After Afterall

39

DEREK

"Good morning, ladies and gentleman," I greet as I enter the room. As always, everyone is standing at the ready. "Please, take a seat."

My meeting today is attended by my cabinet, my Chief of Staff, and my publicity team. I called in the meeting very early this morning with Sophie, my secretary, and while it was last minute, everyone seems invested already. I stay standing at the head of the table and look around the room. "Thank you all for being here this morning. I know this meeting was put together last minute, so I appreciate your attendance.

"Today is going to be a very different meeting than we'd usually have because this meeting is about my personal life." With that, everyone looks a little uncomfortable. It's not the job of the cabinet to take on the President's personal life. "I know many of you in this room have little dealings in my personal life and I understand this conversation may feel uncomfortable, but I wanted to get everyone in the room so we all had an understanding."

I take a seat. "As you all know, Meredith and I broke up a few weeks back for various reasons and I've been a nightmare to be around ever since."

No one responds. I expected a laugh, or something, even though it's the truth. "Everyone relax," I tell them. "I'm not here to make your life harder."

Some of my cabinet relaxes, those I see every day, but the rest remain tense. I continue, "When Meredith got shot, I found myself back in her life again and since returning from my trip to South America, we've reconnected and we're back together."

I notice Toby smiling to himself as he stands along the wall on the other side of the room. He's always been a champion for mine and Meredith's relationship. At first no one says anything, but then Lilly pipes up and says, "Congratulations sir." A few people nod.

"Thank you," I nod at her graciously. This room is full of people who make decisions on when bombs should be dropped and countries should be invaded, but heaven forbid I mention my person life and they're all petrified. I decide to stop worrying about my cabinet's state of mind and just get to the point.

"Meredith and I are together again," I repeat, "but we've been clearer with each other in what we want and need in our relationship, which is where you all come in. The first order of business is Meredith will not be the First Lady."

I let the news settle and everyone seems very alert. Before I hear complaints, I continue.

"A few months ago, I was under the impression that Meredith had no other choice. If we wanted a First Lady, she would have to fulfill the role. But I don't believe that any longer."

"But sir," Alan chimes in, "if not for Doctor Grey, who is going to do the job?"

"For a year now, a very capable team has been tending to the duties of the First Lady. Wendy and her team have put together every event, set up dinners for causes that have been important to me, and worked closely with local charities to make sure their voices are being heard. I have already spoken to Wendy and she said she'd love to take on the role full time. She won't be called the First Lady, of course, but I don't believe this administration needs a single individual to take on that role. I like the idea of showing people working together to get the job done. Now that is more realistic."

For a few moments, everyone is quiet, but their eyes tell a different story. People don't seem so happy. Eventually, my Secretary of the Interior, asks, "Sir, can we really go without a face of the office of the First Lady? Aren't you worried that you'll be too far removed from tradition?"

"Those are fair questions, I know I will be answering them for weeks, but my answer for the first is we can go without a face of the office of the First Lady because we'll have eleven faces for that office, just like there are multiple faces for this very cabinet. As for your second question, the answer is I'm not worried. I believe some traditions should change. Slavery was a tradition and we changed our way of thinking to eradicate the tradition."