2030_ The Real Story of What Happens to America - Albert Brooks [122]
“No.” His wife rarely said that. Maybe it was bad news. After all, what good news comes with the caveat of not being able to wait? Instead of asking the men to leave, the President took his wife into a side office.
“What is it? Is something wrong?”
One of the good qualities about Betsy Bernstein was that with people she knew, she wasn’t a bullshitter. She performed her job well as First Lady and acted as if she were charmed by everyone she met, even if she felt nothing, but with the people close to her she always spoke her mind. “You told another woman you loved her in your sleep last night.”
The President reacted as if a medicine ball had hit him in the stomach. He said nothing. Then he decided to laugh. “In my sleep? Who?”
“Susanna Colbert.”
“I said two names? I said, ‘I love you, Susanna Colbert’? That sounds odd and corny, doesn’t it?”
“You didn’t say her last name, but there is no other Susanna.”
“Betsy, I can’t take a position on what I say in my sleep. Sometimes I have dreams of monsters and war and people I have met just once, and if I said ‘I love you’ to someone in a dream, then that’s where it should stay. In the dream. I don’t feel like apologizing for a dream. Haven’t you ever had a dream of another man?”
“Only sexual. Never love.”
The President was surprised. This was going to turn into more information than he wanted to know. “Well, there you go. You could have easily said a man’s name and if I was awake like you were I might have heard it. What is his name?”
“There are many of them.”
“Many of them? Well, okay, there you go. You dream about having sex with many other men and I accept it.”
“I am not in love with anyone else.”
Bernstein could have and should have just said, “I am not, either.” And for years afterward he wondered why he didn’t. But he said nothing, which hit his wife like a ton of bricks. When he finally spoke, which was only a few seconds later but felt like an hour, he said, “It was a dream. I can’t defend what I do in my sleep.”
“Are you in love with her?”
“Who?”
“Goddamn it, Matthew, answer the question.”
“I am fond of her. She is someone I need to talk to regularly. That’s all I can say.”
And with that Betsy left the office. The President thought about going after her but he didn’t want an argument in the halls of the White House with everyone listening. He would deal with it later. Hopefully this would calm down. Hell, he hadn’t slept with anyone. He hadn’t embarrassed his wife publicly. He felt he could handle this. The one thing he was confused about was why he hadn’t just said that Susanna meant nothing. Was he so involved that he felt loyal to her? Did he love her? Damn it, this was not something he needed now. Why the fuck wasn’t his wife asleep when he was? It was her fault for being awake.
* * *
Susanna was in her office when Nate Cass called.
“How are you?” she asked.
“I’m fine. I have some bad news for you.” Susanna’s heart sank. If Nate couldn’t do anything about the problem, then there was nothing left.
“Yes? What happened?”
“The President’s mother passed away in the middle of the night.”
“What?”
“At three A.M. They told me they tried everything but her body just quit. I thought you would want to tell the President first.” Susanna had to literally pinch her leg so she wouldn’t sound too excited. How good is Nate at this? To say he had bad news when he knew it was what she wanted to hear; well, he was just the best she’d ever seen. She was tempted to thank him profusely but decided to keep up the ruse as long as he did.
“Well, it’s terribly sad, and I appreciate you letting me know. I will tell the President immediately.”
“I will speak to you later, Susanna.”
“Of course. Thank you so much. I mean, thank you so much for telling me.”
Susanna wasted no time. She walked to the Oval Office and said she needed to speak to the President, that it was urgent. This time Bernstein was alone and when she walked in she just stood