Her Secret Service (Jane Roe 1), Jason Letts [story reading .txt] 📗

“My office?” Jane said, stunned. Singh raised her bushy eyebrows.

“Having a vacant room in the East Wing isn’t doing us any good, no reason for it to go to waste. FGOTUS doesn’t roll off the tongue the same way FLOTUS does, but we’ll see if the communications director can whip up a good way to spin it. Come on,” she said, getting up and breezing to one of the doors, unlocking it, and cruising down the hallway with Jane struggling to catch up.

From the Chief of Staff’s office wedged in the far western corner of the West Wing, they started walking past the rooms of various senior advisers, along the corridor not far from where Ally Wilde’s secretarial office worked as the final gatekeeper to Alex and the Oval Office, and along toward the West Colonnade with the press briefing room on one side and the Rose Garden on the other.

Jane couldn’t help but notice that being escorted around by the chief of staff drew quite a few looks in their direction. The press corps, filing into the briefing room, gazed at her in such a way that she could practically see lights popping on in their heads as they began to mentally compose articles about her. Someone would figure out who she was by lunch and what they were doing by the end of the day.

The only face she might’ve recognized in the bunch was that of Oliver Ip, but by now the Washington Post had surely replaced him with another correspondent. With that bad apple gone, she hoped she’d be able to cultivate a much better relationship with the rest of the group.

On they went through the White House’s center structure, passing along the Cross Hall near the North Portico’s main entrance, where about a dozen Secret Service agents worked the door and the driveway on this side of the gate. Trusting their schedules and needs to the other planning and logistics agents in the Presidential Protective Division was not going to be easy, especially when so many of them were overworked and exhausted already.

Once or twice she caught them glancing at her, no doubt wondering what she was doing on that side of things when she should be more involved with security. Dedan had earned an explanation, but the others would have to live with seeing her transition to a new role. At least she’d have more gratitude for the sacrifices they made than most.

Compared to the other sections of the White House, the East Wing was quiet and calm, with more rooms dedicated to coordinating with various federal agencies. The Calligraphy Room again caught Jane’s eye. If she was going to be around, perhaps she’d have time to stop in and see what they were doing in there.

At the far end of the corridor was the First Lady’s Office, which looked forlorn and out of place with the lights off and some cobwebs developing near the top of the door frame. Singh had to budge the door open with her shoulder, and once they stepped in Jane immediately noticed a musty smell. Many of the bookshelves were empty, and the dim light filtering through the drapes made the place seem kind of like a cave at the moment.

When Jane noticed some boxes on the inside of the door, she’d figured Bethany Morrin had forgotten to take everything with her.

“Ah, perfect,” Arundhati said, going to the boxes. “I’m sure you’ll be able to make the place charming and cozy in no time.”

It still took Jane a second to realize that the boxes in here contained everything she’d cleaned out of her office at Secret Service Headquarters.

“I didn’t expect things to be happening so fast,” Jane said. Singh flicked on the lights and then popped open one of the boxes.

“That’s the way it has to be. The sooner we get you in place, the sooner everyone can take it for granted that that’s how it’s always been.”

Looking around the space with its fancy meeting table and seating areas, she wondered how she could possibly translate what she had in her cramped, muted office with the glaring fluorescent light overhead.

“Other people might think that, but I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to,” Jane said.

Singh laughed.

“Tell me about it. When I convinced Alex to run for president, I don’t think either of us thought he would really win. It was about making a statement, and in a way we’re still doing that. Hey, look at this!”

She had pulled one of Jane’s old racing trophies out of the box and was handing it over to her. Jane took it and rolled her eyes a little.

“Oh, yeah, I was Colorado state champion back in middle school. Another strange thing that happened that doesn’t exactly seem real. Those were the days when people were telling me I was destined to run in the Olympics.”

“What happened?” Singh asked, pausing as if she really cared. Jane wished she had a more exciting answer.

“Puberty. Developing some curves has dashed the dreams of many a promising young runner. I can still move my feet well enough, but my trophy days are long gone.”

Jane took the trophy with its little running ponytail figure and set it on an empty shelf, which suddenly didn’t look so empty. They stood together looking at it.

“There,” Singh said. “One step closer to making this room your own. You’ll have plenty of time to figure the rest out, but don’t forget there’s a state dinner tonight with the Mexican president. I’m sure Alex will want you to be there. We’ll find something for you to wear. He’s hated doing those things alone.”

Singh was already on her way out of the room, leaving Jane to contend with managing something she’d never imagined herself doing. Sit and eat? It couldn’t be that simple. There was a lot she’d have to figure out fast, and as she moved to the chair behind what people were telling her was her desk she realized most