Tobias and Nathaniel had not left the Oval Office for long when a side door opened and a dignified looking lady entered. She was around 5"6" and seemed to have the same age as the President.
"So, what did you think about that young man dear?" The President asked his wife.
Not many people knew this but before becoming the First Lady, Linda was a very good psychologist. She even taught profiling classes in Quantico for the FBI. Over the years, they had done this kind of thing quite often, William talking to people and Linda in another room with audio and video to observe the one he was talking to.
Her help soon became invaluable as she could tell when people were lying to him. William could affirm without a doubt that it was because of his wife that he became President and before that a successful politician.
"He's interesting, very interesting." His wife smiled.
"Alright, give it to me. How much of what he said was bullshit?"
"None of it."
"Excuse me?" William asked, thinking he heard wrong.
"None of it was dear. He did tell some half truth on a few questions but the rest was 100 percent the truth. It was quite refreshing to see. I'm tired of politicians deep shit who do nothing but lie through their teeth."
"Hey! I'm a politician too."
"Yeah but you know better than trying to lie to me." Linda said with a satisfied smile putting her hand on his shoulder.
"That I do. What did you find out about him?"
"He's methodical, conscientious and ruthless when the situation calls for it. He does not trust the government or any intelligence agency and he had a fear of betrayal deep inside of him. He does not talk for the sake of talking. Everything he says and does is always thought of beforehand. He's like a chess player planning ten moves ahead of everything we can do."
"Can you explain what happened when I threatened his family? It's like he became a totally different person, it freaked the hell out of me."
Before Linda answered, she slapped him on the back of the head.
"Hey! Why did you hit me?" William asked wrongly, patting the back of his head.
"I did it because you are a moron. I know you wanted to rattle him but did you forget the importance the Lyndon's put on family? We met Robert and Diane enough for you to realize that." Lina rebuked him harshly. "What you are talking about was a change in personality. I saw that a couple of times in war veterans who experienced too many life and death situations. I never thought it was possible to see it on someone this young however."
"Yeah, nothing makes sense with this kid. Would he have gone through with his threat?"
"Yes. He was ready to kill you both the moment you said the bit about his family. He meant everything he said afterward, so I advise you to not even mention his family in front of him ever again."
"No need to tell me that, believe me. I almost shit myself when I saw him looking at Tobias like he was already dead." The President said, shivering.
"I was in pretty much the same shape; I almost called the Secret Service to stop him. By the way, the phrase that he told in all six languages, I had them translated. Luckily, we have a lot of translators here to do the job. You were right, it was not some random words at all. Read it." Linda said.
Picking up the piece of paper that his wife gave him; William started to read through it. As the message was not long, he finished quickly. The stare that the couple shared in that moment was trouble.
*****
Sitting on the couch, Karine and Mary Lyndon were watching the news while drinking a glass of red wine. On the screen, they could see a repeat of the Press Release about what happened in the White house last night. The title 'The White House attacked by cats" was on the bottom of the screen.
Smiling at the absurdity of it all, Mary took a sip of her drink. Looking at her wife, she could see Karine was frowning at the screen seemingly thinking of something.
"What is going on with the frowning face, love?" Mary asked.
"You know what my opinion is about coincidence, right?"
"Of course I do." Mary answered laughing. "You think if your conclusion is a coincidence, it means you are not working nearly enough to have a real answer. What's on your mind?"
"Nothing ever happened to the White House, our son is in Washington for three days and suddenly, it's attacked by cats? And moreover, now they will sell the cats in questions for charity? Come on Mary, I can recognize Nathaniel's footprint all over it."
"It does indeed sound like him. He always liked cats since he was young but since I'm allergic we can't have any pets. What do you think really happened?"
"I'm sure I don't want to know and for his sake, I hope I never will. You know my colleague can't stop saying things like 'Yeah but your son is a genius, you must be so proud' and it's true, I'm proud of him but they will never understand how much of a pain in the ass he truly is." Karine said, making Mary laugh.
"It's true, it's not everyday you have a sixteen year old son who is smarter than you and makes more money than you. I comfort myself thinking I can bully him as much as I want and he can't say anything about it. We also have enough dirt on him to make sure he stays single all his life." Mary said, gloating.
"I did not think about this but now that you mention it, I really love it. We know who has the real power in this household." Karine laughed.
"When is he scheduled to come back?"
"Friday night if everything goes as he planned, which it often does."
"Good, I miss him. This home is so empty without our son in it." Mary said, looking at Nathaniel bedroom.
"I know, I miss him too. Let's not say anything about this or he will get even more cocky. We can't have that." Karine said.
"You are right love."