“Yeah. You kissed the boy in public.”
“I didn’t know anyone could see us! The only people around were detail. We were inside.”
“You got careless, Leo,” I say. “Show of hands Leo gets to be the one to call Ily.” I hold up my hand. Jordan’s shoots up, as do the hands of the other three. “Motion carries,” I say. “Congrats—youcan call Ily.Rightnow.”
“Fuck.” He returns Casey-Marie’s phone to her. “I know she’s in the transition office at the EEOB.”
That’s just across the street, and many of the West Wing and East Wing staff actually work out of there. Leo uses the phone on the end table by one of the sofas to call her and request she comes over.
While he’s doing that I tell Declan to inform the people we were meeting with to wait in the Cabinet Room. The only good thing about being POTUS is that I don’t need to make an excuse why there’s a delay.
Although I have a feeling no one will need to be Sherlock fucking Holmes to figure it out after the fact.
“How do you want to spin this?” Angie asks, directing the question to Casey-Marie.
“I’m thinking. People know Jordan used to be with Leo years ago, right?” She glances at him.
“Yeah,” Leo says.
“Neither of you ever lied on your clearance paperwork, did you?”
Leo shakes his head. “Nope.”
“Okay, then.” She slowly paces and I see not just my chief of staff but the cutthroat attorney’s mind at work. “Then let’s stay as close to the truth as we can.”
She stops and looks at me. “Leo and Jordan were involved with each other, with your full knowledge and permission. They’re both consenting adults. It’s part of the reason you hired Jordan,becauseyou trusted him not just with his duties, but with your privacy. Jordan never worked in Leo’s office—he worked inyours. Nothing Leo and Jordan did violated any laws. Might look a little iffy but appearances and legalities are two different things.
“Jordan officially resigned after the election so he could more easily handle personal matters for all three of you without worrying about running afoul of any laws, and once he’s no longer an employee, it honestly doesn’t matter if you fuck him on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, because he’s a consenting adult who’s not your employee.”
She holds up her hands. “You’ve always loved Jordan, and he loves you, but you’ve denied yourselves. Now, with the end of your term around the corner, he resigned so the three of you can finally formalize a relationship between the three of you, one you’ve denied yourselves for years because of the legalities.” She wipes her hands together. “There—done.”
Angie looks skeptical and pretends to be a reporter. “Ms. Shibata, are you trying to tell us President Woodley has been okay with his husband having an affair with Mr. Walsh?”
Casey-Marie doesn’t even blink. “President Woodley’s personal life is a private matter. Everyone is a consenting adult, everyone’s consenting to the arrangement, and no laws have been broken. There was outrage when President Woodley finally came out as gay. Is it any wonder they wanted to conceal this aspect as long as possible?”
Angie doesn’t let up. “So you’re saying Mr. Cruzhasbeen having an affair with Mr. Walsh?”
“Would you like to talk aboutyourromantic partners, Reporter Joe Doe of theSucksalot Press?” Casey-Marie snarks.
“I’mnot the president of the United States,” Angie says.
Casey-Marie smiles. “Neither is Mr. Cruz.”
“Booyah,” Declan mutters. “Point: press secretary.”
Angie snorts. “It won’t be that easy.”
Meanwhile, Jordan’s gone quiet, standing there with his hands shoved in his pockets. “I’ll leave,” he says. “I’ll move out. Today.”
“Like fuckinghellyou will,” Leo says.
“Yeah,” Angie adds. “I gotta say, that plays worse in the long-run. Looks like there’s guilt.”
Ily arrives. Five minutes later, after Leo’s summarized the issue and Ily’s not neutering us.
Which is a bonus, I guess.
She takes a moment to think and none of us interrupt.
