance, “How long will the colonel be in Residence?”
Val sighed and let her head drop back against the couch. She stared at the ceiling, trying to figure out a decent response. What she could and couldn’t say had her jumping through several mental hoops before she landed on an acceptable, albeit terrible, response. “I don’t know, but I don’t think the staff should be calling her ‘colonel’.”
A soft grunt came from Caroline, and she said, “It feels weird calling her anything else. If she has a problem with it, then she can tell me herself.” Val tried not to roll her eyes. That would be a discussion between Caroline and Summer. She already had too many of her own battles to deal with regarding her ex-wife.
“If I may be so bold to ask,” Caroline started, “why is she here?”
Val brought her head down and gave Caroline small smile. “I wish I could tell you, but I cannot. National security.”
Caroline waved her off and chuckled. “Oldest excuse in the book.” She smiled and said, “I’ll be back with your sandwich. Finish up here so you can get some decent sleep.”
“Yes, mom,” Val said with a grin. Caroline gave her a slight playful scowl before leaving, gently closing the door behind her.
