Title: A Whole New Ballgame
Author: Cathy Miller
Timeline: Begins during “Tomorrow”
Rating: Adult for language and some sexual content
Disclaimer: I’m not making a dime off of the brilliant characters of Aaron Sorkin, but if
anyone knows a way that I could (legally) I’d be happy to hear it.
Chapter 1
It was just a few minutes after 6 when Donna felt Josh stir beside her. He’d been restless
all night long, but she doubted she’d be able to ‘distract’ him again now as she had
earlier. She pulled on his shoulder until he’d completely turned over and was lying on his
side facing her.
“What are you thinking?” she asked.
“That I was deluded when I agreed to be Chief of Staff.” Josh admitted.
“What a bunch of bullshit. You were born to do this job. Your entire political career has
been leading you to this moment. You are going to be an amazing Chief of Staff.”
“I don’t know…”
“I do. I’ve watched you for years.”
“You’ve watched me as Deputy Chief of Staff. This is a whole new ballgame.”
“It is not.”
“Yes, it is.” Josh insisted.
“How is it a whole new ballgame?” Donna asked.
“It’s Leo’s office for one. You’re not going to be there for another.” Josh ticked off the
points on his fingers as she snuggled closer to him.
“I’m going to be there.” Donna protested.
“Not outside my door. You’ve moved to the other side….the dark side.”
“The other side of the White House, Joshua, not the other side of the aisle.”
“Still…”
“Are you saying I should go back to running your office?” Donna asked with a tone that
Josh had already learned to recognize as trouble.
“No, of course not.” Josh hedged. “Unless you wanted to…?”
Donna smacked him on the shoulder and sat up. “Joshua Lyman. I should give up a
chance to serve as the Chief of Staff to the First Lady of the United States to answer
your phones?”
“NO!”
“You don’t think I can do this job?” Donna nearly shrieked.
“Donna, I never said that!”
“You were thinking it, though.”
“I was thinking…” Josh took her arms in his hands and drew her back down to lay next to
him again. “that I am going to miss you like crazy. I was thinking…that I’ve never worked
in the White House without you by my side. I was thinking… that these new roles that we’
ve both taken on, might set us at odds with each other and I’m not looking forward to
that.”
“Why would we be at odds with each other? I’ve already spoken to Helen about treading
carefully and working in conjunction with the West Wing and she’s totally on board with
that.” Donna pointed out.
“Not Helen, I’m sure with you leading the way, she’s going to be fine.”
“Then what?”
“Our relationship is out in the open now. Everyone knows we’re together.”
“And?” Donna waited for the ever elusive point.
“There are plenty of people in this town that will try to use that information to their
advantage; use you to get to me and use me to get to you. I just don’t want that kind of
crap coming between us.”
“I get that, but I think there’s a very simple solution. We need to keep open and honest
communication.”
“Uh-huh.” Josh drawled.
“What does that mean?”
“It means that after 9 years of obfuscating and misdirection I’m sure open and honest
communication is right up our alley.” Josh explained.
“That was about us, not about work. Work is completely different.” Donna reasoned.
“Uh-huh.” Josh repeated.
“Stop that!” Donna insisted.
“All I’m saying, is that after waiting 9 years to get here, and I don’t mean ‘here at the
White House as Chief of Staff’ I mean ‘here, in bed with the woman I’ve been in love with
for years’, I don’t want to blow it. And if I had to give up one or the other, it would be my
job as COS in a heartbeat.” Josh said sincerely.
Donna’s eyes grew moist. “That is so sweeeeet.”
“And there will be none of that in the White House either.” Josh laid down the law.
“Got it. In the White House you are nothing but a mega maniacal son of a bitch.” Donna
agreed.
“Good; as long as we have that straight.” Josh nodded and then noticed that one of the
thin strap of her nightgown had slid down off her shoulder. He really should replace that,
right after he kissed the exposed skin there. Once he’d started kissing her skin, though,
it was really hard to remember what he’d been planning to do before the kissing started.
“I thought you were anxious to get to Blair House.” Donna sighed.
“Blair House? I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about. We can just stay here all
day.” Josh reasoned.
“I’m sure the President and First Lady elect, as well as President and Dr. Bartlet won’t
mind us missing the inauguration.”
Josh’s head shot up. “Oh, right.” He quickly jumped out of bed and started the shower.
“So….we’re done here, huh?” Donna called out to him.
“Hell, no!” He re-appeared as suddenly as he’d disappeared and grabbed her hands in
his. “But we will need to move this adventure into the shower.”
Donna laughed but it didn’t stop her from joining him there.
***************************************************
“You will NOT believe this office.” Donna told Josh through her office phone.
“Does it have four walls and a door?” Josh drawled.
“Yes, and a couple windows too.” Donna reported.
“Windows! Well, then. You’ve hit the big time.” Josh teased.
“I’m serious. This is amazing. You have to come see it.”
“I’m a little busy helping the new President settle in to HIS new office.” Josh explained.
“Yes, but his DOES NOT have four walls and mine does.”
Josh laughed just as she’d intended. “Besides, you’re just hanging around the Oval
reliving every moment of the inaugural address and wasting time until the balls tonight.”
“We are not- How could you possibly-“
“We’ve already established Operation Sisterhood in the Santos adminstration, Joshua.”
“CAROL!” Josh bellowed for his new administrative assistant.
“Carol isn’t the only one who has an all access pass in the West Wing Josh.” Donna
dropped that hint.
“Ronna?” Josh asked. “I’m completely surrounded here, aren’t I?”
“Completely.” Donna agreed. “So take 10 minutes and come see my office.”
“Fine. I’ll be over there in a few minutes.” Josh agreed.
“Perfect.” Donna hung up with an internal bet that it wouldn’t be 5 minutes before the
new Chief of Staff showed up in her office.
****************************************
“Holy shit!” Josh exclaimed when he walked in. “Are you sure YOU’RE not the First
Lady?”
“I know. Isn’t it great?”
“Well, if by great you mean large, finely furnished, and…really, really, big; then yeah, it’s
great.” Josh admitted. “However I’ll remind you what they always say in real estate:
location, location, location.”
“Right.” Donna smirked. “Keep telling yourself that while you and your staff are standing
elbow to elbow trying to squeeze into your office.”
“I think you’ve got to be careful here, Donna, that you don’t equate size with importance.”
“I hate to break it to you Lyman, but every woman does. Not that YOU’D come up at a
disadvantage in any such equation.” Donna turned away from him to continue
unpacking her boxes. “Isn’t that precisely what we learned from the Cartographers for
Social Equality?”
“You. Are such. A geek.” Josh pointed out and got a death glare from Donna.
“You’d better be careful, Joshua. I’ve got President Bartlet’s private numbers with
instructions to use them at any time. I don’t think you want to antagonize me.”
“Right.” Josh nodded his agreement and came up behind her and took the books she
was unpacking from her hands. He briefly looked at the titles before he lifted them to join
the others on the shelf. “Brushing up on your First Lady history, Donnatella?”
“I want to do a good job for Mrs. Santos. That means studying how things have been
done before and figuring out how to make it work for us now.”
“While I applaud your efforts and your careful study of history; you don’t need either.
You’re going to be a fabulous Chief of Staff because of your knowledge about how
things work in this town and your personal instincts which have never steered me or
President Bartlet wrong.”
“Stop it, my heads going to swell.” Donna teased.
“There’s not enough room for two swelled heads…well, maybe in here there is but it’s
going to be problematic in my apartment.” Josh leaned closer to kiss her.
“About that…”
“About what?” Josh continued the kissing after checking to be sure he’d completely shut
her office door.
“Your apartment.”
“What about my apartment?”
“Well…it’s yours.”
Josh laughed. “Quite obviously. What are you trying to say Donna?”
“Things have been so crazy with the election and then transition…” Donna neatly
glossed over Leo’s death, there was no reason to bring that sad occasion into this
conversation on this very important day. “We were a little too busy with other things on
our vacation, but we’ve never discussed…look, I’ve been spending most of my time at
your place, which is fine, but I don’t know if that’s just-“
“Are you asking to move in with me, Donnatella?” The smirk on Josh’s face set Donna’s
anger on simmer. It had been hard enough bringing the subject up without being
mocked for it.
“Certainly. Not.” Donna refuted. “I was just thinking I should let you know I’d be spending
this evening at my place.” That wiped the smirk right off his face.
“What are you talking about?”
“Tomorrow is my first full day and I want to be well rested and ready for it.”
“You can’t be well rested at my place?” His voice got high and squeaky at the end.
“I’d have to go back to my place first to get my things for tomorrow-“
“You’ve got stuff all over my apartment.” He protested.
“.. then drive over to your place...“
“Yeah that 10 minute drive is a killer.” Josh rolled his eyes.
“Then there’s the mind-blowing sex. That always takes a great deal of time and
energy…well at least it usually takes a lot of time and energy.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Josh demanded as Donna’s intercom
sounded.
“Donna? Carol just called from the Chief of Staff’s office to remind Josh he’s due in the
Oval in 10 minutes.” Donna’s assistant Deb announced.
“Thanks, Deb.” Donna smiled. “Guess you need to get moving.”
“We haven’t finished our discussion yet.”
“Yes, we have. I just needed to let you know where I’d be staying tonight.”
“You’re just ‘letting me know’? I don’t have a say in this?”
Donna laughed. “In where I sleep? No, not so much.”
“Donna!”
“I mean you could ask, but it’s ultimately my decision.”
Josh mulled this over for a minute. “I’d really like it if you stayed at my place tonight,
Donna.”
“Really?” Donna confirmed.
“Really. I’ve kind of gotten used to having you next to me every night. I like it.”
“I do too, Josh, but the reality is that it’s hard to be forever moving my things back and
forth and this job is going to be demanding enough without having to figure out which
apartment my clothes are in.”
“Then bring them all over to my place.” Josh concluded.
“Just move all my stuff in your apartment? Move in with you?” Donna questioned.
“Yeah, why not? That seems to be the simplest solution. Bring what you need for the
rest of the week today and then we’ll look at moving the rest of it over the weekend.”
Josh consulted his watch. “I’ve got to get to the Oval. We’re good here?”
“We’re good here.” Donna agreed and gave him a final kiss before he left to serve the
President of the United States. Josh was nearly at the Oval office before he realized he’d
just asked Donna to move in with him and she’d agreed. The fact that she’d accepted
had him grinning the rest of the day; it had Donna grinning the rest of the day too. Her
man was so predictable!
********************************************
“Donna, for God’s sake, we’re going to be late and we CAN’T be late. Presidential
motorcade, remember?” Josh called from his spot in front of the living room mirror where
he was adjusting his tie. He’d been relegated to the living room for the last hour while
Donna got dressed in the bedroom. She’d agreed to move in with him just a few hours
ago, and already he’d been kicked out of his bedroom. What a crock this whole living
together thing was….
He turned from the mirror about to shout for her again when she appeared in front of
him.
“Keep your pants on Joshua. It may take us women a little longer to get ready, but it’s
usually worth the wait.” Donna advised him.
“I’ll say…” Josh’s voice drifted off as he became entranced by the vision before him. This
was hardly the first time he’d seen Donna dressed to the nine’s for a Presidential
inauguration ball, but still, he’d never seen her more beautiful and this was the first
Presidential inauguration ball they were attending as a couple.
“You think?” Donna did a slow twirl and let him see the silky blue material drape and
shape her body while his tongue lolled out of his mouth. It brought out the blue in her
eyes and set Josh’s heart rhythm speeding up. He made to reach for her but she
stepped back.
“I have spent a long time fixing my hair and makeup. You are NOT ruining it before we
get to the first ball.” Donna proclaimed. “We’d better be on our way.”
“Uh-huh…” Josh reluctantly agreed. “Donna?...You are a stunning vision, and if you
move more than 5 steps away from me in any direction, I will not be responsible for my
actions.” He held the door open for her and offered her his arm.
“Now that would be worth the price of admission.” Donna noted.
*****************************************************
“We can get it done, but it will have to be the first thing out of the gate.” Senator Riker
stated.
“There’s nothing ahead of education reform on the President’s agenda, Senator.” Josh
assured him.
“Benton says he’s going to push for the highways bill.” Riker noted.
“He can push all he likes, education reform comes first.” Josh repeated.
“I’m just saying that if you’re considering other bills out of the Senate, I can’t wrangle the
votes you’re going to need out of my committee. I have your word on that Josh?” Riker
pushed.
“You do, sir.” Josh assured him.
“Ah, the lovely and talented Donna Moss.” Senator Riker beamed as Donna joined them
and had Josh’s eyes narrowing. “We’ve had a running bet on how long it would take you
to break free of this one’s professional influence, you know.”
Donna kept her professional smile in place, not sure if the Senator’s comment had an
undertone to it. “Then you must have lost a lot of money over the years, Senator. Nine
years is a long time to wait, don’t you think?”
“Some things, my dear, are worth the wait.” Senator Riker picked up Donna’s hand and
kissed it in a practiced but sincere move. “Enjoy your evening, both of you. Lord knows
you’ve earned it.”
Donna gave him her full smile now, realizing he’d meant just what he’d said and no
more. “You too, Senator.” Then she handed Josh the glass of champagne she’d been
sipping from and watched him take a small drink. “What was all that about?”
“Agenda setting; everyone is determined to be the top priority, you know?”
“I know I intend to be the top priority.” Donna smirked and moved in a little closer than
was socially acceptable. Josh smiled.
“How many of these have you had?” He asked, holding the champagne glass aloft.
“It’s really hard to say. A sip here, a sip there…We don’t stay long enough at any of
these things to finish an entire glass.” She took another step closer and turned sideways
so that her mouth was right next to his ear. “And we only have 2 more before we can go
home; to OUR home and make love the rest of the night.”
Josh sputtered on the drink he was swallowing and felt her words work through his entire
body. “Okay, you seriously can’t do that here. I can’t…you just can’t do that here.” He
set the glass down and took her by the arm to the dance floor where there swaying
together helped hide the sudden uncomfortable position he was in.
“But I’ve waited forever to do this here; at a huge event where everyone can see us and
everyone knows we’re together.” Donna complained but moved in lock step with him
across the dance floor. “Nobody’s saying, ‘poor Donna, still pining for her boss’ tonight.”
Josh chuckled. “They’re not asking how long I pretend not to have feeling for my
assistant either.”
“See? It’s perfect!” Donna tilted her head so she could kiss him senseless.
“I can hardly argue with that.” Josh muttered when they came up for air.
“Let’s skip the last two balls…” Donna suggested.
“I don’t think either of our bosses would appreciate that. In fact, I think they’re waiting for
us to head to the next ball now.” Josh nodded his head to where the First couple was
holding court. The President’s eyes kept shifting over to Josh.
“Fine.” Donna huffed and began walking with Josh toward the First couple. “But we’re
picking up the pace at the next two stops. I’m tired of all the policy talk. This is supposed
to be a party.”
“A political party.” Josh reminded her. “How is Mrs. Santos holding up?”
“She’s getting bombarded by everyone who wants a piece of her and her influence. I
know just how she feels.”
“You’d better get used to it. There are going to be a lot of people currying favor with you
to get to the First Lady.”
“No doubt, but I meant you.” Donna corrected him.
Josh stopped in his tracks and pulled Donna back beside him. “What do you mean, me?”
“If I had a dime for every time tonight that one of these blowhards mentioned that I could
persuade you to do this or that…It’s no big deal, Josh, I know how to blow them off
without offending anyone. It’s really no different than when you were Deputy Chief of
Staff.”
“Who? Give me the names.” Josh demanded.
“Josh? It’s not a big deal, I swear.”
“It’s a big deal to me.” Josh countered. “Anyone using you to try to get to me needs to
know from the get go that they’re going to deeply regret any such attempt.”
Donna blinked at the anger in his tone, his eyes; his entire body. “I’m not giving you
names, but I promise that if any of them ignore my refusals I’ll tell you then. Deal?”
Josh looked at her closely. “Promise?”
“Absolutely. I promise.” Donna repeated. Josh nodded his head in acceptance of her
counteroffer and took her by the hand as they met up with the First couple. “Mr.
President, Mrs. Santos, it’s time for us to move on.” Josh gave them the pass phrase
they’d agreed on when the First couple needed to be extracted from one ball and head
to the next.
“Josh, is our official timekeeper tonight, so when he says it’s time to go; that’s what we
do. He’s promised me that I get to start calling the shot tomorrow though.” President
Santos joked and left the group he’d been talking to laughing. Once they were out of
earshot, he turned to his Chief of Staff in a lower tone of voice. “Just for the record? I’d
been waiting several minutes for you to catch my secret signal over there.”
“I’m sorry, sir, I was-“
“I know what you were distracted by.” President Santos smiled. “And I’m happy about
you and Donna, I really am. But if it’s a choice between your love life and my sanity, you
know what I’ll choose, right?”
“Yes, sir.” Josh smiled back. They turned in a synchronous move to see that ‘their
women’ were close behind. “They really are something; aren’t they sir?”
“They truly are.” The President agreed.
*********************************
Josh had been waiting for the opportunity to leave with Donna for hours but now that he
had the chance, he found he was loath to go. The President and Mrs. Santos had left a
few minutes ago and had even offered them a ride home in their limo, but Josh had
instead chosen to return to the dance floor with the woman he loved.
They moved together smoothly across the dance floor, they’d been doing it for years,
but now they didn’t have to be careful where their hands were or how close their bodies
were. Now they could openly show their affection for one another without having to worry
about how their relationship might cause trouble for their ultimate boss; the President. It
was a new and giddy feeling and as much as he wanted to take Donna home, to THEIR
home as she had pointed out earlier, and peel her out of that incredible dress, he just
didn’t want to let this moment go. Judging by how Donna had wrapped herself around
him, she wasn’t any more eager to go than he was.
Finally, by mutual albeit silent decision, they walked off the dance floor and right into the
viper pit. Donna thought that if they hadn’t been so tired, and self-absorbed, it would
never have happened. But they had been exhausted and self-absorbed so there they
were, and there she was; Amy Gardner.
“Well don’t you two make a picture.” She muttered and Josh, more in tuned with Amy
than he cared to admit, noted she’d imbibed a little too much.
“Amy.” Josh nodded and would have walked right by her if she hadn’t grabbed his arm.
They’d had a ‘discussion’ when Josh and Donna had returned which led Josh to two
conclusions; 1) Amy and the wood sculptor weren’t quite as happily together as she had
earlier implied and 2) Having Amy as the Legislative Director to President Santos was
going to bring him nothing but headaches.
“What, I don’t even get one dance on inauguration night?” She rebuked him.
“I’m done dancing for the night, Amy. We’re going home.” Josh lifted the hand that was
still holding Donna’s.
“WE’RE going home?” Amy repeated. “How cozy.” She turned to face Donna. “You sure
do work fast, don’t you? Well, I guess that depends on your perspective…it did take you
nine years to lure him to your bed.”
Donna opened her mouth to speak, but Josh stepped in front of her. “Go home and
sober up, Amy. We have a full day tomorrow.”
Josh left with Donna in tow but without another word or glance directed to Amy or the
group around her.
He waited until they were ensconced in the back of his town car before he said a word
about the encounter.
“She was drunk, Donna.”
“It’s interesting that you could tell. She didn’t seem to be drunk to me.” Donna replied.
“Donna…you know I have a history with her.” Josh pointed out.
“And apparently a future too, if she has anything to say about it.”
“She doesn’t.” Josh assured her. “You know I have to work with her. You will too, I
imagine. Let’s not let her take us down this path.”
Donna nodded but the mood between them was lost and Josh wasn’t sure how to get it
back. They also had this new intrusion in their space with the Secret Service detail that
had begun today at noon and Josh realized she might not feel comfortable having this
discussion with an agent in the car, so he let it go…
By the time they got back to ‘their’ place things had returned to normal and they were
able to celebrate the inauguration in private.
***************************************
“I need the blue file back, Donna.” Annabeth announced. “They gave it to you by
mistake.”
Donna scanned her desk and saw the blue file in her inbox. She picked it up and
opened it. “Why? What’s the blue file?”
“Just press clippings. They’re supposed to come to my desk but ended up on yours.”
Annabeth explained.
“And I’m not getting these because…”
“Because you have much bigger fish to fry. These are the purview of the Press
Secretary.” Annabeth held out her hand for the file but Donna was now busy reading.
“Why are there stories about me in here?” Donna asked.
“Hmmmm…the press office clips anything with a reference to the First Lady and since
you’re the First Lady’s Chief of Staff…”
“Sure…I guess I just didn’t realize…” Donna trailed off as she read further into an article.
“This one calls us the joint Chiefs; very clever. Why is there so much speculation about
my relationship with Josh in this thing?”
Annabeth physically took the file from Donna’s hand. “It’s intriguing, I guess. There’s a
new couple in power in Washington and their respective Chiefs of Staff are also a
couple. It’s interesting.”
“It’s really not.” Donna countered. “My relationship with Josh wasn’t what put me in this
office.”
“Of course it wasn’t.” Annabeth agreed. “And I don’t think that’s what the article was
saying. This is the reason this stuff comes to my office instead of yours. You don’t need
to be distracted with this ‘knucklehead stuff’ as Leo used to say. You have more
important work to do.”
Annabeth left Donna’s office just as Deb came in. “Betsy Taylor will be here in 10
minutes to meet with you about the luncheon the First Lady is speaking at on Friday for
the Red Cross. This is the information she sent over for you earlier.” Deb handed her a
thin file of material. “Anything else you need?”
“What?...No, I’m good, thanks Deb. Let me know when Ms. Taylor arrives.” Donna waited
until Deb left the office and closed the door before she picked up the phone to call the
press office.
“Hello, this is Donna Moss…yes, you can help me. I’d like to be copied on anything that
you’re sending to Annabeth Schott…I understand that she said to run it through her. I’d
just like to keep my own copies for my files….thanks, that would be great.” Donna hung
up the phone convinced she’d done the right thing. How could she keep her finger on
the pulse of the First Lady’s press without seeing the clipping herself?
When the clipping arrived at her office later that day, she had cause to regret her
request. For the most part, the articles about her were neutral enough; her work at the
White House under then Deputy Chief of staff Josh Lyman, her work on the Russell
campaign, followed by her work on the Santos campaign. It had been a meteoric rise,
quoted one paper, for a woman who had never even completed college. There was
quite a bit of speculation about her relationship with Josh too. The more responsible
papers merely alluded to the unusually close relationship between Josh Lyman and his
senior assistant in Operations. The less responsible wondered outright if they had been
having a romantic relationship all along and only felt they could be open about it now
since Moss didn’t work directly for Lyman anymore.
But the most hurtful stories were the ones that speculated on how she’d become Chief
of Staff to the First Lady. Some guessed that Lyman arranged it for her so that he could
keep her close without sacrificing a relationship with her in the new administration. Some
thought it was a position Lyman procured for her as a ‘reward’ for her “dedication to
him”. The innuendo was all ugly and it threw her for a bit of a loop.
When she’d gone through every last clipping, she came to a conclusion. It didn’t matter
how people thought she might have lucked into this job. Once she’d proven her abilities,
they’d forget all the rest of that nonsense and recognize that she had the experience
and the skills to be a great Chief of Staff to the First Lady. She would start working on
that today. It wouldn’t simply be luncheons and research hospital dedications for Mrs.
Santos. Donna would make sure that the First Lady tackled important issues and made
a substantive contribution to the Santos Administration.
Donna knew that the highest priority right now in the West Wing was to get an Education
Reform bill passed. If she could find something related to that issue for Mrs. Santos to
take on, they could actually boost one another’s cause and increase the likelihood of
getting the bill passed. She could prove her mettle while helping the President achieve
his goal; win/win.
Author: Cathy Miller
Timeline: Begins during “Tomorrow”
Rating: Adult for language and some sexual content
Disclaimer: I’m not making a dime off of the brilliant characters of Aaron Sorkin, but if
anyone knows a way that I could (legally) I’d be happy to hear it.
Chapter 1
It was just a few minutes after 6 when Donna felt Josh stir beside her. He’d been restless
all night long, but she doubted she’d be able to ‘distract’ him again now as she had
earlier. She pulled on his shoulder until he’d completely turned over and was lying on his
side facing her.
“What are you thinking?” she asked.
“That I was deluded when I agreed to be Chief of Staff.” Josh admitted.
“What a bunch of bullshit. You were born to do this job. Your entire political career has
been leading you to this moment. You are going to be an amazing Chief of Staff.”
“I don’t know…”
“I do. I’ve watched you for years.”
“You’ve watched me as Deputy Chief of Staff. This is a whole new ballgame.”
“It is not.”
“Yes, it is.” Josh insisted.
“How is it a whole new ballgame?” Donna asked.
“It’s Leo’s office for one. You’re not going to be there for another.” Josh ticked off the
points on his fingers as she snuggled closer to him.
“I’m going to be there.” Donna protested.
“Not outside my door. You’ve moved to the other side….the dark side.”
“The other side of the White House, Joshua, not the other side of the aisle.”
“Still…”
“Are you saying I should go back to running your office?” Donna asked with a tone that
Josh had already learned to recognize as trouble.
“No, of course not.” Josh hedged. “Unless you wanted to…?”
Donna smacked him on the shoulder and sat up. “Joshua Lyman. I should give up a
chance to serve as the Chief of Staff to the First Lady of the United States to answer
your phones?”
“NO!”
“You don’t think I can do this job?” Donna nearly shrieked.
“Donna, I never said that!”
“You were thinking it, though.”
“I was thinking…” Josh took her arms in his hands and drew her back down to lay next to
him again. “that I am going to miss you like crazy. I was thinking…that I’ve never worked
in the White House without you by my side. I was thinking… that these new roles that we’
ve both taken on, might set us at odds with each other and I’m not looking forward to
that.”
“Why would we be at odds with each other? I’ve already spoken to Helen about treading
carefully and working in conjunction with the West Wing and she’s totally on board with
that.” Donna pointed out.
“Not Helen, I’m sure with you leading the way, she’s going to be fine.”
“Then what?”
“Our relationship is out in the open now. Everyone knows we’re together.”
“And?” Donna waited for the ever elusive point.
“There are plenty of people in this town that will try to use that information to their
advantage; use you to get to me and use me to get to you. I just don’t want that kind of
crap coming between us.”
“I get that, but I think there’s a very simple solution. We need to keep open and honest
communication.”
“Uh-huh.” Josh drawled.
“What does that mean?”
“It means that after 9 years of obfuscating and misdirection I’m sure open and honest
communication is right up our alley.” Josh explained.
“That was about us, not about work. Work is completely different.” Donna reasoned.
“Uh-huh.” Josh repeated.
“Stop that!” Donna insisted.
“All I’m saying, is that after waiting 9 years to get here, and I don’t mean ‘here at the
White House as Chief of Staff’ I mean ‘here, in bed with the woman I’ve been in love with
for years’, I don’t want to blow it. And if I had to give up one or the other, it would be my
job as COS in a heartbeat.” Josh said sincerely.
Donna’s eyes grew moist. “That is so sweeeeet.”
“And there will be none of that in the White House either.” Josh laid down the law.
“Got it. In the White House you are nothing but a mega maniacal son of a bitch.” Donna
agreed.
“Good; as long as we have that straight.” Josh nodded and then noticed that one of the
thin strap of her nightgown had slid down off her shoulder. He really should replace that,
right after he kissed the exposed skin there. Once he’d started kissing her skin, though,
it was really hard to remember what he’d been planning to do before the kissing started.
“I thought you were anxious to get to Blair House.” Donna sighed.
“Blair House? I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about. We can just stay here all
day.” Josh reasoned.
“I’m sure the President and First Lady elect, as well as President and Dr. Bartlet won’t
mind us missing the inauguration.”
Josh’s head shot up. “Oh, right.” He quickly jumped out of bed and started the shower.
“So….we’re done here, huh?” Donna called out to him.
“Hell, no!” He re-appeared as suddenly as he’d disappeared and grabbed her hands in
his. “But we will need to move this adventure into the shower.”
Donna laughed but it didn’t stop her from joining him there.
***************************************************
“You will NOT believe this office.” Donna told Josh through her office phone.
“Does it have four walls and a door?” Josh drawled.
“Yes, and a couple windows too.” Donna reported.
“Windows! Well, then. You’ve hit the big time.” Josh teased.
“I’m serious. This is amazing. You have to come see it.”
“I’m a little busy helping the new President settle in to HIS new office.” Josh explained.
“Yes, but his DOES NOT have four walls and mine does.”
Josh laughed just as she’d intended. “Besides, you’re just hanging around the Oval
reliving every moment of the inaugural address and wasting time until the balls tonight.”
“We are not- How could you possibly-“
“We’ve already established Operation Sisterhood in the Santos adminstration, Joshua.”
“CAROL!” Josh bellowed for his new administrative assistant.
“Carol isn’t the only one who has an all access pass in the West Wing Josh.” Donna
dropped that hint.
“Ronna?” Josh asked. “I’m completely surrounded here, aren’t I?”
“Completely.” Donna agreed. “So take 10 minutes and come see my office.”
“Fine. I’ll be over there in a few minutes.” Josh agreed.
“Perfect.” Donna hung up with an internal bet that it wouldn’t be 5 minutes before the
new Chief of Staff showed up in her office.
****************************************
“Holy shit!” Josh exclaimed when he walked in. “Are you sure YOU’RE not the First
Lady?”
“I know. Isn’t it great?”
“Well, if by great you mean large, finely furnished, and…really, really, big; then yeah, it’s
great.” Josh admitted. “However I’ll remind you what they always say in real estate:
location, location, location.”
“Right.” Donna smirked. “Keep telling yourself that while you and your staff are standing
elbow to elbow trying to squeeze into your office.”
“I think you’ve got to be careful here, Donna, that you don’t equate size with importance.”
“I hate to break it to you Lyman, but every woman does. Not that YOU’D come up at a
disadvantage in any such equation.” Donna turned away from him to continue
unpacking her boxes. “Isn’t that precisely what we learned from the Cartographers for
Social Equality?”
“You. Are such. A geek.” Josh pointed out and got a death glare from Donna.
“You’d better be careful, Joshua. I’ve got President Bartlet’s private numbers with
instructions to use them at any time. I don’t think you want to antagonize me.”
“Right.” Josh nodded his agreement and came up behind her and took the books she
was unpacking from her hands. He briefly looked at the titles before he lifted them to join
the others on the shelf. “Brushing up on your First Lady history, Donnatella?”
“I want to do a good job for Mrs. Santos. That means studying how things have been
done before and figuring out how to make it work for us now.”
“While I applaud your efforts and your careful study of history; you don’t need either.
You’re going to be a fabulous Chief of Staff because of your knowledge about how
things work in this town and your personal instincts which have never steered me or
President Bartlet wrong.”
“Stop it, my heads going to swell.” Donna teased.
“There’s not enough room for two swelled heads…well, maybe in here there is but it’s
going to be problematic in my apartment.” Josh leaned closer to kiss her.
“About that…”
“About what?” Josh continued the kissing after checking to be sure he’d completely shut
her office door.
“Your apartment.”
“What about my apartment?”
“Well…it’s yours.”
Josh laughed. “Quite obviously. What are you trying to say Donna?”
“Things have been so crazy with the election and then transition…” Donna neatly
glossed over Leo’s death, there was no reason to bring that sad occasion into this
conversation on this very important day. “We were a little too busy with other things on
our vacation, but we’ve never discussed…look, I’ve been spending most of my time at
your place, which is fine, but I don’t know if that’s just-“
“Are you asking to move in with me, Donnatella?” The smirk on Josh’s face set Donna’s
anger on simmer. It had been hard enough bringing the subject up without being
mocked for it.
“Certainly. Not.” Donna refuted. “I was just thinking I should let you know I’d be spending
this evening at my place.” That wiped the smirk right off his face.
“What are you talking about?”
“Tomorrow is my first full day and I want to be well rested and ready for it.”
“You can’t be well rested at my place?” His voice got high and squeaky at the end.
“I’d have to go back to my place first to get my things for tomorrow-“
“You’ve got stuff all over my apartment.” He protested.
“.. then drive over to your place...“
“Yeah that 10 minute drive is a killer.” Josh rolled his eyes.
“Then there’s the mind-blowing sex. That always takes a great deal of time and
energy…well at least it usually takes a lot of time and energy.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Josh demanded as Donna’s intercom
sounded.
“Donna? Carol just called from the Chief of Staff’s office to remind Josh he’s due in the
Oval in 10 minutes.” Donna’s assistant Deb announced.
“Thanks, Deb.” Donna smiled. “Guess you need to get moving.”
“We haven’t finished our discussion yet.”
“Yes, we have. I just needed to let you know where I’d be staying tonight.”
“You’re just ‘letting me know’? I don’t have a say in this?”
Donna laughed. “In where I sleep? No, not so much.”
“Donna!”
“I mean you could ask, but it’s ultimately my decision.”
Josh mulled this over for a minute. “I’d really like it if you stayed at my place tonight,
Donna.”
“Really?” Donna confirmed.
“Really. I’ve kind of gotten used to having you next to me every night. I like it.”
“I do too, Josh, but the reality is that it’s hard to be forever moving my things back and
forth and this job is going to be demanding enough without having to figure out which
apartment my clothes are in.”
“Then bring them all over to my place.” Josh concluded.
“Just move all my stuff in your apartment? Move in with you?” Donna questioned.
“Yeah, why not? That seems to be the simplest solution. Bring what you need for the
rest of the week today and then we’ll look at moving the rest of it over the weekend.”
Josh consulted his watch. “I’ve got to get to the Oval. We’re good here?”
“We’re good here.” Donna agreed and gave him a final kiss before he left to serve the
President of the United States. Josh was nearly at the Oval office before he realized he’d
just asked Donna to move in with him and she’d agreed. The fact that she’d accepted
had him grinning the rest of the day; it had Donna grinning the rest of the day too. Her
man was so predictable!
********************************************
“Donna, for God’s sake, we’re going to be late and we CAN’T be late. Presidential
motorcade, remember?” Josh called from his spot in front of the living room mirror where
he was adjusting his tie. He’d been relegated to the living room for the last hour while
Donna got dressed in the bedroom. She’d agreed to move in with him just a few hours
ago, and already he’d been kicked out of his bedroom. What a crock this whole living
together thing was….
He turned from the mirror about to shout for her again when she appeared in front of
him.
“Keep your pants on Joshua. It may take us women a little longer to get ready, but it’s
usually worth the wait.” Donna advised him.
“I’ll say…” Josh’s voice drifted off as he became entranced by the vision before him. This
was hardly the first time he’d seen Donna dressed to the nine’s for a Presidential
inauguration ball, but still, he’d never seen her more beautiful and this was the first
Presidential inauguration ball they were attending as a couple.
“You think?” Donna did a slow twirl and let him see the silky blue material drape and
shape her body while his tongue lolled out of his mouth. It brought out the blue in her
eyes and set Josh’s heart rhythm speeding up. He made to reach for her but she
stepped back.
“I have spent a long time fixing my hair and makeup. You are NOT ruining it before we
get to the first ball.” Donna proclaimed. “We’d better be on our way.”
“Uh-huh…” Josh reluctantly agreed. “Donna?...You are a stunning vision, and if you
move more than 5 steps away from me in any direction, I will not be responsible for my
actions.” He held the door open for her and offered her his arm.
“Now that would be worth the price of admission.” Donna noted.
*****************************************************
“We can get it done, but it will have to be the first thing out of the gate.” Senator Riker
stated.
“There’s nothing ahead of education reform on the President’s agenda, Senator.” Josh
assured him.
“Benton says he’s going to push for the highways bill.” Riker noted.
“He can push all he likes, education reform comes first.” Josh repeated.
“I’m just saying that if you’re considering other bills out of the Senate, I can’t wrangle the
votes you’re going to need out of my committee. I have your word on that Josh?” Riker
pushed.
“You do, sir.” Josh assured him.
“Ah, the lovely and talented Donna Moss.” Senator Riker beamed as Donna joined them
and had Josh’s eyes narrowing. “We’ve had a running bet on how long it would take you
to break free of this one’s professional influence, you know.”
Donna kept her professional smile in place, not sure if the Senator’s comment had an
undertone to it. “Then you must have lost a lot of money over the years, Senator. Nine
years is a long time to wait, don’t you think?”
“Some things, my dear, are worth the wait.” Senator Riker picked up Donna’s hand and
kissed it in a practiced but sincere move. “Enjoy your evening, both of you. Lord knows
you’ve earned it.”
Donna gave him her full smile now, realizing he’d meant just what he’d said and no
more. “You too, Senator.” Then she handed Josh the glass of champagne she’d been
sipping from and watched him take a small drink. “What was all that about?”
“Agenda setting; everyone is determined to be the top priority, you know?”
“I know I intend to be the top priority.” Donna smirked and moved in a little closer than
was socially acceptable. Josh smiled.
“How many of these have you had?” He asked, holding the champagne glass aloft.
“It’s really hard to say. A sip here, a sip there…We don’t stay long enough at any of
these things to finish an entire glass.” She took another step closer and turned sideways
so that her mouth was right next to his ear. “And we only have 2 more before we can go
home; to OUR home and make love the rest of the night.”
Josh sputtered on the drink he was swallowing and felt her words work through his entire
body. “Okay, you seriously can’t do that here. I can’t…you just can’t do that here.” He
set the glass down and took her by the arm to the dance floor where there swaying
together helped hide the sudden uncomfortable position he was in.
“But I’ve waited forever to do this here; at a huge event where everyone can see us and
everyone knows we’re together.” Donna complained but moved in lock step with him
across the dance floor. “Nobody’s saying, ‘poor Donna, still pining for her boss’ tonight.”
Josh chuckled. “They’re not asking how long I pretend not to have feeling for my
assistant either.”
“See? It’s perfect!” Donna tilted her head so she could kiss him senseless.
“I can hardly argue with that.” Josh muttered when they came up for air.
“Let’s skip the last two balls…” Donna suggested.
“I don’t think either of our bosses would appreciate that. In fact, I think they’re waiting for
us to head to the next ball now.” Josh nodded his head to where the First couple was
holding court. The President’s eyes kept shifting over to Josh.
“Fine.” Donna huffed and began walking with Josh toward the First couple. “But we’re
picking up the pace at the next two stops. I’m tired of all the policy talk. This is supposed
to be a party.”
“A political party.” Josh reminded her. “How is Mrs. Santos holding up?”
“She’s getting bombarded by everyone who wants a piece of her and her influence. I
know just how she feels.”
“You’d better get used to it. There are going to be a lot of people currying favor with you
to get to the First Lady.”
“No doubt, but I meant you.” Donna corrected him.
Josh stopped in his tracks and pulled Donna back beside him. “What do you mean, me?”
“If I had a dime for every time tonight that one of these blowhards mentioned that I could
persuade you to do this or that…It’s no big deal, Josh, I know how to blow them off
without offending anyone. It’s really no different than when you were Deputy Chief of
Staff.”
“Who? Give me the names.” Josh demanded.
“Josh? It’s not a big deal, I swear.”
“It’s a big deal to me.” Josh countered. “Anyone using you to try to get to me needs to
know from the get go that they’re going to deeply regret any such attempt.”
Donna blinked at the anger in his tone, his eyes; his entire body. “I’m not giving you
names, but I promise that if any of them ignore my refusals I’ll tell you then. Deal?”
Josh looked at her closely. “Promise?”
“Absolutely. I promise.” Donna repeated. Josh nodded his head in acceptance of her
counteroffer and took her by the hand as they met up with the First couple. “Mr.
President, Mrs. Santos, it’s time for us to move on.” Josh gave them the pass phrase
they’d agreed on when the First couple needed to be extracted from one ball and head
to the next.
“Josh, is our official timekeeper tonight, so when he says it’s time to go; that’s what we
do. He’s promised me that I get to start calling the shot tomorrow though.” President
Santos joked and left the group he’d been talking to laughing. Once they were out of
earshot, he turned to his Chief of Staff in a lower tone of voice. “Just for the record? I’d
been waiting several minutes for you to catch my secret signal over there.”
“I’m sorry, sir, I was-“
“I know what you were distracted by.” President Santos smiled. “And I’m happy about
you and Donna, I really am. But if it’s a choice between your love life and my sanity, you
know what I’ll choose, right?”
“Yes, sir.” Josh smiled back. They turned in a synchronous move to see that ‘their
women’ were close behind. “They really are something; aren’t they sir?”
“They truly are.” The President agreed.
*********************************
Josh had been waiting for the opportunity to leave with Donna for hours but now that he
had the chance, he found he was loath to go. The President and Mrs. Santos had left a
few minutes ago and had even offered them a ride home in their limo, but Josh had
instead chosen to return to the dance floor with the woman he loved.
They moved together smoothly across the dance floor, they’d been doing it for years,
but now they didn’t have to be careful where their hands were or how close their bodies
were. Now they could openly show their affection for one another without having to worry
about how their relationship might cause trouble for their ultimate boss; the President. It
was a new and giddy feeling and as much as he wanted to take Donna home, to THEIR
home as she had pointed out earlier, and peel her out of that incredible dress, he just
didn’t want to let this moment go. Judging by how Donna had wrapped herself around
him, she wasn’t any more eager to go than he was.
Finally, by mutual albeit silent decision, they walked off the dance floor and right into the
viper pit. Donna thought that if they hadn’t been so tired, and self-absorbed, it would
never have happened. But they had been exhausted and self-absorbed so there they
were, and there she was; Amy Gardner.
“Well don’t you two make a picture.” She muttered and Josh, more in tuned with Amy
than he cared to admit, noted she’d imbibed a little too much.
“Amy.” Josh nodded and would have walked right by her if she hadn’t grabbed his arm.
They’d had a ‘discussion’ when Josh and Donna had returned which led Josh to two
conclusions; 1) Amy and the wood sculptor weren’t quite as happily together as she had
earlier implied and 2) Having Amy as the Legislative Director to President Santos was
going to bring him nothing but headaches.
“What, I don’t even get one dance on inauguration night?” She rebuked him.
“I’m done dancing for the night, Amy. We’re going home.” Josh lifted the hand that was
still holding Donna’s.
“WE’RE going home?” Amy repeated. “How cozy.” She turned to face Donna. “You sure
do work fast, don’t you? Well, I guess that depends on your perspective…it did take you
nine years to lure him to your bed.”
Donna opened her mouth to speak, but Josh stepped in front of her. “Go home and
sober up, Amy. We have a full day tomorrow.”
Josh left with Donna in tow but without another word or glance directed to Amy or the
group around her.
He waited until they were ensconced in the back of his town car before he said a word
about the encounter.
“She was drunk, Donna.”
“It’s interesting that you could tell. She didn’t seem to be drunk to me.” Donna replied.
“Donna…you know I have a history with her.” Josh pointed out.
“And apparently a future too, if she has anything to say about it.”
“She doesn’t.” Josh assured her. “You know I have to work with her. You will too, I
imagine. Let’s not let her take us down this path.”
Donna nodded but the mood between them was lost and Josh wasn’t sure how to get it
back. They also had this new intrusion in their space with the Secret Service detail that
had begun today at noon and Josh realized she might not feel comfortable having this
discussion with an agent in the car, so he let it go…
By the time they got back to ‘their’ place things had returned to normal and they were
able to celebrate the inauguration in private.
***************************************
“I need the blue file back, Donna.” Annabeth announced. “They gave it to you by
mistake.”
Donna scanned her desk and saw the blue file in her inbox. She picked it up and
opened it. “Why? What’s the blue file?”
“Just press clippings. They’re supposed to come to my desk but ended up on yours.”
Annabeth explained.
“And I’m not getting these because…”
“Because you have much bigger fish to fry. These are the purview of the Press
Secretary.” Annabeth held out her hand for the file but Donna was now busy reading.
“Why are there stories about me in here?” Donna asked.
“Hmmmm…the press office clips anything with a reference to the First Lady and since
you’re the First Lady’s Chief of Staff…”
“Sure…I guess I just didn’t realize…” Donna trailed off as she read further into an article.
“This one calls us the joint Chiefs; very clever. Why is there so much speculation about
my relationship with Josh in this thing?”
Annabeth physically took the file from Donna’s hand. “It’s intriguing, I guess. There’s a
new couple in power in Washington and their respective Chiefs of Staff are also a
couple. It’s interesting.”
“It’s really not.” Donna countered. “My relationship with Josh wasn’t what put me in this
office.”
“Of course it wasn’t.” Annabeth agreed. “And I don’t think that’s what the article was
saying. This is the reason this stuff comes to my office instead of yours. You don’t need
to be distracted with this ‘knucklehead stuff’ as Leo used to say. You have more
important work to do.”
Annabeth left Donna’s office just as Deb came in. “Betsy Taylor will be here in 10
minutes to meet with you about the luncheon the First Lady is speaking at on Friday for
the Red Cross. This is the information she sent over for you earlier.” Deb handed her a
thin file of material. “Anything else you need?”
“What?...No, I’m good, thanks Deb. Let me know when Ms. Taylor arrives.” Donna waited
until Deb left the office and closed the door before she picked up the phone to call the
press office.
“Hello, this is Donna Moss…yes, you can help me. I’d like to be copied on anything that
you’re sending to Annabeth Schott…I understand that she said to run it through her. I’d
just like to keep my own copies for my files….thanks, that would be great.” Donna hung
up the phone convinced she’d done the right thing. How could she keep her finger on
the pulse of the First Lady’s press without seeing the clipping herself?
When the clipping arrived at her office later that day, she had cause to regret her
request. For the most part, the articles about her were neutral enough; her work at the
White House under then Deputy Chief of staff Josh Lyman, her work on the Russell
campaign, followed by her work on the Santos campaign. It had been a meteoric rise,
quoted one paper, for a woman who had never even completed college. There was
quite a bit of speculation about her relationship with Josh too. The more responsible
papers merely alluded to the unusually close relationship between Josh Lyman and his
senior assistant in Operations. The less responsible wondered outright if they had been
having a romantic relationship all along and only felt they could be open about it now
since Moss didn’t work directly for Lyman anymore.
But the most hurtful stories were the ones that speculated on how she’d become Chief
of Staff to the First Lady. Some guessed that Lyman arranged it for her so that he could
keep her close without sacrificing a relationship with her in the new administration. Some
thought it was a position Lyman procured for her as a ‘reward’ for her “dedication to
him”. The innuendo was all ugly and it threw her for a bit of a loop.
When she’d gone through every last clipping, she came to a conclusion. It didn’t matter
how people thought she might have lucked into this job. Once she’d proven her abilities,
they’d forget all the rest of that nonsense and recognize that she had the experience
and the skills to be a great Chief of Staff to the First Lady. She would start working on
that today. It wouldn’t simply be luncheons and research hospital dedications for Mrs.
Santos. Donna would make sure that the First Lady tackled important issues and made
a substantive contribution to the Santos Administration.
Donna knew that the highest priority right now in the West Wing was to get an Education
Reform bill passed. If she could find something related to that issue for Mrs. Santos to
take on, they could actually boost one another’s cause and increase the likelihood of
getting the bill passed. She could prove her mettle while helping the President achieve
his goal; win/win.
