Invisible String

C.3: what's a lifetime of achievement

"It did."

"Got to love the vetting process," She paid no mind to the a brief smile that Josh gave her for her sarcastic remark, "I'm pretty sure that it mentions the dollar bill I took from the back of a frat house sofa, when I'd been dragged to a party by a sort of friend, who was trying to get with one of the frat guys."

"Is there anything in your past or personal life that would be embarrassing to the President, if it were to become public knowledge?" he question.

Madison rolled her eyes, knowing what this question was truly trying to figure out.

"Yes, I go home with strange men that I met in random piano bars and now this one I went home with doesn't want to give me a job, because I didn't call him back." Sarcasm dripped from her lips.

This time is was Josh's turn to shift uncomfortably in his chair.

"Other than that."

"No. There's nothing else that could be considered as embarrassing in private life that the President isn't already aware of. As I've already told you about the protesting."

"That implies that there is something." Josh quickly commented.

"Okay," Madison threw her hands into the air ever so slightly, "I accidently set the former, but at the time he was the current, Shadow Secretary of State for Defence on fire. But in my defence, I was eight years old and it was only his sleeve."

"But the answer you probably want is that I'm actually a Socialist," she threw in so causally, "well I actually think that the American public would call me a Communist, but that's semantics."

Josh paused for a moment, trying to take in what Madison so causally told him.

"I'm registered and card carrying member of the Democratic Party and I have been since I registered, but my personal views and politics don't always align with the Party's."

"Can you put them aside for the best of the Party?" Josh asked without taking a beat, knowing that Madison's reply to this question would be pivotal in his decision.

"I will say my piece, but ultimately I'll fall in line ."

Josh nodded.

"How do you deal with stress?" He asked, clearly trying to ask a certain question without explicitly asking.  He shifted ever so slightly, in his chair,  clearly not wanting to entertain the uncomfortable question. 

"If you're asking if I have depression or currently have suicidal thoughts." She forced herself to maintain the same level of eye contact as she had been for the rest of the interview.

Madison forced herself to swallow the lump in the back of her throat. 

He nodded. 

"No, I don't," she lied.

She couldn't let Josh know the truth, in fact, no one else could. Especially not someone she barely knew. Only a small handful of people knew the truth, and the President and the First Lady were made aware a few years ago.

A knock on the door pulled the pair from the uncomfortable silence that had fallen over them as Josh realised that Madison wasn't giving him the whole truth. She was hiding something and he knew it.

It was Leo, silently asking Josh if he could interrupt the interview. Josh nodded, as Leo pushed open the door.

"Leo," Madison smiled, "How's Mallory?" she asked.

"She's good, but annoyed that you never told her you were back in town."

"It was my to-do list, I swear." Madison half-whined, breaking away from the relaxed, yet, professional persona she was giving off.