Sam stared at her. "He's what?"

"He's not coming," Caelan explained simply.

"Why not?" Sam demanded.

"I don't know for sure. But something tells me it has to do with Alexandr
Kovac."

"Kovac? Why?"

Caelan sighed. "Kovac was never Putin's first choice for a running mate,
but he was the logical political move to incorporate a wider range of
people. Unfortunately, Kovac's always been against the US. We didn't think
he'd assert himself so early on since throughout the process he's had no
power but obviously he's not as dumb as he plays to be."

"Caelan, what are you talking about?"

"Kovac's putting pressure on Markov. He knows Markov wants the VP
position. He also knows that Markov's susceptible to speaking his mind if
he lets him get too out of hand. Basically, Kovac's asserting dominance and
demanding obedience from Markov."

"So what do we do?"

"I'm going to call the Russian Embassy and talk to my friend there. We've
got to convince Markov to come to the dinner."

"Are you sure you can handle that? Shouldn't Mr. Johansen do that?" Sam
wondered skeptically.

"Mr. Johansen's at his daughter's school play. He can't miss it, and I'm
not going to make him. I can handle this. He put me in complete control,"
Caelan said, trying to show some confidence.

"Okay," Sam agreed, hiding his reluctance.

"I need to use the phone again," she told him, shyly.

"By all means," he said, picking it up and handing it to her.

Sam watched as Caelan dialed. Her breathing was coming quicker, and Sam
noticed the mild dampness forming along her brow beneath her bangs. "Hi,
can I talk to Peter?" she asked finally. "Thank you… Peter, hi. It's
Caelan Reed. Is General Markov there… look, I need to talk to him… okay,
put me on with his aide."

Caelan's eyes went to meet his as she smiled encouragingly. When she
started talking again, it was in a steady stream of Russian, which sounded
like total gibberish to Sam. She talked animatedly; moving her hands a lot
despite being on the telephone. There were long pauses and at times her
voice sounded desperate. Then he saw her smile. With a few more
affirmative sounding grunts, she hung up, beaming at him. "We got him," she
said proudly.

"You mean he's coming?"

"Oh yeah."

"How'd you do that?"

"I just told him what Kovac was doing. Markov's a proud man-he's not going
to let any puny rich politician tell him what to do. So, I've got him here,
now it's your job to make him believe what you believe."

"Do you think we can do it?" Sam asked her.

Caelan gave an honest smile. Catching his gaze, she said, "You know,
suddenly, I'm starting to believe that anything is possible."

"Somehow, the fact that you believe it when you obviously have a much
firmer grip on the subject than I do, I believe it too," Sam said.

Caelan glanced at her watched. "Wow, where did my night go?" she whined,
as she stretched from sitting in that chair all day.

"I'm sorry," Sam quickly apologized. Have I kept you from something more
important?"

"Come on. I was helping my country. That's my duty or something.
Besides, this is the kind of thing Mr. Johansen pays me for."

"I couldn't have written the speech without you, much less gotten all the
notes together to brief the President."

"It was nothing really," Caelan insisted.

"I'd like to make it up to you. Come out and get a bite to eat with me,
maybe a drink," Sam suggested.

She pondered it momentarily. "Well, I am hungry."

"Great," Sam said happily. "We'll just run by Josh's office, give him the
notes to brief the President and then we'll go."

"Okay, sounds great."

"Great," Sam said, letting it hang awkwardly as he smiled stupidly at
Caelan. Eventually he got up and led Caelan through the hall to Josh's
office. Sam knocked as a courtesy and went in.

"Hey, Sam, Caelan," Josh said, as they walked in. "Is it finished?"

"The speech is being proofed again by Kathy, and these are comprehensive
notes on where we stand in terms of the Russian situation and what we're
trying to accomplish tomorrow night when the Russian General and company
joins us for a formal dinner," Sam explained.

Josh appeared impressed, but moreover relieved. "How'd you guys get it
done in one day?"

"Well, we focused, put our heads together and forced ourselves to remain on
task. We did not allow excessive amounts of time for chitchat, although it
did occur on occasion but that was conducive to our productivity, and it
kept our energy from being completely sapped."

"Great… that's great," Josh said. "You guys going home?"

"Actually, Sam invited me out for a bite to eat," Caelan said before Sam
could reply.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I'm sure you could come along," Caelan said, choosing to ignore how
Sam flushed as she proposed the idea. "If you're on your way out."

Josh thought about it for a moment. "You know, that sounds like a fine
idea. Let me just get my stuff together and then we'll be on our way."

"Wonderful," Caelan said, smiling broadly.

Forcing a smile, Sam added a weak, "Great."

~later that night~

Seated together at a small table, the three laughed somewhat drunkenly,
despite the fact that Caelan hadn't ordered any alcohol, which inevitably
caused Josh and Sam to limit themselves to one beer a piece. Then,
together, they chugged the complimentary water, while eating their late
night meal.

Between gasping breaths, Josh managed to conclude his story. "So the next
thing we knew, Sam is in the water, flailing around hopeless. We had to
throw him a life preserver, which ended up hitting him neatly in the head
and nearly drowned him."

Caelan burst out laughing. "The life preserver almost made you drown?"

"When it hits you on the head, you become strangely disoriented and don't
even think to grab it," Sam defended himself, not laughing nearly as much as
Josh and Caelan.

Seeing Sam's somewhat mock hurt look, Caelan gentle patted him on the back.
"It's okay, Sam. I still like you."

With his laughter finally under control, Josh evened his breathing. "Wow,
I just realized how much I have to go to the bathroom," he said suddenly,
getting up. "I'll be right back."

Sam watched as Josh left, and then realized he was alone with Caelan. She
was taking a sip of water, her long hair slipping out of the braid, and her
face was finally beginning to relax. Feeling somewhat intoxicated by the
moment, Sam said, "You know, I never realized how much fun it can be when
you don't actually get drunk, you just act drunk. It's like you get the
insanity of drunkenness, but you manage to retain your awareness."

Caelan looked up from her glass, to look Sam in the eyes. For the first
time, Sam noticed how radiantly green they were. They were sparkling at the
moment, when she spoke, "And you'll remember what happened when you wake up
the next morning."

Sam opened his mouth to say something more, when Josh returned to the
table. "I cannot begin to tell you how much better I feel," Josh announced
as he sat back down.

"Thank you, Josh. I really wanted to know," Caelan said, looking at Josh
mildly disgusted, but in good humor.

"Oh, you know. I'm just getting ready for tomorrow night. We have to act
all nice and proper at these parties. Sometimes it drives me crazy."

"I bet you two clean up very nicely," Caelan commented, straightening Sam's
collar.

"Well, I do, but I can't speak for Sam over there," Josh kidded.

"I bet you also clean up very nicely," Sam added. "In fact, I bet when you
get into the formal wear, you're the most amazing girl in the building."

Caelan grunted. "Yeah, right!" she exclaimed. "I don't do formal."

"Are you going tomorrow night?" Josh asked.

The question caught Caelan off guard. "You know, I don't know. Maybe.
But I hope not. I mean, I've never been suave or elegant a day in my life."

"I don't believe that," Sam told her softly.

"Thank you for your confidence, but I know how I am. And me in a long gown
is not a good thing to have happen."

"I bet you're wrong," Sam insisted.

"I'm going to have to go with Sam on this one, Caelan," Josh chimed in.

"Well, I don't know," Caelan sighed. "But it's getting late. I should be
going."

"So soon?" Josh asked.

"Yes, so soon," Caelan said. "I have to get up in the morning, as do you
too. Sleep is a good thing."

Caelan went to pay her bill but Sam stopped her. "I said this one was on
me."

Caelan eyed him suspiciously. "It's not necessary."

"I want to."

"Well, I'm too tired to fight you," she finally gave in. "I had fun. I
hope we can do it again sometime when we're not so crazed over some stupid
thing. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Sam and Josh said together. As she walked away, they said
nothing. Josh reached for his glass and took a swig of water. Then he
turned to his friend, to find Sam staring helplessly after Caelan. That's
when Josh realized what he'd been missing all night.

"No way," he said aloud, shaking his head.

Sam turned back to Josh. "What?" he asked innocently.

"You've got a thing for her."

"A thing?"

"Yeah, you've got a thing for Caelan Reed," Josh concluded.

Redness crept into his cheeks as Sam became flustered trying to create a
response. "I don't have a… thing with Caelan. I mean, she fun to be around
and sweet but I mean, I don't… no, I don't."

Josh laughed. "Yes, you do. You've got a big thing for her."

Swallowing hard, Sam tried to keep a calm exterior. "Maybe a little," he
finally admitted.

"There's no need to be embarrassed, Sam," Josh told him truthfully. "She
seems like a wonderful girl."

Feeling better with Josh's mild approval, Sam sat more comfortably. "Do
you think I have a chance with her?"

"Hard to say," Josh said, shrugging. "I mean, she obviously was coming on
to me all night."

Sam's mouth dropped open. "That's a lie," he insisted indignantly.

"Are you kidding? She was as see through as you are!"

"She was not! I mean, she treated us equally with her time and energy and
attention."

"Yeah, but she's the one who invited me along," Josh pointed out. Sam's
mouth moved to speak, but he had become too frustrated to make anything come
out. Josh laughed. "I'm just messing with your head. I don't think she
was flirting with either one of us."

Looking slightly like a hurt little boy, Sam tried to get away from the
subject. "We should get some sleep tonight," he said, after taking a sip of
water.

"Are you going to ask her out?" Josh asked, not willing to let it go.

"I'm really not talking about this anymore with you," Sam said, collecting
his bill and Caelan's.

"Hey, I can get part of that," Josh said, reaching for Caelan's bill.

"Goodnight, Josh," Sam said simply and composed, as he walked to the
cashier.

Josh laughed and shook his head. With one more gulp, he finished his
water. Sam Seaborn was an amazing guy sometimes, but when it came to women,
he seemed completely hopeless. Between dating a hooker and the boss's
daughter, he hadn't had much luck recently. But when Josh thought about it,
that was more dating than he himself had done in the last year.

That thought wasn't exactly a happy thought for Josh, so he gathered his
bill and headed for the door.

TBC....