Chapter 10
After the phone call she’d received, Amy figured she’d better get to Josh to do damage control. She
was more than a little surprised to find him relatively calm.
“You and Sam figure out a strategy?” He asked.
“Not one that doesn’t involve the First Lady returning at first light tomorrow. Any luck with Donna?”
“None.” Josh admitted. “So, you’ll have to go back to the drawing board.”
“When you say ‘none’, does that mean you haven’t spoken to her or…”
“She’s discussed it with the First Lady and they’re unwilling to cancel the rest of their trip.”
“I see.” Amy stated, although she didn’t see anything of the kind. “She’s obviously pursuing her
agenda then, regardless of the consequences to you or the President.” Amy shook her head. Her
conversation with Michael had been brief. Maybe she’d misunderstood what he was saying; or
maybe he’d misunderstood what Donna had been saying. In any case, Josh was still in the dark
about her role in this, so she had no problem with a full court press.
“I’d think you’d be all for that.” Josh smirked. “It’s like she’s taking a page from your book. You know,
cutting off her nose to spite her face.”
“Is that what you think I did?”
“It’s what I watched you do. Hell, you were ready to help Ritchie get elected if it meant you got the
marriage incentives off the table!” Josh recalled.
“The marriage incentives sucked!” Amy countered.
“More than having President Ritchie would!” Josh stood up. “You fight to the end for what you
believe in and I always found that kind of passion admirable, but when I saw that you were willing to
cut down the whole damn tree to get rid of one bad limb…that’s where you lost me.”
“Sometimes, the tree has got to go.” Amy pointed out.
“So you think. But there are a lot of other branches on that tree Amy; important branches with
people holding on to them for dear life and you cut the trunk out from under them all the while calling
out, ‘It’s for your own good’.” Josh practically shouted.
“Who are you yelling at Joshua, me or Donna?” Amy punched him right in the gut, metaphorically
speaking.
“You, at the moment.” Josh continued. “Why is it so hard for you to see the big picture? That there
are disappointments and compromises we all have to make in order to succeed as a team.”
“Maybe I’ve never been big on teams. Women aren’t always included in the sports teams.”
“The Sports teams are only the tip of the iceberg.” Josh told her. “You’re working in the White House;
on the ultimate team for making policies and decisions. Hell, you were before. Why wasn’t that
enough? Why couldn’t you see that just because we didn’t always agree with your priorities, that didn’
t mean they weren’t valued and respected?”
“Because it didn’t feel like they were.” Amy shot back. “Anytime there was a choice between screwing
women or not, the Bartlet administration chose to screw women.”
“That is so patently untrue.” Josh scoffed. “Could we have done better at times? Sure, I’ll cop to that.
But we did our best by ALL our constituents and it was sure a damn sight better than Ritchie would
have done to ANY of our constituents. Why is that not important?”
“Because it wasn’t enough.” Amy said quietly.
Josh’s tone dropped too. “The problem seems to be that it NEVER is enough. As President, you
have to make decisions based on what’s best for the most people; if you still can’t get behind that,
you’re not going to last long here.” Josh sat down again, his energy temporarily spent. “In any case,
it looks like Donna is following in your footsteps, so I’m surprised you’re not dancing in the halls.”
“Well, now it complicates my job when the east wing steals the news cycle.” Amy stated and Josh
laughed humorlessly.
“Yeah…I’m going to catch a nap before I have to go downstairs again.”
“Are things…calming down in there?” she asked tentatively.
“God, I hope so.” Josh sighed and spread out on his couch. “Turn out the light on your way out,
okay?”
“Sure.” Amy paused before turning the light and closing the door. What, she wondered, did all that
mean? Josh was obviously frustrated with Donna’s lack of cooperation; that had to be a blow after all
the years of blind obedience. But was the frustration enough? Did he think Donna’s priorities had
permanently shifted? Did he think that hers had? He was certainly trying to convince her to play on
his team. She just couldn’t figure out if it was enough. She went back to Sam’s office and relayed the
‘bad’ news; the First Lady was sticking to her schedule.
The best they could come up with was to ignore the First Lady’s trip and further play down the
importance of the east wing in the Santos administration. Amy was sure Donna wouldn’t be able to
stand getting shoved off the national stage and would be forced to up the ante. She was sure that
would be the final straw for Josh…and maybe the first opportunity for her to draw closer to Josh
**********************************************
“Donna Moss for President Bartlet…if he’s up already. Please don’t wake him or anything.” Donna
hastened to add.
She paced with the phone to her ear until she heard a click.
“Donnatella, what a pleasant surprise! I thought you and Helen were in California.” The former
President’s voice boomed through the speaker.
“We are sir, good morning.”
“Morning? More like the middle of the night there.” Jed noted.
“Well, we’ve had a bit of a day, sir, and you said I could call anytime.” Donna hedged.
“Donna? What’s going on over there?”
“Well…it’s like this, sir.” Donna began, and laid out the whole story for the President from beginning
to end.
*******************************************************
“Josh?” Carol called his name softly and shook his shoulder. “General Phillips wants you for an
update.”
“A good update or a bad update?” Josh asked in response.
“I don’t really-“
“I’m just saying, I’m sleep deprived and it’s a long way down there, with lots of steps, just to get more
bad news.”
“I’m afraid I don’t have that answer for you.” Carol smiled regretfully.
“Then you’re fired.” Josh tried to roll back over and go to sleep.
“Donna said I’m supposed to tell you I’m impervious when you try to fire me.” Carol added. “But I’m
not sure that applies as much to me as it did to Donna.”
Josh groaned at the mention of Donna’s name. “No, it does.” Josh sat up. “I’m assuming there’s been
no further word from our scouting expedition in California?”
Carol just shook her head ‘no’.
“Right. That was really too much to hope for.” Josh rolled his shoulder and slapped his face a bit to
get the blood flowing again. “I’ll be back when I’m back.”
Sam, unable to do anything about the military matters on his friend’s mind, stayed at the White
House all night regardless. He thought maybe Josh would need to talk or need help with some other
issue he could have some measurable effect on.
He wandered the halls of the building he’d come to know so well and did what he’s spent a lifetime
practicing; analyzing a situation. At some point during his first few rounds of the building he’d fended
off a cell phone call from his fiancé. That’s what he did now, he fended her off. He knew she was
unhappy here and he didn’t know if it was something that could be fixed, but he added it to his
ruminations during the night. It was close to 5 am when his most frequent lap took him through the
lobby and right into the path of Ainsley Hayes.
“Sam. You look like hell. Have you been here all night?” Ainsley inquired.
“Yeah.” Sam’s mouth quirked into a smile.
“Kazakhstan?” Ainsley lowered her voice.
“No.” Sam assured her. “At least not for me. What are you doing here so early?”
“Work.” Ainsley smiled. “Now that I have an office with windows and everything I enjoy spending more
time here; which is a good thing, I guess, since I spend so much time here.”
Sam chuckled at her convoluted logic. “They really should just give us apartments here.”
“That would make more sense and save me a ton of money. D.C. rent is the worst.” Ainsley noted.
“Where are you headed?”
“Oh…you know…around.” Sam waved his hand to encompass the White House lobby.
“So you don’t have an exact destination…as such?”
“I’m more or less waiting for Josh to get out of the sit room and update me on what’s going on.” Sam
admitted.
“So you’d be free to join me for breakfast in the mess?” Ainsley’s eyebrows shot up.
“As long as I’m not buying. I’ve seen you eat breakfast before.” Sam teased.
“Fine, I’ll buy.” They walked down to the mess in a companionable silence. Once they’d picked up
their food and sat down, Ainsley began the interrogation.
“What’s it like being Deputy Chief of Staff?”
“Challenging.” Sam grimaced. “I mean, I knew it would be, but…Josh had this reputation when he
came into this job; a pit bull, bull dog, whatever. People were scared of him and he knew how to use
that. I’m not there yet. I’m still thinking in prose, you know?”
“I’m going to say something here, and mind you Josh Lyman is my boss now, so I’m sincerely hoping
we can keep this just between you and I, or I’m afraid the ramifications for at least one of us could be
severe.”
“I actually followed that.” Sam chuckled again. “Between you and I, then.”
“Josh was very effective as Deputy…most of the time. But there were certainly times that
his…disposition made the road much rockier for himself and the President than it had to be.”
“Agreed.”
“So, I’m saying that there’s more than one way to skin a cat, so to speak. Josh’s way doesn’t have to
be your way. You’re two different men, with very different styles; each with pro’s and con’s.” Ainsley
said in between bites of her muffin.
“Is that what you’re doing? Finding your own style as White House Counsel?” Sam asked.
“I’m trying.” Ainsley drawled. “That’s why I’m practically living here. There’s a lot to figure out and a
lot to keep track of.”
“You’ll have no trouble, Ains. Of that, I have no doubt.”
“Thank you, Sam. But none of us want to let the President down. Just remember that you’re not
alone in that. We’re all struggling to find our voice and get our balance. It will come.”
“That’s what Josh keeps telling me.” Sam told her.
“Josh is a pretty smart guy.” Ainsley admitted. “Have some of this melon; it’s great!”
Sam laughed and realized he hadn’t felt this light hearted in ages. He was about to remind her that
he had his own breakfast, but instead, picked up his fork and helped himself to some of hers. She
was right; it was delicious. Maybe she was right about the other stuff too.
*************************************************************
“Everyone is waiting in your office.”
“Thanks Carol. Go home and get some sleep.” Josh ordered. “I’ll be heading out myself in about an
hour.”
“I go when you go.” Carol quipped and even handed him a cup of coffee. Better and better, Josh
thought.
“Good news, my friends. The skirmish is Kazakhstan is over. Everyone has retreated to their neutral
corner.”
“For how long?” Lester wanted to know.
“You’ll get a military briefing in just a few minutes but it looks promising. The original bomb was set
off by a renegade Russian brigade and the rest was response to that. There was a tit for tat battle
for a few hours, but American forces have stomped it out and sent everyone back to their rooms
without supper.”
“Thank God.” Sam replied.
“President Santos is going to make a brief statement and will take a few questions, but he’s
exhausted, so cut it off as soon as possible.”
“Got it.” Lester nodded.
“Does he need help with the statement?” Lou asked.
“Not as this point, but I’ll want you to look it over before he goes on air with it; he’s exhausted.” Josh
reiterated.
“I’m on it.” Lou promised.
Josh motioned to the bank of televisions behind him. “What have we heard about California?”
“Nothing yet.” Amy replied. “We’re moving ahead with our agenda and we’re shutting down theirs.”
Josh sighed. “Yeah…keep me updated on that. I’m going to stay through the President’s statement,
but then I’m heading home for a few hours. Everything goes through Sam while I’m out of the
building. That’s it.”
“Yes, sir.” Lester answered for the group and they all filed out except Sam.
“It’s barely 4 am there. They’re asleep, I’m sure.”
“And I hope to be doing the same soon.” Josh sat at his desk and pulled up his email. “Speaking of
which, I understand you stayed all night too.”
“I thought I should stick around in case…just in case.”
“You can’t do that Sam. There will be times we both need to be here, but when we don’t we have to
stagger our schedules. I need you to go home and rest when I can’t, so I can go home and rest when
you can’t. Now you’re going to be sleepwalking through the day.”
“I’m full of energy. I had a full, healthy breakfast. Plus, I’m considerably younger than you.” Sam
rubbed it in.
“Uh-huh. Get out of here and get briefed with Lester.”
“On my way.” Sam promised.
Josh skimmed through the emails until he saw one with Donna’s name attached to it.
Good Morning, Joshua.
I hope the morning brings some peace and quiet to
your world. I can’t imagine the stress of sitting in the room that you’ve been
stuck in for the last several hours.
I know that you’re disappointed that we’re not returning this morning. I’m sorry
that I’ve brought any additional stress to your job; especially now. But I hope
that you’ll trust me to fix this as best I can. I need to finish what I’ve started
here.
I miss you. Try to get some rest, don’t forget your
medicine, and don’t forget how much I love you.
Donna
Josh smiled wryly. He knew Donna loved him; of that there was no doubt in his mind. He just didn’t
know if there love could survive, and overcome, the obstacles of their dueling positions.