A loud sound coming from the kitchen made Elizabeth's eyes flutter open. She looked around trying to navigate where she was, she saw the clock on her nightstand, the half-open window, and the mess on the chair where she had left all clothes she had forgotten to put in the closet. Elizabeth slowly slid from the bed, wrapping her bathrobe around herself and slowly stepping down the stairs. She had forgotten to check the time, but she knew that if it was late, Nadine or Blake would have woken her up, until she realized that it was Saturday.
"Are you sure she will come?" Elizabeth heard Alison's voice.
"Mom promised you, just give her one more hour, you saw how tired she was falling asleep on the sofa yesterday," Henry said.
"Good morning," she said with a smile, trying to forget about last night and jealousy buzzing in her, "what's for breakfast?" she smiled, taking a sip from Henry's cup.
"We have pancakes and toast, I can make you eggs too," he said, kissing her neck.
"Mom, you promised me…" Ali said quickly.
"I know, we're going to the mall, but can I at least change? Don't know if people would like to see me in PJs,"
"Some of us would love to see you without them," Henry whispered into her ear when he passed him by.
"Mom…"
"I know, I'm going," she said quickly going back to the bedroom.
Elizabeth took off her PJs, taking a quick shower before putting on her favorite jeans and a white shirt. She had forgotten the time when she could wear something cozy, but decided to enjoy the day to the fullest. She didn't put much makeup on, putting on only mascara and a bit of blush.
Her tight jeans hugged her body perfectly giving her the confidence she needed to get out and not think about Henry and the many female students who wanted to drag him to bed. Elizabeth shook her head and grabbed a jacket, she knew her thoughts were more dangerous that actions so she decided to not think about something that she didn't have proof had happened. She took a deep breath and after a few minutes, she was ready for a girls' day at the mall.
"Everything will be okay," she thought, not expecting the disaster to come.
They had been at the mall for over an hour. They had gone to half of the stores there, but nothing had gotten attention from Alison which had made Elizabeth even more tired. She loved shopping with her daughters, she did, but after Alison had tried her fifteenth pair of shoes, Elizabeth needed some air. She left the girls in the shoe alley and went to the other one, looking at the shirts with elephants and pink balloons brought her back to the times where she picked clothes and shoes for her daughters. She smiled, touching the fluffy fabric of the clothes, and when she was just about to go back to girls a female voice brought her back to the alley.
"Ms. McCord," the girl shouted, trying to reach her.
"Get back please," Kevin said, shielding Elizabeth from the woman.
"It's okay Kevin," she said, looking at the girl in front of her.
She was around twenty, with blue eyes and that kind of beauty that would make boys fall for her in a second. Elizabeth was used to it, to people asking her for autographs or photos without knowing who she was. The most important thing was that they had seen her on TV.
"Yes, how can I help you?" Elizabeth asked, trying to act cool.
"I'm Victoria, I'm professor McCord's student."
"Yes?" Elizabeth repeated with a surprised look.
"I just wanted to say that he acted very sweetly yesterday. I don't know if he told you already, but that kiss meant a lot to me, I'm sure that to him it meant something too. I'm almost sure you would not create any problems for us to meet. It's the most important thing to make him happy," Victoria said, looking into Elizabeth's eyes.
"Mom?" Elizabeth heard Stevie's voice, "what's going on?"
"Nothing," she said, "are you ready to go?"
"Mom…" Alison repeated after her sister, "what's she's talking about?"
"I just wanted to say hi. Your father is an amazing teacher." Victoria said, leaving them staring at her leaving.
"Mom she didn't tell the truth," Stevie said when they were coming back home.
"She wanted to piss you off. Dad would never…" Alison started.
"Can we not talk about it?" Elizabeth asked, closing her eyes, "you want to go to another mall? To look for shoes?" she asked, trying to control her shaky voice.
"No," Alison whispered, "can we go back home? You have to talk to dad…"
"Girls…." Elizabeth started, but stopped after half of the sentence, "nothing happened," she said, trying to convince her kids.
Elizabeth felt numb for the whole way home. None of them were speaking, making the way back even more depressing. She wanted to ask Henry about everything, about students, perfume on his clothes and the fact he hadn't told her about what had happened yesterday. She was convinced that it was just a misunderstanding, but the words of that girl echoed in her head.
She let the girl walk in first before taking a deep breath and walking behind them.
"That was fast," Henry said with a smile, "didn't know you can go shopping with that speed," Henry added, kissing Ali's head.
"Girls, can you leave us alone?" Elizabeth's voice sounded like a whisper.
"That doesn't sound good to me," Henry joked, looking at his daughters leaving the room.
"I know I haven't been the best wife lately. I know it's hard for all of you, but why didn't you tell me that something was wrong instead of making out with a younger girl?" Elizabeth said, without looking at her husband.
"What? What are you talking about?" he shrugged.
"We met Victoria at the mall. Sweet girl, with a sweet perfume. Exactly the same as the one Stevie smelt on you yesterday.
"Elizabeth…"
"She asked if I won't mind that you guys will be seeing each other,"
"Babe," he started again, "nothing happened. It was the last class, she stayed behind and told me how she likes the classes. I thanked her…"
"By kissing her? You thank her by kissing her and letting her know how bad your wife is?" Elizabeth shouted.
"She kissed me and I immediately stopped her. I promise nothing more happened."
"Why didn't you tell me?" she whispered, feeling her energy leaving her body.
"I didn't want to bother you,"
"Why do you all think that? That you bother me, we all agreed about my work. You all told me it was okay and now it turns out I'm a ghost in my own house!"
"Elizabeth," Henry said, reaching for her hand.
"No!" she shouted, "I don't want you to touch me, not tonight." her voice shook, "I want you to sleep on the couch tonight," she added after a moment.
Henry felt pain shoot through his heart. He had never heard Elizabeth talking to him like that. Of course, they had fought many times, but she had never treated him like he was guilty without hearing the whole story out.
He took a step back, giving her all the space she needed. After a moment of silence, she took a breath and went upstairs, leaving Henry in the kitchen. Elizabeth wasn't sure if she would be strong enough to hold back tears in front of Henry and the kids if she stayed there any longer. She closed the bedroom door, sitting on the bed as the first tear dropped on her blouse, after a few minutes tears were streaming from Elizabeth's eyes, making her feel even more tired and weak.
Henry couldn't find a position to sleep, after two hours of tossing and turning on the semi-comfortable couch he stood up to find something to read. The events of the evening had echoed in his head long after Elizabeth had closed their bedroom door behind herself. He knew that he should have told about the kiss the moment he had entered their home, but something at the back of his head had told him it wasn't that important. Seeing Elizabeth's reaction he understood how stupid and selfish it was, how he let down her faith in him. Henry didn't want to hurt her in any way, he promised himself long ago that even if they will fight, he will never intentionally hurt Elizabeth and her feelings.
He came back with a book to the sofa, he was lucky enough that it was comfortable and large enough to fit his whole body.
Henry had been looking at the book he was holding for some time before finally giving up on reading one sentence over and over again. He had screwed up and nothing would change that.
Elizabeth had been staring at the ceiling for over an hour, trying to catch some sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, Henry's face appeared, she knew she had reacted toreactedly, the whole thing could have been solved with one talk, but she couldn't stop thinking about Henry and that girl.
She was pretty and, if she had chosen his classes, smart too.
It wasn't Henry's fault Elizabeth felt unsure about herself, about him and their whole family, but that one had lighten up a flame she couldn't stop. At once she got out of the bed, taking off the PJ she was wearing, and looked for one of Henry's shirts. She loved his shirts so much she had once stolen one from him, he had never told her he knew, but Elizabeth hid it deep in her closet.
She couldn't sleep and she knew why, Henry's scent and warmth made her feel safe and when he was gone she couldn't find a place to feel safe anymore. After a moment in his shirt, everything went back to normal, but Elizabeth knew she needed more. She gently opened the door and tiptoed down the stairs, telling herself that it was the only right thing to do, the only thing she was worried about was that after the whole fight Henry wouldn't be ready to forgive her.
Elizabeth stood in front of the couch, looking at her husband, his eyes were shut, a hand resting on the sofa behind his head, Elizabeth knew he had been reading, he always did when he wanted to think about something, but that one look made all the tears come back with double force.
"Babe," he whispered, looking at her with his eyes half-open, "are you okay?"
"I'm so sorry," she said, laying next to him on the couch, "I didn't mean to… I was jealous and…" she sobbed.
"I know babe, nothing bad happened." he calmed her down, caressing her hair, "I promise nothing happened between me or that girl or anyone else. Besides, it wasn't a 'you-are-hot-kiss', more like a 'I-want-a-better-grade' kiss," he said quickly.
"That's good because the hot kisses are reserved just for me," she smiled wrapping her arms around his neck, "I'm sorry…"
"I forgive you," he smiled, kissing her gently, "is that my shirt?" he asked, making her laugh.
"Yes, I can't sleep without you...I have to feel your presence or I will be up till morning…" she bit her lip.
"As important as sleep is, I wouldn't mind being up all night with you," he whispered into her ear, tracing circles on her bare hip.
"Doctor McCord," she whispered before placing a kiss on his mouth making him moan.
"We have to fight more often if the make-up will look like this," he said, slipping his hand under her shirt, cupping her naked breast into his hand.
"We told you, dad would never look at another woman," Stevie said, sipping her coffee.
"I'm very happy that my lawyer was so good and helped me with that case," Henry said, kissing the top of Stevie's head, "let's just forget about it."
"What would you say about game night on Friday?" Elizabeth asked, putting down her phone, "we can order pizza and I will smash you at whatever game you want," she added, kissing Henry good morning.
"I'm in," Jason said, "if you will have time…"
"I will," she said quickly, "I know it's been hard since I took this job, but I'm trying and I need your help to make it work," she said, looking at her family, "I don't want to be left out, you are the most important thing for me," her voice shakes.
"Babe," Henry pulled her closer to his body, "we're in it together. Kids?"
"We are," the kids added in unison, hugging their mom as tightly as they could.
Elizabeth felt better, for the first time since she had started to work for the President she felt calm. All that had happened that month had made Elizabeth anxious and scared of her future and her family's. She said goodbye to Henry and the kids and left home two hours earlier.
"Good Morning Madam, we didn't get any notification about an early meeting," Kevin said, opening the door for her.
"We have one stop to make before we go to the office," she said, stepping into the car, "but I would like it to stay between us," she added.
The cavalcade of three cars arrived in front of the university. Elizabeth was sure of her plan, she had to protect her family and she would do anything to do so.
She stepped out of the car, taking a closer look at her surrounding. She knew it wouldn't be easy to find her, but she was ready to go to every person on the campus and ask about a girl named Victoria.
Suddenly, she saw her, she was talking to two other girls. Victoria was that kind of girl who had a lot of friends, most of them in love with her, but Elizabeth took a step closer to her before letting her voice fill the space.
"I was hoping I would find you here," she said loud enough for her to hear.
"Mrs. McCord, how can I help you?" she asked with an evil smile.
"In fact, I'm here to help you Victoria," she took a step towards the woman, not letting her go away without listening to what she wanted to say "if you
touch my husband one more time, look at him with inappropriately or get near my family again…"
"Then what? You will tell one of your bodyguards to beat me?" she asked, crossing her arms, "who are you anyway to give me orders?"
"I will do more than that, I will make your life a living hell," Elizabeth said, inches away from Victoria's face, "when I will be finished with you, you will never get a job in this country, your future kids won't be able to go to school and your dog will never find a place in a dog daycare,"
"How do you know I have a dog? Are you a cop or something?"
"I'm the Secretary of state Victoria, do your research," Elizabeth said, leaving her speechless.
"Madam Secretary," Kevin said, opening the door, "that was… badass."
"Thank you, Kevin," she said, sitting in the car, trying to calm her pulse and voice down.
Elizabeth entered the house trying to hear if the kids are still up. The house was so calm she was fighting with herself to not to fall asleep on the couch. She left her things on the sofa and walked straight to the kitchen. She opened the fridge, looking inside it long enough to find something tasty to eat when she felt Henry's presence behind her. He wrapped his hands around her middle, letting her lean on him while eating some strawberries. Elizabeth closed her eyes for a moment, trying to enjoy Henry's warmth on her back and his hot kisses on her neck.
"This was…" she started, feeling his lips on her neck, "a long day." she smiled, turning around to face him.
"I have a few ideas to help you relax," he smiled, kissing her, tasting the strawberry flavor on her lips.
"You'll have to tell me all about it," she teased, wrapping her hands around his neck.
"I will," he said, "but first I have a question."
"Question? Right now?" she tilted her head.
"Yes. The rector of the university was calling. He asked if something was wrong… he didn't know why Secretary of State had visited them…"
"I had some business to handle there," she answered, taking off her jacket.
"What business?"
"I sorted our problem out," she said, "Henry…" Elizabeth caught his attention, "are you coming?" she asked, leaving her shirt on his way.
"Yes ma'am," he smiled, taking her shirt with him before joining her in the bedroom.