AllFreeNovel
Share Us
What’s the right way to respond?
Well, the right way was to never be in a situation like this where you needed to worry about it. Solve the problem before it arises. Didn’t I relearn that this afternoon?
There’s a rule in the Service that isn’t written down: don’t make trouble for the president.
I’m the last thing he needs to be troubled with. Me and these reckless thoughts, this wildness inside me.
Me: The Service can arrange an outing for you whenever you want to go back to California.
Brennan: Sure. Thank you.
More silence. I finish my beer, throw away my trash, leave. In my SUV, I stare at our text thread, as if I haven’t been holding the phone in my hand this entire time and don’t know it hasn’t vibrated with any incoming message.
Don’t trouble the president. Leave him be.
I leave him be all the way back to Rowley, while my mind spins and frets and chews over our last messages. Restless. Hemmed in. I’d love to show you the cliffs on Baker Beach.
I’m texting as soon as I throw my SUV into park outside the dormitory.
Me: Hey, so. Just a thought. There’s a jogging track around the South Lawn. Would you want to run it? It’s not like running beside the ocean, but it’s better than a treadmill.
My fingers tap the side of the burner phone. My foot joins in, until I’m like a drummer working up to a riff at a blues dive off Decatur Street.
Give him a minute, Reese.
I haul myself up to my room, passing a gaggle of agents I know from other field offices with a chin lift and a distracted wave. There’s what sounds like a pretty decent party underway two floors down and around the corner. I’m invited, but I wave off, pulling the kind of face you do when you’ve got loads of work and that’s your excuse for not going out.
As soon as my key hits the lock, the burner vibrates.
Brennan: Do you run?
Me: I do.
My next thought fires like a busted synapse, a cruise missile without guidance software.
Me: Want to run together?
Brennan: We can?
Me: Sure.
Definitely not. Bravado buoys me, though, and I keep going with my bullshit.
Me: I love the South Lawn. It’s private, and the gardens out there are great. I’ll take any excuse to hit that track.
Brennan: Oh, I see. You’re using me. :)
My shoulders finally relax. I’ve got him back, at least enough to tease and joke around. Brennan Walker wraps himself in a curtain of quiet solemnity, but I’ve been given a peek at a warmth he guards.
Me: I am definitely using you. :)
And I barrel further ahead.
Me: We could run when I get back. Do you want to meet up in the mornings?
His reply seems to take forever. The more the dots bounce, the more certain I am that he’s going to chew me out, tell me how inappropriate I’m being, how I’m rude and an asshole to boot. Bounce, stop. Bounce, stop.
Brennan: I’d like that.
