Reappearance of Summmer

by D J Small

  Addison walked over to her. “Don’t get too comfortable. I’m sure some crisis is bound to flare up in the middle of dinner.”

  “Bite your tongue,” Val shot back, and Addison chuckled. “Where are the guests at in their arrival?”

  Addison adjusted one of the thick straps of her gown so it rested off of her shoulder properly. “They are being greeted by Nina and enjoying pre-dinner drinks. They’re waiting for you.”

  Val released a tired sigh and waved her hand in the air. “I guess we should get on with it.” The sooner dinner was over, the sooner she could get into her sweatpants and mope around while thinking about Summer, which she had done every night following their conversation a few days ago.

  She and Addison left the room, and as they walked down the center hall Val saw Summer standing at the top of the grand staircase wearing her dress uniform. Val’s heart began to beat a little faster as hope and joy ignited inside of her. When the three of them were close enough, Addison excused herself. “I’m going to go help Nina with the guests.”

  She headed down the stairs leaving Val and Summer alone. “What are you doing?”

  Summer smiled a little. “Currently taking in the most breathtaking woman to ever walk this Earth.”

  Val chuckled as tears formed in her eyes. “I’m not talking about that.”

  “I know,” Summer said, giving her a slight nod. She reached for Val’s hand and took a gentle hold of it. Their eyes met as she let out a long sigh. “I have a lot to work through, and I don’t know how long it’s going to take me for me to accomplish that, but what I do know is that you shouldn’t have to wait for me. I don’t want you to.”

  Val anxiously waited for Summer to continue, because there seemed to be more she wanted to say.

  Summer took a deep breath. “I keep running away from you and pushing you away, and I need to stop doing that. You know what I am, and how I am, but you still have yet to leave me.” She sighed. “I’m done running away, but I don’t know what this means for us. I meant what I said about focusing on me first, though, because it is a vital step in how we move forward.”

  “I know it is,” Val acknowledged.

  Summer smiled. “So, we’re going to navigate this thing together and see where we end up. Sound good?”

  Val chuckled. “It sounds more than good.”

  “Good,” Summer said with a nod. She offered Val her arm. “Well, Madam President, I do believe we have a fancy dinner to attend.”

  “This isn’t too much for you?” Val asked as she took hold of Summer’s arm.

  Summer’s smile fell a little when she replied, “It is, but as long as I have you, I’ll be okay.”

  The two of them stood at the top of the stairs smiling at each other. Val knew the road ahead of them would be a long and arduous one, but she believed as long as they traveled it together, they would be okay. She gave Summer’s arm a gentle squeeze. “Let’s go to dinner, Colonel.” The two of them descended the stairs, making their first public appearance in almost three years.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Why Val had decided to go running in the middle of the day, in the middle of August, was beyond Summer, but she was ready to go back to the main house and sit in the air conditioning for the rest of her life. “I thought you were only inviting our parents for dinner? Not to stay for the rest of the week,” Summer argued as they ran on the path that went through the woods surrounding Camp David.

  Several Secret Service agents ran with them, along with Ryan and a few other members of Summer’s security detail. “Oh, you must have fell and hit your head if you think I willingly invited them to stay with us for the rest of our time here,” Val countered. “I’ve enjoyed having it be just the two of us. Do I really look like someone who would want to ruin that?”

  Summer grunted. Since Val possessed a wicked passive-aggressive streak, it was possible. “I am not being left alone with your father after we tell them we’ve been seeing each other for the last three months.”

  “Why? Are you afraid to tell him you have no intention of marrying me again?”

  Summer came to a sudden stop. “Yes, that’s exactly why. You know he will let me have it, considering the last few years, and you know I can’t tell him to shove it like I would with anyone else.”

  Val turned and jogged back to where Summer stood, reaching out to rub her upper arm. “I know, sweetheart, and I won’t leave you alone with him. I’m sorry, it was supposed to be a joke.”

  “Bad. Joke.” Summer said pointedly. Their relationship had been slow going for the last few months, and it had been made even slower due to Summer’s therapy being more complicated than either of them realized. Summer knew she was messed up, but she hadn’t known the severe extent of her issues. There had been a few setbacks, but Val helped her work through the smaller pieces of it while she and Kareem worked through the bigger chunks of her psyche.

  Kareem hadn’t been too thrilled when Summer told him she and Val were going to try being in a relationship, and he was equally pissed when they had formalized it a month ago. He told Summer she wasn’t stable enough to be in such a high-profile relationship, but Summer had assured him that she and Val would figure it out, and they had.

  Summer was only Val’s girlfriend. Being at that level gave her the flexibility to not have to make so many public appearances, and she got to remain in her apartment and not the White House. The public appearances she did make were on her terms, and over the last few months, Summer had escorted Val to a number of White House events despite the anxiety she still felt when it came to them.

  Of course, the press were speculating about their relationship and if they would remarry, but Summer refused to marry Val again while she was still president. The pressure of being first spouse would be too much for her, and could result in her going back to square one. Neither of them wanted her to do that, so they had agreed to table the topic until after Val’s second term.

  Val sighed. “Okay, I get it. I’ll tell him something. Besides neither of us care about marriage; we only did it to make our parents happy and political reasons.” She motioned towards the path with her head. “Let’s keep going. We’ve got another mile to go before we need to head back.” They continued their run, and Val asked, “Do you really have to go to California next week?”

  Summer grinned at her. “Aw, is somebody going to miss me?”

  Val gave her a gentle shove. “You’re such an ass.”

  The two of them shared a chuckle. “Yes, I do have to go to California. I have to check on recovery, but from what I’m told, things are progressing quite well. Some of the construction teams have hired locals to help with repairs and construction.”

  “That’s good news.”

  Summer nodded. “It is. Oh, and you shouldn’t miss me too much, since you’ll be going to Australia.”

  “Don’t remind me.” Val grinned. “Sure you don’t want to come?”

  Summer rolled her eyes and began to run faster, moving ahead of Val.

  “Hey, you can’t run ahead of the president!” Val yelled behind her as she picked up her pace.

  Summer shouted over her shoulder, “I think I can since the president is my girlfriend.”

  “Another reason for you not to do it!”

  Summer laughed as she continued to run.

  Never in a million years did she think she and Val would get back together and be in a good place. She used to think she would never get help either, but had also proved herself wrong on that front.

  The numerous and recent changes to her life had made her realize that perhaps her old life was just within reach. It would be a little different, but a good kind of different. A kind of different which caused her to imagine a quiet life with Val instead of the adventurous one they had originally planned to have when they first got married.

  Summer glanced over her shoulder to look at Val, and the smile on her face had her re-evaluating the thought. There was still adventure left for them, and
it would be as exciting as they had initially planned, however the only thing Summer cared about was having Val there. The rest was insignificant.

  About The Author

  There’s probably a lot that could be said about DJ, but sticking to the basics is probably for the best. DJ is a small town guy located in Richmond, VA. He spends his time thinking about situations he would like to put his various characters in. Sometimes he regrets those situations.

  When he’s not coming up with stories and getting lost in them, DJ can be found reading or catching up on the latest Shonda Rhimes show. He hopes to one day to be under her employ.

  Other than that, DJ is a normal human who is looking to share his gift of storytelling, and is humbled by the folks who read his work.

  Be sure to follow him on Twitter and don’t forget to check out his other books on Amazon.