1998 Election Eve
~MANDY'S POV~
Oh Please! Do they think no one notices this? The flirtiness, the
feather light touches, the looks? Do Josh and Donna really think the
rest of us are that stupid? Seriously, what could he possibly see in
her other than a young, blonde piece of ass?
That's what I thought it was at first. Joshua's easily ensorcelled. I
figured it was just a little infatuation. I mean, she looks at him
like he hung the moon, hangs on his every word, laughs at his jokes.
She showers him with attention; Josh likes to have his ego stroked.
She's obviously stroking something else though, if you catch my
drift.
I give her a little bit of credit though, she's not as dumb as I
originally thought. She's naive and green, but she is a fast learner.
She just doesn't know Josh Lyman if she thinks this is going to last
longer than tomorrow night. Josh is what we grown up women call hit
and run. He's all about the chase. Then, once he realizes the thrill
is gone, he hangs on until he can make the girl break up with him.
But that doesn't seem to be the case here. She's either phenomenal in
bed or he's more than just ensorcelled. How phenomenal in bed could
she be? She graduated high school, what, 15 minutes ago?
Josh has a boyish charm. It's what attracts women to him in the first
place. He can be really sweet when he wants to be. When he's sweet
and turning on the charm, it really makes a girl nostalgic for her
school days when you'd hold hands with your boyfriend and wear his
clothes. I mean, this is the kind of sappy shit Josh does to a woman.
And he's obviously doing it to Donna right now.
Okay. So we know that I'm not some bimbo looking for that. I'm smart,
well educated, cute, and a player in the Democratic Party. I'm none
of the things this little Donnatella is. So what, you might ask, does
a woman like me see in a man like Josh?
He's egotistical, cunning, going places, great in bed... let's stop
there for a minute and focus on the great in bed bit. He is
undeniably the best lover I've ever had, and without making myself
sound like too much of a slut, I've had a few. I'm no novice here. If
he's not going to be remembered as the sweetest, most attentive,
sensitive boyfriend a woman has, it's like his mission in life to be
remembered as the best in bed.
And I'm here to tell you, he is.
Josh appreciates a woman's body. He takes his time. He really makes a
woman feel like she's the most beautiful woman on the planet. I mean,
the things the man can do with his tongue...
So that's one reason I tend to want him back. I wasn't lying to
Donna. It IS a vicious cycle with us.
Though it's possible the cycle has stopped.
Josh is also a woman's ticket in. He's brilliant when it comes to
politics. He's going to go pretty far. And people listen to him. If
you're on his arm, they'll listen to you, too, out of deference to
him. And that's your shot right there. That's your chance to tell
this mens' club that you have well founded opinions and you know what
you're talking about.
On it's face, politics is a man's profession. But backstage, it's all
the women. The women pushing the men on what they want, the women
sleeping around to get their husband better access or more
recognition, the trophy wife or girlfriend sweet talking the
adversary, the women making backdoor offers to other women. It's
ruthless really. But Josh has been around Washington for a while and
people respect his opinion. Republicans want to see him tarred and
feathered, but democrats respect his opinion.
So what could Donna want from him? Where I find his presence
tolerable, she seems to genuinely enjoy it. Like right now, we're all
in the war room, getting marching orders from Leo. The election is
tomorrow, but the commentary is in full swing on CNN. Josh and Donna
have two chairs pulled closely together and they're watching a t.v.
Donna's looking at the screen intently, and Josh is talking to her
and gesturing to the television. He's obviously explaining things to
her. What does he see in someone who he CONSTANTLY has to explain
things to?
She says something to him, and he starts cracking up. I don't
remember him laughing like that when we were together. He looks at
her with the dimples...
Damn, those dimples...
She leans over and whispers something in his ear, then gets up and
leaves the room. He waits a little bit and follows.
Yeah, like THAT was covert.
I follow. Because catching them in the act would be so totally worth
it. I mean, if he doesn't want me back, why should SHE get him? Can
you just imagine what Leo would say about Josh screwing his
assistant? We campaigned on family values! The Governor is incredibly
devoutly Catholic and takes the moral high ground on everything. He
will be displeased to say the least when he finds this out.
Of course, I could just use this information to my advantage, too.
Hold it over him to get what I want, a seat at the table.
I walk out of the war room as casually as I can and look down the
hall. I see what looks like Donna disappear down the stairwell.
Surely, they don't think THAT'S private, right? I discreetly follow.
I open the door quietly and slip into the stairwell. I can hear the
hushed voices of a man and woman below me a flight or so.
I start to tip toe down the flight of stairs when I hear them below.
"Donna, where the hell are we going?" Josh asks. He's always so
impatient.
"You'll see." she smiles. "I have a surprise for you."
"Oh really?" he sounds intrigued. "What is it?"
If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise."
Like he can't figure out what the surprise is? Come on! I'm a flight
and a half up and I can hear it in her voice.
I hear the door open. I look at the sign on the wall. I'm between the
fifteenth and sixteenth floors, so they must be getting off at the
fourteenth floor. Interesting. I was pretty sure we were assigned
floors fifteen and up.
"Harvard and Dairy Queen are out of bounds." I hear a secret service
agent say.
"Dairy Queen!" Donna screeches, and I smirk. See, I'm not the only
one that thinks she's just some young farm girl. "Joshua, you TOLD
them to call me that!"
"I did not!" he squeaks in defense of himself. Whatever. It's so the
juvenile thing he'd do.
"You get Harvard." she says.
"Well...yeah. "
"And I get Dairy Queen." she sounds a little put off by it. I would
be too, quite frankly.
"It appears so." he replies.
"This is my punishment for marrying you?" she replies.
Whoa! Her punishment for MARRYING him! They're engaged?! It's worse
than I thought! He'll never come back to me if he marries that tart!
And I've got stuff I need done. I need to be able to manipulate him,
and quite frankly, I need to be able to do it with sex. I can't do it
if he's married. Well, I can, but HE won't do it. He's too frigging
loyal. I think the person who coined the phrase "loyal to a fault"
was talking about Josh Lyman.
"You should have thought about that stuff before you said I do." he
shoots back and I hear the door close.
I cannot believe it. The word "before" would suggest that they
already ARE married, not that they're engaged. Surely, if that were
meant to be common knowledge, we all would know about it already, but
since no one even knows if they're together, I'm thinking they're
trying to keep it a secret. But the secret service knows about it.
That makes me wonder if Leo does. He can't possibly though. Would he
actually let them continue to work together?
I turn and hurry up the stairs. I have to get back to the war room
before they do. Oh Josh, you never should have picked your little
Dairy Queen over me. So much for that career in the White House.
I'm so happy right now, I could squeal! Finally, I'll get that
little... infiltrator. I know, I know, it was the best I could come
up with at the moment. I make it back up to the fifteenth floor. Just
as I'm putting my hand on the door handle, it bursts open, smacking
me in the forward and causing me to lose my balance. I try to grab
the railing, but it's just out of my reach and I feel myself
plummeting backwards down the stairs.
<><><><><><> <><><><>< ><><><><> <>
JOSH'S POV
"Close your eyes." she orders me as we come upon a hotel room. Well,
I know part of the surprise, she rented us an escape room. I'm
practically foaming at the mouth now as I think of ways I can de-
stress tomorrow.
I do as she orders, even though I feel like an idiot, and I hear her
open the door. She tugs on my hand to lead me into the room, but
instead, my hands find her waist. She giggles a bit as my thumbs
begin to rub back and forth. She stops and turns to me.
"Don't move and keep your eyes shut." she orders again, punctuating
it with a light kiss.
"Um...who's the boss here?" I can't help but be snarky. She's rather
demanding right now.
"That's a good question, Joshua, you should ponder that a moment."
she shoots back. Which, given her tone just then, I obviously have my
answer...it' s her.
What's even more surprising to me is, I'm okay with that. I'm okay
with her mostly being the one in charge. I trust her. And after my
mother, I don't know that there's anyone else, other than Donna, that
I have unconditional trust for. Leo I trust as a political mentor. He
may look out for me more than the others, but this IS still a race
for the White House. And when we win tomorrow, we're talking about
the image of the next President of the United States. That's a little
bit bigger than he or I. Sam I trust a little more than the others,
but he doesn't know Donna and I got married, so there are things I've
kept from him; and CJ and Toby, well, I don't know them THAT well.
They're coworkers, and I like them well enough, but they're my
friends now because we support the same candidate. What happens down
the road when it's time to pick someone new? How good of friends they
are, remains to be seen.
So that leaves me and Donna. And you know what? That's just the way I
like it. It comes down to her and I.
I hear her moving around the room. Given the noises and scents, I can
tell she's lighting candles, and I smile. For a married couple, we
don't get to share a bed often. Evidently, that won't be the case
tonight.
Or after tomorrow. One way or the other, the truth comes out
tomorrow.
I feel her walk by me, and I resist the urge to grab out and pull her
to me. She's not done yet, so I won't do anything until she tells me
to, and don't think that's not a HUGE turn on to me!
She's in front of me again. I feel her right before she kisses me
again. It's long and deep and sensual.
"Open your eyes, Joshua." she whispers when she pulls away. When I
do, I see the room is flooded in candlelight. It's dancing off
everything, including her beautiful face. Wine is chilling in a
bucket in the middle of the room, a dinner table is set off to the
side with covered dishes and there are flower petals everywhere.
She looks shy now, standing in the middle of the room. She's probably
wondering if I think it's too girly. I couldn't possibly after seeing
how much trouble she's gone through to give me a relaxing evening.
"It's almost perfect." I say softly.
She cocks her head slightly to the side. "Almost?"
I move to the clock by the bed and turn on the radio. After fishing
through the stations a bit, I land on Etta James' At Last. I turn to
her and pull her into my arms and we begin to dance.
"Now, it's perfect." I say, kissing her on the forehead.
"Almost." she replies, and it's my turn to frown.
"Almost?"
"I love you, Joshua."
"I love you, too." I smile.
"And now it's perfect." she smiles back and I see the tears in her
eyes.
"And now it's perfect." I agree.
We dance like that for a few songs. Next was Patsy Cline=s Crazy.
This is obviously a mushy station, which I'd never listen to in a car
with her, but it's a perfect find now. I twirl her out and she laughs
as she twirls back in.
"I didn't know you could dance." she smiles, resting her head on my
shoulder.
"This is nothing." I say. "Wait until the Inauguration. "
"You mean you can dance dance?"
"I can dance dance."
"How is that possible? You're a man."
"I'm a man that grew up in Westport, Connecticut stuck going to
debutante parties, country club soirees and way more weddings than
any boy my age should have been subjected to."
"Sometimes I forget how different our backgrounds really are." she
says softly, almost sadly. I shrug a shoulder and she sighs. "Isn't
that the kind of wife you should have?"
What the hell?
"What?"
"A wife that knows that world." she continues. "Someone who knows how
to host Sunday garden parties and belongs there. I'm a 24 year old
college drop out."
"No, Donna. You're much more than that." I say softly. "You're the
wife I want. You're the only woman I've ever loved. And you're the
wife I need. One that loves me, supports me, and will be there for me
when things get really rough." She smiles at me. It's her dreamy face
again. "And they WILL get rough, Donna." I've turned a little more
serious now. "First when everyone finds out about us, but then when
we're in the White House. Donna, there's a lot of people in that town
that don't like me on general principal and the ones that have good
reason. Things aren't always going to be smooth sailing for me. Op-ed
pieces are going to be written about me; rumors are going to
periodically go around about me."
"I'll get you through it." she promises softly.
"Good."
"Starting with tonight." She steps back and takes my hand, dragging
me to the table. "Dinner first."
<><><><><><> <><><><>< ><><><><> <>
~JOSH'S POV~
All eyes turn to the doorway as Sam calls for help. He's leading
Mandy in, who looks almost doubled over and has her hand on her back.
She also seems to be limping. What'd she do? Come across an errant
Republican in the hallway? She looks like someone dropped a house on
her. No, that will never get old.
"What the hell happened?" Leo demands as Sam and Toby help Mandy to a
couch. I cross my arms across my chest and lean up against a table
behind me. Donna takes a few steps towards me and ends up by my side.
She's looking at the scene with raised eyebrows, and if I'm not
mistaken, my delicate, innocent, too compassionate for others for her
own good wife, looks like she's happy to see Mandy in physical pain.
"She fell down the stairs." Sam said.
"What stairs?" the Governor asks.
"The stairs over here." Sam says gesturing to the door. "I found her
right after it happened."
"No. You came barreling through the door and SENT me down the
stairs." Mandy shoots back.
"What were EITHER of you doing in the hallway?" Leo sends him their
death glare. "We've been specifically instructed by the secret
service NOT to use the stairwells and to stick to the elevators. Why
were you two the exception?"
Uh-oh. I think I know where this is going.
"Um...well.. .." Sam begins.
"Mandy, if we were specifically told to stay out of the stairwells,
what were you doing in there?" Leo asks again.
Mandy looks at Leo for a moment and then glances our way. Shit. She's
going to bust us. I should have known this moment would come. I mean,
Leo knows, so Mandy's got it coming right back at her, and that will
be fun to watch, but I was kind of hoping that CJ, Toby, and
especially Sam, would hear this from me and NOT in front of the half
the campaign.
"Well, I was following Josh and Donna." Mandy mumbles. Yup, game on,
sports fans. Leo throws a you're-an-idiot- look in my direction. I
know. We weren't supposed to use the stairs, but Donna said she asked
the secret service first.
"Why?" the Governor asks. This is really going to ruin Mandy's
credibility with the Governor now. If we win tomorrow, and we will,
he's going to think she's not a team player for ratting us out. Of
course, he might also tell Leo to fire me and Donna, too, but I think
Leo will fight for me. He thinks Mandy is more trouble than she's
worth though, so ta ta, my dear!
Mandy looks back at us and then the group at large. She's actually
squirming a bit. I know she wants to bust us, but I guess this isn't
how she wanted to do it. Now, I'm thinking she wanted to try and
bribe me with the information first and see where that got her.
"Josh and Donna have been having a romantic relationship for months.
AND they're married!"
Whoa! How'd she know about the married part? Donna sucks in her
breath next to me. Toby, CJ, Sam and the Governor looked shocked.
Mandy looks smug. Donna turns and tries to run from the room, but I
grab her hand and yank her to my side.
TBC