P.O.T.U.S. (manxman)**Short Story**

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

(Male Model Laurence Nicotra as my vision of what President Jaxon Allen looks like)

Jaxon

"Ugh." I groaned in protest as I rolled over and slapped the alarm to silence the offensive racket it was making before throwing the pillow off my head and rubbing my tired eyes. It's exactly 4 a.m. in the morning, and I dragged myself out of bed and headed for my en-suite bathroom. Any minute now David was going to be coming through my bedrooms doors whether I was ready or not with Colin bouncing happily behind him holding another one of his life altering protein shakes. According to him and his current men's health Guru, I must drink all of the blended concoction before he puts me through the tortures of my daily workout. The only nice thing I have to say about the entire exercise routine is that I'm fit enough to dodge bullets if need be.

Thank the good lord that dodging gunfire or crazy people trying to put an end to my term in office before it's my time to go hasn't cropped up so far. As a matter of fact, I am humbled by the fact that America has voted for me to begin my second term in office as their President. One would think that after a full day of pageantry and speeches. Spending hours outdoors on the streets of Washington D.C., in the freezing January weather as I thanked America for giving me the privilege to lead them for another four years would entitle a man to a day off.

But of course not, it's business as usual. So, here I am at the butt crack of dawn to get ready for my day. First on my agenda is my workout with Colin, my personal trainer. My daily kickboxing sparring match with David, the lead Secret Service Agent of my security detail is also included in the two hour long session. Then it's off to the showers where I'll make myself presentable for the rest of my day. By 7 a.m., I'll be seated for breakfast with the girls followed by sending them off to school.

Once again David will join me as I make my way to the Oval Office where I'll meet with Chenille, my personal secretary and review my schedule for the day and read my morning reports of events happening in the nation and around the world since the time I went to bed the night before. I'll move on from there to meet with my National Security Advisor and get the classified briefings on issues that may pose a possible threat to the nation's security. Congressional and legislative meetings will take up the remainder of my morning.

Then of course I have to squeeze lunch in with whomever it is who is vying for 15 minutes of my time for me to hear about whatever the issues or concerns that will warrant my attention within the upcoming days. After all of this I will most likely spend the remainder of the day on the phone talking to leaders around the world. By early evening, I will make an appearance to greet people visiting the White House which is one of the favorite things to do on despite my hectic schedule.

Dinnertime to late evening is spent with my girls, Elizabeth who is seventeen and Catherine who is sixteen. I'm eternally grateful that my children are as grounded and level headed as they are. Many parents of teenagers, especially teenage girls compares raising them to living in hostile territory filled IED scattered all over the place. My girls have grown up under the pressure and scrutiny of the entire world, and they had to do so without the guidance of a mother. In the early years after colon cancer suddenly ripped Heather away from us. My mother had stepped in as their maternal figure for a time, then it had been left up to me and a promise to my deceased wife to raise them to the best of my ability and never let a day go by that they didn't feel loved.

My first two years in office had been a trial for me. Not only did I have to deal with all the responsibilities that came with running a country. I had to pull up my big boy pants and stay strong as I also dealt with the sudden death of my wife, grieving prepubescent girls, and the whole world watching the tragedy of my life unfold right before their eyes. Despite all of the pain and those dark days of guilt and misery eating me alive, I'd managed to shield the girls from most of it and let them heal their wounded hearts in moderate privacy. I was able to be a dad, the country had understood when I literally put my office on hold in order to be there for my children.