The Awakening Heart

Written By: D’be-D’be


President Robert Pierce, Robie to his closest friends, sat behind the big oak disk in the most famous office in the world. His deep blue eyes kept staring at the calendar and the date circled in red, which his secretary had done as a reminder to the President not to forget his doctor’s appointment.

Since the days of President Truman, it was the law that the President of the United States had to have a physical which included a prostrate exam. For years, Pierce had managed to avoid them, but now he felt trapped and fearful. His stomach was tied up in knots as he swung his chair around to stare out of the huge windows behind his deck. He closed his eyes as his mind went back in time.

He had grown up in a well-to-do family in a private community outside Austin, Texas. His father, Robert Sr., was the CEO of one of Texas’ largest export companies. His mother, Margaret, who loved playing the role of socialite, was always holding elaborate dinner parties whose guest list included Hollywood producers, Supreme Court judges, as well as local, state, and federal politicians. Robert Jr. hated these posh affairs and did his best to avoid them and spend time with his own friends. They had harmless fun, but there had been a few times Robert Sr. had received phone calls from the local authorities stating his son was caught skipping school and hanging out at the community mall. Robert Sr., who had big plans for his son’s future, decided, after his son’s sixteenth birthday, to ship the boy off to Barnes Military Academy near Fort Hood, Texas.It was there at the Academy that something happened that would affect Pierce for the rest of his life.

Late one night when Pierce was pulling guard duty, the Commandant of the school lured him into the guardhouse and forced himself upon the young cadet. When it was over, young Pierce was left along, shaking and bleeding. Through his tears and shame he vowed that no one would ever find out about this, especially his parents. Pulling up his pants, he returned to his post and tried to push the incident from his mind.

As the President came out of his daydream, he discovered silent tears rolling down his face. "Damn!" he cursed to himself as he quickly brushed the tears away. "Stop dwelling on the past." He told himself. "That was a long time age, so get over it." He ran his fingers through his salt and pepper hair as he got up and stepped out onto the veranda for some air. There was no way he was going to allow anyone to penetrate him there again, doctor or not. He turned back to look into the Oval Office as he heard a door open and slam, and stepped in to find his Vice-President making himself comfortable on one of the huge sofas.

Pierce smiled at the site of Bill Walker. Not only was Bill a great VP, he was also a dear friend. The two men had met at the party his mother held for him when he turned eighteen and graduated from that damn military academy, and although Walker was ten years his senior, the two men connected right away. Maybe, Walker filled the roll of the big brother he always wanted or, maybe, it was something deeper that Pierce couldn’t or wouldn’t admit to himself. What ever it was, he always felt secure with Walker around, so it was the natural thing to do when Pierce decided to make a run for the White House to ask Walker to be his running mate. It was Walker, after all, who was responsible for Pierce getting into politics in the first place by convincing him to run for the senate seat left vacant after Senator Evans, who had held the seat for twenty years, died suddenly from a heart attack. Walker, who was the Senior Senator from Florida, took the young politician under his wing and the two grew closer through the years.

"Hey, Robie, you okay?"

Pierce was always amazed how intuitive Walker was to his moods. He gave Walker his most charming smile and answered, "Yeah, Billy, I’m fine. Why do you ask?"

"I thought you may be a little nervous with your doctor’s appointment coming up tomorrow. I know you hate getting a physical but, for the life of me, I can’t figure out why."

Pierce swallowed hard and looked down at his shoes as he began to ramble. "Oh yeah, about that appointment. I’ll have to cancel because the Ambassador from Nigeria is in town and it is very important to our trade agreement that I meet with him. He’s only in DC for two days so I can’t put it off."

"Robie, I can take that meeting for you. It’s more important that you make your doctor’s appointment."

"No…no…it should be me that meets with the Ambassador. He would expect it."

"Bullshit! You know that when we started negotiations with Nigeria it was the state department that set things up. The Ambassador never once asked to meet with the President of the United States, even when he was in Washington last year. I’m sure he’ll be just as pleased to meet with the Vice-President so don’t try to make up an excuse to miss your appointment."

"I’M NOT!!!"

"Don’t use that tone of voice with me, kiddo. We both know that is what’s on your mind so come to grips with it. You’re going. END OF DISCUSSION."

The President was always amazed how he allowed Walker to speak to him in that tone of voice. If anyone else tried that, he would be on a one-way flight to the ends of the world. Walker not only speaks to him in that manner from time to time but, one time when Pierce did something really stupid, Walker went as far as threatening a good, sound spanking on his little tush. Fortunately, after that threat, Pierce watched himself, knowing Walker was quite capable of following through with that promise.

Feeling defeated, Pierce mumbled, "Fine. I’ll go."

"Good! Now that we have that settled, let’s go over how you want me to handle the meeting with the Ambassador."

For the next half-hour, the two men went over the trade agreement file. Then, after the VP left, the President got on with his day. He had a light schedule because that evening he was the keynote speaker at a party fundraiser. He hated going to these events, but it was part of the game in Washington and, because the First Lady was out of town, he would be attending the function alone. His wife, Elizabeth, was rarely in Washington due to the fact that their marriage was over. It had been over years ago but since a divorced man had never won the Presidency, he asked her not to seek a divorce until after his term was up. In return, he promised her she would not have to play the role that was expected of the First Lady, but could remain in Texas where she had a successful marketing company. She flew in from time to time when her presence was really necessary but they slept in separate bedrooms and she was on the plane back to Texas the next day.

After the event, Pierce returned to the residence but became very agitated at the thought of that stupid physical in the morning. ‘The hell with what I promised Walker." He thought to himself. ‘I’m going to Camp David and I’m going to stay there until tomorrow evening." He called the head of the Secret Service to let them know of his plans, then called his Chief of Staff, Amanda Williams, to let her know where he was going and to ask her to cancel the appointment. He also ordered her to lie to anyone who asked if he kept his appointment, especially the Vice-President. After several minutes of argument, Williams gave in because she knew once Pierce made up his mind there was no use trying to change it. She also had a sinking feeling that, like all his other schemes to deceive the VP, this was going to come back and bite him in the ass.

Sure enough, Williams was right. The next afternoon, after the meeting with the Nigerian Ambassador, Walker returned to the White House and, after looking into the Oval Office and not finding Pierce there, he entered Williams’ office and asked her if the President had made it back from the doctor’s yet.

Williams’ palms became sweaty at the thought of lying to Walker and she couldn’t look him in the eyes as she told him that the President had gone straight to Camp David after the exam to recuperate.

"That’s funny." Walker answered in a confused voice. "We were suppose to meet for dinner. Oh well, no big deal. I’ll just drive over to Maryland and have dinner with him there."

Gathering up some files and doing her best to get out of the office before Walker could ask any more questions, Williams agreed that would be a great idea and then she quickly exited the room.

On his way to the parking lot, Walker bumped into the head of the Presidential Secret Service detail, Sam Ellis. "Hi, Sam. Did the President make it to his doctor’s appointment on time?"

Ellis gave the VP a confused look. "I don’t understand, sir. The President told me his appointment was cancelled and we took him to Camp David last night."

"YOU WHAT! That little…."

"Sir?"

"Oh nothing, Sam. Thank you. Please tell my detail that I’m heading out to Camp David myself and I’ll probably be spending the night there."

"Yes, Sir. Right away."

Walker was a confirmed bachelor and had no one to answer to but himself, which suited him just fine. He was grateful for that fact this evening. He knew when he reached Camp David, the President of the United States would be in a load of trouble.

Pierce, feeling pretty good about the fact that he had fooled Walker, took a long walk then a hot steamy shower. Wrapping a big, white, fluffy towel around himself and not bothering to wipe himself off, he began humming an old favorite song of his, ‘The Eyes of Texas Are Upon You’ as he exited the bathroom and walked into the huge master bedroom. He stopped cold in his tracks when he saw Walker standing in the middle of the room.

"Well, Robie. It looks like you recovered from your exam quick enough."

‘Crap!’ Pierce thought to himself as his heart skipped a beat or two and his ears began to ring. He was caught. "You know I didn’t go, don’t you? Who told…did Amanda rat me out?"

"She would never do that, Robie. No. What you forgot to do was swear your Secret Service to secrecy as well."

"Damn. I guess I was never any good at covert missions, was I? The plain fact of the matter was, I decided no to go."

"You decided no to go. Well, isn’t that special!" Walker was trying to calm himself down because he didn’t want to be angry for the task he was planning on carrying out in a few seconds. Pierce had finally done it. He had lied to him and that was the one thing Walker would not tolerate. To make matters worse, he had forced others to lie as well. Pierce was about to experience that ‘disciplinary action’ Walker had once threatened.

"Well, Robie. You finally did it. You pushed me as far as I am willing to be pushed."

Pierce remembered that look in Walker’s eyes. He had seen it once before when Walker caught him skipping out on a very important vote in the Senate. At that time, Walker had threatened Pierce with a sound spanking. Surely to God, now that he was the President of the United States, Walker would think twice about that line of action. But it was not to be. Piece tried to back away as Walker approached him and grabbed him by the arm. He whipped the towel off that was still around Pierce’s waist and, with one swift swoop, Walker had pulled him over his lap as he sat down on the bed. Pierce gave out a loud yelp as the first slap came down on his left cheek.

"That is for lying to me, little boy!" Walker stated as his hand lifted and came back down on the right cheek. "And this is for trying to cover it up."

Pierce screamed, as the pain became intense. "Stop it, Billy. Stop it!" He hollered. "I’m the President of the United States, for pete’s sake."

Walker didn’t stop as he spanked him ten more times. He noticed Pierce’s bottom was becoming quite red as was his own hand, but he didn’t stop. "I don’t care who you are. To me, you are just a little brat who’s time has long come for a good sound spanking."

Pierce’s screams soon turned to sobs and his curses to apology. "I’m sorry, Billy. Oww…please, stop. Oww…it hurts…please stop. I’m really sorry."

"Will you lie to me again?"

"No, I promise…I promise!!!"

Walker then sat up and pulled Pierce onto his lap and held him close. To his surprise and delight, Pierce threw his arms around his neck and held on for dear life. Walker began to rub his back and rock Pierce back and forth until the huge sobs turned to quiet resolve.

Pierce, loving the feeling of Walker’s arms around him, cuddled up as close as he could. This was what was missing in his life. He knew that now as the pieces of the puzzle were coming together.

Walker pushed him out of his arms so he could look into those beautiful blue eyes he had fallen in love with those many years ago. Before he changed his mind, he slipped his hand behind Pierce’s neck and pulled him close for a kiss.

Pierce resisted at first then, as if a dam had broken in his heart, he returned the kiss with deep passion. He felt Walker’s tongue push its’ way into his mouth and it felt like heaven.

Walker broke off the kiss and brushed away a tear that was still on Pierce’s cheek. "You know I love you, don’t you, baby?"

"I do now…and I know that I love you, too."

"That’s wonderful. Do you love me enough to tell me why you don’t want to go to the doctor?"

"I…I…I’m afraid because, if I tell you, you might not love me anymore."

"Oh, baby." Walker softly said as he brushed the hair out of the younger man’s eyes. "Nothing you could tell me would ever stop me from loving you."

"Promise."

"I promise."

"Well, will you spank me again?"

"No, baby. I won’t spank you for telling me the truth. I’ve come to the decision that you need someone to take care of you and that means, from time to time, if you get out of line, I will show you the error of your ways. It will never mean that I love you any less. Quite the opposite, it will show you how much I love you by teaching you right from wrong. Do you understand?"

"Not 100%, but I’m sure in time, I will."

"Yes, you will. Now, why didn’t you want to go to the doctor?"

Pierce proceeded to tell Walker what happened to him at the academy and how he felt because he had had an erection. That he must have wanted it or had done something to make the Commandant think he wanted it.

Walker pulled his new love into his arms in a comforting gesture as he explained the difference between voluntary and involuntary erections. He explained how the commanding officer probably stimulated his prostate, which caused the erection. He reassured Pierce it was nothing he had done.

Hearing the words of comfort and acceptance, Pierce began to cry again.

"Hush now, baby. It’s all right. Don’t cry over what that man did to you anymore. You’ve come to a new chapter in your life and from now on I’m going to take care of you. I won’t let anyone hurt you again." Walker then lay down on the bed and pulled Pierce into his arms. He wanted so badly to make love to him, but he knew it was too soon. He would be content, for tonight anyway, just to hold him in his arms until the sun came up.

Pierce, for his part, was grateful that Walker didn’t try to make any further attempt at physical contact. He was still unsure of himself but, as he lay in the arms of the man he knew he loved, he realized he had found what he had been searching for all his life. Although the journey was far from over, it was a journey he wouldn’t be making alone. Before he fell asleep, he once again told Walker he loved him, then, hearing Walker’s voice saying "I love you, too", the President of the United States fell into a deep and peaceful sleep, anxious to begin his new journey.

The End.