- I promised Dean I'd call
- I promised Lincoln a fun night at the theater

It was a night colder than any other night she had experienced. The candles were quietly burning on the candle holder on the table, their light making the soft silk fabric shine in its crimson red color. Rowena was wearing a dark purple dress with big sleeves, a tiny black hat with lace falling in the front and a pair of golden earrings with an onyx stone in the middle. Her face barely had any makeup on.
Suddenly, his footsteps echoed in the large dining room, piercing the silence that had surrounded it all this time. "Rowena", he spoke softly. "Mr president", she answered in a kind manner. Abraham Lincoln pulled his chair back and sat at the head of the table. It remained a miracle how he'd managed to get rid of all his councils and staff so that he could be alone with her on that night. He lifted up a glass bottle filled with a red liquid that he later poured in two fancy glasses. The smell of sweet wine filled the air. Both lifted their glasses up for a toast. He made a toast to his presidential success and she made a toast to her escape from that "rotten" country in which bureaucracy condemned the lives of the innocent and empowered the rich.
"Rowena", Lincoln began, "you are very well aware that what you ask of me is nearly impossible". Rowena nodded and replied: "I know. But I have to return home at last, don't you think so too? I'm a lonely woman traveling around the world and it's your laws that are keeping me here against my will". Lincoln sighed and added: "Do you have a family waiting for you to get home? I highly doubt it. Judging by the way you act, you've been on your own for quite a while now. Am I right?". "Yes", Rowena sighed. "So what good would it be if I secretly made an exception just for you in order to go back to wherever it is that you came from?". Rowena bit the inside of her lip in order to restrain her frustration. "Scotland!", she muttered, her eyes glowing in the light of the burning candles. "Ah, Scotland. That explains a lot", Lincoln said loudly enough so she could hear him. "I'm sorry mr President", Rowena began after a few minutes of silence, "I thought you were one of the most powerful people in the whole world and yet you too are unable to send a poor woman back to her home country!".
At her words, Lincoln lost his patience. He stood up, walked around the table and slapped her cheek as hard as he could. "A woman is not supposed to talk like that in front of a man in my position!", he shouted while clenching his teeth. A few tears ran down Rowena's face; wetting her soft and pale skin. "Then, we'll make a deal", she said after having taken a deep breath. "I'm not willing to make any deal with a woman like yourself!", Lincoln protested. Rowena let out a deep sigh as she stood up from her fancy wooden chair. "You should prepare to lose your place then!", she threatened. Lincoln grabbed the ginger-haired woman by the wrist and held her still. The look in his eyes was full of fury. "I can help you maintain your power, if you help me get away from the ones that are chasing me", Rowena continued with a seducing tone in her voice. He let go of her wrists and rested his hands in front of his chest. "What do you suggest?", he asked in a calm demeanor. "You'll give me the money and the papers that I need and you'll order one of your men to take me to the port. There, he'll help me get on a ship without being spotted". "And what do you offer me in return?", Lincoln asked. "I promise you a fun night at the theater"...