I look through the crowd, searching for her face. I wait, each minute seeming like an hour.
And then she’s there.
A huge cheer fills the airport as the crowd surrounding me spots her. I can tell she’s taken back slightly, in shock over all the attention. But then she sees me.
As we lock eyes, I feel a shiver shoot up my spine. That’s my fiancée, the woman I’m going to spend the rest of my life with. The thought makes me practically giddy.
She rushes over. “David.”
I pull her close in my embrace. “Veronica.”
I hold her for a moment, never wanting to let her go. But I do, soon enough.
“I wanted to do this again in person, so…” I get down on one knee and reach into my pocket. I’d had time to stop by a jewelry store and pick out a ring properly this time.
“Veronica, you mean the absolute world to me and-”
“Yes,” she says, pulling me back up. “Of course I will.”
I kiss her deeply, and the sounds of the crowd cheering fade away until there is only her. My Veronica, my love.
“Let’s get you back,” I say over the noise. “You must be sick of planes after all this.”
“Not enough to miss seeing you,” she says grabbing her bag. “Lead on, Mr President.”
I grab her hand and lead her back to the car.
“You must be happy,” she says. “The polls are looking very good for you.”
“Fuck the polls,” I reply. “The only thing I care about right now is you.”
She looks at me with her two indescribably beautiful eyes and I just about melt. I must be the luckiest man in the entire world.
We get to the car, but I don’t really remember much of the walk there. It was just an endless sea of camera flashes and shouting crowds, all drowned out by her presence.
I open the limo door for her, and we climb inside. For the first time in an hour, there is silence.
“It’s time to get you back to the White House, Mrs Shepard.”
She blushes. “I’m not a Mrs yet.”
“I know, I was just trying it on,” I reply with a grin. “It fits rather nicely.”
“It does.”
“There’s something else that fits rather nicely,” I say, before whispering something in her ear.
She blushes again, an even darker shade of red this time.
“Mr President, that’s an extremely inappropriate thing to be saying to an innocent White House intern like myself,” she replies. “I ought to report you.”
I gasp in mock horror. “Miss Waters, that sounds like a very serious accusation. I think we’re going to go over exactly what I’m not supposed to do in great detail once we get back to the White House.”
“Oh, I’m not going to wait that long,” she replies, one hand sliding over the front of my pants.
I smile. “No, you certainly will not.”
Epilogue: Veronica
Six months later...
When I wake up, the bed is cold. That’s not particularly surprising. I’m used to waking up alone now.
David isn’t the type to lie around in bed in the mornings. By 6AM, he’s already usually up for his morning run. And after his shower he heads straight to his desk to sit through his morning briefings. But that isn’t what’s happening today.
I imagine he’ll have gone somewhere else. He’s a sucker for tradition at heart. He probably doesn’t want to catch a glimpse of me before I walk down the aisle.
In some ways, he’ll never change. He’s a man that likes complete control, no matter what. Being President is just another way for him to feel more in charge.
But this isn’t just an ordinary day.
Today, we’re getting married. For real.
I never thought my happily-ever-after would be with the President of the United States. But in the months since we got engaged, everything has flown by in a rush of planning and designing.
We’re lucky that David has money from his law career, even despite his father’s debts. My dad earns a good amount, but he never would have been able to afford the wedding that we have planned. The details have spiraled out of control, despite my best efforts to keep everything tightly within budget.
“It’s what the people want,” David had said, laughing as he went over our spending in bed one evening. “If the paparazzi can’t sneak over the fence and take a few snaps of my gorgeous bride, then it’ll be a sad day for America.”
In response, I’d narrowed my eyes suspiciously. “I thought you didn’t care about what people thought anymore.”
“Did I say that?” He’d