“About getting back here if need be. And I know when we go to Bora Bora, I can’t get back, but that’s different. I’m not less than an hour from the District when I’m in Bora Bora. I just had the weirdest feeling of being trapped there, whereas Nick loved it. He was so happy to be out of the White House. I feel bad he has to come home early.”

“You’re very weird, but you know that already.”

“I do know that. I can’t explain the panicky feeling I had up there, but then, of course, Nick tuned right in to it and said he’d give me a ride home if it came to that.”

“Which it did. You told me you wanted me to tell you when the press is hammering you guys, right?”

“I guess…”

“They’re going off about him flying you home on Marine One. Waste of taxpayer dollars and such.”

Sam sighed. “I was coming home to work for the taxpayers, but no one considers that.”

“They want to know why you weren’t driven home.”

“Because the chopper was quicker!”

“You know that, and I know that…”

“They’re just looking for things to pick at us about.”

“Yes, they are. That’s what they do with whoever lives in the White House. Nonstop picking.”

“This is why I never wanted him to have the job in the first place. The scrutiny of everything we do is just maddening.”

“I can’t imagine what that must be like. Here’s what I’d do if I were you… Live your lives. That helicopter is his to use as he sees fit. They can’t make him use it when it suits them and then come for him when it suits him. All you can do is ignore the noise and do your thing.”

“That’s easier said than done when you work for the people who are criticizing you.”

“You don’t work for the media.”

“No, but they’re firing up the people we do work for.”

“Those people know how hard you work for them. You know why you needed to get back to town fast, and you did what you had to do. That’s what the chopper is for—to transport you guys where you need to go. Remember that.”

“True. It’s not like he can just jump in the car and give me a ride home if he wants to.”

“People don’t understand the severe restrictions you guys live under.”

“I didn’t understand it fully until I was living it.”

“Which is why I say do your thing and ignore the noise. You’re following the security rules set forth by the Secret Service.”