Mr. President:A Billionaire & Virgin Fake Fiance Romance(29)

You think that's bad?



Wait till what what the Speaker of the House had to say today.



"It's come to my knowledge that Ms. Draper deals in the trading of  information and embarrassing secrets. She entraps people into  embarrassing situations. My staff was able to dig this out. It's now  clear to me that our President is being extorted by Ms. Draper into  selling state secrets. This redoubles my calls for impeachment and  imprisonment of this President due to his unfitness to serve the highest  office of the land."



Speaker of the House Bob Walker. Fierce opponent of Austin Bain. Calling  for his impeachment. And it seemed just the other day the country was  getting ready for a White House wedding. Now we might be getting ready  for a White House jailing.



Not to be outdone, the White House has responded to the charges that Bob  Walker has made. But it's odd, because they've just had one message.



"The President will address the nation. Tonight," commented Press Secretary Cheryl Maddox.



I was supposed to go to CrossFit. But this is the perfect excuse to miss  it. It's going to be an interesting evening, that's for sure.





29





Ashley





"What's gotten into him?" I ask Tracy as we walk down a corridor at a brisk pace, heading toward the conference room.

"No idea," she shrugs, trying to appear calm and in control, but I know  that she's a wreck underneath her professional demeanor. Against his own  advice, Austin has decided to hold a press conference, and he hasn't  even told Tracy a word of what he's going to be saying. Maybe all this  stress has gotten the best of him. And if that's what's happening  …   well, then, we're all fucked. But it's not like we can stop him; he's  the President of the United States, after all, and when the President  wants something, he usually gets it.

Even if that's a press conference that might dictate his own impeachment

I know what you're thinking; what am I doing back at the White House,  right? After the heated exchange of words between Austin and I, I was on  the verge of leaving for good. And I did. Went back to my apartment for  the night. But a deal is a deal, and I've never backed out of one. And  I'm not going to start now. And, besides, despite how much of an asshole  he was toward me …  I still believe that he's the right man to be leading  this country.

"Thing is," Tracy tells me, stopping before we enter the wing of the  White House opens to the reporters, "a bug was found in the Oval Office.  Just like you said. And it's as clear as water that Walker is the one  behind it. There's a forensics team up there as we speak."

"Maybe he plans to use that as leverage against Walker?"

"If that were the case, I doubt he'd call a press conference. He'd do it behind closed doors."

"Well, let's hope he has a plan then," I whisper as I step with Tracy  inside the conference room, taking our seats on an area cordoned by the  Secret Service. The room is completely packed with the White House press  corps, and the mood is one of nervousness and excitement. Whatever  Austin says at this press conference, history will be made-one way or  another.

"He's late," I tell Tracy as I look down at my wristwatch. My heart  aches as I remember the first time I saw Austin, back when I was being  briefed on what my job would be; but this time the mood is a sour one,  and no intern joke finds its way to my lips. Tracy opens her mouth to  respond but then closes it again as Austin strolls inside the room by a  side entrance, buttoning his jacket as he assumes his position behind  the podium.

"Good evening, everyone," he says into the mic, his gaze wandering over  every single person in the room. His voice is deep and serious and, for  the first time, he has adopted a presidential posture that would make  George Washington proud. "Ever since I assumed the Presidency, the press  has been obsessed with my personal life. With this new allegation that  the Speaker of the House has made against me, I think it's time I  finally address all that has been said. Bob Walker was correct: Ashley  was brought on board as my fake fiancée."

His words hit the room like a nuclear bomb and, before he's bombarded  with a thousand questions, he raises one hand up in the air, calming  everyone down. It isn't that hard: everyone's too stunned to do  anything, and that includes me.

"It's time this country knows the truth. I owe it to all of the  Americans who have put their trust in me." Pausing for a couple of  seconds, as if gathering his thoughts, he then continues. "Despite what  I've told you, I've broken no laws. No crime was committed; Ashley  wasn't given access to any classified information. But, yes, I'll admit  this whole ruse was an ill conceived plan, and the country deserves  better of me."

"The Speaker of the House is, however, trying to use this mistake  against me. And he's doing it in such a way that proves he's the wrong  person to hold the Presidency. As we speak, a special forensics team is  investigating Bob Walker and it seems like a foregone conclusion that  the Speaker of the House was involved in illegal wiretapping."

This time, there's a slight oh of surprise washing over everyone in the  room. The President is revealing that his fiancée is fake, the Speaker  of the House is involved in wiretapping-what's happening with this  country?

"I take full responsibility for my mistakes," Austin continues, his  presidential tone demanding the attention of everyone in the room. "But I  also want to take responsibility for the good I've done. Under my  presidency, the nation is better off than it's ever been. Public funding  has improved, our ill-conceived involvement with foreign states has  been reduced, and unemployment is at an all-time low. During the past  decade, the world has looked at the United States as an empire too big  for its own good, but now the tide is turning. The world is, once again,  looking up at us as a role model, capable of leading by example instead  of by force."         

     



 

"HELL YEAH!" someone shouts from the back of the room, and I turn back  to see that the shout came from one of the reporters. He's on his feet,  ready to applaud Austin, but then realizes that everyone is looking at  him and he sinks down onto his seat, embarrassed.

"Sure, my methods might be unconventional. I don't care about what's  politically correct; I care about results. I care about making this  country greater than it has ever been. And this is why Americans all  over the country voted for me because they want results. They want  things to be better …  and things are better. And they will keep on  getting better."

With that, he falls into a deep silence, his gaze wandering over the  room with a kind of poised confidence. I half-expect the room to erupt  with a million questions but, instead, every just stays silent, allowing  everything that Austin has said to sink in.

"At some point in our recent history, things changed for us," Austin  says from the podium. "It wasn't about what's best for everyone, or even  working to compromise to make the country great. It began to become  about what's best for me. What do I want, versus what do we want. What's  good for us became uncool when compared to what's making me feel good  right now."

There's silence.

"We began to want things for ourselves without paying for them," Austin  says. "And we didn't want to deal with our problems. And so we forgot  ourselves. And we created a machine. A beast that fed our desire to  forget."

Photographers are clicking.

"How did we do that?" Austin asks. He pauses and smiles.

"We created a media machine that began by pitting us against each other.  They scared the shit out of us and made us forget that we're all  fucking Americans. But they did it well. They made us forget and they  knew that no matter who was elected, they would make money by tearing  that person down and half the country would cheer them on. So they've  been coming after me and my … dalliances and saying it's the end of the  fucking world when I've done so much good. They measure the inches on my  cock and spend time on that rather than the millions of jobs I've  brought back. And you can bet your last dollar that when Bob Walker made  those accusations, they seized on it."

There's an embarrassed silence. Austin looks from his podium.

"I challenge anyone, in this room or in the whole country, to say I'm  not the best thing that has ever happened to this country," he says and,  in this very moment, he doesn't look like a President of the United  States; he looks like a God King, descended from the heavens to give  fire and wisdom to the humans living under him. If this was a  battlefield, I believe that everyone in this room would follow Austin  straight into the arms of death.

"WE'RE WITH YOU!" one of the onlookers lining up the war on the far  corner shouts and, a few seconds after, more shouts of support start  exploding through the room. Before I know it, everyone is up on their  feet, clapping their hands and whistling. This impromptu standing  ovation lasts for a few minutes, and I don't think there's any doubt in  anyone's mind, the country stands behind its President.