The Phoenix

Oddly Specific

 "Theoretically speaking, if someone was convicted of murder, but you have a really good reason to believe they're innocent, so you pardoned them. How would you defend that?" Seth asked Lucy.

For the past thirty minutes, he had been sitting at his desk getting incredibly frustrated with the task at hand.

"Wow, that's oddly specific. Well, you could say that you can prove that another person committed the crime. But you'd have to actually arrest and charge them for it. What is this incredibly specific question about."

Seth sighed.

"This is technically classified, but I trust that you won't go running your mouth about it. The Deputy Director of the FBI confessed to murdering Majid Nassar, and he was found guilty of it. However, we have proof that he didn't do it, so the President is going to pardon him because an appeal would take too long."

"Who do you think actually did it?"

"Now that is incredibly classified. Maybe you can get Emily to tell you. Speaking of your sister, she said you have some pretty bad anxiety. Why would you want to be an assistant to the Press Secretary if you have anxiety?"

"Any kind of job for the government looks really good on a college application. I was a page for Senator Raymond last year, and that helped me get a full-ride scholarship to Georgetown. I figured that a White House internship wouldn't hurt my resume for grad school."

"Nice. What are you thinking about majoring in?"

"Social Sciences. I know, once again, bad idea for someone with anxiety. I'm still not sure. Honestly, Political Science is something I'm also considering."

"Don't feel like you have to have your mind made up right away. I switched majors halfway through my first year. I went from English to Journalism."

"Was it hard to switch over?"

"Not really. It just depends on what you switch to. English and Journalism have a lot of the same components, so the switch wasn't that hard."

"Hold on, so what am I even going to be doing as your assistant?" Lucy asked.

"I'm honestly not even sure. I didn't even request an assistant. Someone just came in here last week and said, 'Hey, you're getting an assistant!'. You'll probably just help me write speeches and figure out how to deal with certain things. Don't worry, you won't have to answer any questions."

"Good. I can answer questions on a test, but having to answer them on the spot, in front of people is just awful. I start panicking, my throat feels like it's closing up, my hands get all sweaty. I'm pretty much allergic to on the spot questions." she laughed.

"I understand. When I was in middle school, if someone asked me a question that I didn't have an answer to, I'd start freaking out. As you can tell, I've learned to deflect instead of hyperventilating."

"Yeah. I've always had really bad anxiety. My doctor tried putting me on medicine for it but it's so bad that the medicine didn't have any effect on me. With that and my ADD combined, it used to be awful. I'd zone out all the time, so when someone would ask me a question, not only would I not know the answer, I wouldn't even know the question. Luckily, I did get pills for that."

Seth's watch beeped.

"It's time for my press conference." he said, causing her eyes to go wide.

"Don't worry. All you have to do is stand there. And if you get too overwhelmed, you can come back in here. Alright?"

"Okay." she replied, taking a deep breath and getting up.

Lucy followed him down the hall and into the conference room, where about 60 noisy reporters were waiting. The entire thing was a bit overwhelming, but in the midst of all the chaos, she spotted Leo. He was semi-hiding in a group of White House employees with a totally not conspicuous Secret Service agent standing only a few feet away. When he spotted her, he emerged from the group of people and stood beside her.

"Leo, what are you doing here?" she asked.

"I thought you might want someone to keep you company. So, how has your first day been?"

"Well, it just got a lot better since I don't have to stand here by myself."

"I thought about that rave tonight. I'm in."

"Think you'll be able to escape the security?"

"Nope, but I'm sure I could bribe a few of them."

"Alright. Make sure you wear something shiny."

"Do I look like the kind of guy who would own something shiny?"

"No, but I hoped you'd surprise me. Guess not."

"Hey, I can be surprising." he defensively joked.

"Okay then, prove it."

"I will."

Emily sat in Aaron's office and watched the press conference while he was on the phone with the Deputy Director of the Secret Service. In the corner of the room, she could see her sister. The pink hair was a dead giveaway, and it made her stick out like a sore thumb. But her sister's hair wasn't the first thing she noticed. It was Leo Kirkman standing right next to her. They quietly laughed and talked while the conference went on. She waited until Aaron was off the phone to say something about it.

"Aaron, look." she said.

"What am I supposed to be looking at? Your sister? I mean the hair is pretty eye-catching."

"No. Look who's standing next to her."

"Why is Leo at a press conference?"

"No idea."

"Well, he seems to be enjoying Lucy's company. I think she feels the same way."

Emily laughed. Lucy had taunted her non-stop about Aaron, so she planned to do the same thing to her.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, just the fact that I'm not letting her hear the end of this. Every single time my phone would go off at home, she'd ask in the most three-year-old voice possible, 'Is that your boyfriend?'."

"And how many times was she right?" he asked leaning down.

"Eh, about 50%." she joked, kissing him.

This kiss was short and sweet, like most of the ones they shared while at work, due to the fear of someone walking in on them.

"I wonder how Hannah's doing with Atwood." she said as he walked back to his desk.

"Hopefully he'll just accept the pardon and make it easier for everyone."

"Except Seth. The press will be in a frenzy once the story gets out."

"Well, that is his job."

"So, what happened with Lisa Jordan? Did he get her to hold that story?" Emily asked.

"Yeah. She said that she'd hold the story if he'd give her the details on the new investigation when the time was right."

"Good. It's going to be hard enough to keep the speculation to a minimum. It would look bad on us if she published false information that we gave her."

"Yeah, and we can't handle any more controversy."

"True."

A/N: Sorry that Emily's part is a lot shorter than Lucy's, I'm just really focusing on her right now. I hope you guys enjoyed this one because the next one is going to be even better!