The Press (Whamilton)

Ch. 25

Everything was falling apart at the seems.

George Washington is on the brink of resigning, just completely done with all of the president bullshit and ready to sink into obscurity. Thomas Jefferson missed work the other day because he slept in too late. Alexander Hamilton was two hours early to work and running on nothing but black coffee mixed with whatever energy drink was in his fridge.

It was true. The government, as Thomas Jefferson said, was nothing but a gay soap opera and the three men were just the main love triangle of the plot (with a bit of John Adams on the side, to spice things up).

Eliza Schuyler had tried talking to Alexander, trying to convince him to go home early and take a nap or a shower. But, the man refused, saying he had lots of work to do and so little time to do it. She gave up after another few minutes of argument. She tried to find George, only to be told he wanted to be alone and would not be seeing anybody today. Gosh, she almost hit Hercules when he said that. But, with a sigh of disappointment she simply walked away to go find Jefferson.

This wasn't her job really. Fixing the government was never her job (at least not in this kind of way). Eliza went to the bathrooms and called Jefferson. The lights were flickering a little in there. "They should really fix that," She mumbled, as the phone rang several times. Shockingly, she got an answer.

Jefferson rolled over in bed and answered the phone. "Hello?" He tried to say as awake sounding as possible. He was wearing a loose T-Shirt and boxers, cuddling with a pillow in a messy bed that's in an even messier room.

Eliza fiddled with the end of her dress. "Mr. Jefferson? Work started about ten minutes ago. Is everything alright?" She asked.

"Oh God, uh... Yes." Thomas sat up. "Yes, Ms. Schuyler, everything's fine. My alarm must not have gone off. I'll be there as soon as I can. Is the president angry with me?"

Eliza debated on whether to tell the truth or not. She decided to tell the truth. She explained, "Nobody has seen the president all morning. He locked himself in his office and Hercules is guarding the door." Thomas was silent for a moment. He got out of bed and stretched. Eliza asked, "Mr. Jefferson are you still there?"

"Yeah, I'm still here." he sighed, "Look, I'll be over there soon."

"Alright," Eliza rubbed her eyes and said, "I'll see you at the office, Mr. Jefferson."

"Goodbye, Ms. Schuyler. I'll be there as soon as possible." He said before hanging up and tossing his phone aside. Thomas shuffled to his dresser and put on some random socks and a pair of slippers. Then he went downstairs to his kitchen and brewed a cup of coffee. He was in no real hurry. If the president was cooped up in his office then that meant no meetings and that meant he could hang out for awhile.

You never realize how much somebody really means to you. Of course you can think "if I had to choose to end my life or theirs I'd choose mine", but that's just a hypothetical. It obviously never really happens. Jefferson will never be presented the option of his life or John Adams's life. But, that doesn't mean he couldn't lose him.

Thomas sighed, "I lost you this time, didn't I?" He washed out an old mug and poured some coffee in. Black, two sugars. He and John like their coffee the same way. He sniffled and took a sip. "Are you at work?"

John Adams is at work. He's at work with Charles Lee, Henry Knox, and Maria Reynolds, who would all like to get this show on the road.

"Where is the president?" Henry snapped, "He's supposed to be the first one at the meeting! He calls the meeting to order!"

Maria sighed, "I have to admit this is a little unprofessional."

Charles was trying to fix his tie. He still doesn't know how to tie a tie. While googling how to tie a tie Charles asked, "Am I the only one that's noticed Jefferson's an hour late, Washington is locked up in his office, and Hamilton looks like he did a line of crack?"

"Those three dumb asses better get their shit together." Knox growled, ready to flip the meeting table over.

Maria giggled, "You guys do realize that they're all in love, right?" Hamilton and Washington are in love, Jefferson and Hamilton are obviously having a scandal, and... well, I shouldn't explain Jefferson's other partner."

John Adams isn't very bright, it was one of the reasons Thomas loved him. He wasn't stuck up or pretentious about being smart like other politicians.

"He has a second partner besides Hamilton?!" John snapped, his cheeks bright red. "Are you kidding?!"

The three looked at John, who hadn't caught on that Maria was referring to him. It took a few seconds before John slammed his hands on the table and shouted, "I WOULD NEVER-"

"Bullshit." Charles snapped, "Mr. Adams, we all know that you and Mr. Jefferson were a thing."

"Were." Knox pointed out. Adams resisted the urge to throw a pencil at Charles.

Hercules poked his head into the president's office. "Mr. President, sir? The other cabinet members are requesting that you come out of your office." He said.

Washington had his head down on the desk. He glanced at his watch. He took a deep breath and sighed, "I know you're not my assisstant, Hercules, but could you please get me a coffee?"

"Of course, sir." Hercules smiled, "How do you like it?"

"Mosrly creamer, iced, and a little bit of coffee. Thank you, Mulligan." George said, sitting up and straightening his desk. He waited for the door to fully shut before lying his head back down on the desk. He had a headache that felt like knives were stabbing the back of his eyes. Everytime he moved or talked the room seemed to spin.

Washington mumbled, "I should have asked him for painkillers. Or Ibuprofen." The lights flickered. "And a mechanic to fix our damn lights."

Hercules came back a few minutes later. "Sorry for the wait, sir, the coffee machine wasn't very good at cooperating." He explained. George took the coffee and sipped it quietly. Hercules continued, "Sir, if you wouldn't mind me asking, what's going on?"

Washington looked at the body guard with old, tired eyes. "It's-" He stopped a moment. Martha always told him communication was important. "It's a very, very long story. I'm already late as it is to this stupid meeting."

Hercules locked the door and sat in the chair in front of his desk. "Well, I'm sure it can't be too long." Washington took another sip of his coffee before setting it aside and taking a deep breath.