~JOSH’S POV~
“That should so count.” Donna says.
“It doesn’t.” I reply.
“Well, it should.”
“Donna, the quarter’s got to go IN the shot glass. It doesn’t count if it ricochets off the rim.”
“But it was close.”
“Close only counts in horseshoes and hand-grenades.” I say.
“My father used to say that.” she grins.
“I think EVERYONE’S father used to say that.” I grin back.
“How did you even know about this place?” she asks looking around. I was wondering how
long it would take her to comment on the...er...cleanliness of the place.
“I’ve been to St. Louis before.” I reply.
“Oh really?” she sings. “And who have you been to the great state of St. Louis with?”
“City.”
“Wha?”
Shit, she’s getting drunk. I’m going to have to hold her hair up later. I can see it.
“St. Louis is a City in the great state of Missouri.” I reply.
“Well, I didn’t want a geography lesson, I was just wondering when you’d been here before.”
she scoffs leaning forward a little bit and tilting her head.
Yup. Definitely well on her way to drunk.
“Senator Hoynes.”
“Oh, not a woman then?”
“No.” I say with a half laugh. “Though there are a few that follow him around.” I mumble under
my breath.
“Wha?”
“Nothing.” I say quickly. “Why would you think I’ve been through here with a woman? And why
do you think I’d bring this hypothetical woman to this dive?”
“You’ve obviously had sex before, Joshua, I mean, SOMEONE must have taught you all that.
And how come I’M good enough for this dive, but not the hypothetical woman? What makes
her so damn precious that she gets to go to some high brow, respectable place? Hmm?”
Okay. What just happened there? Where did I get in trouble?
“Are you trying to HIDE that you’re out with me or something?”
“I picked this place because it’s off the beaten path and has a dance floor, which was
specifically requested by you and CJ, who will be arriving momentarily with Sam and Toby.” I
shoot back. “We agreed that ten days before the election, we wanted to keep a low profile on
this, our only night off.”
“I thought you were trying to hide me.”
No kidding.
“Not trying to hide you, Donnatella.” I reply. “In fact, when a man is with a woman as beautiful
as you, the LAST thing he wants to do is hide her so no one can see it.”
“Aww!”
See that? I got her back.
“CJ would say I should be indignant about that remark. I should get mad at the piggish
connotations it had.”
“I think you’re perfectly capable of deciding for yourself what gets you mad.”
“You’re right, I can.”
“All right then. And did that make you mad?”
“Not really.”
“There you go then.”
She smiles at me and she’s got a dreamy look on her face. I should have known better than
to play a drinking game with her, especially one that I’m actually good at and usually end up
not having to drink that much while playing. A slow song starts and she’s still giving me that
look, the look and the smile she gives me that makes me do anything for her. I swear to God,
if she asked me to marry her right now, I’d say yes.
“Dance with me.” she says instead.
“Okay.” I smile. We stand up and I lead her to the dance floor, hoping to hell we can get the
entire dance in before the others get here. Sam I don’t mind seeing us because he knows. He
doesn’t really approve at the moment, but he’s my best friend and keeps his mouth shut...sort
of. Well, not to me he doesn’t. CJ, I know suspects, and is probably actually sure by now, but
she’ll light into us right then and there if she’s got cold hard proof. Toby, I’m not sure he’s
taken the time to really watch us yet, but if he has, I’m sure he knows. He’s annoyingly
perceptive. But just throwing it in their faces will NOT go over well.
As soon as we hit the dance floor, she leans in to me and wraps her arms around my neck.
Mine go to her waist, pretty low on her waist, I might add. Her fingers are playing with the hair
on the back of my neck. She leans her head down on my shoulder and closes her eyes. She
plants a soft kiss on the side of my neck and my arms tighten around her. This is fine for now,
but when the others get here, drunk, touchy, feely Donna is going to have to take a hiatus.
“I love this.” she says softly.
What did she say?
“You love what?” I squeak.
“This. Dancing with you.” She says.
Damn. I thought she was saying something else.
“Yeah?”
“I love when your arms are around me like this. I feel so protected, so safe.”
“You are.” I say softly, wondering what would possess her to say something like that. She
sighs and rubs her cheek against my shoulder.
And she really is protected by me. I am king of act first think later. I could totally see myself
going berserk if someone hurts her. It scares me when I think how naive she can be and how
hurt she’s been by men before. It literally makes me sick to my stomach sometimes. All I want
to do is form a bubble around her and protect her world from everything evil. She’s just so
genuine, and Washington will eat her alive.
I’m broken away from this beautiful moment in my world of chaos when the door to the bar
opens. I pull away on instinct, prepared for it to be CJ, Sam, and Toby. But it’s not. It’s much
worse.
It’s Senator Hoynes.
What the hell is he doing here? This place is so low brow it’s scary. He can’t be seen to be
out boozing it up in a dive bar ten days before the freaking election. He’s dressed casually
and moves to the bar. He orders a water and I’m a little surprised. Okay. So he’s not going to
drink. What the hell is he doing here? I glance around for the secret service. There’s a guy
by the door with the bouncer and one discreetly positioned right behind the Senator. I pull
Donna off the dance floor, but Hoynes makes eye contact with me. He nods slightly and goes
back to his water.
Donna’s looking at me with that arched brow again and I nod over to the bar. When she
follows my line of sight I feel her tense up next to me. What the hell? Is she worried about us
getting in trouble? One thing John Hoynes doesn’t comment on is someone else’s political
affair. Not that that’s what this is, but he’s certainly not about to broadcast it, especially about
me. I’ve got too much dirt on him about his indiscretions.
I throw a quick glance to the door. When I see all is clear, I tug her towards me and kiss the
hell out of her. Take that, Senator. When I pull away, I see that he saw. Good. I also see that
Donna’s now giving me that dreamy look again. When she gives me this look, I feel like a rat
bastard for every single time I’m snappy with her, for when I tried to push her away, denied to
the others that anything’s going on between us because though they like her, she’s not high
enough up on the food chain for me to date. She looks at me with unconditional love. Why
am I such an asshole? Why can’t I tell her that I love her? It’s not because I think the way they
do. I know that.
What am I so afraid of? If you saw this look, you’d be pretty confident she’d say it back. But
once I say it, that’s it. It’s over for me. I’ll be always thinking with my heart and not my head.
And from what I’m told, that would be disastrous for me.
She changes seats from where she was sitting before. This time, she’s got her back to the
bar.
CJ, Sam, and Toby all arrive. And as they gather around the table, Donna and I are forced to
move our chairs next to each other.
Isn’t that just a crying shame?
The second our legs touch, she starts running her foot up and down my shin. I guess touchy
feely Donna is finding other avenues. Hopefully, no one’s noticed that she’s found my hand
under the table. She flips my hand over and starts trailing her fingers along my palm.
Strangely, this is turning me on right now. Time for some misdirection.
“Look who’s at the bar.” I say with a nod in the Senator’s direction.
It works. Toby, CJ, and Sam all turn their heads and I throw a meaningful look at Donna.
She pouts in return.
I’m a dead man.
“What the hell is he doing here?” Sam asks as he and Toby turn back to the table. CJ’s gaze
seems to be lingering.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Toby says. “He obviously hates me. He’s trying my patience. He’s trying to
see just how much bull shit I’ll put up with.”
“No.” CJ says slowly. She tosses a quick glance in Donna’s direction and then turns
completely back to the table. “I don’t think that’s what it is.” Now Sam tosses a look at Donna.
What the hell? Can they tell her leg is moving? I move my leg away from hers, just in case.
Now her hand is on my thigh. Thankfully, it’s winter. Between all the coats around us, I don’t
think anyone would see that. I put my hand that she was previously playing with up on the
table, just so it doesn’t look suspicious.
I look over at the bar, and the Senator’s talking with the guy next to him and pointing at the
football game on the bar t.v. I can’t shake the weird feeling I have.
“Do you think he knew we were coming here?” I ask the table at large.
“Yes.” CJ says. “He knew Leo gave us the night off. He asked me what we were up to. I didn’t
see the harm in telling him where we were going. I certainly didn’t think he’d actually come
down here. He’s a United States Senator; he can’t just hang out at the hotel bar?” Donna’s
hand tightens a little on my knee.
“Forget Hoynes.” Sam said with a wave of his hand. “Let’s drink. What’s this mess already on
the table?”
“A game of quarters gone, very, very, very wrong.” Donna says leaning into the table and
shaking her head in that drunken girly way, making Sam smile. They’ve now noticed Donna’s
current state of near intoxication.
“Okay. Well, I’m not playing that.” Sam says holding up his hands. “Josh is the master of
quarters. I’d never play against him.”
Oops.
“Oh, the master of quarters.” Donna sings looking over at me.
“I told you I’ve played before!” I defend.
“Uh-huh.” she says unconvinced, but I can also tell that I’m not really in trouble, too. A
waitress comes by and Sam orders a beer, CJ orders a grasshopper, Toby orders a scotch,
and I cringe inwardly as Donna orders a Rusty Nail. When the waitress gets to me, I order a
water. Everyone looks over at me in question.
“Someone should stay sober, the freaking Senator’s here.” I say. But really it’s because
Donna’s apparently getting wasted. One of us is going to need to keep us in check. I, too,
tend to get touchy feely when I’m drunk.
“You don’t want him to see you drunk?” Sam asks.
“He’s seen me drunk. I just think one of us needs to be thinking clearly in case...well, in case
of whatever.”
“We’re not drunk yet.” CJ says.
“Yet being the operative word there.” Toby replies and I look victoriously at CJ.
The drinks come back and Donna downs half of hers. I must say, I’m a little surprised by this.
We’ve been to bars before; she’s never drank like this. Now it’s like she’s looking to get
drunk. Toby lights up a cigar and puffs on it with his scotch as he and Sam start talking about
the speeches they’re currently working on for Election Day and CJ berates them for talking
shop on what’s supposed to be our night off. Donna leans over to me and tells me she’s
going to the ladies room.
“Are you all right?” I look over to her. She’s got those drunk half-mast eyes.
“Yeah.” she nods. I’m not entirely sure, but if she says she’s okay, I’ll give her the benefit of
the doubt.
CJ is unsuccessful in changing the topic of conversation, especially when I jump in and start
talking about the different scenarios we need to be prepared for. If he wins the electoral vote,
but loses the popular vote; if he doesn’t take New Hampshire, Toby adds; if we lose Texas, I
say. The conversation goes on and Sam looks like he’s about to quit and fly back to New
York. I don’t blame him, not only is that a lot to write, but it’s a lot to keep track of, too,
especially since they’re all on their second round of drinks now.
Whoa, wait a minute. They’re on their second round? How long has Donna been gone? I
glance in the direction of the bathrooms and an uneasy feeling settles over to me.
“I’m going to make sure Donna’s all right.” I say standing up. Screw them if they give me “the
look.” Whoops! There it is! One of us should go check on her. She’s been gone for a long
time now.
I step away from the table and head back to the bathrooms. I turn the corner to the hallway
where they are and my blood runs cold.
Hoynes has got Donna backed up against a corner. His hand is somewhere only MY hand
goes. I can’t hear what he’s saying, but I can imagine what it might be, given the terrified look
on her face right now. She looks like she’s trying to slide away. He starts to lean his face
towards her and that’s when I see red.
“WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!” I demand moving towards them. I grab Donna’s wrist and yank
her out from behind him, none to gently. She clutches my arm, and if I wasn’t so livid right
now, I might notice just how hard it is. What I DO notice is that she’s trembling.
“Josh.” Hoynes says, as if I’ve just joined him and an old friend sharing a brandy. “I was just
telling Donna that I didn’t think you’d mind if she and I got to know each other better tonight.”
“I do.” I bite back.
The secret service moves closer to us and I opt to get out of there rather than become a
story. I pull Donna back to the table and grab our coats.
“What’s going on?” CJ asks wide eyed. Sam looks concerned when he sees us. Tears are
streaming down Donna’s face and I can only imagine what my face must look like now.
“Not now.” I clip.
“Josh?” Sam asks again.
“I said not now!” I say forcefully and add a glare to get my point across. It works. The three of
them look like they don’t want to provoke me now. I pull Donna out of the bar and hail a cab. I
take a deep breath to try to calm myself a bit and gently drape her coat around her shoulders.
A cab pulls up, and as I open the door and usher Donna inside. I can hear the Senator call
my name as he exits the bar. I ignore him and get in the cab, giving the driver the address of
our hotel. As soon as the cab is away, I reach out to Donna and she falls sobbing to my chest.
“Are you all right?” I demand against her hair. My eyes are filling with hot tears and she nods
her head. “I’m so sorry I didn’t get there sooner, Donna.” How did I not see Hoynes get up
and follow her? How could I not see he’d do something like this? How long had she been
subjected to Hoynes’ hands on her? How could Hoynes not have seen the look in her eyes?
She looked like she was going to throw up.
I hold her tightly the rest of the ride to the hotel as she continues to sob and shake in my
arms. This is John Hoynes’ fault. He made my beautiful Donnatella feel like she wasn’t safe,
even when she was around me, where I could get to her. I’ll get the predatory son of a bitch. I
don’t know what I’ll do, but I’ll figure something out. I will put the screws to him.
“I’m so sorry, Donnatella.” I whisper again holding her as tight as I possibly can.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
DONNA’S POV
We walk into the hotel lobby and Josh leads us up to the front desk.
“I need a room.” he says to the clerk. I don’t ask. I rest my head on his shoulder and face
away from the desk clerk, letting my hair fall into my face to block it from view. It’s too late for
any staffers to be around, especially since we’ve all been given the night off, but I don’t want
the hotel staff to see my puffy eyes and get the wrong idea about Josh.
“Your name, sir?” the clerk asks.
“William Shears.” Josh replies. I’d laugh but I’m too distraught at the moment.
“And how will you be paying for the room, Mr. Shears?” she asks. She doesn’t seem to find
anything odd about the name. Of course, this is a Hilton in St. Louis. It’s possible she’s heard
it before, possibly even from the original owner of the name.
“Cash.” Josh says opening his wallet.
“Smoking or non?”
“I don’t care.”
“Does your wife prefer smoking or non?” the clerk asks knowingly.
“She --” he begins.
“I don’t care.” I say softly cutting him off. He has every right to correct the woman, but I just
can’t hear him deny it right now. I can’t hear any rejection from him right now after...that.
“That’s what I was going to say.” he says softly against my ear and his voice falls over me like
silk.
“Room 712.” she says sliding the key across the top of the counter. Josh pockets it and leads
me to the elevator. Once we’re alone in the elevator, he wraps his arms around me again,
and we’re quiet for the ride up. I’ve momentarily stopped crying, but I can’t seem to stop
shaking.
He stops us at the vending machines on the 7th floor and buys a few bottles of water and
those disposable toothbrush packages. I have yet to question a single thing he’s done. When
we get to the room, Josh gets the door open on the first shot. This is amazing to me. Josh is
hotel keycard impaired. Once inside the room, he tosses everything on the dresser and pulls
me to him again. In the sanctuary of this room and his arms, I come apart again.
Eventually, we shrug out of our coats and he leads me to the bed, sitting me down on the end
while he kneels in front of me.
“Are you SURE you’re okay?” he asks softly pushing my hair out of my face. I nod as the
sobs subside.
“I just can’t stop shaking.” I say. “I was so scared I wasn’t going to be able to get away this
time.”
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
JOSH’S POV
I’m sorry? THIS time? What the hell is going on? This has happened before?
The important thing here is to not freak out. She’s upset enough.
“What the hell do you mean THIS time?” I demand. Okay. I could probably work a little harder
on the not freaking out part. “He’s done this before?”
“Not that exactly.”
My heart starts to beat faster and I stand up and start pacing. If I don’t work off some of this
anger, I’m going to find our Vice Presidential nominee, and secret service or not, it’s going to
be ugly.
“I don’t understand.”
The tears have started again, but she’s not sobbing at least.
“He said awful things, Josh.” she whispers. Her voice is hoarse.
“What kind of awful things?”
She shakes her head and drops her face to her hands. They must be pretty awful. I have an
inkling of stuff he might have said.
I kneel before her again and gently pull her hands from her face and hold them in mine.
“What did he say, Donna?” I ask again, doing my best to keep all the anger from my voice. It’
s not easy. I feel so tight inside, like I’m going to explode out of my skin.
“He threatened your job.” she said softly. I figured as much. “He said...he said...” She starts
getting choked up again, and I’m aching inside. I love her so much, and I want to kill John
Hoynes.
“Ssshhh.” I hush, kissing her forehead and stroking her hair. “It’s all right. Tell me what he
said.”
“He said that...” she starts and breaks off. It must be horrible, or it wouldn’t be so difficult for
her to say. “...that he knew you weren’t the only one I was sleeping with. That he could make
things so much easier for you if I cooperated, and if I really cared about you, I’d do what I
could to help your career.”
I suddenly feel like I’m going to throw up...and then punch something repeatedly.
“Why would he think those things about me, Josh?” she says.
Because someone probably told him that’s the way it was, I think. We were at the convention
and I was strong-arming people left and right. It could have been anyone.
And when I find out who it was, they will beg her forgiveness, or I will finish them in politics.
“Why didn’t you tell me he’d been coming on to you?” I could have stopped this; this didn’t
have to happen tonight.
“He said that he could get you fired. He said that he could destroy your career in politics.”
“He can’t.” I assure. “He really can’t, Donna. I know all his skeletons. He can’t go up against
me like that and win.”
“I didn’t know.”
Exactly.
She didn’t know. He preyed upon her inexperience and naiveté. How dare he take my sweet
Donna and show her something ugly?
I push back up to stand and press my palms to my eyes. The anger is boiling up in me like
lava. I drop my hands and look down at her. She looks back up at me and blinks slowly, tears
threatening to spill over down her face again. Her eyes don’t sparkle now. And she’s not
looking at me with love.
I turn on my heel and stride purposefully for the door.
“Where are you going?” she asks immediately on my heels.
“To find John Hoynes.”
As soon as my hand hits the door handle, she throws her body in front of mine. “No, Josh.”
she says firmly.
“Yes, Donna.”
“You can’t.”
“I can. Get out of my way.”
“I will not let you get arrested by the secret service because of me.” She insists putting her
palms up on my chest. “I will not be the cause of a scandal for you.”
“I’m not a big enough name to be a scandal!” I say WAY more loudly than I intended and
back away from her.
“You are!” she shouts back. “You are now, Josh. You’re one of the masterminds behind one
of the biggest upsets in the history of the Democratic Party. You’re the senior political advisor
for the democratic nominee for President! You ARE a big enough name now! You knocking
out our Vice Presidential nominee will be everywhere!”
She’s right. But she hasn’t convinced me yet.
She grabs my face between her hands and draws my gaze to hers. “I love you too much to let
you throw everything you worked for away for me. I’d rather walk away from you entirely.” She
whispers.
My heart just stopped beating and my body can’t seem to remember how to breathe. She
said it. I can’t believe she said it. I mean, I’d have to be an idiot not to have realized it by now.
But she said it, and I feel warm all over.
“I love you so much it hurts, Donna.” I whisper back before my brain protests against the
idiocy of losing myself that much more in her. I lean my forehead against hers and she’s still
got her hands on my face, but she moves them to the back of my neck and pulls me in to kiss
her.
It’s a possessive kiss on my part. My testosterone is amped up to levels I never knew it could
get to. She tilts her head back with a gasp and exposes her neck to me, and I accept the
invitation whole heartedly. Clothes are coming off at a speed that surely is setting some kind
of record. I have a sudden primal urge to mark my territory. I can’t get to her body fast
enough. I certainly can’t wait for the bed.
She must feel the same way I do. She’s sucking on my chest, and I know it’s going to leave a
mark. I don’t care. I know women like Mandy and Erica have been making her insane. She
doesn’t need to feel threatened by them. Neither of them has ever been able to come close
to making me feel what she has, and I’ve certainly never felt love for them, much less told
them I loved them.
She hikes her leg around my waist as I push into her. She grabs onto the door handle for
support, her other foot wedged to the wall. I won’t think too hard about the logistics, or what
this must be doing to her back. It’s hot and fast, and she doesn’t seem to want it any other
way. She bites into my shoulder instead of screaming, and it’s the first time I’ve come across
a pain I liked.
She slides her legs slowly back to the floor and looks at me in wonder. I laugh a bit and sag
against the wall, pulling her with me, and giving her a long, soft, satiated kiss.
“Do you think you could make it to the bed with me?” she smiles.
“I’ll go anywhere you lead me.”
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
JOSH’S POV
We enter the debate hall as a group and everyone begins to size it up.
Damn it’s cold in here! The Governor doesn’t seem to think he’ll care about it later when it’s
full of people. Well, all right then. He’s the one that has to stand up there under the lights and
make it look like he’s perfectly comfortable in this environment, which I think he will be. I have
never seen anyone debate like the Governor. He consistently outwits his opponents. We’re
walking around the stage and he’s owning it. He’ll use every inch of this space tonight. He
walks the space like a pitcher works the mound. That’s what Leo says, and I can see it now.
Come to think of Leo, he’s still meeting with donors? He should be down here.
The Governor moves behind a podium and CJ and Mandy move to speak with the
coordinator.
I look around casually for Donna. She’s sitting high up in the rows with Margaret. I can see
from here that she’s shivering and I have to literally quell the urge to run up there and warm
her up. I have a surefire cure for those chills. I catch myself smiling as I start to think of the
things I can do to her to heat her up.
I have to stop this. This is starting to affect my job today.
I move over to the podium and CJ, Mandy and the Governor begin talking to the coordinator
some more. Toby is looking through the debate prep binders still crossing things out. Why he
thinks, at the third debate, the Governor is going to change anything he’s been doing all
along, nine days before the election, is beyond me, but he seems to be holding out hope on
a few things.
Mainly what I’m doing is trying to stay way the hell away from Mandy. It’s unprofessional, I
know, but I also think it’s unprofessional, and downright bitchy, for her to pull the shit she is
with us. She was doing a bang up job of unnerving Donna. I know she doesn’t have any
concrete evidence of my relationship with Donna, unless Sam ratted us out, which I sincerely
doubt, but she’s got firm suspicions. I wish someone would just throw some water on her and
be done with it.
Sam, however, sees me hanging back on my own, and seizes his moment.
“Whacha doing?” he asks. Umm...trying not to be too obvious that I’m staring at Donna and
avoiding Mandy, in addition to all of you. But I shrug instead. “You didn’t come back to the
room last night.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Donna didn’t go back to her room.” He’s obviously been talking to Cathy.
“No, she didn’t.”
“And you left the bar pretty abruptly last night, too.” he continues.
“Yes, I did.”
“Chased out by the Senator.”
“Yes, I was.”
“You were with her?”
“Yes.” I say shortly. I don’t like his use of the word, “her,” like she’s some kind of scandal
inducing scarlet woman. I know he doesn’t mean it that way, but my bulldog instincts are
heightened and I feel the need to show my teeth a bit, even if it is to Sam. I smirk a bit.
People are starting to give me funny nicknames, like “Bartlet’s Bulldog.” I think I might also be
becoming “Donna’s Doberman,” but that one’s just in my head.
“Josh...”Sam starts again. He takes me by the elbow and leads me away from everyone. I can
see Donna watching us with interest. He’s determined to get on my bad side today.
“I don’t want to hear it anymore, Sam. I don’t want to hear it from any of you.” I snap in a
hushed, but harsh tone. “You’re supposed to be my best friend. I did what you said. I tried to
put my career first. Do you know what it got me? John Fucking Hoynes propositioning the
woman I love in a dark corner of a seedy fucking bar. He had his hands all over her and she
was terrified. I listened to you guys, and in doing so, I fed her to the fucking wolves. Don’t say
one more fucking word about scandals, my career, or anything else remotely related to that.
Because right now, if I have to pick between Donna and the White House, I promise you, you,
Toby, and CJ, aren’t going to be happy with what I have to say.”
I look back up at Donna and she’s looking at me. I know that look. She can tell something
unpleasant is happening over here.
The Governor moves behind the podium and Sam leaves me to stand behind the other to
play the opposition. CJ, Mandy, and Toby take up positions in the front to play moderator and
I head up by Donna. You know, so I can make sure the people back here can hear the
Governor. Margaret stands and announces she’s heading back to the St. Louis office. I
should send Donna with her. I’m sure there are things Donna should be doing there, but I
keep her here. You know, to learn. Yeah all right, I need her by me now. After last night, I’m
scared to let her out of my sight.
But mainly because I love having her around me so much, and I don’t want to pass up an
opportunity to get her alone and I’ll be damned if I’m not going to take this time to figure out a
way to get my lips on her right now. Now that we’ve so solidified our relationship, I don’t feel
guilty about a quickie behind any door with a working lock. I’ve never made love to a woman
and had the giddy feeling of wondering what she was going to make my body feel next.
And that’s all the sappy shit you’re going to get out of me.
I lean forward in my seat. She’s got an open binder in her lap and a pen in her hand and it
looks like I’m telling her stuff to do and she’s writing it down. But, of course, that’s not what’s
happening at all.
“You know,” I whisper against her ear. “When you wear your hair up like this, it makes me
want to do indecent things to your neck.”
“Don’t bullshit me, Joshua. What happened with Sam?” So much for the seduction.
“They’re obviously curious about what happened at the bar and where we disappeared to.”
She goes wide eyed and turns around to look at me. “Face front.” I say quickly. “Louder, sir!”
I call out. You know, just to make it look good. He seems to be having trouble projecting. Odd.
“What did you say?”
“Nothing he was happy with.”
“Josh.” she says. I think she’s disappointed. I think she was hoping after last night, Sam would
force my hand. Our hand. I have to be the one to tell Leo though. He can’t hear it from
somebody else. Where the hell is Leo?
Donna looks positively crestfallen. I can’t have that.
I keep my eyes on the stage and seize my moment to plant a quick kiss on her exposed neck.
She sucks her breath quickly in. I’m so turned on by that; by the knowledge that an
unexpected kiss affects her like that. Nobody has ever shown this kind of reaction to me
before. How can I let her go? What am I going to do if Leo erupts over this? I mean, it’s not
unheard of for campaign staff to NOT take positions in the White House, but that wasn’t mine
and Leo’s understanding. And...well...it’s Deputy Chief of Staff. That’s, like, insane for a guy
my age. But on the other hand, I meant what I said to Sam, too. It was probably my anger
talking, but I’m desperate to make this all come together. And I’m desperate to keep her out
of the sphere of John Hoynes. If I tell Leo what’s going on, he may assign her over to the
Hoynes camp. I absolutely cannot have that.
The mock debate goes on for a little longer when the Governor says he needs a break. He
needs a break? Are the lights too bright?
“I’ll be right back.” I say softly with another quick kiss. I hear her suck her breath in again. She’
s so cool.
I head down to the stage and meet Sam, CJ, and Toby.
“Where's Leo?” Sam asks CJ my million dollar question. Why the hell isn’t he down here?
“I'd still like to go over the Social Security answer. We gotta get it down to 90 seconds.” I say.
“It's down to 90 seconds.” CJ responds. Hmm...maybe I missed that in my distraction by
Donna.
“It's not - and they're gonna cut him off.”
“I put a stopwatch on him. When he just speeds up...” Sam says as we make our way to
where the Governor is standing on the side of the stage.
“When he speeds up, he speeds up. When he doesn't... It's 90 seconds. We need to cut
some more.” I say. I was a little short with Sam. My frustration with all of them is starting to
show. The election is in nine days. I really need to think about what I’m going to say to Leo.
The Governor crosses his arms over his chest and hunches over slightly. I look at him for a
second.
“Which words?” Toby asks me.
“Governor, what do you think?” I ask him. “Governor?” What the hell? He looks weird. He
looks kind of unsteady on his feet, a bit dazed, and just maybe short of breath. “Sir, we were
just saying on the Social Security answer...”
“No.”
“...it's a tight 90 seconds, and...” Wait, he said something then.
“No, no. Not now.”
“Well, we gotta do it now, sir.” I mean, the debate is tonight.
The Governor suddenly reaches out his right arm to balance himself, leaning on the TV for
support.
“Something's wrong.” Toby says.
“Governor?” CJ asks. She sounds like she’s going to start freaking out.
“Governor?” I ask a little more wary now. He sounds like he’s gasping. What the hell is going
on? “Sir?”
“G'abbey...”
Gabby? Who the hell is Gabby?
“You wanna sit down?” Sam asks.
“Let me get some water.” CJ says turning around and grabbing a bottle of water.
“G'abbey...” the Governor says again. I’m just on the verge of screaming who the hell is
Gabby and what the fuck is going on here when I hear Toby say,
“He's saying, "Get Abbey."
Shit! I look around for an intern. “Get Abbey!” I see Donna sprinting down to us.
The Governor pitches sideways toward Sam, who catches him, and Toby and I step forward
to help steady him.
“Whoa...” I say as Sam and Toby hold the Governor up. A security agent rushes over to help.
Secret service comes forward to help the Governor off the stage. I pull out my cell phone.
Where
Is
Leo?
Leo answers on the third or fourth ring in his hotel room. “Yeah!” he greets loudly. Why is he
yelling?
“Leo, the Governor’s sick.” I greet back.
“Okay!” he calls and I can hear the buzzer of his hotel room. What’s he still doing in his room?
“He collapsed. You’ve got to get down here.” I insist. No answer from him. “Leo!” I yell
desperately into the phone.
“Okay!” he calls again. I disconnect the phone. Something’s very wrong with the Governor,
and something’s not right with Leo. It’s almost as if he was...but that’s impossible.
TBC