Shakeup

3

Stone, Viv, and Dino were driven to the White House, where they were put through the entry drill again, then taken up to the family quarters. They were seated in front of the fireplace while a butler took their drink orders.

Holly swept into the room as they took their first sip, and they were all on their feet.

“Oh, sit down,” Holly said, taking a seat next to Stone. “It’s just us.”

“You’d better get used to it,” Stone said. “It’s going to happen every time you walk into a room, for the rest of your life.”

“I hate it when you’re right,” she said, accepting delivery of her drink. “This one’s going to have to last for the first half of the evening,” she said, raising her glass. “I’m going to have to remain semi-sober, which is a fine point somewhere between being charming and being an embarrassment.”

“Don’t worry,” Stone said. “You’ll do fine.”

Half an hour later the butler entered. “Excuse me, Madam President,” he said. “Your car is ready.”

There were four balls at which Holly had to make an appearance. The first was for moderate donors and lower-level campaign staff, at an enormous armory somewhere. Holly shook about five hundred hands, then a unit of the United States Marine Band started to play a waltz. Stone took Holly’s hand and let her lead him to the floor, which everyone cleared, except photographers and cameramen with handheld TV cameras. They danced two numbers, then were whisked out of the building and on to ball number two, in a hotel ballroom, which was peopled by larger donors and campaign staff who were being retained to work at the White House.

Holly shook another five hundred hands. She and Stone waltzed once and boogied once, in a restrained manner, then worked their way out of the building. Stone could see flashes of light in his eyeballs, induced by the strobes of the pro photographers.

The third ball was in a grander hotel ballroom and their work was a carbon copy of the last stop. Finally, they were back in the car, and Stone was not surprised that the time was just past ten o’clock.

The fourth ballroom was much smaller, with much richer people and top White House staffers and cabinet members. It was held in the ballroom of a large, private house, and Holly shook hands on a line that stretched across the room, where the host and a woman who looked like his mother greeted them with big smiles and hugs.

“I’m so sorry Pat couldn’t be here,” the man said. “She’s down with a horrible migraine.”

“That’s all right, Don,” Holly said to her new secretary of commerce. “We understand perfectly.”

More perfectly than she knew, Stone thought.

This time, they were seated in comfortable chairs in the paneled library, where people wandered past for a handshake and maybe a selfie. They were even given some very good food, to keep them going a little longer.

Stone’s eyes were glazing over, now, but he hung on, with Holly as his example, until they were back in the car. Dino and Viv were being driven directly to the hotel, while Holly and Stone were driven back to the White House.

“You know you can’t come upstairs, don’t you?” Holly asked.

“Of course,” he replied. “We play only in New York.”

“I’m glad you’re being so understanding,” she said.

“There’s something I have to tell you before you go up,” he said.

“You mean about Pat Clark’s death?”

“You already know?”

“Deborah Myers stopped by earlier this evening and gave me a full briefing. I was amazed at the way Don stood up to the evening. It was too late to cancel, and he insisted on hosting.”

“You stood up pretty well, yourself,” Stone said.

“I didn’t have a choice,” she replied. “I tried to stay in the moment. Do you have anything new to tell me?”

“Chief Myers knows everything I know. She gave me the perp interrogation for a while, but the ME’s report and the photograph of you, me, and the Clarks at the inauguration nailed it down, so I don’t have anything to worry about.”

“Deb would have nailed you, if she could.”

“I asked her not to tell you until tomorrow, but that didn’t work.”

“It’s best this way. I don’t have to play dumb.”

The car pulled up to the White House portico, and Stone began to get out with Holly.

“No,” she said, stopping him with a kiss. “Not even to the door. We don’t want that photograph taken.”

“I guess I have some things to get used to, as well,” he said. “Sleep tight. Call me tomorrow evening, when I’m back in New York.”

“Will do.”

After she got out, the car moved to the gate, then the rear door opened. “We have another car for you, Mr. Barrington,” an agent said.

Of course you do, Stone thought, getting out. He couldn’t be seen being driven around alone in the president’s limo.

Dino and Viv were sitting in the living room, watching TV, brandies in hand.

“You didn’t stay the night?” Dino asked.

“No, we’ve agreed that that will happen only outside Washington. We can’t even seem to be sharing a bed in this town.”

“Is New York out of bounds, too?”

“No, we reckon we can manage there.”

“So, you’re going to be living a sex-free life most of the time?” Viv asked.

“We’ve never denied each other the company of other people.”

“It’ll be interesting to see how that works out.”

Stone sat down on the sofa, sipped his cognac, and watched himself waltz on television.