Dynasty - John F Kennedy

XII

November 4th, 1952

At yet another formal gathering at the Kennedy Compound in Hyannis Port, Maddie stood leaned against the wall overlooking the crowd of campaign staffers and family, all with determined looks in their eyes. They all felt it in the room: They were going to make a change. And they would do so by getting Jack elected senator. Tonight was the night they would find out if all their hard work had been worthwhile.

Both feelings of fear, joy, and pride filled Maddie this night. She had grown used to such ambivalence at this point as she felt it with almost everything in her life. But something about tonight made her particularly anxious, and she felt terrible for feeling so. The selfish side of her didn't want him to win. She knew it would mean that work would only fill up more of his time. And she was beginning to wonder how small part of his life she, and before long their baby, would be reduced to.

Her eyes traveled to Jack, a thing she had found herself often doing. A man of such vision. She admired him. His arms were spread in a motion, gesticulating vividly as he, very clearly, was telling a story. About five men were in his audience, and all of them were captivated by his confidence and charm, themselves feeling confident in their support of him.

Exhausted by the presence of greatness, Maddie excused her way to the kitchen. Just as she was lost in thought, focusing on the running water in front of her, a nasal yet soft voice made her jump:

"Anything I can get for you, Mrs. Kennedy?"

Maddie turned around and met a misty pair of blue eyes. The blonde woman was awaiting a response, but it took Maddie a few seconds to come to her senses.

"No thanks, darling, I'm fine," she responded to the woman who looked some years her junior.

The blonde nodded at Maddie's attire, "what a lovely dress."

A small huff escaped Maddie's mouth, "It was gifted to me by my mother-in-law, probably prevent me from showing too much cleavage," she joked, gaining a laugh from the young woman. The burgundy attire gifted to her by Rose made her feel overly pregnant and plain boring. It was, in fact, so dull-looking that she almost put on a pair of pants instead. Oh, how she would have loved to see her inlaws reaction to that.

"You can call me Maddie, by the way. And what can I call you?"

The blonde offered a genuine smile, "I'm Betty. Betty Michaels."

"And what's your role in this play tonight, Betty?"

"I'm Robert's secretary, but I don't really have any obligations tonight, so I'm just helping where I can," she grinned so brilliantly that Maddie felt blinded.

Maddie learned that Betty was 23 and had started as a secretary to Robert only two weeks ago. It was refreshing to talk to someone who wasn't yet familiar with politics and how it worked in practice.

Betty looked at her hands and then at Maddie, "I've got to tell you, Mrs. Kenne- Maddie," she corrected herself, "I greatly admire you and your husband. I think you are nothing short of dreamy. I hope I get to have that one day."

Maddie bit her lip, thinking of an appropriate response that wouldn't reveal that her life was quite miserable at times, though she, on paper, had everything she would ever want, "You're too sweet. I'm sure you'll find precisely the path that's right for you," Maddie managed to say when she wanted to yell that believing in the perfect marriage eventually would only bring her heartbreak.

"Thanks," Betty didn't know what else to say, so the two stood in uncomfortable silence until Maddie took action, "lovely to chat with you, Betty," she smiled, ending the conversation by turning on her heel.