Mutual Agreement(A Presidential Romance)

by Chiquita Dennie

  I closed my phone and sighed, then closed my eyes. Our little trip had been well needed, and I’d wanted to stay even longer, but the way my life was set up, I might be fighting for my job before I have a chance to make real changes. I never thought I would have to choose between my career and my love life.

  I started to read the notes from the legislation that they wanted me to sign when my cell phone rang with my mother’s name across the screen. “Hello,” I answered.

  “I was wondering when my son would have time for me,” my mother said.

  “Mara Hunter, you know I always have time for you,” I joked.

  “Sebastian, you're not too old that I can’t whip your butt,” my mother told me.

  “Ma, I’m Thirty-eight.”

  “And?” she said.

  I laughed at her response. “What can I do for you?” I questioned, signing the documents on my desk.

  “I wanted to know if we're still doing dinner with Laila,” she said.

  I groaned. I’d forgotten to call and cancel the dinner plans. “Dinner’s off for right now.”

  “Why?”

  “She needs space, after the news broke, and the newspapers’ blasting her.”

  “Tell her to call me if she wants to talk.”

  “Can I ask you a question?”

  “Of course, you can, honey.”

  “Are you upset about what she does for a living?”

  “No, she had to do what she thought she needed to do to help her family.”

  “What about Dad?”

  “Your father loves you, and we raised you to be a good man with integrity and not to be judgmental. Life happens, baby. We can’t choose who we love.”

  “Is that what happened with you and Pops?

  “Honey, your father was a playboy, and I was ready to give up on him—until he changed his ways.” She laughed, and I chuckled, remembering the stories my father had told me when I was growing up. “Keep me updated if the dinner is going to happen or not,” she said.

  “I will, and I love you.”

  “Love you, too, baby.”

  I ended the call and continued working and finding other contacts that could help me get any dirt on Carlton, anything to get him off our backs and make sure that Laila was protected. I picked up my phone and tried to dial her number, but it went straight to voicemail.

  “She’s not answering,” Claudette said, stepping into my office.

  “Maybe I went too far,” I said.

  “Maybe.” Claudette took a seat across from me.

  “You're giving me that look.”

  She shrugged her shoulders. “I just want my friend to be happy.”

  Chapter 7: Sebastian

  Two Days Later

  THE TEACHERS FILLED the West Wing as we held the annual Teacher of the Year celebration. I watched on the side as Kaitlin led the introductions. I hadn’t heard from Laila since we got back from our trip. I pushed myself into work to keep my head off other things.

  Loud claps and cheers brought me out of my thoughts.

  “The President of the United States,” Kaitlin said.

  I clapped my hands and moved in front of the podium. “Thank you, Kaitlin. Amazing to see so many wonderful teachers here.” The cheers continued. “I want to thank you all for being here, and I want you to enjoy yourselves,” I said and moved to the side for Kaitlin to continue.

  “Thank you, Mr. President.” Kaitlin called out a teacher's name, and I stood to the side, as they walked up to the podium. We shook hands and did a photo op for the press room.

  30 minutes later, I headed back into my office.

  “Mr. President, here’s your morning messages,” Joanne said, handing me a stack of notes.

  I thanked her. “Joanne, can you get Ray on the phone?” I asked, lowering my glasses down my nose.

  “Right away, sir.” Joanne walked away.

  I sorted through the messages, and one popped out from an old friend whom I hadn't heard from in a while. “Delilah,” I muttered to myself when my phone rang. I answered and waited for the call to be transferred through.

  “Mr. President,” Ray said.

  “Any updates on Carlton?” I crumpled up Delilah’s number and tossed it in the trash.

  “The bill is still in negotiations right now,” Ray said.

  I pinched the bridge of my noise. Carlton was up to something, and I needed to find out exactly what it was before everything went up in smoke. I’d run my campaign on building support for bringing jobs back to workers, and already, two years in, things had stalled. “You remember Delilah?” I asked.

  “Your ex?” Ray commented.

  I scoffed through the phone. “Delilah was never my ex; she and I had a casual fling, with no commitment on either end.”

  “So, why is she contacting you two years later?” Ray asked.

  I tapped my finger on the desk. “Good question. We left things fine. She knew my career was important, and I didn’t see myself getting involved with her fully.”

  “Well, handle it soon, because Carlton might be a bigger problem than we need.”

  “I’m not budging, and we need this win.”

  “Yes, sir.””

  “I hate when you call me that.”

  He chuckled at my statement. “You're the president.”

  “I’m your friend—when it's just the two of us, anyway.”

  “Fine, let me finish dealing with my main headache right now—my wife,” Ray stated.

  I tossed the messages into the trash. Delilah would have to get the point that I was too busy to respond. “She still hasn’t warmed up to Laila,” I said, reading over the marketing trends of the day.

  “Can you blame her?” Ray replied. I heard him mutter something to his assistant about the new copy machine.

  “She’s your wife!” I blurted out in a huff.

  “Yep, and your Chief of State and friend form college,” Ray responded.

  “That’s true; I can’t get away from her if I tried.” I laughed.

  “I’ll tell her you said that. But I do advise you to try to make nice with Carlton,” Ray hinted.

  I released a harsh breath. “We’ll see.”

  “Try to keep the secret meetups with Laila to a minimum,” Ray explained.

  “Is this coming from my friend, or the Congressman?” I questioned, sitting up in my chair. I leaned over the desk as Joanne walked inside with lunch. She placed it on the table. I nodded at her, and she stepped out of the room.

  “Both,” Ray answered.

  I said goodbye, then ended the call. I stood and walked around the desk, then lifted the meal that had been brought up to me. The White House staff had prepared my favorite: a burger and fries, with extra cheese and avocados on top. I started to take a bite out of the sandwich, then abruptly stood and headed back to the trash can. I grabbed Delilah's number out of it. Whatever she had been calling about hopefully wouldn’t interfere with my career, or Laila.

  Chapter 8: Laila

  I HAD JUST FINISHED thanking a client for coming in and letting them know to make another appointment, when I heard a loud commotion coming from outside my office door.

  “I need to see her now!” I heard a voice yelling, and then the door burst open. My client, Delilah Jones, stomped toward me.

  I jumped out of my seat. “Delilah, what’s going on?”

  She pointed in my face. “You’re fucking Sebastian behind my back,” she hissed, slamming her hand down on my desk.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “The guy I told you about, the one who left me. Sebastian Hunter.”

  My eyes widened in shock. She’d come to me months ago, talking about a love that was rekindling that she thought would move toward marriage and kids. But Sebastian told me they hadn’t been in contact for over two years. I held my hands up to get her to calm down and walked around my desk. “Delilah, sit down, so we can talk.”

  “No, I want to know what you're doing with my f
iancé.” Delilah narrowed her eyes, clenching and unclenching her fists.

  “Laila, do you want me to call the police?” Joyce asked.

  “No, we’ll be fine. Right, Delilah?”

  Delilah rolled her eyes. “Yes.” Joyce closed the door, and I waited for Delilah to speak. “I saw the newspaper about you and Sebastian. You need to stay away from him.”

  “First off, I’m an adult, and second, Sebastian never spoke about you specifically.”

  “We were engaged.”

  “From what he told me; it was just sex.”

  “That’s a lie!” She gnawed on her lip.

  “Delilah, whatever you had with Sebastian, you need to take it up with him.”

  “So, you admit to fooling around with a man who’s taken?” she inquired.

  “I’m no longer seeing Sebastian, but even if I were, you were never mentioned by name.”

  “This isn’t over,” Delilah said, then stalked out of my office and slammed the door.

  I ran a hand through my hair in shock at what just happened. I made a note to tell Sebastian later to see what exactly was going on with those two.

  LATER THAT NIGHT, CRISTIN called me to hang out with some friends at dinner. I still hadn’t spoken with my father about everything that went on, and I hoped they were still keeping the press away from him. I walked in the door and spotted Cristin and Katherine, another close friend from Bayview. She was the secretary of another doctor in the building.

  “I thought you’d never show up,” Cristin said.

  I hugged Katherine, then Cristin and pulled out my chair to sit. I picked up the menu and looked around the restaurant. “Thanks for getting a table in the back.”

  “I did notice a few people glancing at you when you walked over.” Cristin motioned toward the older couple sitting near the bar.

  “Have you spoken to him?” Katherine took a sip of water as the waitress headed toward our table.

  “No, and I have to tell you about my patient,” I said.

  “Hello, I’m Taylor,” the waitress introduced herself. “I’ll be your waitress today.”

  “Hi, can we get another bottle of white wine?” Cristin said.

  “Sure. Would you like to order now?” Taylor asked.

  “We can start with appetizers—or do you want to just order a meal?” Cristin asked us.

  “Are we still going to the club later?” Katherine queried.

  I already knew Cristin was planning to pull me out of my funk.

  “I think we should just order our food now,” Cristin decided.

  “What are you having?” Taylor held up an iPad and started to take our order.

  “I’d like the spaghetti,” Cristin said and passed her menu over.

  “A salad for me, please.” I wasn’t really hungry. Delilah had caused me to lose my appetite earlier. If what she said was true, then Sebastian had been seeing me and her at the same time.

  “Bring me a salad, as well. Thank you.” Katherine lifted her menu.

  Taylor thanked us, then walked away. I grabbed a glass of water and gulped it down.

  “You look too cute to seem so stressed out.” Cristin gestured up and down my body with her hand. “What happened?”

  “I had the weirdest thing happen at work today.” I scratched the top of my forehead and blew out a breath.

  “What happened? Tell us.” Katherine placed her elbows on the table and leaned in close.

  “I think I met Sebastian’s ex-girlfriend today.”

  “What do you mean?” Cristin picked her cell phone out of her purse and turned it on silent.

  “I can’t give out patient information, but let's just say I met a woman who claims to be his girlfriend—or ex-girlfriend.”

  “But you told me Sebastian never had a relationship until you,” Cristin replied

  I lifted my arms in a shrug. “I thought so, too, but after today, who knows?”

  “Wait, tell us what she said exactly,” Katherine insisted.

  “She said I stole her fiancé.”

  “Since when has Sebastian been engaged?” Cristin commented.

  I pushed my hands out in a wave. “That’s what I said. He’s never lied to me before, so I need to talk with him first.”

  “You don’t believe her, do you?” Katherine said.

  Taylor arrived back at our table with our food. She called out each meal and placed them in front of us, and a second waitress refilled our drinks.

  “Thank you,” Cristin said to Taylor after she finished.

  “I don’t know what to believe at this point,” I continued.

  “Don’t retreat from love, Laila. I know you never expected this to happen,” Katherine said.

  “It’s in Sebastian’s court now. If he lied to me, then we’ll have bigger problems,” I stated.

  We continued to talk and eat for the rest of the afternoon.

  LATER THAT EVENING, I was home in bed. I was avoiding Sebastian's calls because I needed to think and focus on work. Plus, his ex-girlfriend popping up out of the blue really had me rethinking what we’d been doing for the past year. I tossed and turned in bed, dreaming of the time I went out to a fashion gala to support the arts. Everyone in politics showed up, and I was there with another date.

  “ ARE YOU HAVING A GOOD time?” Decklon asked. He was a stock broker and flew into town just to attend this event. We went way back from my days of escorting, and we’d grown a real friendship over time. I never slept with him, but if I ever wanted to settle down, he would have been the ideal man to do it with. He was tall, with broad shoulders, an athletic build, a square jaw, and a trimmed beard.

  “I am. And thank you for inviting me,” I responded, smiling and pulling away from his hold when the music stopped playing.

  The banquet hall was full of musicians, celebrities, and the press, along with senators and other congressman whom I knew very well. Carlton winked at me, and I nodded, aware of his presence. We’d ended badly, and I wouldn’t speak to him in public.

  “You’re welcome. I haven’t seen you in a few months, so I thought this would be the best time to call you up,” Decklon said, trailing his finger down my bare arm. I wore a long red turtleneck dress that curved to my figure.

  “Decklon Mitchell, I didn’t know you’d be here.” The last voice I expected to hear was right behind me.

  I could feel his dark gaze upon me. I turned around with my back to Decklon as he wrapped a hand around my waist. I lifted my eyes to peer over and caught a quick glare in Sebastian’s eyes.

  “Mr. President, I didn't think you’d know me, sir,” Decklon responded, extending his free hand for a shake.

  “I know more than you think,” Sebastian said, gazing into my eyes. I looked off into the crowd, licking my dry lips after the cold stare he’d given me. “Miss Daniels, I’d like to speak to you for a moment if Decklon doesn’t mind,” Sebastian said.

  “Um...” I stammered.

  “That’s fine; I’ll go grab another drink for us.” Decklon pressed a kiss on my cheek and walked away.

  I tried to turn and walk away from Sebastian, but he gripped my elbow and pulled me close to whisper in my ear, “Go to the bathroom and wait for me.”

  “Sebastian, we’re in a room full of people. If the president goes missing, I think they’ll notice,” I mumbled lowly while looking around the room.

  “Go, and Claudette will walk with you to check your makeup,” Sebastian insisted.

  I continued to smile as Claudette approached us. “Claudette, you look beautiful tonight,” I said.

  “Thank you. I need to double my makeup; do you mind walking with me to the bathroom?” she replied. I grabbed my clutch and followed her down the hall to the bathroom. “Sorry about this,” Claudette muttered and looked behind us to see if anyone was following.

  “He’s insane,” I said. I pushed the bathroom door open and checked the stalls.

  “I’ll stay by the door on watch. You have at least five minutes bef
ore anyone comes looking,” Claudette mentioned.

  Sebastian walked in with a hard glare on his face.

  “Explain to me why I was summoned into the bathroom right now,” I demanded, folding my arms across my chest.

  “Why are you here with him?” Sebastian reached out to pull me against his chest and kiss the side of my chin. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the other side of my face, where Decklon had kissed me.

  “You're so jealous.” I chuckled and tried to push him back.

  “No, I’m a man who doesn’t like being ignored when I ask you to be my date.”

  “I told you, Decklon and I are just friends.”

  “Friends?”

  “Yes, friends.”

  “From the look in his eyes he wants more than friendship... and you belong to me.” Sebastian lifted my chin and peered into my eyes.

  I licked my lips, waiting for him to press a kiss to them, but he placed it on my forehead instead. “I was going to call you after this was over.”

  “We’ve been doing this dance for a while, Laila. I want more.”

  A knock on the door startled us, and Claudette peeked inside. “Sir, time to go,” Claudette said.

  I stepped out of Sebastian’s arms, cleared my throat, and walked out of the bathroom. I could feel his eyes on me as we went back into the hall. Decklon presented me with a glass of wine, and I smiled at him. Sebastian smirked as he walked onstage to give a speech.

  I JERKED OUT OF SLEEP at the ringing of my phone. I grabbed it off the nightstand and saw a text message from Sebastian.

  Sebastian: Are you still ignoring me?

  Me: Sorry, I had a bad day.

  Sebastian: Can I call you?

  Me:Sure.

  The phone rang a few seconds later. “I couldn’t sleep,” he said.

  “I had a bad dream.”

  “What was it about?”

  “You and your jealousy.” I chuckled.

  He laughed at me. “We all have a little jealousy in us somewhere.”

  “You might be right.”

  “What was the dream about?”

  “The art gala, and you being pissed that I was there with Decklon.”