Madame President

CHAPTER ONE

PIC interrupted its evening news – This announcement just in. It has been confirmed that the former presidential candidate, Joe Willie Benton, was discovered dead at his ranch in Sedona, Arizona.

Authorities believe his death to be a suicide. There is no confirmation yet but sources close to the Benton family hinted that he may have committed suicide.

PIC will stay on this breaking storey and bring you up to the minute news as it occurs. Stay with PIC you political information center.

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Senator Dwayne Rogers from Utah watched her walk along the beach, the white sand contrasting with her dark hair and dark mood. She was the most beautiful woman he’d ever met. Lillian Strom-Benton with jet black hair and emerald eyes that turned a man to puddy, she possessed never-ending legs made for a centerfold. He ached as he watched her, not only with desire but with compassion. He sensed her internal conflict, her confusion which caused her usually smiling face to grow pensive. Dwayne thought he might be in love with her.

A small bird on the railing cocked his head and waited for Dwayne to share his morning donut. The blue grey bird had become braver since they arrived. Each morning he came a little closer to the tempting fresh baked donut.

Dwayne looked at him. The bird cocked his head to the other side and blinked. Cautiously, he hopped a bit closer. Dwayne smiled and broke off a bite of his donut and pushed it along the rail toward him. The bird grabbed it and flew away with his morsel. They are a lot like people. Dwayne thought, They grab what they want and then beat it.

He returned his attention to Lillian who sat on the sand looking out at the blue Pacific. Governor Strom’s Hawaiian condo sat on lush green lawns and in the morning snails, the size of a Utah pine cone, crawled across the dewed grass. They left in their wake, slimy trails. Dwayne wondered why people were so taken with this place, he much preferred the arid states, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico. The clean dry air was easier to take than the humid, sweet, smelling air of Hawaii.

It was Lillian who had insisted they come to this place. She said she could think better when she was near the water. She had expressed her need to sort out the direction of her life. She said she needed to think. He knew the presidential campaign had been emotionally draining for her and it had come to an unexpected; nasty end.

Dwayne went inside and listened again and again to the message from Janice Benton, at last, he punched the discard button. He decided he would tell Lillian later that Joe Willie had killed himself and had been laid to rest on the plateau with his stallion, Studder and Devil Dog. Lillian refused to read a newspaper or watch television; consequently, Lillian didn’t know that Joe Willie was dead let alone that he had taken his own life. She would probably feel guilty. He would tell her later. Now, to complicate matters, he held the damn letter from Janice. It was one thing to discard a message, but to throw away someone’s mail, even Dwayne thought that a serious invasion of one’s privacy. He turned the letter over. He walked back to the balcony and watched Lillian.

Janice and Governor Benton had adopted Joe Willie when he was five and even though he was a hard person to love; Janice had stuck by him. Dwayne well knew that Janice was one of the few people who truly loved Joe Willie. She was also Lillian’s mother-in-law and her friend. Damn it. I’ll have to give Lillian the letter.

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A large golden retriever joined her, she stood up and threw the stick he’d brought her into the frothy water near the beach’s edge. The retriever jumped and fetched, Lillian threw the stick again and again, she didn’t notice or care that every time the dog returned he shook himself and wet her clothes.

Lillian sat on the white sand and starred out at the azure blue sea. The retriever took his stick and trotted down the beach. She watched the waves as they crested and crashed one after the other. Lillian knew she should call home and see how Joe Willie was; after all, they had been husband and wife, of sorts, for what fifteen or sixteen years. She couldn’t remember. She should talk to Janice. Damn, it seemed she spent her whole life doing what others needed her to do. Just know she needed to be alone to think. To hell with all of them.