Chapter One

Three years. We've lived in the white house for three years and i still wake up every morning waiting on all of this to be a dream. The odds certainly were not in my husbands favor, after all. He was the first openly bisexual presidential candidate, an independent, supporter of strict gun control and advocate for reproductive rights when the previous president had made abortion illegal. In the three years he's been in office, he's restored the unity that america once had before the last monster that was in office. Most mornings he's up before I am, off at some security briefing or meetings with congress or world leaders, but today is a special day. A clear schedule, which is almost never the case. I think it's happened only once before, and it probably won't happen again.

  I watch him sleep for about ten minutes- since I hardly ever see that happen. He might be able to for five  hours on a good day if  he's lucky, and by then I'm already asleep. I'd be lying if I didn't say that his presidency put a strain on our relationship, but we've been together since we were fifteen- that's twenty three years. We may not get to spend as much time together nowadays, but that makes every moment more precious. His eyes flutter open, stunned for a moment because I am two inches from his face, and then he smiles. "Good morning."

"Good Morning Beautiful." He kisses my forehead, pulling me towards him. For once, our morning will not be hectic- at least I hope it won't.

"Did you speak to prince Ahmad again yesterday? He was pretty insistent." I say.

———-16 hours ago————

After my speech on women's rights overseas, I can almost feel the glaring eyes of the male world leaders in the room. America is one of the most progressive when it comes to women's rights. I'm not familiar with how it is in every single country, but here, in 2023, we are truly equal. Can't say the same for every country. I've used my position as First Lady to advocate for those types of things: LGBTQ rights, women's rights, the Black Lives Matter movement. All equally important, but of course, most reporters from less progressive countries disagree. I pay no attention to them- what matters to me is  equality for the world as a whole. America may have achieved it, but the rest of the world is still several steps behind.

I tuck a stray piece of hair behind my ear, and meet James, my main secret service agent in the hallway outside of the preparations room. "Where to?" He asks.

"Pool." I say. "I've got a couple hours to kill." He murmurs something into his walkie talkie, and his expression falls.

  "Prince Ahmad's there. I know you two don't exactly get along- I can have him kicked out if you want." James informs me.

  "No-" I shake my head. "He's here on a diplomatic trip. He's welcome to use the amenities at any time  regardless of our disagreements." He nods, walking alongside me to the residence. Once we're there, he stops outside to give me some privacy.

  I peel off the uncomfortable pantsuit I'm wearing, which has become embarrassingly drenched with sweat in the armpit area- probably shouldn't have had that speech outside.  I throw on a bathing suit- a two piece. In the past it would've been considered inappropriate for the First Lady to wear a bathing suit, which I find incredibly dumb. I scrub the layers of makeup off of my face that the new artist used, instantly feeling better. I've always hated the feeling of makeup. I brush through my hair and order a veggie burger from the kitchen, which I eat in a couple of bites. When I finally rejoin James outside, it's been about an hour. I look at the time- 4:57. My husband'll be meeting with the house speaker around now to discuss new legislation that would allow people to seek asylum with no questions asked. Of course, there are those opposed to the bill, saying it is a gateway for terrorism, but in the past three years? Terrorism has gone down 731% , mostly due to the amped up investigations into finding the worlds most wanted terrorists.  Without leaders, terrorism groups cannot exist, and currently, the United States is holding 32 out of 39 major terrorist group leaders in custody.

  Of course, I don't have the classification to know their names or where they're being kept- these are some of the most manipulative psychopaths in the world we're  talking about. Let them get inside your head, and you're done for.

  Once we are outside of the doors to the pool room, the door holders open it for me. The pool was constructed with our own funds, not those of the American people. We figured- hey, we're going to be here for eight years(hopefully) , might as well make it our home.

  "Evening, Prince." I acknowledge him and his four guards that go everywhere with him.

  "Evening, Ms Wells. I have to say, that was quite the moving speech. You almost had me believe it before I remembered that you are a woman." He remarks.

"Prince Ahmad-" I say, grabbing a pool float. "You may be 'in charge' in your country, but here? You are nothing more than a visitor. And here, we are equals. So either get over it or get out." I toss the float into the pool.

"I'll have to admit you are a strong one. My country is slowly making progress. Though it is going to take a very, very long time for us to accept this radical... equality idea. It just is not something any of us are used to." He says.

"The culture is different. That's understandable but it doesn't excuse the barbaric practices. The women that are killed for being raped or the men who are tortured for being gay." I lay back on the float, half of my body being submerged in water.

"Need I remind you we haven't tortured anybody in a week. That is a step."

"Hardly-" I snort. "You had your own son tortured Last week for being caught with a man. Who the fuck would do that..." I nearly feel sick now just looking at him.

"That was nothing compared to what my people would do to us if they found out-"

"So you're saying that your own people support these barbaric practices? I hardly think so. They have no access to the internet. No way to tell their stories. Everything we know comes from the only two people to ever escape your county. You may have them wrapped around your finger but you don't fool me for a second. We've got our eyes on you, Ahmad."

"Is that a threat, Ms.Wells?"

  I pause to look at him as I drag myself out of the pool. "Not yet."

"Ms Wells!!"

"What?" I say, annoyed.

"Tell your husband I need to speak with him. Immediately."

——————-

"That son of a bitch- yes. He wanted to talk about why I allowed you to speak to him like that. As if I owned you.He didn't even mention what's going on inside of his country."

  "Yeah, I know it sucks but... we can't always police the entire population of the planet." I sigh.

  "Aren't you the one that said 'nobody is equal until everybody is'?"

  "Well yes, but look at what we've done in three years. Give it a bit more time." He nods, still holding me, then there's that look.

  "Secret service won't be disturbing us for at least another hour to make sure we're alive." He smirks.

  "Oh?" I straddle him. "And what do you suppose we do with that time?"

  "I have a couple of suggestions." His hand slips under my shirt, caressing the bare skin on my back. "But I believe we have time for all of them."

  His lips press against mine, hungry for more, and I let him in. His free hand finds it's way behind my neck, pulling me closer. When I finally pull away, it is to breathe, only for a brief couple of seconds. "I love you, Kyle Wells."

  "And I love you more, Lauren Wells."

  "I don't think that's possible." Our lips meet again, briefly, before he  checks my facial expressions for consent.He kisses my neck, slowly removing my clothing as he works his way down. "See, well now you're fully clothed and I'm completely naked. That hardly seems fair." I make a fake pouting face.

He chuckles, removing his shirt as I slip his pants and underwear off in one go. I look up at him for consent, something that neither of us fails to do even after twenty years of marriage. Just as I am about to go down on him, the outside door opens, and his chief of staff bursts in, immediately looking away and turning her back when our eyes meet.

"Mr.President I'm sorry for the intrusion but you are needed in command ops now." She's sweating as if she ran here.

"What's going on?" I ask.

"Can't tell you- matters of national security. Mr. President I'll be waiting outside, and ma'm- your security will have to be amped up for a while."

I must have a confused look on my face, because when Kyle kisses me goodbye, he whispers in my ear : "I'll keep you updated."

When they're gone, I sit back for a moment- that was odd. People almost never barge into the residence without knocking. I throw on a t-shirt and jeans, about to walk outside for a breath of fresh air, when three secret service agents block my view. "I'm sorry Ma'm, I can't allow you to do that right now."

"Why not? What the hell is going on?!"

"Just doing our jobs to keep you safe, ma'm." Another answers.

"If something happened that'll compromise my safety or my husbands I have a right to know about it-"

"No ma'm, you don't." One responds. "The issue compromising your safety is also a matter of national security."

—— Kyle's P.O.V—-

"This better be pretty damn important." I say. "This was supposed to be the one day I had to spend uninterrupted time with my wife."

"It is sir, you're gonna want to-to see this. This video was sent anonymously to the White House network, which they somehow managed to get into. The individual in the video is wearing a face mask, the video quality is extremely blurry, And he is using voice distortion filters so we can't track him that way. He managed to bypass our security measures and as of now we have no leads on how he did it." My chief of staff replies.

"Alright- what's so important about this video?" I ask. She presses a button, and the video plays.

"Good morning, Mr.President. I suppose you're a bit confused right now, so let me elaborate for you. By the time you're watching this, we've already got her."