Chapter 15
“Do you have a minute for Sam Seaborn?” Ainsley looked up from the deposition
she was reading.
“I have several minutes for Sam Seaborn. Sam?” Ainsley called out for him
without waiting for her assistant to show him in.
“Hey. Can I interrupt you for a minute?” Sam asked.
“Sure, what’s up? You need a lawyer?” Ainsley teased.
“I need you.” Sam corrected, then imagined what that sounded like. “I
mean…your professional skills.”
Ainsley chuckled. “I never thought you meant anything else.”
“Good, because- wait! Never?” Sam asked, insulted.
“Sam…what do you need?...Professionally?”
“I need you to review some of these cases.” Sam dropped them on the corner of
her pristine desk. He figured the fact that it was pristine said something about
her, but he wasn’t sure what. Ainsley picked up the first file and perused its’
contents.
“Discharge from service? All of them?” She indicated the pile.
“Yes, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg. Josh wants to know if everything looks…in
order.” Sam decided.
“Uh-huh.” Ainsley closed the file and sat back in her chair. “What does Josh
suspect here, Samuel?”
“He’d prefer that you review them with an objective eye and see what you think.”
Sam replied.
“Okay, but have you looked at them?” Ainsley asked.
“I have.” Sam answered. “If you could get back to him about it by tomorrow he’d
appreciate it. He has a 4 pm meeting that he needs the info for.”
Ainsley nodded her agreement but it was clear something else was going on.
Sam was unusually tense and somber, even considering the topic at hand. “Are
you okay, Sam?”
Sam’s head shot back to her. “Hmmm?”
“What’s wrong?” Ainsley altered her question.
“Nothing…just work, and, you know, not much sleep lately.” Sam grimaced.
“I thought things had settled down upstairs?”
“Yeah, well contrary to SOME people’s opinion, I do have a life outside this
building.” Sam snapped uncharacteristically and Ainsley blinked in shock.
“Sorry.” Ainsley said softly.
Sam shook his head and turned away from her. “No, I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve
that.”
“No problem.” She brushed away his outburst. “If you want to talk…”
“Thanks but I don’t think I need to bore you with my personal issues. Just let Josh
know when you’re ready to brief him, okay?”
“Okay.” Ainsley watched her old friend leave with slumped shoulders but she didn’
t know what she could do to help if he wasn’t ready to share whatever was
bothering him. She turned to the stack of files he’d brought to her and prepared
to take notes.
************************************************
“Josh, Donna said to let you know they’re having good success on the hill and
that she might be late getting back so you should go ahead without her.” Carol
reported.
“Right. Ask Sam if he has a minute, will you please, Carol?”
“Sam…left for a bit. I can have Alex give me a heads up when he’s back in the
building.”
“He left for a bit?” Josh repeated.
“Yes, but I’ll have Alex-“
“Why did Sam leave for a bit?” Josh asked.
“I think you should ask Sam about that.” Carol backed out of the office. “I just
hear things and who know about the veracity of the stories passed through the
hallways, you know?” Carol shut the door before he could answer. A minute later,
Carol used the intercom to tell him Ainsley would be up to see him in 15 minutes.
Josh thought that might be just enough time. He told Carol he’d be back in time
for Ainsley and shot out of his office. He made the trip to his old office in record
time and allowed himself a moment of reverie when he got there since his old
office and Donna’s old desk were both empty.
It wasn’t that he wanted to go back to that time personally. He’d spent a lot of
time in that office wishing things were different between him and Donna. But
professionally…sometimes he wished he were back in this office and still had Leo
to turn to for the big decisions. He’d just let out a long sigh, when Alex appeared
at his side.
“Josh? What can I do for you?” She asked.
“Carol said Sam left campus. Did something come up?” Josh watched, intrigued,
as Alex’s eyes went wide with surprise and then she quickly schooled them to
look innocent.
“Uh, he just had to take care of something quick. He’ll be right back.” Josh
nodded and Alex thought maybe she’d thrown him off the trail, but then the Chief
of Staff nodded towards Sam’s office and Alex’s head dropped down while she
reluctantly followed him inside and he shut the door behind them.
Josh took his time walking around the desk and taking a seat at Sam’s desk. He
let the tension grow and did not offer Alex a seat.
“Alex, you know Sam and I have been friends for decades, right?” Alex nodded.
“And you know that this is more than the Chief of Staff asking about his Deputy,
right?” Alex nodded again. “Then I want you to tell me where Sam is and whether
or not I should be worried about him right now.”
“Sir…he asked me not to share…it’s personal, sir. If I hadn’t taken the original
call I wouldn’t know anything either, and you have no idea how much I wish that
were the case!...Sir.” Alex looked up at Josh defiantly and he had to admire her
staunch defense of her boss.
“How worried should I be, Alex?” Josh skipped over the first part of his inquiry and
Alex blew out a breath in relief.
“He could really use a friend right now.” Alex admitted and this time it was Josh’s
turn to nod.
“Send him to me when he gets back, okay?” Josh got up from Sam’s desk and
patted Alex’s shoulder on his way out. “He’s lucky to have you, Alex.”
Josh was still pondering the possibilities of Sam’s turmoil when he literally ran into
Ainsley outside his office. “Whoa! Sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going. You
okay?”
“Fine. I’m fine. Are you ready for me? I’ve brought my briefs.” Ainsley groaned as
Josh’s smile turned into a smirk. “I’ve brought the legal briefs to review with you.
Is now a good time?” She revised her remark.
“Sure come on in…unless you need to pee in my closet first?” Josh teased and
opened the door for her.
“I can’t believe Leo told you that story!” Ainsley exclaimed.
“I can’t believe you can’t believe it.” Josh shot back and motioned for Ainsley to
take a chair. “What can you tell me?”
“We’re about to end up in several very high profile lawsuits.” Ainsley cut to the
chase.
“They have legitimate cases?” Josh asked.
“Legitimate enough that they have court dates and from what I’ve been able to
find out with my research, there are plenty more coming.”
“Give me worst case.” Josh sat back in his chair and closed his eyes.
“Well, are you talking money or P.R.? Because both are going to be costly.”
Ainsley flipped open her file and handed a thick stack of papers clipped together
to Josh while she reffered to her own copy. “Either the armed services aren’t
screening people carefully enough before they induct them into service and send
them into combat with loaded weapons, or these people are being significantly
mentally and emotionally affected by the combat situations they’re being thrown
into and then tossed out of the military on trumped up technicalities when they try
to get help.”
“Yeah, that doesn’t sound good either way.” Josh muttered. “Let’s start from the
beginning.”
******************************************************************
“You were fantastic, ma’am.” Donna murmured to her boss as they left
Representative Wakefield’s office. “You’re really making headway.”
“Donna, it feels good.” Helen smiled. “Why don’t you come back with me to the
residence and we’ll have some dinner and celebrate with some drinks? You too,
Annabeth, we’ll make it a woman’s night.”
“I’d love to, but I imagine Donna might have other plans.” Annabeth grinned. She’
d been informed of Donna’s newly engaged status when she spotted the ring on
the chain around Donna’s neck, but Helen was still in the dark.
“Big plans tonight, Donna?” Helen wiggled her eyebrows.
“Not really, ma’am, no.” Donna growled at Annabeth. She and Josh hadn’t made
any official announcement and had only told family so far. They’d thought that
putting a little time between the recent dust up and the engagement
announcement would be beneficial to everyone.
“I don’t like secrets, ladies, so one of you had better spill.” Helen threatened as
they got into her waiting vehicle.
“Well…it’s just that we didn’t want it to be a big thing right now…because of the
timing…It wasn’t like it was a secret or anything…” Donna stammered.
“Right that’s why you’re hiding in on your necklace under your blouse.” Annabeth
replied.
“What?” Helen, having had enough of the subterfuge, leaned forward and pulled
the chain from around Donna’s neck out into full view. It only took a moment to
determine what the significance of the ring was. “You’re engaged? To Josh? And
you didn’t say anything? When did this happen?” The First Lady demanded.
“Just…a couple days ago.” Donna admitted and winced at the look from the First
Lady; and Helen Santos was the First Lady at that moment, not Helen. “With all
the press trouble lately-“
“Has nothing to do with you not telling me!” Helen interrupted. “Did you think I
couldn’t keep a secret? Or that I’d take out an ad in the Post?”
“No!” Donna immediately assured her seeing the hurt in Helen’s eyes. “That wasn’
t it at all. We just didn’t want to add to any commotion right now. We didn’t tell
anyone but family.”
Helen let her eyes well up. “I see…I thought we WERE like family now.”
“We are, ma’am.” Donna replied quietly.
“Ma’am?” Helen nearly wailed. “You’re going to sit there and ma’am me right
now?”
“No, ma’am. I mean- No, Helen, of course not!” Donna moved closer to Helen and
touched her arm.
“Getting engaged is a huge moment in your life and you didn’t even want to
share it with me?” Helen prodded.
“Sure I did; we both did.” Donna repeated. “We were just waiting for the right
moment.”
“Well, the moment is now.” Helen pointed out. “And we should do something for
you both; some sort of celebration.”
“Sure. Sure. Whenever you want.” Donna hastened to agree.
“Tonight. We’ll do something tonight.” Helen decided.
“Fine. I’ll just clean up my desk and then we can do…whatever!” Donna smiled.
“Promise?” Helen prodded.
“Promise.” Donna agreed as they pulled up at the White House.
“And that’s how we do things in D.C.” Helen noted to Annabeth as all traces of
tears disappeared like magic.
“You played me????...Ma’am?” Donna said in astonishment.
“Just practicing.” Helen sing-songed. “I’ll see you in the residence in 30 minutes.”
“B-B-But-“ Donna stuttered.
“Thirty minutes, Donna.” Helen left her Chief of Staff standing on the walkway in
shock.
“She’s good.” Annabeth noted as she passed Donna going inside.
****************************************************
“Joshua. Come up to the residence and have a beer with me.” The President
ordered.
Josh quickly stood when the President entered and wracked his brain for an
excuse to turn don the leader of the free world.
“Sir, I’m not close to done for the day and I need to see Sam still…” Sam had
been avoiding Josh since he got back to the White House and Josh was not
going to let him get away with it.
“We’ll invite Sam up too. Come on.” President Santos motioned to the doorway.
“Sir, I really-“
“Fine, I’ll make it an order. The President of the United States is ordering you to
get your ass upstairs to the residence so we can enjoy a beer after a long,
difficult day.”
‘You think it’s been difficult up to now?’ Josh thought. ‘Just wait until you get your
eyes on Ainsley’s report.’
“Yes, sir. Carol? Will you call Donna and tell her to head out without me?” Josh
paused when he got no response. “Carol?”
“She probably just stepped out for a minute. Come on, I’ll have Ronna call
Donna.”
“Yes, sir.” Josh started to slip on his jacket and then thought better of it. They
were going up to the residence. They could both be more casual there, right?
“I heard our significant others took the hill by storm today.” Matt began the
conversation.
“Yes, they’re going to be quite a formidable weapon, sir, and we haven’t even
seen their entire skill set yet.” Josh smiled thinking of Donna and Helen let loose
on all the bastards that tried to screw up their agenda.
“Having a strong, smart, woman in your life is an amazing gift.” Matt noted. “It can
also be…difficult at times, but the pro’s far outweigh the con’s, don’t you think?”
“Yes, sir.” Josh agreed. “We’re very lucky. I should call Sam. Let him now to meet
us here.”
“We will. Relax, Josh.” Matt urged. “You did have some down time under Bartlet. I
know you did. I’ve heard stories; chili nights, basketball games, poker…”
Josh thought those nights seemed like ages ago when not quite so much
responsibility lay on his shoulders. How did Leo ever relax enough to have poker
nights while they were dealing with international crises and legislative problems?
“Yeah, we had a few of those. But then, more experienced guys were running
things.”
“I’m going to try not to take that as a personal slam.” Matt deadpanned.
“No, sir. It was aimed more at me than you, and even you have to admit, we
haven’t been doing this for very long. We just need to get our sea legs, sir. Then
maybe I’ll feel more confident in relaxing. Right now, whenever I’m not working I
feel like the ground is going to start trembling from some disaster I’ve failed to
ward off.” Josh admitted.
“Then you’d best prepare for an earthquake tonight.” Matt said cryptically as he
opened the door to the residence.
“SURPRISE!”
Shouts and horns came from all over the room, momentarily startling Josh. He
still had trouble with loud, unexpected noises. Then he focused and saw the sign,
“Congratulations”. That coupled with Donna’s embarrassed expression and Josh
was able to put two and two together to figure out it was a surprise engagement
party.
“I guess we’ve become official, Donnatella?” He quirked an eyebrow at his fiancé
but smiled to let her know he wasn’t upset about it.
“I was played by the First Lady.” Donna admitted.
“Well, I can’t say that’s never happened to me.” Josh took her hand, pulled her to
him, and planted a kiss on her to the delight of the crowd. When he came up for
air, he saw most of the West Wing and East Wing staff gathered there. “This is
very nice, thank you.” He told them.
“It was all Helen.” Matt waved off the thanks. “My only role was getting you here.”
“She put this together in no time.” Donna drawled.
“What good is a household staff of hundreds if you can’t pull off a surprise party
at a moment’s notice?” Helen asked. “Besides, none of that would have been
necessary if either of you had told us when you first got engaged.”
“I was afraid if we told you, you’d try to talk her out of it, ma’am.” Josh teased.
“I still might, Josh Lyman.” Helen shot back. “But if this ring is any indication, you’
re off to a good start.”
“Thank you, ma’am.” Josh kissed her cheek. “And thanks for this.”
“You’re welcome. Come get some food and some champagne.” Helen directed
the engaged couple to the buffet while the rest of the group mingled and talked
shop.
Overall, this group was generally younger than the Bartlet Administration had
been. Instead of a daughter heading to college, the Santos family had a
daughter in elementary school. So this gathering was peppered with the young
children of staff members and gave the residence a whole different feel. Yes, the
buffet had sophisticated, grown-up food, but it also had pizza and hot dogs for
the younger set. Children were running around and upsetting both plates and
glasses with great frequency, but it was taken as a matter of course. Josh
watched them and wondered how soon he could talk Donna into working on
producing one of their own. The thought momentarily startled him, but as he
watched Donna make the rounds of the room, he couldn’t imagine anything
better than brining a miniature version of her into the world. Of course they could
get a miniature version of him and then they’d all be in for it, but he was banking
on her superior influence.
It was a much more relaxed an atmosphere than this group had enjoyed since
before inauguration and everyone seemed to be reveling in it…except Sam. Josh
felt that Sam seemed to be one step ahead of him all night until Josh finally
cornered him.
“I’ve been looking for you all day.” Josh threw out casually.
“Sorry, boss, it’s been crazy. Not bad crazy, just crazy busy.” Sam assured him.
“Do you really think you need to explain that to me?” Josh posited. “Where’s
Molly?”
“She couldn’t make it. She had other plans and since this came up rather
suddenly…” Sam trailed off.
“Sure. That’s understandable.” Josh nodded. “Gray give you any trouble about
the caucus vote?”
“No, not really. I think we’re going to be able to work together okay.” Sam
surmised.
“Just don’t forget he’s still with the opposition, no matter how reasonable he
appears.” Josh advised him.
“There really ARE reasonable Republicans, Josh.” Sam laughed.
“Sure.” Josh mocked. “What else is going on?”
“What do you mean?” Sam asked defensively.
“I mean, you just got done telling me how busy your day was, so I was wondering
what else was going on. What did you think I meant?” Josh asked quietly.
“Who knows what you mean? You’re always playing these mind games.”Sam
swallowed the last of his drink and set the glass down. “You don’t even tell your
best friend about your engagement, right?”
“Sam-“ Josh began.
“I’m pretty wiped, so I’m heading out. Congratulations, Josh. I’m sure you and
Donna will be very happy.” He stopped briefly on his way out to kiss Donna on
the cheek, but then left without a single glance back. Josh hadn’t meant to hurt
Sam by keeping this news from him, but he was equally sure the secret they’d
kept wasn’t the sole reason for Sam’s behavior. Something else was going on.