Alien in the House

and Jeff jumped on that bandwagon to a lot of laughs.
    Camilla said she worried that the wrong people would be in office. Figured this wasn’t a real fear of hers, but a great way to move the conversation toward something where she wouldn’t have to reveal a weakness. I was impressed, because it worked like a charm at a table full of politicians, especially since one of them was indeed running for the presidency.
    Our table agreed that Armstrong was a great presidential choice. Considering our current Commander in Chief was at the end of his second term, the idea of a President we were on good terms with wasn’t a bad one. McMillan was extremely pro the idea of Armstrong taking the highest office in the land and, as with so many other things, his vote of confidence made me feel much more inclined to support Armstrong.
    Because the incumbent VP wasn’t interested in seeking his time at the top, the field was wide open. “You’re sure to get the nomination, aren’t you?” I asked.
    Armstrong shook his head. “Nothing’s sure until the national convention, and that won’t be until the year after next. As you well know, Kitty, a lot can happen in a short period of time, let alone in more than a year.”
    “True enough. So, will you end up having to ask someone who spent months running against you to be your vice presidential nominee, or do you get to choose from a wider range of options?”
    Armstrong shrugged and McMillan laughed. “We’re powwowing on that. I’m helping Vincent sift through his options. None of which are me, by the way.”
    “Why not?” Jeff asked. “You’d make a great team.”
    “Oh, we do make a good team,” McMillan said. “But I don’t have the drive to survive a campaign, at least not right now. As long as someone I believe in is running, I’m happy to help and remain where I am.” He winked at me. “I like going home to Arizona too much to give that up willingly.”
    “But to answer the ambassador’s question,” Armstrong said with a smile, “Don and I are trying to figure it out. There are a lot of options.”
    “Not me or Santiago,” Brewer said with a laugh. “We’re too new.”
    “Nothing wrong with new,” Armstrong said with a grin. “Nothing wrong with old. The issue is where you stand
on
the issues, and who you’ll protect or sell out, and why.”
    The others nodded and the conversation was off onto what was good and bad about politics.
    “Jeff, you should consider running for office,” Reyes said, after the discussion of what made a good politician had been going for about five minutes. The other men at the table chimed in with their agreement, while the wives nodded theirs. I kept what I hoped was a poker face on and focused on my potatoes.
    Jeff looked shocked. “I’ve never considered it.” The way he said it, I knew he also didn’t want to consider it.
    “You’re a natural,” Brewer said.
    Managed not to mention that in our Embassy that was probably considered an insult.
    “You would have a lot to offer,” McMillan said thoughtfully. “And you’re a U.S. citizen, so there’s no issue with eligibility.”
    “I don’t want to run for any office. Why would I need to run for office?” Jeff sounded confused and a little stressed.
    “For the good of your country and fellow men,” Armstrong said without missing a beat. “Could be good for smoothing over certain . . . issues.”
    “I don’t see how my being a politician would make anyone happier that we A-Cs are here. Besides, there are no elections for two more years, so no point in thinking about it right now.” Jeff’s tone of voice said that, as far as he was concerned, this topic was done. The expressions on the faces of the politicians at our table said that it was only done for right now.
    Reyes grinned. “Aw, c’mon. You’d be great, and if you ran for something, then I wouldn’t be the new kid on the block any more.”
    Jeff managed to laugh as a nice distraction arrived—dessert. We were treated to individual-sized Baked Alaska, all beautiful to behold. “I only thought they served that dessert on cruises,” Reyes said.
    “I don’t tell Chef what to make and Chef doesn’t tell me how to perform the Heimlich.” I was managing not to drool, but it took some effort.
    Reyes laughed as we were served. The dessert was really yummy and it was nice to get to have it basically in our own home. Decided having a gourmet chef around wasn’t a bad trade-off for having