Tatum Mendoza

Tatum, a character in the Foreign Affairs book, is your personal bodyguard and one of your love interests. He is first mentioned in Chapter 1 and makes his official appearance in Chapter 2.

Appearance
Tatum has tan skin, brown eyes, and black hair that's long on the top and slicked back. He wears a suit with a black tie, and an earpiece.

Personality
Tatum generally practices a guarded yet stoic and professional demeanor, trained to be a Presidential Guardsman after his military deployment. Like most bodyguards, he is alert, detail-oriented, and calm. Although this facade can crack when you speak to him privately, he tries to remain cool and indifferent in front of others.

Foreign Affairs

 * Chapter 1: First Term Jitters (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 2: Political Partying
 * Chapter 3: Revisionist History
 * Chapter 4: Champagne Socialites
 * Chapter 5: Horse Race
 * Chapter 6: Gesture Politics
 * Chapter 7: Bipartisan Showdown
 * Chapter 8: Smoke-Filled Rooms
 * Chapter 9: Fallout
 * Chapter 10: Spin Doctoring
 * Chapter 11: Fishing Expedition
 * Chapter 12: Bully Pulpit
 * Chapter 13: Mending Fences
 * Chapter 14: Whistle Stop
 * Chapter 15: Witch Hunt
 * Chapter 16: Swing Vote

Your Character
You and Tatum were best friends since childhood, however you lost contact when he left for the army five years ago. You two are reunited when Tatum is assigned to be your bodyguard and head of your security detail, but he is very different than he was. You can try your best to get him to talk to you like before or return the impersonal demeanor he wants to keep. If you attempt the first, you mostly fail. If you decide to get a breath of fresh air with him at the Soiree of Nations party, he tells you that he never wanted to come back, that the post of guarding you isn't what he would have chosen for himself. However, being a Presidential Guardsman is a "cushy" job compared to some of his other options so he makes the best of it.

You try to remind him about how he used to joke around, and you even get him to smile when you bring up his favorite McDermonts rib sandwich. He is also aware of how you feel about your mother and you remember he used to let you confide in him and comfort you. If you do not romance him, he is still intuitive to your feelings, and tries to make you smile when you are depressed.

In Chapter 4, you have the opportunity to play poker with him and the rest of the bodyguards during the Pavadenian State Dinner. If you do, he is surprised that you accepted. After the game, he tells you how you two used to be on the same page and were equals, despite his dad being your mom's chauffeur. However, upon his return from his army deployment, he realizes the world you're in and how the army is nothing like it.

In Chapter 6, if you decide to get ice cream with him after your visit to the hospital, he tells you that he is still trying to find the middle ground in the relationship. He knows it isn't simple as just being your head of security due to the history you two share.

You can choose to have Tatum follow you to Vancross's private lake in Chapter 8. There, you're able to open up to him about your struggles in being the first child and how you can't be close with him like you used to be. This leads to you two trying to work out your disrupted relationship, and you can choose to romance him. Asking if you can just act like normal people, you start undressing to swim, and he joins you. There's a diamond choice here to skinny dip with him. Even if you don't, you will still get caught by a paparazzo, and there'll be a scandal.

If romancing him, you'll have a secretive relationship with him. He eventually gets taken off your security team after he applied to leave it (prior to the two of you getting close again), before you convince him to come back. You two aren't official until the finale, Chapter 16, when the two of you decide to go public.

Trivia

 * The name Tatum is of Old English origin and means "Tate's homestead" or "Cheerful, bringer of joy".
 * The surname Mendoza is of Basque origin and means "Cold mountain".
 * He shares the same surname as the Mendoza family (Anna-Marie, Percy and Juliette) from the Big Sky Country series.
 * When he was younger, he wanted to grow up to be a pilot, then a fireman, then a soldier.
 * He usually gets vanilla ice cream when given the choice.
 * His casual outfit is the same as Ray's from LoveHacks, Book 1.
 * He resigns the position of your bodyguard in Chapter 14 and returns in Chapter 15.