Chapter Text
Vice President Allison Pressman seen outside of favored Washington insider bar following a very public breakup with Prince William of Spain. The Vice President had been spotted later that night with Senator Helena Wu-Holbrook of Massachusetts, Senator Rebecca Gelb of New York, and Representative Eleanor Tomkins of Pennsylvania. This is certainly a new look for Vice President Allison Pressman, who in the past has been known to stay secretive and wary of others. But if you ask this reporter, it’s about time. She has been dating Prince William of Spain for the past five years. The real question is what our President Cassandra Pressman says about little sister’s new antics. And will it affect the President’s current run for re-election?
Alexis “Lexie” Pemberton
Journalist for Cosmopolitan Magazine
Dressed in old, torn up jeans and one of Luke Wu-Holbrook’s old sweatshirts, Allie Pressman was anything put presidential looking at the exact moment. She was laying on Helena and Luke’s couch, her own noise being drowned out by Helena making a smoothie hangover drink in the kitchen and the loud purr of an overhead fan. The clock rings, causing Allie to jump up from her previously very comfortable position. Grabbing her head in effort to comfort her throbbing headache, she looks around to the creek of a bedroom door opening. She gives her best smile to Becca as Becca shuffles to the open seat next to her on the couch. Allie reasonably knows she and Becca had the same number of drinks last night, but she could swear Becca looks hardly tired. Not hungover in the slightest. Becca is dressed for work, her hair combed into a bun that sat in the crease of her neck, her suit jacket even has a crease in the pockets.
“How do you look human?” Allie whispered to the woman sitting cross-legged in front of her.
“Easy. When you were busy being Vice President and dating Will, we” Becca made a show of pointing to Helena and Luke acting cutesy, and the front door where Elle would be coming through any minute. “were out getting twice as drunk and hungover then you did.”
“Hey! No mention of that disastrous boy.” Luke screamed from his spot in the kitchen.
“No, no loud noise. Actually, no noise at all.” Allie responded. Helena opened the fridge, a gust of cold air leading to Allie shivering. She grabbed a bowl of some yogurt looking food and pulled the rap up. With the bowl in one hand, a fresh smoothie in the other, and her husband on her tail, Helena moved to sit in the empty side of Allie. Luke took the coffee table as his seat.
“Here.” Helena gave the drink to Allie, helping her hold it to her lips. The cold liquid traveled down her throat, acting as a wakeup call.
“He’s everywhere. In pictures, in articles, on the TVs. And I know Cass will try to tell me to act like nothing happened, but it did. Something happened and I don’t know the next step.” Allie flounced into Becca’s arms, Helena patting her back. Luke rubbed her hand softly. She didn’t quite hear what he said, but it made Helena give him a look, to which he responded with a dramatic sigh.
“We can cut him out of pictures.” Helena whispered.
“You shouldn’t be reading those articles anyway, not good for you.” Becca’s voice was solemn.
“Plus, I’ve put a word in with a couple of old friends of mine, Clarke, Grizz, Jason. We’ll help get the big stuff of Will’s out from your house.” Luke said, a small smile danced over his face.
Allie wanted to return the smile; she really did. Not only to Luke, who over these past years has gone from Helena’s boyfriend to her friend even without Helena, but to her other friends too. When Will and Allie finally called it over (more like Allie asked about the future, and Will couldn’t promise one), these were the people she leaned on the most. Not Gordie. Not Cass. Heck not even her cousin Sam who she loved the most out of anyone in her family. But even if Luke and his friends –one, Grizz, Allie believes, she’s heard Sam talk about— it won’t be enough. That house, without Will to share it, is simply to large for just her. With it’s stately bedrooms and large foyer. When the pair bought it, right after the election that made Allie vice president to Cass, she thought it would be where they would raise their family. Now, that dream is smashed.
The front door slams open, the dirty blonde hair of Elle Tomkins comes barging in. She’s in neon fitness gear, sweat prettily gleaming on her skin. Elle gave Allie a curt wave, before grabbing a water and sitting next to Luke. Allie had not known Elle for as long as she did the others, only a few years, but she knew she could trust her with her life. Elle was young, wanted to volunteer with the presidential campaign. She was a recent graduate from Brown, with a degree in politics to boot. Elle fit in great with the rest of the group. So well, Allie started bringing her around to personal events. Everyone loved her. That was the first misstep. At one of those events, Elle met Allie’s cousin Campbell. Campbell was a lobbyist with a bad streak, but no one could’ve guessed how bad it really was. He charmed Elle, took her all over the country. Showered her with gifts, introduced her to officials, dignitaries across the globe. It didn’t take much for Helena, Becca, and Allie to realize something in there perfect façade wasn’t right. A once energetic Elle was now quiet, distant from friends and family. With the eventual help of Cass, and Supreme Court Justice Bean Akkad, Campbell was arrested, eventually sent to jail without anyone being wiser. Campbell’s brother Sam was standoffish for a little bit, but eventually came to terms with his brother’s actions. Elle had gone to therapy, one back home in Pennsylvania, and as much as Allie wanted her to stay in DC, to pay for the finest treatment in town, she knew Elle needed her family.
Elle didn’t answer any of the girl’s as fast, but she did when she could. Pennsylvania treated her well, but it certainly didn’t surprise anyone in the know when Eleanor Tomkins of Pennsylvania came back to town, with a position and a title. This time, Elle was going to run this town.
Elle grabbed a drink from the smoothie blender and sat down next to Luke on the floor.
“Look Allie, I know what you’re going through. All you want to do is sit around and eat carbs, but you need to get out. You need to see your sister and meet new people.” Elle told her.
Allie moved her head from Becca’s chest, just enough to be able to talk, “I can’t even think about talking to Cass about everything, less to the idea of meeting new people. Where would I even start?” She whispered. Becca lightly pushed Allie off of her shoulder, keeping her hand on Allie’s arm incase of wobbling.
Allie did indeed wobble.
Helena looked off in to the distance, before sharing a look with her husband. The noise of Helena’s clap came from her hands, which, according to her facial expression, she was not expecting. Grabbing a wobbly Allie with one arm to assist with steadying, Helena explained the noise. “Sorry, did not mean for that to happen. But, since Luke’s friends are in town, we’re holding a small, low key party. Nothing fancy, promise. But you should come out. What do you say?”
Allie knows she will agree, from the looks on her friend’s faces, they know it too. But it’s never been Allie’s belief to immediately agree to another person’s idea. “I’ll go for less then an hour. But before that, I need to visit the White House.”
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On Monday mornings, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue is awake before anyone else can ever be. Assistants and interns have begun running through Congress and the White House, following after with coffees in their right hand and croissants in their left. Reporters are lining up questions. Some good, like the questions about infrastructure and climate change. Most, or at least the one’s Allie gets asked most often are on the topic of her personal life.
More specifically, her dating life.
Most specifically, Will.
Allie does not have the energy for those questions this morning, or any morning. She doesn’t want to think about the eyes constantly watching her walk down the hallway, wondering when, not if, she’ll break. She doesn’t want to worry about the whispers behind her when she leaves a room, on how the Vice President hasn’t even looked at her phone or talked to the President all morning.
For a woman who has made a life out of her pattern of watching the news, usually with her sister, this is highly unusual. And by midday, Gordie is over it.
“Ms. Pressman, you are needed urgently.” His voice is only a whisper, yet it still manages to pull Allie away from her phone call with Independent Representative Gretchen Logan. Not that it would take much to be able to pull Allie away from her. Gretchen really was a young soul, in all the worst ways. Not that Gretchen has bad qualities, simply, the qualities she possesses aren’t the best to talk on a phone with.
After saying her swift goodbyes, Allie followed her friend of many years out of her work office. “You’re not going to tell me the emergency?” She beckoned him, following Gordie as he made his way down the secret passage Cassandra made sure was kept clean. It was in the walls, following the same route as the official hallway.
“It’s not a real emergency.” Gordie tried to give as an answer. He could feel the eyeroll directed at him.
“Oh, really. I had literally no idea.” Allie’s voice was dripping with sarcasm, but she trusted Gordie’s ability to find her humor funny. her arms crossed across her all pink suit, papers in between her sleeves and her chest. The outfit truly was pink in full color. With high waisted pants, a blazer with defined shoulder pads and gold buttons, complete with an equally baby pink spaghetti strap blouse.
“Allie, this is serious. If not to you, to Cass. She’s been battling reporters to keep your,” Gordie turned around and pointed directly at Allie’s face “name some what clean.”
Allie scoffed. Was her sister’s idea of clean to have Alexis Pemberton writing daily articles about her. “I can keep myself clean. Shouldn’t she be worried about poll numbers? I’ve heard rumors of some Bingham from Oregon running.”
Gordie shuddered at her sentence. He continued to walk down the hallway though, leading her in and out different silence. Allie kept up with the man’s pace, even as he rushed. She knew, she knew that the Bingham blow was a low one, even for her. The Oregon guy is Governor Harrison Bingham, republican royalty.
Harry’s father was a senator, and his on his mother’s side was both a president and supreme court justice.
More importantly, Cassandra and Harry went to school together, what feels like centuries ago. They were both in Harvard’s law program. Both perfect students. Cass was head of the Young Democrats. Harry, the Young Republicans. Every weekend and every phone call home were complaining about him. But when they graduated, Harry went back to Oregon and Cassandra went back to Connecticut. If it were not for the uptick of chatter about him running, Allie would’ve never thought of him again.
Gordie stopped suddenly, causing Allie to almost stumble back. She grabbed a door frame before Gordie knocked on Cass’s. The office wasn’t the Oval Office, Cassandra would say on many private occasions how it didn’t feel like her. She kept that special one away, only in use for special occasions. No, that wasn’t the one Cass was usually in. The usual one, Allie was sure, was designed for security persons. The only door was on a secret hallway. The only window was on the top rim of the office, directed on to the President’s private gardens.
A noise ruffled from behind the door, papers and pens. The wooden door opened, and the blonde woman on the other side gestured the two to come in. Allie followed Gordie down the few carpeted steps to the true office landing. Cass looked every bit of presidential as she should. She was dressed a business ready, yet still casual, floral patterned dress. Cassandra’s hair was in a high bun on top of her hair. She took her seat in the official desk, leaving Gordie and Allie to figure out seating arrangements on their own.
Cass looked like she was going to speak with a hostile enemy.
Gordie looked like he didn’t want to be there.
Allie was a mix of the two.
“Well, haven’t we gotten ourselves in a rut. Allie, I know you must be angry, with the breakup of Will, but you need to be aware of how it looks.” Cassandra spoke with a plastic smile to her sister.
“Why? Why do I have to be aware? Can’t I break down after my boyfriend of a decade says we have no future together?” Allie tried the President. Gordie had suddenly become very interested in the lining of the chair.
“Oh please, you know why.” Cass answered seriously.
Allie gave a bitter laugh. “If this is about my job you can be damn sure that my Vice Presidential duties will be performed perfectly. I have my education taskforce meeting next week. Or is it not about that, Madame President. Are you mad at your little sister for messing your big plans up?”
Gordie jumped up as a divider between sisters, “I think tensions have gone to high. You know, maybe we should wait, before anyone says something they’re going to regret.” Gordie looked directly at Allie as he said the last bit.
“No, no I don’t think that’s needed. The Vice President is correct in her assumption of why I’m as angry as she thinks. But if she’s fine with her taskforce, I see no other reason for this to continue.” By the time Cassandra had finished talking, she had already re-opened a laptop, her head deep into her typing. Gordie tried to give her a warm smile, but it came out stiff. Allie huffed grabbing her papers.
Before she left, while Allie held the door open with one arm, her papers in the other, without ever looking back, “Thanks for the family reunion, sis.”