Title: Not Like This 3/5

As Jed passed the bed on his way out, something caught his eyes. CJ had left her light blue tank top on his side of the bed. He snatched it up and stuck it in his pocket. He couldn’t let Abbey find that, no way.

“See you later, Sexy.” He slipped out of the door before she could comment. Abbey grinned from the shower. No matter who borrowed him, she’d always own him. He still thought she was sexy.

Jed had gone on with the business of the nation as it were on a Saturday. CJ was there along with the rest of the senior staff. And as he’d thought, it wasn’t awkward at all. He just had to figure out a way to give her her shirt back. He thought about just doing it, but that just screamed unsubtle. Besides, he wanted to thank her, but he couldn’t think of way that wouldn’t either end in his divorce or a sexual harassment suit. Maybe he should ask Abbey. No, that worked more towards the former end than prevention of the latter.

The rest of the staff, plus Leo had left the room, but CJ lingered a bit looking, for the first time that morning, uncomfortable.

“Mr. President?” He looked up at her nodded. “I can’t believe this, but in my hasty departure this morning, I may have left a piece of clothing in your bed—in the Residence. That or it’s somewhere between there and my office. I’m kind of hoping that I left it there…unless the First Lady found it. Then, I’d rather have left it in the Press Room.” She was rambling almost incoherently. He tipped his head at her.

“CJ?” She kept going; she even got faster, if that was at all possible. “CJ.” No affect. “Claudia Jean!” Her eyes jerked up to his and she stopped. Her cheeks reddened.

“Am I rambling?” He nodded at her patiently.

“A little, yes.” Her eyes dropped back down.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. Look, I found your shirt.” He stood up and reached into his pocket for it, but his hand came out empty. It wasn’t there. He didn’t have it. “I found it, but now it seems that I don’t have it. This could pose a bit of a problem.” He looked around the room and under the desk. CJ just stood there, horror written in Times New Roman all over her face. The President sighed and looked back at CJ.

“Feel free to help me look.” She snapped out of her daze and started looking under the couches and under the cushions, places he was sure that it wasn’t. He let her go at it though. A light bulb went off as he looked outside the window. “The portico!” He moved for the door while CJ was once again frozen in terror.

It was on the portico. A piece of woman’s clothing was on the portico and had no doubt been seen falling out of the President’s pocket. A piece of woman’s underclothing which had become quite synonymous with her, coupled with reports of the President’s drunken stupor and their 3AM stroll to the mansion, she was sure that the last thing that they needed to do was to look like they were looking for the thing.

“Sir.” He stopped and turned back to her. “If it’s out there, let it stay out there. One of the agents can get it and return it, but the last thing you need to do is go get it for me. I don’t want to tempt fate, but try to sense my logic.” He took a moment and nodded.

“Yeah.” They just stood there silently for a while. Neither could think of a thing to say.

“Abbey didn’t kill you, I see.” He smiled.

“Just barely. You, on the other hand, might not be so lucky.” She smiled despite herself.

“Maybe not, but you know nothing happened and I know nothing happened. However, she will definitely take some convincing.” He nodded in agreement.

“Oh, yeah.”

The doors from the portico opened and Abbey walked in languidly. One of her hands swung down at her side. She held her hand up.

“CJ, I think you dropped something.” It was the blue camisole. CJ looked up and asked God why. Abbey buried her other hand in her pocket to keep herself from throttling people. Jed wondered why he hadn’t married someone who didn’t scare him as much as she did.

“Are you sure that’s CJ’s?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. CJ, you wanna get that?”

“Not really.”

“Don’t worry, CJ, you’re not the one I wanna kill.” Jed moved a bit farther away from his menacing wife.

“Me?”

“Um-hum.”

“Ah. Leo!” After a moment, Leo stuck his head in. Seeing the situation, he closed the connecting door and locked it. He went to hide under his desk. “Thanks a lot, man. Way to watch my back.”

“Why would he need to watch your back, Jed?”

“Cause you want to kill me, that’s why.”

“Right. Come here, for a second.”

“No.”

“Don’t you trust me, pumpkin?”

“Mm, no.” She walked towards him slowly.

“Ah, babe. Come on…” Jed backed up behind CJ, who was looking for an escape hatch in the floor to fall out of.

“Save me.” CJ realized she was on Abbey’s warpath. She sidestepped the President and lunged for the door.

“I’m out of here.”

“Thanks a lot.”

“No problem.” And CJ was out of there.

Abbey stopped pursuing Jed and stood still. The time for joking was done. She wanted answers now. She tossed the tank top onto the couch between them. That was the accusation. What would he say?

“I didn’t have sex with her, Abbey. I didn’t make love with her or to her. I didn’t do what you think I did. We didn’t, Abbey. We wouldn’t betray you that way.” She walked around the couch to stand toe to toe with him.

“What did you talk about with her?” He opened his mouth, but thought better of it and closed it again. “I want to know.”

“Why do you want to know? Did she say something?”

“She said something, yes. She said, basically, that last night was a bad night for you and that it was my fault that you were hurting and that I should’ve been there with you. She said that she was there and I wasn’t and that’s the way it goes.”

“Ah.” Jed clasped his hand in front of him and looked down.

“Yes, ah. What was she talking about? How were you hurt? What did you and she talk about and what did it have to do with me, Leo, and the girls ?” He sighed, rethinking ever drinking in the Oval Office again. “Jed, answer me. What did you talk about?”

“You. Zoey, Liz and Ellie in passing. I was drinking, so it’s a little fuzzy.”

“And Leo?”

“And Leo.”

“What did you say about Leo? About me?” She had a feeling that she didn’t want to know, but she was rooted to the spot and knew it was coming just like she’d asked.

“I said, that you don’t love me anymore and that you love Leo instead. I said, that you two have been seeing each other behind my back and that payback’s a bitch. I said, that I love you like nothing else in the world and…this is what I get. Payback’s a bitch.”

“Of all the things I expected of you, this is not…something-something I ever would have considered. I mean, Jed, you’re- you’re my husband. You’re mine. I mean, I never would…I couldn’t, not to you. I wouldn’t, not with Leo or with anyone. How could you even…? I didn’t. I just didn’t.” Tears slid down her face in torrents and he took her into his arms, shushing her. When had things gotten so bad between them? When had it come to he says, she says, and CJ says? He had to salvage this, if there was any way to save them. He had to save them.

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