Free The First Counsel by Brad Meltzer

Simon."
    "But even Caroline said--"
    "Forget the rationalizing. It never works. I want to take some time to be mad at myself. If you want to cheer me up, change the subject."
    Aaaand we're back--guerrilla honesty. "Okay, how's about some office gossip: Who do you think leaked the birthday party?"
    "No one leaked it," she says as we return to the sterile hallways of the OEOB. "He just used it to make a point."
    "But the Herald--"
    "Open your eyes, boy. It was a party for Lawrence Lamb, First Friend. Once word got out about that, the whole complex came running. No one misses a social function with the President. Or with Nora."
    I stop right in front of Room 170. Our office. "You think that's why I went?"
    "You telling me otherwise?"
    "Maybe."
    Pam laughs. "You can't even lie, can you? Even that's too much."
    "What're you talking about?"
    "I'm talking about your unfailing predisposition to always be the Boy Scout."
    "Oh, and you're so hyper-cool?"
    "Life of a city girl," she says, proudly brushing some invisible lint from her shoulder.
    "Pam, you're from Ohio."
    "But I lived in--"
    "Don't tell me about New York. That was law school--you spent half the time in your room, and the rest in the library. Besides, three years does not hyper-cool make."
    "It makes sure I'm not a Boy Scout."
    "Will you stop already with that?" Before I can finish, my beeper goes off. I look down at the digital screen, but don't recognize the phone number. I unclip it from my belt and read the message: "Call me. Nora."
    My eyes show no reaction. My voice is super-smooth. "I have to take this one," I tell Pam.
    "What's she want?"
    I refuse to answer.
    She's laughing again. "Do you sell cookies also, or is that just a Girl Scout thing?"
    "Kiss my ass, homegrown."
    "Not on the very best day of your life," she says as I head for the door.
    I pull open the heavy oak door of our office and step into the anteroom that leads to three other offices. Three doors: one on the right, one in the middle, one on the left. I've nicknamed it the Lady or the Tiger Room, but no one ever gets the reference. Barely big enough to hold the small desk, copier, and coffee machine we've stuffed into it, the anteroom is still good for a final moment of decompression.
    "Okay, fine," Pam says, moving toward the door on the right. "If it makes you feel any better, you can put me down for two boxes of the thin mints."
    I have to admit the last one's funny, but there's no way I'm giving her the satisfaction. Without turning around, I storm into the room on the left. As I slam the door behind me, I hear Pam call out, "Send her my love."
    By OEOB standards, my office is a good one. It's not huge, but it does have two windows. And one of the building's hundreds of fireplaces. Naturally, the fireplaces don't work, but that doesn't mean having one isn't a notch on the brag belt. Aside from that, it's typical White House: old desk that you hope once belonged to someone famous, desk lamp that was bought during the Bush administration, chair that was bought during the Clinton administration, and a vinyl sofa that looks like it was bought during the Truman administration. The rest of the office makes it mine: flameproof file cabinets and an industrial safe, courtesy of the Counsel's Office; over the fireplace, a court artist's rendition of me sitting in the moot court finals, courtesy of Michigan Law School; and on the wall above my desk, the White House standard, courtesy of my ego: a signed picture of me and President Hartson after one of his radio addresses, thanking me for my service.
    Throwing my briefcase on the sofa, I head for my desk. A digital screen attached to my phone says that I have twenty-two new calls. As I scroll through the call log, I can see the names and phone numbers of all the people who called. Nothing that can't wait. Anxious to get back to Nora, I take a quick glance at the toaster, a small electronic device that bears an uncanny resemblance to its namesake and was left