Chapter 81

  Sydney looked at the note in her hand and read it over again. After informing her of the e-mail Tim Choi sent to his grandson in LA, she tried to locate Jesse through some of the discrete sources that wouldn’t lead back to her. But all of her resources proved to be dead ends. In his line of work, it wasn’t wise for anyone to find him easily, even if it was the president of the United States. Now, the man she once had a burning desire for was in a country that wasn’t far from where they were lovers. Sydney put the note in her pocket and walked out onto her balcony. The daytime temperatures had cooled, and the evening air was very pleasant. She tried not to think of Jesse, yet all her efforts failed. She knew why he was here, which bothered her initially, but that soon passed because her mind drifted back to the days they had spent together. She wondered if he was still so handsome. After several minutes, she walked into the living area, instructed the secret service agent who had handed her the note to find Jesse, and asked him to meet with her at 1:00 P.M. the following day. The trade conference was wrapping up the next morning, and she was scheduled for a golf outing on Sentosa Island in the afternoon with several important leaders from China, South Korea, and Japan. It would give her enough time to meet with the man she knew was sent to destroy her.

  *****

  At 12:45, Jesse and Shawn meet with Sydney's secret service detail leader, Tim Slater, in the lobby of the valley wing of the hotel. Slater was instructed to escort Jesse to the President's suite, but when he arrived with Shawn, stating that he was his aide, the man refused to take Shawn up. After looking at the tattoos on his forearms, Slater thought he looked more like a contract killer than a personal aid. Jesse asked Tim to call his boss, and a few minutes later, both Jesse and Shawn were cleared to see the President. Slater gave both men a full pat down before they entered the suite. Shawn wore khaki shorts and a light blue, untucked Polo golf shirt with sandals on his feet. His hair and beard were uncombed. Jesse was perfectly dressed in clothes fashioned by Brooks Brothers: Dark blue chino slacks, a white button-down shirt with no tie, and a linen sports jacket. On his feet were tan Ferragamo soft leather loafers without socks. Slater was surprised at both men's firm, hard bodies despite their graying hairlines. Slater perceived the two men as an obvious threat to the President, and he was taking no chances. Much to Shawn's amusement, Slater radioed for additional men to stand guard while they met with the President.

  Slater spoke into his lip mic and knocked lightly on the door of the Presidential Suite. It was opened by another secret service agent, who, after looking the men over and being given a nod by Slater, allowed them to enter. They were directed to a plush sofa where they were instructed, in a pleasant but firm tone, to sit and wait. One of Sydney’s female staffers approached them and asked if they wanted any refreshments while they waited.

  Jesse asked for water, and Shawn said, “Do you have any cold Budweiser?”

  “I believe we do, sir. I’ll bring one right away.”

  “Can you bring two?”

  “No problem, sir.”

  Jesse looked at him with a puzzled look and said, “I don’t want one.”

  Shawn said, “Yeah, I know. And you said that drinks wouldn’t be served.”

  The aid soon returned with Jesse’s water, two cold bottles of Bud, a frosted glass, and a tray filled with assorted snacks.

  Ten minutes later, Sydney walked out of her large bedroom and entered the room where Jesse and Shawn were waiting. Jesse stood immediately at the sight of the gorgeous woman who entered the room while Shawn remained seated with his ankles crossed and one hand on a cold glass of Bud. Sydney barely glanced at Shawn and planted her eyes on the handsome older gentleman standing before her. Sydney wore a simple white cotton blouse and robin egg blue cotton shorts. Her hair was long and silky and pulled back in a simple ponytail. Jesse marveled at how well she looked in person—the years had been very kind to her. Jesse decided to forgo the usual title given to the most powerful person on the planet and call her by her first name.

  “Sydney, you look absolutely stunning.”

  “Thank you. Now come over here, mister, and give me a hug.” Sydney said as she held out her arms and noticed he wasn’t wearing a wedding ring.

  Tim Slater, who was standing a few feet away, stared intently at the man who had just greeted the president like an old friend and the man who remained seated without giving her any respect. But what surprised him more was the long embrace she gave Jesse instead of a handshake.

  A flood of memories passed through Jesse as he felt her body next to his, and he thought he could still smell the intoxicating aroma of jasmine in her wet hair so long ago. Her warm embrace triggered a flood of emotions as if a dagger had been stuck in his heart again. He felt a lump welling up in his throat for what he was about to do, but he restrained himself before they parted. When they did, Sydney placed her hand on the side of his face and said, “You’re even more handsome than I remember. You’ve lost some of your boyish good looks, but you’ve turned into a very handsome man, and you look like you’re still in very good shape,” she said as she squeezed his right shoulder. “You must have women chasing you all over town.”

  Jesse put his head down, and much to Sydney’s surprise, his face looked to be pained.

  “I thought I could do this…but after seeing you again… I don’t think I can. Can we talk in private for a moment?”

  “Sure, follow me.” Sydney turned and started to walk toward the balcony door, and Slater started to follow. Sydney opened the door for Jesse and held up her hand, stopping Slater in his tracks.

  “I’ll be fine, Tim.”

  Slater nodded and positioned himself just outside the balcony door. He wanted to keep a close eye on the man.

  Sydney and Jesse sat across from each other on bamboo cushioned chairs with a glass-topped bamboo table between them.

  "They're coming after you, Sydney. I was instructed to give you this." Jesse held out his hand with the flash drive in it.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Sydney held her hand and stopped him, "I know they are Jesse...and I've been expecting it. I assume they've sent you to ask me to resign."

  Jesse leaned forward, placed the flash drive on the table, and looked at Sydney with a sad expression. "I'm sorry, Sydney…they do want you to resign, although I'm afraid that it's much worse than that. But I can't be sure."

  “I see…and if I don’t resign?”

  Jesse said sadly, “I honestly don’t know,” yet in his heart, he knew what they would do. Jesse held no delusions of what the powers in Washington would do to permanently remove Sydney from office without jeopardizing the American public by displaying her dirty laundry for the entire world to see.

  Jesse glanced at Shawn through the glass door, and he saw him holding up a beer bottle in one hand and two fingers in the other. He chuckled slightly and turned his attention back to Sydney.

  “I want to thank you for coming. When I saw your name on that note…, my heart raced with excitement. Then I saw that Shawn was with you, and I knew….well, I guess I don’t have to tell you. I assume you still work for the government; I would guess intelligence?”

  Jesse put his head down and then looked back up at her. “Sydney, what are you going to do?”

  “For once in my life, I really don’t know. I’ve never told this to anyone in my life before. From an early age, I discovered I was not like other people. My mother was the same way. One day, when I was a little girl, my father asked me if I loved him. I told him that, of course, I did. Then he asked me what love was and I couldn’t answer him. Jesse, the only time in my life that I felt a spark of love was when you and I were together.”

  Jesse nodded but kept silent. He couldn’t speak if he wanted to.

  “Do you remember telling me about your father?”

  “Of course I do,” Jesse said, finding his voice when the subject changed.

  "Well, I envied you for that. Because you had so much love, compassion, empathy, and all these other emotions that I don't have…and I wished I had them too. I honestly thought that by being with you, I could somehow feed off of yours. And then you were taken away from me."

  Jesse leaned forward in his chair and waited for her to continue.

  "I thought that if I could feel that spark of love once, I thought that I could find someone else that would give me that same feeling. But it never happened…and I regret to this day for not looking for you."

  Jesse watched as tears ran down her cheeks. She wiped her eyes with her hand and said, "See what you do to me."

  Jesse was silent for what seemed like an eternity before he spoke, "I'm sorry, Sydney."

  "Do you think there's still a chance for us?" Sydney said longingly.

  Jesse slowly lowered his head and didn't reply. After a long moment of silence, she realized his answer. Sydney then asked. "Will you do something for me before you leave?"

  Jesse looked up and said, "If I can."

  "Will you kiss me again like you did when we were lovers?"

  A slight smile ran across his face, and without saying a word, he stood and reached out his arms for her.

  The two embraced, and Sydney kissed him with a longing she had never experienced before, and Jesse didn’t hold back. Over and over again, their lips met, and their tender kisses were mixed with their tears. As they stood and held each other, it was as if they had turned back the hands of time and were young again. For a brief, fleeting moment, nothing else seemed to matter in the world as they were lost in each other’s arms, and their souls were one again.

  Finally still holding each other, Sydney whispered in his ear, “Stay with me the rest of the day and make love to me.”

  Jesse averted her eyes and said, “As much as I would like that, I don’t think that’s a good idea, Sydney.”

  Jesse then looked into her face, placed both hands softly on her cheeks, and wiped away her tears.

  “Sydney, we had our moment in the sun, and it was a beautiful thing. We’ll always have the memories of the time we spent together, and no matter what happens, no one can take that from us.”

  Jesse then kissed Sydney one last time lightly on her lips and said. “Goodbye, Sydney. I wish you well.”

  Sydney’s lips quivered, and she said in just about a whisper, “Goodbye, Jesse. I’m so glad that you came instead of someone else. I want to explain-.

  Jesse cut off her words as he put his hand softly over her mouth.

  “You don’t have to explain anything to me.”

  Jesse then took his hand away and turned to leave. As he did, he reached into his pocket, pulled out a small piece of paper, and placed it under the flash drive. Then we walked through the balcony door and found Shawn smiling at him while Slater looked like he wanted to kill him.

  *****

  Sydney turned and walked over to the balcony's edge and felt the warm breeze on her face as she looked out at the modern, thriving city. However, her eyes saw none of it. She couldn't bear to see him leave and walk out of her life again. As cold and hard as she was, the spark had been rekindled in that brief, fleeting moment. When she turned several minutes later, she saw that Jesse had left, and she did something that she rarely, if ever, did. She started to cry.

  Jesse entered the living area and found Shawn still sitting on the sofa with one empty bottle of Bud on the table and one perched on his lips. When he saw Jesse, he said, “You ready to leave so soon? I was starting to get comfortable. You know I could wait here and bullshit with old Slater there while you and your girl-.”

  Jesse cut him off, “I can do without your sarcasm, Shawn. Now get your ass off of that couch, we’re leaving.”

  “Ooh…a little touchy today, are we? Did the little lady strike a nerve?”

  Jesse eyed Shawn, who had a smile on his face that the Cheshire cat would have envied, and without realizing it, his smile had a calming effect, bringing him back to reality.

  “I’m sorry, Shawn, you’re right. I am a little touchy, and you didn’t deserve that.”

  “No problem, bro; women sometimes tend to do that to me, too. Do you want a beer? I can ask Miss Judy to get us two for the road. It’s paid for by good ole Uncle Sam, you know.”

  “No, we’re leaving.”

  “Whatever, man,” Shawn said and started to get up.

  Jesse looked at the beer in his hand and changed his mind. After seeing Sydney again, he needed something to calm him. He wanted something more substantial but decided that the beer would do.

  “You know… I think I’ll take you up on that beer after all.”

  “Now that’s the spirit,” Shawn said as he slapped Jesse firmly on the shoulder.

  *****

  With drinks in hand, Slater escorted the two men to the private elevator, and when the doors opened to the lobby, he was relieved to have them out of his hair. Jesse pointed to a set of chairs next to a cascading waterfall that emptied into a large pool filled with Koi fish and surrounded by lush tropical flora.

  Shawn waited for Jesse to explain what happened, but after a few minutes of silence, he couldn’t take it anymore and said, “So, how did it go?”

  “Well… not exactly like I planned.”

  “I guess not, but you sure must have an effect on that woman. You should have seen the look on Slater’s face when Sydney gave you that first hug. Then I thought the man was going to have a stroke when you two started making out. Oh, by the way, did you even get a chance to tell the bitch off for trying to have my nuts squeezed in a vice? Or did that slip your mind between all that kissing and foreplay? I thought for a minute…well, you know what I mean. I was about to tell old Slater to look the other way.”

  Jesse listened and watched the water flow in the pool, and then he looked at Shawn and said, “You know, sometimes you can be such an asshole.”

  “Yeah, I know, but I’ve been called worse.”

  Jesse held out his beer bottle and said, “Well, how about this one? Thanks for being such a good friend.”

  Shawn sat up, clicked his beer bottle against Jesse’s, and said with a straight face, “Now that hurts. You better knock that shit off, or I’m going to start to cry.”

  Jesse just shook his head and smiled.

  *****

  Unbeknownst to them, a man seated in a dark suit not far from them was watching their every move with more than just mild curiosity. He took out his cell phone, had a brief conversation, and placed it back in his jacket pocket. The man then picked up a newspaper off the table in front of him, unfolded it, and causally held it in front of his eyes. To the casual observer, it would appear that he was reading the newspaper, yet he never took his eyes off the two men seated not far away.