May
We settle into a comfortable status quo, the three of us. During campaign season I don’t get to spend nearly as much time with Elliot as I want but at least I’m used to that. He occasionally asks me to have Jordan accompany him on day trips.
He always asks me first, never Jordan.
Which…I’ve tried to nudge Elliot to take the initiative, but it’s not happening.
And, still, nothing happens between them beyond Jordan riding Elliot’s ass to eat and to stay hydrated.
I’m not sure who is more disappointed by that—Jordan, or me.
Not long before the election, we suffer a massive blow when Lauren Baltazar—Shae’s press secretary, Kev’s ex-wife, and a good friend to all of us—is murdered. Even worse?
Elliot asked Lauren to be his press secretary, and was one of the last people to speak to her before her death.
This comes on the heels of the still-unsolved murder of Chris’ younger brother and sister-in-law over a year ago. Now, their three young children live in the White House. Elliot and I are seen as adopted uncles by the kids, and Jordan is a friend to them as well, spending time with them nearly every day.
One sweet minor victory is that Shae and Chris insist I walk with them, Kev, and Elliot in the inaugural parade.
I ask that Jordan be allowed to walk with me, and he and I both follow Elliot.
Yes, Stella was pissed off she didn’t get to walk.
Fuck her. I’m not happy with her or her new best bud, Congresswoman Grace Martin, who now holds Elliot’s old Congressional seat. Every time Elliot turns around, he’s having to call the White House Counsel’s office to intercede to get Stella to back off some harebrained scheme the two of them have cooked up. Stella pesters Elliot and his staff until WHC calls her to shut her down.
Jordan and I are both busy with work. To say Jordan has flourished in his new career is a massive understatement without adequate comparison. He’s helped roll out PR campaigns for various initiatives, in addition to his other duties. He’s also mastering skills like learning how to read and interpret polls, and has amassed an encyclopedia’s worth of institutional knowledge and political campaign acumen.
He’s amazing and blows me away.
And he’s all mine, my sweet boy.
Meanwhile, we’re five months into the first year of Shae’s second term, and I don’t want to think about the shelf-life of my current career. If Elliot’s not going to de-ass his head after he’s elected POTUS, I can’t be his body man. Because if I am, once Elliot leaves office, if we’re publicly together, that raises all sorts of ethics questions unless we wait another couple of years. The last thing we need is to saddle the administration after Elliot’s, provided they’re Democrats, with a ready-made scandal.
IfElliot runs. He still hasn’t definitively claimed his heir-apparent status. Not publicly. The closest he’s come to doing that was talking to Lauren about it. Unfortunately, since her death, he hasn’t said much about it. There’s still time, though.
Lauren didn’t know about Shae and Kev being involved with each other, but she helped cover what she thought was Chris and Kev’s secret relationship. She also knew about me and Elliot—and Jordan—and was prepared to help us keep our secret, too.
Without her…who knows if Elliot willwantto try to run? In addition to a press secretary, Elliot will need a chief of staff. The one he has doesn’t want to step up to a presidential level, either. I know Kev won’t want to sign on as chief of staff once Shae leaves office, and Elliot’s terrified to bring anyone new into the loop about our secret.
Is it horrible that I’m starting to think of ways to talk Elliot out of running?
It’d be different if he wholeheartedly embraced Jordan, but it’s starting to look like he won’t. Elliot running for POTUS will be one more obstacle, one more excuse. After spending these years with Jordan, and not making any progress with Elliot, I’m ready to try something different to convince Elliot to change his mind.
That leaves me running out of options.
As winter fades and we plow our way through the first hundred days of Shae’s second term, everyone digs in, knowing we need to start working on accomplishing our remaining platform items that we didn’t bring home during the first term.
All while setting things up across the political chessboard, long-term, for the next general election cycle. That way, even if Elliot isn’t the candidate, we can hopefully position the Democratic candidate to win.
Meanwhile, the shadow of the unresolved murders weighs on me almost as much as I know it weighs on Chris and Kev and Shae. That twice now someone could strike so close to home terrifies me because of my experience and knowledge. I’ve instituted new rules for Jordan, ordering him to take cabs, use ride-share services, or get rides from Secret Service, especially if I’m not with him.
Damn sure no more walking any farther than necessary, especially at night.
At least I know Elliot is secure with Secret Service coverage. There are some days you donotwant to have when you are working The Shift, and my former coworkers are experts at what they do. Which is why I’m so confident in their ability to protect my pet.
Even though my duties as body man to President Samuels are different than my duties from when I was protecting presidents and dignitaries, old habits die hard, especially now.
I still find my head is on a swivel when we’re in public.
