Long Time No See, Mr. President

"Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved." --William Jennings Bryan

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Roselle stared at her sister for a long time. "That's not funny," she said. "Don't play with me like that."

"It's no joke," Michelle said, opening the blinds and revealing the limos driving into the street, along with the two helicopters patrolling the sky.

Roselle staggered back. "No . . . no way," she said. "It can't be. Maybe there's a wanted criminal in our area or something."

Ding dong.

"At our house?" Michelle asked, walking up to the door and opening it.

Outside, there was a secret service man at the door wearing a suit. "Hello, is there a 'Roselle Reyes' living here by any chance?"

Roselle, shaking, steadily forced herself to walk over to him. "I am," she said meekly. "Am I in trouble? What's this about?"

The man took off his shades and looked her in the eyes. "I was informed that you'd already know what this is about," he said. He turned to the limos in the street and waved. Upon his command, several men in suits hopped out and formed a pathway on the sidewalk from the car to the house.

Roselle stood on her porch, eyeing the limo. She had a hunch, but she just had to make sure. She didn't want to be disappointed for a second time.

The secret service man opened the passenger seat, and there was Armani Parker--no--PRESIDENT Armani Parker, in a white suit that contrasted the black suits the agents wore. He stared at Roselle for a long time, not moving or saying a word. His face was hard to read. Was it expressionless, or was it shock?

"What do you want, dummy?!" Roselle finally asked, unable to handle the intensity of his gaze.

Armani shook for a moment, as if her words just woke him up. Still being hard to read, he treaded down the path, up the steps, and finally stood in front of her, still not saying a word.

"Long time no see, Mr. President," Roselle said, barely managing to keep herself from shaking.

"Roselle," Armani said, giving her a serious expression.

She tucked her hair behind her ear. "So . . . why are you here?" she asked.

He inhaled, then exhaled. "There is unfinished business between us. This thing has been bugging me for years, and today is the day I set things right. I've wanted to do this for so long, but I never had the chance until now."

"What are you--"

Armani got down on one knee.

Roselle gasped, and placed her hand over her mouth. She made sure to appear surprised (well, to be fair, it was surprising), but on the inside she was absolutely relishing this moment. After this, she could finally turn to Michelle and say 'I told you so.'

"Roselle," Armani said, on the ground.

"I know what you're going to say, and I just wanted to point out that I can't accept this. We were just kids at the time. I'm flattered, but--"

Armani pulled out a twenty dollar bill from his shoe, and stood back up. "Are you sure? Because I feel guilty that I never paid you back from the time you lent me money to buy that toy train."

Roselle gaped her mouth. "You mean to tell me, you came all this way just to give me twenty bucks from fourteen years ago?"

He nodded. "Well, yeah. Why? Were you expecting something different?" He locked eyes with her, holding out the money. Yeah, he was handsome on TV, but in person? He was just . . . something else.

She snapped out of her admiration. No, this guy may have been handsome, but he wasn't her friend anymore. She snatched the twenty dollars away from his grip. "You idiot!" she snapped. "Get out of here! I never wanna see you again!"

He raised a brow. "Do you really hate my policies that much?"

"Screw your politics, that's not why I'm angry!" Roselle balled her hands into fists. "Don't act dumb."

Armani stroked his imaginary beard. "I'm racking my brain, but I can't recall what I did to make you have such disdain for me. Mind explaining?"

"UGH! Never mind!" She slammed the door in his face, and pounded her fist in the drywall. She peaked out the window. Slowly but surely, the secret service men, along with the newly elected president, left as quick as they came. Good riddance.

"That was crazy," Michelle said, walking back in the living room. "What a jerk."

"Where did you go?"

"I was watching what went down through the security cameras." She shook her head. "It just doesn't make any sense." She scratched her scalp.

"Do you believe me now when I tell you that that guy is insane? He showed up here unannounced after all these years just to give me twenty dollars, and then he just leaves?" Roselle threw the twenty dollar bill on the ground, then sank on the floor, hugging her knees.

"Well, look on the bright side. At least you got twenty bucks."

She glared at her sister. "Gee, thanks. My emotions got stirred up, I was scared, I was confused, I was excited, I was happy, and then all my hope got cut down after a week of anticipation. But you're right. At least in the midst of everything, I received twenty dollars. That really cheers me up." She rolled her eyes.

Michelle sighed. "Let's order a pizza with it tonight, okay? We can get ice cream too and binge watch shows together." She picked up the twenty. "We can buy it with this. Sounds good?"

Roselle nodded. "I guess so."

Michelle glanced at the twenty for a moment, and clasped her hand over her mouth. "Uhh, actually, on second thought, I think you actually have plans tonight."

"What do you mean?"

"There's words written on this twenty." She cleared her throat. "Roselle, I know you're probably very confused right now, but meet me at the old diner we used to go to as kids at five, and I'll explain everything. If you don't come, I'll respect your choice and I won't bother you anymore," she read aloud. "Then he signed his name here."

Roselle jumped up and swiped the bill from her sister, and read it for herself. "I can't believe this."

"Are you gonna go?"

"I don't know." She grabbed a pillow and shouted in it. "I'm so tired of all this back and forth nonsense. I feel like he's driving me crazy!"

"But if you don't go now, you'll never know what he was going to say."

"I just want to forget about him."

"Well, considering he just got elected president, I don't think you WILL be forgetting about him anytime soon. Every time someone mentions his name, and every time you see him on TV, there will always be that little voice in the back of your head asking yourself 'what if'. And you know what the worst part will be?"

"What?"

"You're going to complain to ME about it! So go for both our sakes."

Roselle sighed. "Fine. But if he pulls some crazy shenanigans again I'm holding you personally responsible for whatever pain I'll go through."

* * *

Roselle's heart raced as the taxi pulled into the diner's parking lot. She paid the driver and got out of the car. Her dress was red, white, and blue, resembling the American flag. Her hair was tossed in beach waves, her eyeliner highlighted her almond-like eyes, and her lipstick was as red as roses. Michelle was the one who insisted that she needed to look 'presidential'. What a bother.

She scanned the parking lot, but Armani was nowhere to be seen. She checked the time. 5:13. Her heart plummeted. Was she too late?

Psst. She staggered back at the call. In the corner was a man with khaki shorts, a white shirt, sunglasses, and a black scarf. "You there," he said, his voice earth-digging deep. "Come over here."

She turned in the other direction, avoiding eye contact. Clack, clack, clack. The man's footsteps were getting closer. When he was close enough that she could feel his heat on her skin, she prepared to run, but the man grabbed her arm.

"Let me go!" she screamed, slapping him across the face.

When the sunglasses and scarf were knocked off on impact, it revealed who the man was: none other than President Armani Parker. "Sorry," he said. "I should have told you I would be in disguise. I'm sorry that I scared you. I'm glad you came."

Roselle rubbed her temples. "Idiot," she mumbled. "And don't think that just because I came here we're cool now. I didn't even want to come here."

"Yet you chose to anyway." Armani smiled. "You could have ignored the message and decided you wanted nothing to do with me, but here you are. To me, that says a lot."