Madam President (38 page)

“Thank you, Madam President. Until we speak again in a few hours,” Richard concluded.

Charlotte waited until the cameramen moved away from their positions, and then she allowed Monty to remove the microphone from her jacket. She slid the battery pack off her skirt and handed it to him.

“Nice job,” he murmured.

Charlotte smiled at Monty and Dale. “Thanks, everyone.”

Charlotte left the Oval Office and walked down to Melanie’s office. She sat down across from her.

“Do you ever think about what happens after this?”

“After today? I’m going to sleep for more than thirty minutes at a time.”

“Not just today.”

“What? Your second term?”

“Yes.”

“Your presidency is farther from being over than two pregnancies.”

“You have a way with words, Melanie.”

“What’s really going on, Madam President?”

“Lucy asked me if I ever thought about my legacy, and I hadn’t thought about it much before the attacks, because I was just regaining my momentum after Tara, and I obviously haven’t had time to think about it since, but I wonder if we should be doing more, you know. So that we have a handle on the things that I can work on when this is all over.”

Melanie leaned back in her chair and looked at the president carefully. Charlotte could tell that she was trying to figure out if she was fishing for reassurance about the hugely important day ahead or if she actually wanted to initiate a conversation about her legacy fifteen minutes before the helicopter arrived to usher them to Air Force One for the two-day trip.

“Madam President, I’ve done a lot of thinking about your legacy, and I think it’s something we should start talking about regularly, once we get through today.”

Charlotte felt so completely understood and supported by Melanie that she had to fight an unexpected wave of emotion. She stared at the carpet for a few seconds and then met Melanie’s gaze.

“That sounds like a very good plan.”

The sound of Marine One landing on the South Lawn interrupted them.

“I’ll meet you in the Oval in five minutes. I need to check on the baby before I leave,” Melanie said.

Charlotte walked slowly back to the Oval Office and stood alone, waiting for Monty to summon her. Usually, the senior staff gathered in the Oval Office before their departure so they could all walk out together, but today there was only space for Melanie and Monty to ride with her on Marine One because Penny and Harry were accompanying her. Once Melanie arrived, Monty gave them the signal that it was time to go.

“Good luck, Madam President,” Sam said.

Charlotte smiled and walked with Melanie to the East Wing, where Penny and Harry were waiting for her. She put an arm around Penny and walked out with the twins to the helicopter. Melanie and Monty waited for them to board before they walked out so that they would avoid being in the camera shot.

As Marine One lifted off the South Lawn, Charlotte watched the reporters and visitors grow smaller and the Washington Monument closer. As they flew the short distance to Andrews Air Force Base, Charlotte thought about everyone who would be with her over the next two days. Brooke and Mark would be waiting for her on Air Force One. Dale would be there, too. She’d accompanied Lucy and Richard to the airport as soon as the interview had ended. The Carmichaels would also be on board.

Charlotte leaned back and watched Harry huddle close to listen to something Monty was saying. Next to them, Melanie was examining the line-by-line schedule for the day. Penny was sitting across from her, and their chairs were close enough that their knees touched.

“What are you thinking about?” Penny asked.

“I was thinking that I’m happy that you and your brother are coming with me.”

“And?”

“Why does there have to be an
and
?”

“Because you had that look that usually means that you’re either about to cry or say something overly sentimental.”

“I’m going to try very hard not to cry, but it’s going to get harder as the day goes on. And if it would be sentimental to tell you that I’m proud of you and happy that we’ve spent so much quality time together this year, then yes, I’m going to be overly sentimental today. Don’t tell anyone, please.”

Penny did a half smile, half eye-roll. “Warren sounds awesome. I’m sorry I didn’t know Warren.”

“Me, too. You would have liked him a lot.”

“I want to hear more about him.”

“You will. We’ll be with the Carmichaels. They tell some really funny stories about him when he was in high school.”

“I want to hear your stories.”

“My stories?”

“You should write a book.”

“About what?”

“Being the first woman to be president, the attacks, getting separated from Dad, having twins in high school and college while you’re president. You should write about how you juggled all of us.”

Charlotte tried to hide her surprise. She stared out the window and swallowed hard to get rid of the lump that had formed in her throat. “Why don’t we write it together? You could include your perspective, too. That would be more interesting,” she suggested.

“Or I could interview you.” Penny sounded excited.

As Marine One landed at Andrews, Charlotte gave Penny’s hand a squeeze. Her heart was heavy for the sad occasion that had brought them all together, but she found immense comfort in the company of her twins. When she stepped off of Marine One, Harry held out his arm, which she accepted. He felt so sturdy, more like a man than a boy. He was nineteen, and would be twenty in a few weeks. They were starting their junior years in college. Charlotte slipped her other arm through Penny’s, and the three of them walked arm-in-arm to the stairs leading up to Air Force One. The kids stopped and let her walk up alone so that the press could film her, but before she did, she turned back to look at them. She wanted to remember this day forever. Charlotte couldn’t remember a single day before it when they’d felt like more of a family.

Acknowledgments

It was the privilege of my lifetime to work in the White House on September 11, 2001. The thousands of acts of humanity that I witnessed in the days and months that followed inspired much of the emotion of this purely fictional tale. Obviously, to imagine how a fictional president might act, I was inspired and informed by the heart of the man for whom I worked, President George W. Bush. He wrote in his book
Decision Points
about how the country would move on but he would never forget. I’m grateful that I had the opportunity to work for him and to know him and to understand a little bit of what it was like for him on that day.

So many people helped me remember not just the emotions, but the logistics of a day like the one detailed in
Madam President.
Thank you to my former White House colleagues who helped me tell those parts of the story. Geoff Morrell has my gratitude for his insights and for his early support of a female SECDEF. I am also grateful to my friends in the White House press corps who read drafts of this novel in its earliest stages and helped me imagine how a day like this would be experienced as a journalist.

During the most intense writing phase, my regular appearances on
Morning Joe
were my only human interactions outside of my immediate family. Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski, Willie Geist, Mike Barnicle, Donny Deutsch, Mark Halperin, and Jon Meacham provided encouragement and good cheer. Dana Bash, Mark Leibovich, Bianna Golodryga, and Wendy Button provided much needed “straight talk” about early chapters. Dana Perino, Ari Fleischer, Claire Buchan Parker, Chris Edwards, and Reed Dickens helped me remember the White House as it actually was. Heather Karpas and Kristyn Keene at ICM were some of the earliest and best editors of the manuscript and I will always be thankful. Henley Old has been by my side through the process of writing all three novels and there wouldn’t be a series without her. My mom read every version and always gave me honest and constructive criticism. My agent, Sloan Harris, was the first person to believe that there was an entire book to be written about a single day. I’m the luckiest writer on the planet to have an advocate and a partner like Sloan. Emily Bestler is the most nurturing editor that anyone could ever dream of working with. She made the story better and clearer and truer in every way imaginable. I’m extremely fortunate to work with the team at Emily Bestler Books. Megan Reid, Matthew Rossiter, and Lisa Sciambra are simply the best of the very best.

I’m so blessed to have a husband who supports and cherishes and cheers for the side of me that disappears into my characters and their travails for months on end. I love you. And to Liam, I love you to the moon and back.

About the Author

Nicolle Wallace is a political strategist and former political analyst for
CBS Evening
News
whose recent posts include White House Communications Director under George W. Bush and campaign advisor for John McCain and Sarah Palin. Wallace lives in New York City and Connecticut.

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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2015 by Nicolle Wallace

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