Madame President - Tara Sue Me Page 0,81
stop. “That was a horrible response I gave to your answer to the question I asked. I do hope you can forgive me.”
“Are you okay?” she asks me this time.
“I don’t think so, but I plan to be good as almost-new soon.”
She looks at me for a long minute before stating, “Navin isn’t in the restroom, is he?”
“No, Mrs. Hazar. He’s not.”
“You’re on your way back from talking with him, aren’t you?” she looks mortified. “Oh, dear. And you don’t look like things went very well.”
I should probably answer her but I don’t think I can. I can talk about anything else she wants, anything except Navin.
“Don’t answer that,” she says. “What a horrible thing to ask a person. Of course it didn’t go well.” She closes her eyes and when she opens them, she takes both of my hands in hers. “I don’t know what happened between you and my son, and I don’t want to know. You’re both highly intelligent and can figure things out on your own. I will share with you that I know for a fact he has deep feelings for you. If you can’t believe anything he told you, believe me.”
I want to. I want to believe both of them.
Only it isn’t possible at this exact moment. So instead of agreeing with her, I give her hands a gentle squeeze. “Thank you. Your family means the world to me and your son is an outstanding man. I hold him in the highest regard and always will.”
She asks if she can hug me, and I answer by hugging her instead.
“He’s in the library,” I tell her. “Or at least he was when I left. I can have someone take you there if you would like.”
She looks in the direction I came from and shakes her head. “I think I’ll head back with you and give him some time to be alone. If what happened between the two of you made you that upset, I can’t imagine he’s any better. And he’ll want to be alone for a bit.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
TWO YEARS LATER
Her
The White House
Washington DC
“Madame President!”
“Madame President!”
The news hounds keep repeating it over and over. Like I can’t hear them so they need to speak louder. Or that when I said, “No more questions,” it didn’t apply to them. Wrangling the press requires a bit of magic, a little finesse, and a lot of hard love. Today is a hard love day.
I continue walking until I hit the Oval Office and turn around so I can deal with David and get on with the remainder of my day.
“Madame President.” He follows me into the office, not bothering to close the door. “Was that really necessary?”
He’s upset because I wasn’t able to talk about my plan to reorganize several departments in order to maximize efficiencies. I’m upset as well, but I’m not going to play games with anyone.
“Yes, it was necessary. I answered three of their questions and then I told them I would not be answering any further questions about Prince Nicholas and the press conference was over if they asked one.” I glance to my side where Nicole is standing with my calendar. I can afford a few minutes with David, especially since the press conference was cut short. “They decided to test me. I had to follow through.”
He knows this as well as I do. What he doesn’t know is who the reporter was who asked the question. Rachelle, from The Times, is still a mean girl, trying everything she can to make me look bad. Nothing’s worked yet, however her latest attempt came close.
Seconds after my warning, her hand shot up with her question, “Madame President, isn’t it true you turned down Prince Nicholas because you secretly harbor feelings for Navin Hazar?”
Two years later, the sound of his name still holds the power to hit me square in the chest. Fortunately, I’m now an expert in covering that pain. At least I am in public.
“I understand, Madame President,” David says.
He leaves and I tell Nicole to hold calls and visits for ten minutes. Hearing Navin’s name had definitely thrown me for a loop.
Over the last two years we’ve kept in touch, but only briefly and only a few times, and always via emails or texts. I still don’t know where he is or what he’s doing. He’s never offered to tell, and I haven’t asked. Nor have I asked the questions most important to me. When is he coming back? Is he coming