Madam President

by Cooper, Blayne

  Devlyn glanced at her notes very briefly, not wanting to lose an ounce of the trust and leadership she was trying to communicate by her statement and confident demeanor. "While, overall, the entrance was a successful one, and many members of the organization were taken into custody, there were, unfortunately, casualties on both sides. Twenty-two members of the militia were killed, and fourteen wounded. Our own agencies sustained losses and injuries to their personnel as well. Combined figures show losses to law enforcement organizations in this operation to be ten dead and five wounded."

  She gripped the edge of the podium and increased the intensity of her voice to finish on a strong note. "The people responsible for the five terrorist attacks within our own borders, which took the lives of several innocent citizens and did millions of dollars in damage to government and civilian targets, have been placed under arrest and will be duly charged. A full investigation continues, and I assure you that everyone involved will be brought to justice. Everything that has happened over the course of this operation happened only after I had been briefed and had given my full consent. I am the only person who should be held responsible for finding the answers to any questions that might arise out of the actions taken under my direction today. As one of my predecessors said, 'The buck stops here'. I am your President, and I will be held accountable."

  Dev knew that last bit was going to drive her entire staff right up the wall. It hadn't been a part of the original speech, but she didn't want there to be any doubt about who had made the decisions in this matter, and who would take the blame for any missteps. "Thank you, ladies and gentlemen."

  She took the time to unbutton her blazer and collect her notes, then she turned and left the room. As she knew they would be, David and Sharon were waiting for her with both their mouths open. "Not a word right now. You can both yell at me later." Dev followed her Secret Service agents through the passages that led back to her hotel room. She did so silently, rereading a list of dead and wounded from the compound raid. She had highlighted the fourth and fifth names on the list; Lisa Lindsay, age eight, and Brian Lindsay, age six. Seeing the words made her sick to her stomach. These were two names she would never forget.

  God help me, I got them killed. And now I get to live with that for the rest of my life.

  CHAPTER IX

  September 2021

  Wednesday, September 1st

  LAUREN GLANCED AT her watch again and plopped down on her bed, scattering a handful of envelopes. She sighed and started to tear open another letter. Dev was supposed to have called more than an hour and a half ago, and she needed something to do while she waited. So she was going over the last few days' mail, which was starting to form a messy pile on her desk.

  "C'mon, Devlyn," she grumbled to herself. "Hurry it up. I've got an appointment in an hour." Lauren discarded several pieces of junk mail and began looking over some documents from her publisher. She laughed. Wayne always mixed some personal correspondence in with the business documents he sent. He was ‘old school' and insisted that his authors get paper copies of their books as well as contracts. Technology be damned. This meant that Lauren occasionally got an actual letter. In handwriting! Nobody would believe it.

  Wayne had never believed that she and Dev were only friends. Even in the very beginning, when it was actually true. But once she'd admitted to him that they were in fact dating, the man had become relentless, hammering Lauren for juicy details of her relationship and prodding her forward, telling her she'd been alone far too long. "You were damned right about that, Wayne." The writer looked at her watch again and frowned.

  She was about to toss his letter in the waste bin next to her bed, when she felt something hard in the envelope. She peeked inside and found a small disk. "Ooooo, a present! You might have said something, Wayne," she mumbled. "I almost threw it away."

  Lauren hopped off the bed and checked her watch one last time. She shrugged. "Might as well kill a few minutes while I'm waiting on Wonder Woman. If she calls at all, that is." She moved to the entertainment center that was hidden inside an antique, cherry cabinet. Opening the door, she slid the shiny circle into her videodisc player, wondering what it could be. Not that she was complaining. She'd only seen one movie all year, and that was when Dev had arranged for the special screening in the White House on their first date, over two months ago.

  She scrambled back to her bed and nearly tripped over the crate that was filled with a sleeping Gremlin, Princess and their puppies.

  A three-dimensional image of a beautiful, middle-aged woman, wearing a white terry cloth bathrobe and sitting on a recliner flared to life, and her dulcet tones filled Lauren's room. "Starlight Publishing presents, the videodisc version of the best selling novel: Lesbian Loving: A Step By Step Guide to Satisfaction."

  Lauren's mouth dropped open. "Why is everyone sending me instructions? Do I look totally inept or something?!"

  "I'm Angela Pickard. And this is my lovely partner, Francine." She made a ‘come hither' motion with her index finger, and a tall, stacked brunette suddenly came into view as she joined her mate.

  "Oh, my God, Wayne! You are such a shithead," Lauren laughed, covering her eyes.

  "Come with me and Francine on a journey of self-exploration, enlightenment, and sexual satisfaction."

  Lauren uncovered her eyes and smirked. "But will you get naked?"

  "Chapter One: Getting to know each other's bodies."

  "Oh, my." Gray eyes widened. "We have naked."

  * * *

  Dev looked at Liza, who tapped her watch. The President had been in such a mood lately that her assistant hated to say anything. Then again, that was her job. "Madam President, you're incredibly late."

  "Aren't I always?" Dev answered moodily as she circled her hotel suite, looking for the phone. She waved Liza off with an impatient hand. "I know. I know. But I just need five minutes. Please? I'm already late. What difference could five minutes make now?"

  Liza sighed. "Ma'am-"

  "I'll give you the state of Arizona."

  Liza smiled. "I don't think you can do that, ma'am."

  "Okay, I won't make you take one of the puglies." Dev crossed long arms and waited.

  "You just bought yourself five minutes, Madam President."

  "Wonderful!" Dev practically dove for the phone, which turned out to be on the night stand by the bed. The President always traveled with her own communications equipment, and her staff knew just where she liked things placed. Unfortunately, some hotel room electrical layouts weren't as accommodating to Dev's preferences as others.

  Liza snorted softly and left the President to her call.

  But before the brunette could give her access codes, David entered her suite without knocking. "Dev-"

  "Go away!" She grabbed a throw pillow from the bed and threw it at him with deadly accuracy. "I'm calling my girlfriend." The words sounded strange and thrilling to Dev's ears, and she smiled for the first time all day.

  David grinned indulgently. Being in love suited Dev. "Liza said you aren't gonna make her take one of those hideous dogs." He threw the pillow back, hitting Dev right in the head, earning a glare as the President used a hand to straighten the shock of hair that was now covering her eyes.

  "Go away!" she hissed. "I only have a few minutes, and I'm already nearly two hours late. Although Lauren probably gave up on this call ages ago."

  "Awwwww..." David stuck out his lower lip. "Do you want to be alone so you can lie on the bed and coo and ‘ahhh' like a love-struck teenager?"

  "No," Dev defended. "I'm going to sit up straight and do my best to look irresistible. Michael made sure this place had video link capability before we booked it. I hate being stuck without it."

  David rolled his eyes, then took on a more serious expression. "Listen, Dev, I know how much you want to talk to Lauren, but we're due at the Governor's mansion in fifteen minutes, and it's a thirty-five minute drive."

  Dev glared at her friend and began manually entering her sec
urity access codes and dialing Lauren's number. She was calling Lauren. She needed to hear her voice. To see her smile. For once, the rest of the world could just wait. "Tell me, David, what is the Governor of Georgia gonna do to me if I'm late? Throw a rotten peach at me?"

  David opened his mouth to speak, and Dev held up her hand, forestalling any further comment. "If you don't give me five minutes alone, to speak with Lauren in peace, I'm going to march across this room and snap your scrawny neck."

  "Scrawny!"

  "David," Dev groaned. "Out! Or you're getting two of Grem's puppies!"

  David's eyes went round, and he threw his hands up in defeat. "No need to be cruel. I'll just call the Governor and let him know we're running a little behind schedule." He didn't wait for an answer; instead, he hightailed it out of the room just as the sound of the ringing phone in Lauren's room filled the suite.

  * * *

  Lauren's head jerked up at the sound of the phone. "Jesus," she gasped, surprised by the interruption in her viewing pleasure.

  Angela Pickard smiled broadly. "You're doing wonderfully. I just know you are," she encouraged in a singsong voice. "And now it's time to move forward. Chapter Four: Multiple Orgasms - Making The Dream a Reality."

  The writer jumped off the bed and began hunting for the remote control. Not finding it immediately, she headed for her videodisc player. She opened the entertainment center door and pressed the ‘off' button just as her phone rang for the second time. Nothing happened. She pressed it again. Still nothing. "Shit!" Lauren jammed her finger down hard on the button. She heard a light clicking sound as the button broke off and fell into the machine itself. Lauren blinked at the hole in the front of the machine then began cursing like a sailor called home early from leave. Her eyes frantically searched the machine for a volume control button, but she realized belatedly that the only volume control was on the remote.

  Lauren screamed in frustration. The phone rang a third time.

  "I'm coming!" Lauren called out uselessly as she tore at the covers of the bed looking for the remote.

  Another ring.

  "Coming!"

  "Oh, yes, baby!" Francine threw her head back in ecstasy as the video's host, Angela, slid her hands up the brunette's naked body and began messaging ample breasts.

  "I meant me. I can hear that you're coming," Lauren growled. She jammed the ‘off' button again, grunting with abject frustration when nothing happened, and the phone rang a fifth time. She tried to lift out the disc player to yank the plug, but it was bolted to the cabinet, and she couldn't fit her hand behind it to reach the cord. Not wanting to miss Dev's call, Lauren finally began calling out her access codes as she darted to the side of the cabinet and tried to reach behind it for the power cord. With any other phone she could just answer. But not in the White House.

  The phone dutifully processed Lauren's numbers and instantly said, in a clear, warm voice, "Video conference requested."

  Lauren stretched out to reach the plug, but her fingertips could only graze its edge.

  "Yes! Oh, Angela! Yes, give it to me! I want it!" Francine screamed.

  Lauren's eyes widened when she heard the words. She pushed away from the cherry wood cabinet and desperately instructed the phone, "No. No video conference. Audio only. No! No! NO!" But it was too late, and Dev began to materialize in front of her.

  Lauren whirled around, and her jaw dropped at the vivid, three-dimensional image of the two women, now both naked, kissing deeply, and touching each other intimately. For a moment she just stared, mouth agape, until the phone snapped her out of her haze.

  Angela pulled away from her partner and looked directly at Lauren. "I recommend direct stimulation."

  "Oh, yes," Francine purred happily.

  "Uh, Lauren?"

  The blonde spun around at the very familiar voice and found herself looking right into confused, blue eyes. "Hi, Devlyn," she squeaked, giving the President a weak wave.

  A well-shaped eyebrow crawled up Dev's forehead and stayed there. "I know we've been taking things slowly-"

  "Again! Again! Again!" Francine screamed at the top of her lungs, while Angela calmly described exactly what she was doing to earn such an enthusiastic response from her lover.

  Lauren covered her face with her hands. "Sweet Jesus, just take me know," she mumbled into her palms. "Please. Right now. This very second."

  Dev continued undaunted. "But, sweetheart, was it really necessary to start without me? I'm hurt," she teased, recognizing the slightly distorted scene before her as a video playing in the background. A very interesting video. Who knew Lauren was so naughty?

  "Oh, Angela! Another one?" Francine squealed delightedly at the prospect. "But I can't." A pause. "Ohhhhhh... I can! I can!"

  Dev's second eyebrow joined its twin. "Hurt, but impressed. Very impressed."

  Lauren opened her fingers and peeked out at Devlyn, who was wearing a bemused grin. She dragged her fingers up into her hair, forming an interesting, Mohawk-like hairstyle. "I can't make it stop, Devlyn!"

  "You lost the clicker again, didn't you?" Dev asked knowingly.

  "Again, Angela? No, I can't." She was nearly sobbing.

  "Francine, love, you can, baby. I know you can."

  "Yes!" Francine screamed again. "I can!"

  Lauren could only whimper and pray a lightning bolt would miraculously strike her directly in the forehead and put a stop to this wretched, endless torture.

  Dev shook her head and chuckled. The color of her friend's face was a sight to behold, the vivid, red tint making Lauren's pale eyebrows appear nearly white. "Did you try the night stand?"

  Gray eyes scanned it. "Not there."

  "The bed?"

  A shake of the head. "Already tried that."

  Both women suddenly glanced down when they heard the pitter-patter of tiny, scampering feet. "The puglies!" they shouted in unison. And, sure enough, a remote/chew toy was lying on the floor, under the bed.

  Lauren retrieved it with a mumbled prayer of thanks. And, with a quick press of the button, Angela and Francine disappeared.

  Dev smirked at her blushing friend. God, she's pretty. "So, Lauren-"

  "Don't ask."

  "But-"

  "If you love me, you'll drop it."

  Devlyn began to pout. "Pleeeeeeeeease." She batted long eyelashes.

  Throwing her hands in the air, Lauren looked up beseechingly and spoke to a cream-colored, plaster ceiling. "What exactly did I do to deserve this?"

  Friday, September 3rd

  "Grandma! Grandpa!" Ashley screeched. The little girl flung herself at Frank Marlowe, winding her arms and legs around him like a vine that had attached itself to a tall tree. He leaned down and scrubbed his soft beard against Ashley's cheeks, laughing as she squirmed and giggled with delight

  His gaze dropped to Chris and Aaron. "Hi, boys." The white-haired man continued to torment his granddaughter as he spoke to his grandsons. "We've missed you. You're growing like da-"

  A sharp glance from Janet silenced him.

  "Like weeds," he finished sheepishly.

  "We missed you too!" Aaron chimed in from his position in his grandmother's embrace.

  Christopher nodded his head wildly, agreeing with his brother Aaron as he waited impatiently for an open spot with a grandparent.

  Janet Marlowe extended her free arm, and Chris joined his brother.