Josh's POV
Donna just nudged me. "Josh, look at CJ," she whispered.
We were all gathered in the hospitality suite that we've been using as
a war room for pre-convention work when Dr. Bartlet had suddenly cut
her husband out of the herd and chivied him out the door in a smooth
yet firm style that even his Secret Service detail couldn't have
matched. She probably wanted him to rest. And who could blame her? The
last two weeks of the campaign had been brutal. The travel schedule
was drawn straight from the blitzkrieg school of politicking. We were
trying to be everywhere at once, and be there before Hoynes was. We
wanted the Press to see him chasing us, not the other way around. It
was enough to wear anyone down. But not the Governor. I swear that,
most of the time, it was like the man was chiseled out of some of his
home state's granite. He thrived on the schedule that we were keeping.
But occasionally he would look little pale and drawn. Like he does
tonight. Hence his wife's subtle yet thorough handling of him.
But I was so busy watching Abbey Bartlet manage her husband right out
of the room that I didn't notice CJ's face until Donna called me on
it. She was watching them too, and she had that look. The one that I
grew accustomed to seeing in the mirror a lot when I used to work for
Hoynes. The look that says that you know something that you wish you
didn't. I know that look all too well, because I saw it in my mirror
every time Hoynes got himself a new secretary because he'd gotten
bored with the old one.
I looked back at the door that had just closed behind the Bartlets
then back at CJ again and I allowed myself a moment of worry before I
shrugged it off. If Josiah Bartlet had had any skeletons of the sort
that my paranoia was conjuring up then the opposition research surely
would have…
"Josh!" I winced. Trust Mandy to derail my train of thought. She's
still on my shit list for the head games that she played with Donna
yesterday. And according to Donna she's still playing them whenever
I'm not around. Somehow she's still clinging to the delusion that she
can influence me just by being here. We may still need her, head games
and all, but Madeline Hampton will have a place in a Bartlet White
House over my dead body.
"What Mandy?"
"We need to talk to the DNC about the speaking order of the opening
ceremonies. Hoynes is trying to one up us again. He's got two of his
fellow senators lined up to speak one right after the other. Nominally
they're supposed to be addressing the interests of the party as a
whole, but they're both buddies of Hoynes'." Her voice rose. "They
shared committee assignments. They backed each other's legislation.
You know damn good and well that they'll both make that lecherous
jackass sound like the second coming. I can't do my job if you guys
keep falling down on yours! If I have to do yours too, then I want a
new contract!"
I'm pretty sure that I cringed on the `lecherous jackass' part. Yes,
it's an open secret in our business that John Hoynes has an issue with
his zipper, but the last thing that we need is a leak that has *us*
discussing the fact in our war room. That will start the mud slinging
for certain. Mandy will never learn tact, but I thought that she'd at
least managed discretion. Glancing quickly around, I can't see anyone
paying attention to her outburst. Fortunately people either didn't
hear her over the noise in the room, or they knew how she was and they
were ignoring her, which is something that I wished fervently that I
could do. All I wanted was a few minutes alone with Donna before we
called it a night.
I sighed. "Mandy, we're already aware of it. We were aware of it hours
ago, and Leo has dealt with it."
"Why wasn't I told?" she snapped. "Am I being cut out of the loop?"
"No, you were never *in* the loop to begin with. You're a media
consultant under contract to us, as well as several down ticket races.
You design the *media* strategy based off of what we give you.
Campaign strategy is the portfolio of the full-time staff. And, as
long as you're splitting your time between us and all your other
clients, Donna isn't going to track you down and shove every memo in
your hot little hand every time we counter Hoynes on something. She
has more important things to do. And besides, CJ can handle the day to
day media stuff. Your job is the big picture." I paused and lowered my
voice. "And could you not refer to John Hoynes as a `lecherous
jackass'? Regardless of whatever else he is, he's a United States
Senator. You're lucky that Bartlet didn't hear you, he'd have fired
you on the spot."
Mandy looked taken aback for only a moment then she glanced at Donna
before looking back at me and plastering a smile on her face that
tried to be seductive, but which only succeeded in looking predatory.
"So, why don't *you* and *I* renegotiate things to move me closer to
the center of the campaign?"
Could she possibly have been any more obvious? I took my eyes off her
and locked gazes with Donna. As much for her benefit as Mandy's I
said, "No, I don't think so. We like you *right* where you are.
Working for us, but not working *with* us." Just for a second Donna's
carefully schooled expression dropped and there was the love. I know
that she likes to keep my ego in check, but when I see that look in
her eyes I feel ten feet tall and ready to slay Republicans.
I looked back at Mandy at met her death glare. I can tell that she
wants to resign right then and there, but the prestige on a
Presidential campaign will just look to good on her résumé. Especially
a dark horse insurgency like ours. She's going nowhere. She flicks a
look of open hatred at Donna. There will be a final reckoning there
before all this is done.
"Fine, then I'll just go see to one of my other clients, since you and
your staff seem to have this well in hand. I'll be back to review my
end of things in the morning before the kick-off. Try not to let
Hoynes sew up the nomination before then opening ceremonies." She
leaned in close and pitched he voice so that no one could hear her but
Donna and I. "And I'm sick of playing games Josh. Let me know when
you're ready to climb out of your sandbox and play with the big girls
again."
With that she turned at swept out of the room.
I took a deep breath and ran my hand through my hair. I was about
ready to pull a fist full out when I felt Donna's hand on my shoulder.
It's amazing how quickly and completely she can calm me with a touch.
Or a look….kind of like the one that she's giving me now as she steers
me out of the room and into the much less crowded hall. Thank god that
Mandy is nowhere in sight.
"You shouldn't let her get to you like that."
I let out a cleansing breath. "She knows what buttons to push. Both
the old and the new."
Donna arched an eyebrow. I've never met a woman who can convey so much
with an arched eyebrow. I'm sort of in trouble, but not really.
"So I've moved from a secret weapon to a button?"
Think fast Josh. "No, you're a secret weapon…who's as cute as a button?"
Donna tried to hold her pose of disapproval then cracked up. "Okay,
not a perfect save, but it'll do."
"It's almost 9:00, we've been going all day, and I know that you
haven't eaten. Let's grab a late dinner and try to get some more work in."
Donna shook her head. "Nope. I have an appointment with some bubbles
and a mindless romance novel. This is going to be my very last chance
to relax before this is all over, and I'm taking it." She gave me that
cute smirk of hers. The one that dares me to kiss her. "Besides, I
need to get the sand off."
"Sand?"
"Yes, from the sandbox. You know, the one that you and I play in."
Donna's POV
I left Josh standing there gaping like a fish. Now that I have a
little more confidence in where I stand with him it's taken our banter
to a whole new level. I know that most people see Josh as this
bombastic juggernaut. That it's his way or the highway. And that may
be true in politics. But in matters of the heart, he's a different
person entirely. He told me that he was willing to wait. No other man
ever treated me that way. Dave, aka Dr. Freeride, certainly wasn't. He
was a `do it on the second date or quit wasting my time' sort of guy.
So I tease him a bit, knowing that he won't walk away. And he teases
me back. At this rate, by the time that our time for waiting is over,
we may just kill each other.
I'll certainly die happy.
When I got back to the room that I'm sharing with Cathy, Toby and
Sam's girl Friday, I found that my plans for the evening had changed.
CJ was there, sitting on my bed. Dealing with "black-hole Hampton"
occasionally has that effect on those around her. The look on CJ's
face tells me that this wasn't the time to be losing track of my friends
"CJ! How did you get in here? Is something wrong?"
CJ looked away from me. "Cathy let me in, and I don't know."
"Okay, then what do you think *might* be wrong?"
CJ was silent for a long moment, and then she stood abruptly. "You
know what, it's probably nothing. I should just go."
"CJ, you came here for a reason. I've never been to a Presidential
convention and neither have you. But we're starting one tomorrow
morning. And from what Josh tells me, the next few days are going to
be organized pandemonium. If you're worried about something, the time
to talk about it is now, because tomorrow is too late."
CJ stared at me a moment then laughed. "You have no idea." She paused,
as if to gather her thoughts. "When we were in Manhattan, Kansas two
weeks back I went up to the Governor's suite to remind him that he was
doing Nightline…..
Josh's POV
Donna would kill me if she knew that my dinner was a vending machine
burrito and a bag of chips. I'd just settled in to spend my evening
alternating between polling numbers, delegate dossiers, and watching
the talking heads kick around both Hoynes and the Governor on CNN and
Fox. At this point I'm looking to see which one they're trying to kick
because he's down, and which one they're trying to put between the
goal posts.
The Beltway Boys were just warming up when there was a hurried knock
at my door. Checking the peep-hole I could see Donna filling my view.
Hot damn! She changed her mind. I yanked open the door.
"You just couldn't stay away, could ya? You have a key card, and since
when do you have to kno….ck?" That last word came out as sort of a
hiccup as CJ stepped into view from one side of the door.
Donna cut the resulting awkward moment off at the knees by pushing her
way into the room.
"Josh, CJ needs to talk to you, and I think that you should listen."
CJ had followed Donna, but instead of talking, she was studying me
like a bug under a magnifying glass.
"CJ? We're not getting any younger here," I prompted.
She stopped looking at me like I was a suspect in a line-up and nodded.
"Okay, here's the deal. I think that something is going on with the
Governor. A few weeks ago I walked into their suite and caught Abbey
giving him an injection."
I was still processing that tidbit when Donna chimed in.
"Josh, one thing that I came away from Dave with is a working
knowledge of medical ethics. And treating your own family members is a
big breach of them."
"Wait a minute, just wait a minute." I glare at CJ. "You're coming to
me with this now? When we have less than twenty-four hours to go
before we start a possible floor fight to make our guy *the*
Democratic candidate for President? Now, when we have no room to spin?"
"Josh, I wasn't sure. Then tonight, when Abbey herded him out the door
I saw it. There's something wrong with him Josh. Something that we
missed."
I walked over to the bed and sat down and rested my head in my hands.
After a moment I scrubbed my face and looked up.
"Okay, this stays between the three of us until after the convention.
We need to focus right now. Anything that doesn't contribute to that
is irrelevant."
CJ tried to argue. "But Josh…"
"No, I mean it CJ. I know that this is potentially lethal, but we
can't deal with it right now. Not when we're this close to a make or
break moment. We'll deal with it, but after we've locked up the
nomination. Not now. Later."
I stood and walked over to her, placing my hands on her shoulders. "If
we win, and I think that we will, I'll go to Leo as soon as it's over.
If we don't win, then the point is moot, and I'll have a quiet word
with the Governor and his wife about discretion. You have my word
Claudia Jean."
She looked at me for a long moment, as if gauging my honesty. I'd have
been insulted by that if she hadn't been so upset. Then she nodded.
"Okay Josh, I'll leave it with you, but if you don't…"
I hugged her. "I know CJ, I wouldn't expect anything else. For now
though, you need to put it aside if we're going to win this thing."
She sighed. "Okay. I guess need to go find the press gaggle now. With
the latest poll numbers out, they'll be looking for a comment. I was
putting it off because I couldn't get this out of my teeth."
I chuckled. "Well, it's mine now, so break out the dental floss. We
need you at the top of your game the next few days."
She turned to leave and paused. "Coming Donna?"
Donna shook her head. "No, I'll be along in a few. I need to talk to
Josh about something."
CJ stared at us both a few moments longer, and then she apparently
chose plausible deniability over knowing for sure and said goodnight.
The door hadn't even finished closing before I had my arms wrapped
tightly around Donna.
"It never stops, does it?" she murmured.
"No," I said. "No it doesn't. Are you sure that you want a piece of
this world?"
With her cheek resting against my shoulder, she nodded. " Yep, or at
least one particular piece of it."
I pulled back a moment to gain room for several gentle kisses. It was
amazing how each kiss was different. Felt different. Tasted different.
But they all had the same effect. They recharged my soul better than
ten hours of sleep and a double espresso, while at the same time they
calmed me and centered me like nothing else in my life ever had.
I hugged her one last time and then I let her go.
"I remember something about bubbles and a trashy novel."
She shook her head. "It's too late for that."
"So do you want to work?"
She chuckled. "I swear you need bubbles and some light reading more
than I do. With that in mind, how about we make a deal. We both need
to unwind, so let's just find a mindless television program that has
absolutely nothing to do with politics and see if we can't just enjoy
each other's company for a while."
I looked longingly at my polling data, but she grasped my chin and
turned me back to look her in the eyes.
"You need to turn it off for just a couple of hours Josh. If you can't
do that with me here, then I'll go back to my room, and you can do it
alone. But you need it."
I smirked. "There are so many ways to take that Donnatella."
She blushed. "I suppose so, but only one of them is happening here
tonight. And it isn't the one that your imagination has running around
in it."
I held out my hand and, when she took it, I tugged her towards my bed.
"I wouldn't have it any other way. I said that I'd wait, and I meant
it. Our time isn't now, but I'd be very happy if you'd curl up with me
and watch crappy movies until you have to leave."
She glanced at my clock by the bed. "Two hours, that's all you get."
I grinned and I lay back against the headboard and pulled her down to
lean against my side with her head on my shoulder.
"Sold."