Sam opened the door of her car. 'All set ma'am. Dr. Richelieu is already seated and your table is set a little apart from the general restaurant to give you some privacy', he said, slipping into his now customary spot directly behind her. 'Thank you', she replied, as she followed the agents ahead and entered the space.
The room was darker than the beautiful sunshine outside and it took her a moment to adjust. The restaurant was busy and a smattering of applause broke out, gasps of 'Dr. Biden' and exclamations of 'First Lady' and 'Thank you Jill!' enveloped her. She smiled and waved, stopping for a selfie with a young family as she approached her table. 'Tell Joe we love him', someone called across the room, she turned and waved in their direction, 'I will!', she promised. Grateful to them for their support.
Despite all of the warnings; the possibility of someone watching her, or maybe watching Louis, or doing both; and Joe's request to be cautious filling her ears she couldn't help but smile when she saw Louis standing by the tale, ready to greet her. They shook hands at first but then she embraced him, like the friend she felt him to be.
He reminded her of Joe when he pulled out her chair and waited for her to be seated before he took his own place. 'It's nice to see there are still some gentlemen around', she said, 'thank you'. 'Well, I know you're married to one so I'd better keep my standards up', he smiled back. 'I hope President Biden is well?' he asked.
'Joe is doing great, he sends his regards', she replied, noting that he was using formal terms now. Was that because they were meeting in person and her position was so obvious or because he had a guilty conscience? she wondered.
'I'm glad to see you looking so well', he said, placing his napkin neatly across his knee as they settled into their seats. 'I understand that you have had a difficult time of late', he said, his voice intense. 'I have the utmost admiration for the way you have handled two difficult situations. I sincerely hope you are doing as well as you seem', he said.
She was taken aback by his fervor, obviously it showed in her face.
Seeing her expression he leaned forward again. He had more to say but he was unsure how far he should go. He felt at sea. He dared to think that they were friends, he genuinely cared about them both but was he being ridiculous? She was the first lady, Joe the president. Just because they had shared a lovely few hours in Paris, and he'd helped out with the painting didn't mean they were buddies. But the welcome they gave him at the State visit seemed genuine.
Then there was the 'incident', as he called it, and the dinner they were supposed to have was never mentioned again.
He returned to Paris and hadn't heard anything until Jill rang him last week. But the first couple had been through so much these past few months. He was way down the list of people they had to think about but he needed someone to confide in right now and he wasn't sure where else to turn. What happened that day when Jill and he were scheduled to talk on zoom was the last straw. He knew he needed to see her in person. Needed to warn her. He had to tread carefully, but he was anxious too.
She was looking expectantly at him across the table. He decided to go with the least contentious subject first. And the one that he suspected caused her more upset. Not that it was up to him to grade her feelings.
He sighed again.
He was so confused about how to approach this whole subject. He took a breath, decided to just jump straight in.
'I know you have worked so much in the area of cancer research and prevention', he said, his words coming quickly. 'And, well, your son ... losing your son ... not that it was the same thing ... well obviously it was .. but ...' he took a deep breath, steadied himself.
