A very nervous Joshua Lyman entered O’Malley’s at 10:45. He had a lot riding on what
happened here tonight. His plan was to arrive a little early, give himself time to order a
drink and settle down his nerves. When he saw Amy was already there, his knees nearly
buckled. But he had played this game long enough to know how to bluff, even though he
couldn’t seem to use that skill playing poker.
“You’re early.” Amy noted. “That’s a good sign.” She moved over to give him room to sit
next to her in the booth. Josh tried for casual, but settled for anxious.
“We have a lot to talk about.” He picked up the drink she had ordered for him.
“So is Leo giving you the ‘opportunity’ to resign?”
“I gave my resignation to the President this morning. They want to wait until the budget
deal is done before they announce it.” This is the line they practiced earlier and it
seemed to work since Amy nodded her head approvingly.
“Good. Once that’s done, we can make an announcement about starting our own
consulting firm. There are plenty of deals to be brokered and money to be made.” She
picked up her drink and took a long sip.
“That’s what I hear.” Josh said. “In fact, I had a long talk with Tandy about just that topic.”
Amy nearly spit out her drink.
“Since when are you all buddy-buddy with John?” Amy demanded.
“I don’t jump into business with someone without doing my homework.”
“Too bad you don’t take the same precautions with jumping into bed with someone.” She
smirked.
“My mistake.” Josh readily admitted. “But not a mistake I’ll repeat.”
“So it’s to be strictly business, is that what you’re saying? Doesn’t matter to me. I have
other options. What I want is the clout that comes with the former Deputy Chief of Staff as
a partner.”
“Let’s be honest. It was always about the clout that came with the Deputy Chief of Staff.
Do you think I don’t know how you used our relationship to further your agenda? I didn’t
make a big deal out of it because that’s how the game is played in this town and we were
using each other, so who cares? But don’t think for a moment that I was ignorant about
what attracted you to me. It was all about politics.”
“We’re being honest now? Fine. I’m tired of being a substitute for the assistant you wish
you were screwing. I don’t know what kind of brilliant political plan it was for you to fall on
the sword when she committed perjury, but I know it will get me what I want because you
will still do ANYTHING to protect her.”
“You got that much right. In fact, you may be understating it a bit…Before I agree to
anything I need to make sure we understand each other. I become your partner in a
consulting firm and in exchange, you promise to never reveal information you have about
Donna’s Congressional testimony. That’s it, right?”
“I want a 2 year partnership contract. After two years you are free to pursue whatever and
whomever you like.”
“How generous. And you don’t mind resorting to blackmail to get what you want?”
“I prefer to think of it as power brokering.” Amy took another drink.
“Unfortunately, I’m not going to be able to take you up on your generous offer of a
partnership. I have other plans, and so do you.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re about to accept a lucrative assignment in L.A. They need a Women’s Issues
Director in California and I think you’re going to love it there. I know I’m going to love it
that you’re there.”
“And why the hell would I do that?”
“Two reasons: 1) You’ve just been fired by the President of the United States. You’re
going to be radioactive around here for awhile. 2) If you don’t take the job in L.A., this
signed affidavit is going to make it to the authorities….”
He whipped out the paper with a flourish and laid it in front of her. Her face screwed up in
puzzlement as she scanned the document. She was quick and it only took her until the
second paragraph to get the gist of the thing. Her face went from red to purple.
“You sonofabitch!” Her hand went up to slap him, but he caught it mid-flight.
“Yes. Yes, I am, particularly when someone tries to mess with Donna. So you’d do well to
remember that going forward.” He drops another letter on top of the first. “This is a copy
of an affidavit given by Cliff Calley documenting his agreement to waive any perjury
charges based on the cooperation of Donnatella Moss in voluntarily providing her diary
for the Majority Counsel to review. Since there wasn’t any incriminating evidence in the
diary, and Donna came forward of her own volition, Mr. Calley is wiping the slate clean.”
“How convenient.”
“Just as convenient as your landing a plush position in LA within days of being fired by
the leader of the free world.”
“He didn’t fire me. I quit.”
“That’s not how I heard it…or how I’ll be telling it. Leave now, with your reputation mostly
intact, or you can be facing charges by this time tomorrow.” Josh hands her the last page
he has for her. “This is your contact information. They’re waiting to hear from you. If they
don’t have your acceptance by noon tomorrow, I’ll be releasing these documents to the
press.”
“You’d be willing to bring down a Democratic Congressman just to get me out of town?”
“He’s really not much of a Democrat or a Congressman, but I imagine he’ll be more
cooperative with the White House in the future. He may have a future in writing too. He
puts great powerful sentences together: ‘After accepting donations from the Women’s
Leadership Coalition in exchange for key votes, it was deposited in Swiss account…’we’ll
just leave that part out for security reasons, ‘to which only Ms. Gardner and I had access.’
Gee, Amy, that kind of sounds like bribery to me. My lawyer says misuse of PAC funds
and evading Federal Income taxes as well.”
“But you’re not going to report me, you’re going to get me a job in California?”
“A job as an issues Director where you will have no direct access to any funds. My lawyer
is drafting the employment agreement. As long as you stay put and don’t violate the terms
of the agreement, this information goes into my safe deposit box and stays there.”
“What assurances do I have that you’ll keep your word?”
“Think about it. Why would I want to open that Pandora’s box? It will be bad for me,
Donna, the President, and the Democrats. We’ll eventually be cleared, but it will be messy
and generate more negative press for everyone involved; of course you’ll be reading all
about it from your cell, but…”
“Look, this is how things are done in this town. Money is power and power is currency
here. I needed it so I got it, as well as the policy agenda that was important to me. He got
what he wanted; money in exchange for a vote and support by the women’s organization
Can you honestly say you work any differently?”
“I bully, I threaten, I push and I trade, but the reason I can sleep at night is because I
never crossed that line. Now what’s it going to be, Amy? Call or fold?”
“Hey, there you are Josh…Hi, Amy. I didn’t know you were going to be here.” Came the
voice of Danny Concannon. “Donna just said Josh.”
“Donna said?” Josh repeated.
“Yeah, when she called to set this up. She said you had an exclusive for me, but the
sourcing had to be anonymous. What’s up?” Danny replied
Amy visibly jolted at the mention of Donna and a promised exclusive from Josh. Josh
turned to her with raised eyebrows, inviting her to respond. There was a silent pause as
they just stared at one another, neither blinking. Amy quickly folded up the papers in front
of her and pushed them back towards Josh. In her experience, most reporters could read
upside down.
“Josh was just treating me to a drink to celebrate my new position, but I should get going
now.” Amy told Danny.
“Goodnight, Amy. Congratulations on the new job.” Danny offered seemingly oblivious to
the tension at the table.
Amy smirked and then turned to leave the bar.
“Donna called you?” Josh asked again.
“She seemed concerned about you, but now I wonder if she didn’t just want to break up
your evening with Amy.” Danny teased.
“There’s nothing to break up.” Josh told him as he watched Amy walk away. “I can’t
believe I got sucked in by that black widow…twice! Why didn’t you ever warn me, by the
way? You’re supposed to be my friend.”
“I don’t react well to spider bites.” Danny mused. “It’s been my experience that when a
man gets involved with a woman like that, it’s usually because he can’t have the woman
he really wants. It’s never wise to get in the middle of that…Just, next time, try to choose
your interim woman a little more carefully.”
“No.”
“No?” Danny repeated.
“No. No more interim women. I gave the President my resignation this morning.”
To anyone else, the segue would have been too obscure, too subtle. But to Danny
Concannon, who had watched his friend circle around Donna Moss for years, and had
helped lob snow balls at her window last inauguration, it was perfectly clear.
“Really?”
“Really. I’m not wasting another moment of my life without Donna. The hell with the White
House, the hell with Leo. Carrick was my screw up, but it also helped me re-evaluate my
priorities. Donna is my priority from now on.”
“Good for you.” Danny smiled sincerely at his friend. “Is she going to support you in the
manner to which you’ve become accustomed?”
“I have other employment options, thank you very much.” Josh assured him.
“So does this mean Donna calling me down here was a ruse for something else and there
is no exclusive?”
“No, it just means Donna was one step ahead of me as usual; anticipating the need for
me have someone credible I can leak to.”
“Okay, what’s up?”
“What do you know about-“
Josh was interrupted by the sound of Danny’s pager going off. Danny glanced down at it,
then back at Josh.
“I’ve got to go. The President just shut down the Federal Government.” Danny hurried out
with Josh on his tail.
“I’m coming too.”
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Josh found the rest of the senior staff in Leo’s office where Angela Blake brought him up
to speed on the events of the evening. Haffley had reneged on his deal with the
President, the President got fed up and shut down the Government. No one knew what to
do next without the President on board, and Leo was elected to go have a private chat
with him.
When Josh got back to his office, he found Donna and Mike Casper waiting for him.
“Hey. Donna you have to go home. We’re shut down.” He said making eye contact with
her.
“I know. I’m just taking a few things with me. Call me with an update?”
“As soon as I have one.” He promised. Then Donna took his hand and pulled him close to
her for a deep kiss.
“Not that I’m complaining, but what’s that for?” he asked keeping her close.
“That’s for making me your priority.” She answered smartly. “Bye Mike.”
“Bye Donna.” Josh turned an accusing look at his friend.
“What?” Mike protested. “Like you’re not afraid to say ‘no’ to her? She insisted on
listening to the live feed and since it concerns her too…”
“Yeah, yeah. What’s next?” Josh brushed over that fact.
“Next I take the forged affidavit of John Tandy and burn it to ashes so it never sees the
light of day again. Then I pay a visit to Congressman Tandy and convince him that based
on the taped evidence you gathered tonight, that it’s in his best interest to quietly resign.”
“I still think I should do that.” Josh said shaking his head. “You should stay completely out
of that.”
“I finish what I start.” Mike replied. “Besides, I can be more subtle than you. I can threaten
without threatening and without linking it back to you.”
“Okay then.” Josh agreed. “Call me when you’re done?”
“You got it, but what if you’re in with shutdown negotiations?”
“I don’t think that’s going to be a problem. The President hasn’t exactly been calling my
number lately.”
By 3 AM, Leo told everyone to go home. Josh walked through his doorway and stopped in
shock at the sight in his living room. Donna was sound asleep on the couch covered with
a blanket from his bed. Despite the bad day, he smiled at how it was ending.
He gently shook her awake.
“Donnatella, what are you doing here?” he asked quietly.
“I wanted to be here when you got home. Anything?”
“Nope, Leo couldn’t get the President down from the ledge. Leo finally sent me home
after 3 hours of sitting and twiddling my thumbs in my office.”
“You weren’t in the war room?”
“I was not invited.” Josh said as he lifted her head sat down on the couch and laid her
head on his lap. He slowly started stroking her hair.
“I’m thinking we sell all our belongings and move to Hawaii. I could work on local elections
there and never have to wear a tie again.”
“Josh…”
“You always said you wanted to go there.”
“Not like this. Josh, what are you going to do?”
“I don’t want to stay there anymore, Donna. Not like this. If I can’t be of service to the
president, if he doesn’t value my input or advice anymore, it’s time to leave. It could work
for them too, they could blame the shutdown and the Carrick party switch on me and start
fresh with a new face in the administration. You and I move to Hawaii and live happily ever
after.”
“Josh…”
“Can we just close our eyes and sleep for awhile. I can’t remember the last time I could
relax and sleep.” Josh tipped his head back against the couch and closed his eyes.
Soon, his hand running through her hair slowed, then completely stopped. Donna, unable
to go back to sleep, just watched him. Once again, Josh had come to her rescue.
A Bad Day 4