Charles Sheffield - Aftermath

The mood had changed as the hour advanced. Saul felt instinctively the shift in power dynamics. It was no longer a meeting of President and aide, but part of some undefined and evolving relationship. Differences of age and status were less relevant. Late at night, all cats are gray. And Yasmin’s eyes were tiger eyes, glinting a yellow reflection in the half-light. She had drawn her legs up beneath her on the armchair and was leaning forward, crouched and ready to spring. He thought she looked too beautiful to be true; but that was not why he had come to Indian Head.

“I told Tricia this didn’t change the way I felt about her,” he said. “And we didn’t have to wait forever. We just had to avoid being seen together until after the election.”

“Did she make a scene?”

“Not a bit. We were in a San Francisco restaurant, the Catch of the Bay. Tricia listened to me very quietly when I told her. Then she said she had to use the rest room. She left the table. And she never came back.”

“A shitty way to act, don’t you think?”

“I guess so.” Saul was convinced that Yasmin was talking about his action, not Tricia’s.

“Did you call her?”

“Of course I did. I was off on the campaign trail the next morning, but I called her as soon as I could. All I got that night was her message service.”

“Did you try to see her?” She rose from her chair in one fluid movement and came to perch on the broad arm of his.

“Not at once. I was all over the country, they had my every minute programmed. It was three weeks before Tricia and I were even in the same town. Then she wouldn’t see me. Four weeks later, when I was up in Vermont, I received a media report that she had married Joseph Goldsmith.” He wondered if the bitterness showed in his voice. “My staff briefed me about him. Someone who was everything I wasn’t, first families of Virginia, horses and hunting and estates and a pedigree back to the mid-1600s.”

“Was she seeing Goldsmith at the same time as she was seeing you?”

Saul stared. “I don’t think so.”

“Don’t look amazed. It happens all the time where I come from. Go with one, keep another in cold storage just in case.”

“I don’t believe Tricia would do a thing like that.”

“That’s your option. But what’s your theory? You must have one.”

“I think she married on the rebound.”

“A woman scorned? But she wasn’t scorned, was she? She had been asked to wait a while, that’s all.” Yasmin was staring sightlessly at nothing, her tawny eyes wide. “Something doesn’t smell right. I need time to think about this.”

“I’ve thought about it endlessly.”

“Maybe. But you haven’t thought as a woman.”

“Meaning what?”

“Meaning you’re like a lot of men, charitable when it comes to women’s motives. Are you sure you told Tricia that you would marry her after the election?”

“Absolutely. I mean, I’m sure I said it, I couldn’t have been clearer. But she hardly seemed to be listening. She seemed preoccupied, even before we began to talk.”

“Did she have a key to where you were staying?”

“Yes. We were staying together.”

“You were lucky. If you dropped me the way you dropped her, I’d have been over that same night and fixed you for life.”

Saul winced. She was leaning over him, and she made a vicious snipping motion toward his genitals with her fingers.

He put his hands protectively in his lap. “You would never do anything like I did to Tricia, would you? You’d never treat a man so badly.”

“I feel sure I wouldn’t.”

He sprang the trap. “Not even if you could be President if you dumped him? And if you had no chance if you stayed with him.”

“Jesus. I should have seen that coming.” Yasmin stood up. She had removed her shoes, and she began to prowl silently up and down in front of the dark fireplace. “Nolo contendere, isn’t that what crooked politicians usually plead? You’re right. For a chance — for half a chance — I’d do the exact same thing you did. Though you say you didn’t really dump her, and she ought to have known that. But if she thought you had, I’m still surprised she didn’t come along one dark night and castrate you.”

Saul thought, Maybe she did. I’ve been no use since. He said, “So she was angry and disappointed and bitter, and she ran off and married someone else. I decided that for myself, long ago. What I don’t understand is why she would call me, out of the blue, and say she wants to see me again.”

“God, men can be so naive.” Yasmin approached Saul’s chair and hovered over him. “Isn’t it obvious? She’s divorced again, and she’s hunting.”

“Tricia isn’t divorced. At least, she wasn’t a couple of months ago. Since the supernova I don’t think anybody could get a divorce no matter how much they wanted one.”

“So I’m wrong. Did you agree to see her?”

“I’m having dinner with her tomorrow.”

“Without her husband?”

“I suppose so.”

Yasmin stared at him steadily, until he went on, “I mean, I feel sure her husband won’t be there.”

“And you still claim that she’s happily married?” Yasmin spun away and went back to the fireplace. She rested her forehead on the cold stone mantelpiece. “You should ask Tricia what she wants from you. Don’t ask me, because if I say something all you’ll do is defend her. Why did you really come here?”

“I told you. I wanted to talk to you, to make sure that you were all right.”

“Nonsense. You could have done that with a call. If I could contact the White House from here, I’m sure you could have reached me from there. You know why you came. It had nothing to do with my welfare.”

Saul could hear the pain in her voice. He knew he was causing it, but he didn’t know how. He stood up and went to stand behind her. When she did not move, he took her by the shoulders and gently turned her toward him.

“I didn’t just call you, Yasmin. I came to see you. Why did I come? You say I don’t listen, but I’m listening now.”

He put a hand behind her head and pulled it forward to rest on his shoulder. For a moment she stood rigid, then he felt her relax.

“You came because you’re scared of her.” Her voice was muffled against his chest. “I don’t know what that woman does to men, but it’s quite a trick. Look at her track record. What Tricia Goldsmith wants, she gets. She didn’t snag you the first time around, but only because you had one thing in your life, at that particular time, that you put above her.” Yasmin straightened up and stared at Saul fiercely. “But damn it, I still don’t understand. In fact, the more I think about this, the less I understand it.”

“About Tricia and me?”

“About Tricia. Let’s forget you just for the moment and concentrate on her.” Yasmin stepped back. “I’m going to try to be Tricia. Tell me if this sounds right — and don’t go out of your way to defend everything she has ever done. All right, here goes. I was born poor and a nobody. But ever since I became a teenager, I’ve been climbing steadily up the ladder of fame and fortune. True?”

“I suppose so. Of course—”

“I’ve reached the point where I have plenty of money. I’ve picked my husbands very well, so I’m also sitting well up on the social scale. You don’t get much higher than the Chartrains. And now I’ve got Saul Steinmetz curled around my little finger. No, don’t start denying it.”

Saul had been ready to speak, but he managed to hold back.

“And now Saul is running for President. I’ll be First Lady! There’s only one condition: I have to wait a few months, until after the election, before we can be married. But that’s no big deal. We’ll still be having sex, though we’ll have to do it more discreetly. And when he sees how sweet and reasonable and understanding I’m being about this, he’ll love me more than ever. So I’ve got it made, if only I’m a little bit patient. And what do I do?”