Page 109 of Executive Decision

Us. We were athing.

“It’s more complicated, though. And I should actually talk to you about that because my situation is?—”

“I get it,” I stopped him. “Today is not the day to have this talk about moving in or not, okay? Besides, I have my own agenda to worry about. Today, Davey will fire the asshole and if I don’t completely fuck up, I’ll be president soon.”

“I want to be there for that,” Cal whined. “That’s amazing news! Why didn’t you?—”

“You’ve been busy. And Davey just called and told me to get my ass in gear.”

He took my face in his hands, then pulled my chin towards him. “Look at me. I am not the only important person here. I want to share these things. I know I’ve been a bit of a raincloud. I’ll work on it, but damn it, Daphne, I want to see you shine. I want to see you light up like a fucking Christmas tree at your own accomplishments.”

“I… I don’t know what to say.”

“Don’t turtle in on me,” Cal said. “Be the woman I fell for—unapologetically.”

“And who was she?” I winced.

“Confident, demanding, a little angry. She was also a bit of a disaster, but in the best way. I love you—and your chaos. I love you for all you bring. Please don’t hide that, okay? If you can manage my fuckery, I can show up for you.”

I wrapped my arms around his shoulder, breathing in the sweet scent of his cologne. I kissed him slowly, letting him know how much it meant. To hear him say he cared—that he wanted to be there—was everything I needed to want to jump over the edge head first.

“Okay, I have to go. I really am sorry. Keep me posted. Let’s celebrate tomorrow—even if it kills me.”

“Alright,” I said.

He gave me one last kiss on the forehead and departed, not even touching his food or coffee. He had no time. I felt a little guilty, but decided to pick up where he left off. After polishing off the leftover bagel and having two cups of coffee, I packed to leave—pulling a clean set of clothes from the drawer I now owned. I was home here in Cal’s world. Unfortunately, just as I felt happy and safe again, my world was rocked with bad news.

Meredith’s number appeared on my phone.

I hopped off the elevator and waved at the desk attendant as I answered.

“Is it done already? That was too fast, right?”

“There is no status change on your filing. No court date yet, either.”

“Okay,” I said, confused.

“Are you in a place where you can watch a video? Near a computer?”

“No,” I answered. “Why?”

“I need to send you something. It’s about to come out and… it will be jarring.”

My mind went a million places at once, assuming Chandler did something very stupid. But nothing met the reality of what I received. I’d made the mistake of assuming I could be happy, but as I sat on Mum’s couch and watched my new reality unfold, I knew it would never work.

* * *

Cal

“Sir, Daphne Delphine called twice,” Susan said as I passed her desk on the way back from my first meeting of the morning.

“I will call her after lunch,” I said, unable to think about anything else.

My day couldn’t have looked grimmer if I tried. I had zero guarantees of security coverage for a political convention. I had our DNC chairman barking at me. Angry administratorstextedme. I turned my phone off around nine. It was a disaster and I didn’t see a way out other than to pressure the police union with public shaming. So, I’d scheduled a press conference for later today. I’d either have good news or need to put them on blast. Either way, I had a deadline to dosomething.

“It’s an emergency. She said to tell you she needed you to call her immediately. She sounded really upset.”

“Has someone died?”

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