Madam President ✓

72. Burnout

Tanya
January 23rd, 2023
9pm

"Do you think I did the right thing?" I ask, staring at the ceiling.

  "What do you mean?"Darrel rolls on his side. "The right thing for the Democratic Party? Or the right thing for you?"

  "Both."

"The job's making you miserable. The Democratic Party will survive.... They've still got Anthony and Evelyn and Edward and.... You get the point. You can't base whether or not you're allowed to be happy on people's assumptions you'd run for a second term."

  "Maybe not but-"

  My bedroom door swings open without a knock. I immediately sit up.

An out of breath Lynn- and a woman whose name I can't exactly place stand a few feet away.

"I'm sorry who....who are you?"

  "Analise Rose, Ma'm- assistant deputy press Secretary."

Ah. Her and I wouldn't have had any day to day interactions. She'd be holed up in Walter's office- helping him with responses for the daily press briefings.

"Why are you in my bedroom?"

Lynn nods as if to say "tell her what you told me."

"I think..... I think Walter's been kidnapped."

———
January 20th,2025

Anthony Breyer stood in an empty congressional office facing the inauguration stage, his sunken eyes and the new wrinkles on his face making him look fifty five instead of thirty five. The past four years hadn't exactly been his idea of a good time- but the past few months were the worst.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and jumped- but relaxed a bit when he felt who it was. Missing two fingers and an eye, she was the one person who could truly understand what he was going through- because she was there when it happened. He himself sometimes felt like he didn't have the right to be as as stressed as he was. The woman standing in front of him now had been through so much- more than any person ever should. No matter how much she tried to get him to forgive himself, he felt a sense of responsibility for what happened. She was only still here because of her insane luck.

He remembered the call he got like it was yesterday.

"There's one survivor, Mr.Vice President!" The panicked voice shouted on the other end. "One!!"

"What's that look for this time?" She asked him. "You're about to be the first elected president in four years."

"They were supposed to be here. They all were. Not just you. " He looked away from the window. He wasn't exactly in a festive mood.

"Dwelling on the past isn't gonna bring any of em' back to life." She shrugged. "I... try to imagine us at our best so I... don't think about that... horrible month the entire world would like to forget. I grieved, sure..... but don't prolong it just to put yourself through even more pain."

The memory was still extremely fresh. He couldn't understand how she talked about it like it happened years ago.

"What else am I supposed to do? Put on a smile and pretend everything's fine?"

"Sweetie-" she said sympathetically. "You're a war times president. You don't have much of a choice."