From the Cosmos. [gxg]

xxvii. welcome to blair house.

The dining room of the Blair House seemed untouchable, yet despite Colette's hesitance, she was ushered into a chair for breakfast. On the glossy wooden table in front of her was an assortment of breakfast foods. Eggs, pastries, bacon, and anything else she could possibly think of lined the table, yet she was the only one sitting down to eat. She couldn't help but think it was a waste.

She reached forward and grabbed the closest food item to her seat: a croissant. It was almost funny, really, that she was a guest of the United States President and eating the most French food possible. She took a large bite of the croissant, hoping that maybe the taste in her mouth would push the sleepiness away.

Not much had happened after she had left the airport. She was driven to Blair House, shown her bedroom, and then she promptly passed out on the large bed. She was woken up by Mrs. Falberry shaking her shoulder and telling her it was time for breakfast. She hardly had time to change before she was practically shoved into the dining room to eat.

She hadn't dreamed then. When she woke up, there were no memories in her mind other than the events of the night before. No pink clouds or blue skies lingered in her mind. Maybe she was too tired to remember her dreams. Despite having passed out, she had gone to sleep nervous, so she didn't sleep well. The time difference also messed her up, and she ended up getting way less sleep than she thought she would.

She had taken the final bite of her croissant when Mrs. Falberry entered the dining room. The secretary looked at Colette's empty plate and nodded.

"Good, you're done eating," she said, "Follow me, we're going to the library to prepare you for tomorrow."

For a woman in heels, Mrs. Falberry walked fast. She was out of the dining room before Colette could even stand, leaving the model to jog to catch up.

"You shouldn't run in here," Mrs. Falberry said, "There are countless priceless pieces of history in here, one mistake could cost you your salary for a year."

I wouldn't have to jog if you had just waited, Colette thought. She resisted a sigh trying to escape her mouth. She didn't want Mrs. Falberry to give her a lecture about why sighing was disrespectful in the United States Capital.

They twisted through several halls and walked past several doors. Blair House was huge, with an impossible amount of rooms that made Colette's head dizzy. Without Mrs. Falberry guiding her, Colette was sure the building would swallow her whole.

The library was smaller than she had imagined. For such a big house, she expected something huge, with books lining the walls. However, the library almost seemed more like a lounge area that happened to have a couple bookshelves. Several chairs were arranged throughout the room and a few portraits of people Colette could not identify watched over the room.

"Sit down," said Mrs. Falberry.

Colette sat down in the first chair she saw, which happened to be next to a table stacked with books. It was then that she noticed the other figure in the room: Cesar.

Cesar standing in a corner, overlooking the entire room. He didn't acknowledge Colette as she came in. Instead, he seemed to stare straight forward, like a living security camera.

Mrs. Falberry lifted some of the books off the table and placed them into a nearby empty chair. Then, she sat across from Colette and took out some papers. She handed the papers to Colette. "This is your speech that you are to give at the Rose Garden," she said, "You'll be able to have it with you when you give the speech, but I recommend memorizing it so that you don't look unprepared."

Colette nodded.

"The other paper is a basic schedule of what you're going to be doing tomorrow. It says what time you should be ready to leave Blair House, when you should arrive at the White House, when the executive order should be signed, etcetera.

The last sheet is a checklist of what you will be doing today. There are several elements on the list, such as meeting a stylist and learning about the executive order. We have also added a section to teach you how to speak to the press because of the incident you caused yesterday."

Colette cringed. She had said one word, which she hardly considered an incident. However, the way Mrs. Falberry spoke made it seem like she committed an unforgivable mistake.

"Now, we'll start today by giving you some time to ask questions. You may start now."

Colette, overwhelmed by Mrs. Falberry's mini-speech, took a moment to find her words. She had so many questions that it was hard to find a starting point. After a moment of thinking, she spoke up. "Do my agencies know about this?"

Mrs. Falberry didn't hesitate in her answer. "Yes, they do. Both your French and American agencies agree that this is the best option. They actually plan to come out and support you publicly. They ultimately agree that it would be good for their image."

That wasn't surprising. Colette was aware that she was valuable for her agencies' images, and that her sudden thrust into the international limelight would rake in a lot of money. Still, it wasn't nice to be thought of as a commercial object.

"When will I be allowed to return to New York?" Colette asked.

"If you wish, you may take the first flight there after we wrap up the Rose Garden press conference. After that, the president will no longer have a need for you."

Ouch, Colette thought.

"How did you guys locate us?"

Mrs. Falberry gave Colette a filthy look. "That's confidential," she said, "And we are out of time for questions."

The older woman stood up. "Stay here and read over your speech. I am going to get ready for the stylist's arrival. I'll retrieve you when everything is set up." Just like that, Mrs. Falberry left the room, closing the door behind her. Colette glanced down at the papers she was given.

The speech wasn't bad at all, it was obviously written by a professional, however it didn't sound like Colette. Anybody who had spoken to Colette for more than 5 minutes would be able to tell that this was written by someone else. Still, the speech didn't feel like a total sellout. It preached a lot about 'unity' and the 'dawn of a new era,' yet the overall message was something that Colette genuinely believed in. It was time for the United States to join many other countries in legalizing magic as well as shut down the horrifying sterilization program.

She read the speech over three times before she became bored of it. She looked up to the only other person in the room: Cesar. Cesar presented a mystery to her. Cesar, despite obviously using magic, was not sterilized. In fact, he worked for the government. He had been guarding the president. It was impressive that his powers were strong enough to be by the president's side, but to Colette, this was overshadowed by the fact that he worked with a government that actively oppressed people like him.

"How do you do it?" Colette asked, looking at Cesar, "How do you work for the government when they've been kidnapping children?" The words came out harsher than she intended. An angry sob formed at her throat, trying to escape. She forced the tears forming in her eyes not to fall.

Cesar didn't even look at her, opting to remain silent. His face remained stoic, though Colette caught a waver in his eyes. The glint was something between disgust and anger, though she couldn't tell. Knowing that she wasn't going to get an answer, Colette slumped back in her seat and began reading her speech once again.