Chapter 2
“I thought you’d spoken to Harding already?” Josh asked Sam.
“I did.” Sam acknowledged. “He’s still not voting with us.”
“Talk to him again.” Josh ordered.
“Josh he isn’t-“
“Talk to him again.” Josh repeated. “We have to get this done and done quickly.”
“Then maybe you should-“
“We can’t start out that way. They have to know that when you show up on their
doorstep you mean business.” Josh explained.
“Yes, but I haven’t even been in Washington for years. The few here that do remember
me, remember me as a speech writer. That hardly inspires fear and respect.” Sam
pointed out.
Josh ran a hand over his face. “This isn’t something I can do for you Sam. You have to
figure out a way to make it work for yourself; a way to make them work for you.”
“Thanks. That’s very helpful advice.” Sam muttered.
“Try talking to Keating. If you can get him on board the two of you can double team
Wilson. Once you get him, he’ll get the bill out of subcommittee.” Josh reasoned.
“I’ll give it another shot.” Sam promised.
“Josh?” Carol’s voice came over the intercom. “Your presence is being requested in the
sit room.”
“On my way.” Josh grabbed his suit jacket and slipped it on as he headed out. “Talk to
Keating.”
“I’m on it.” Sam sighed. He started jotting down notes about Keating and Wilson that
might help him move their sorry asses to their side of this vote. He knew this job was
going to be a different kind of challenge; he knew how hard it would be to re-establish
himself here in this new role. But for the first time he was really concerned about letting
his friend down when Josh was counting on him. Yes, he served at the pleasure of the
President, but it was Josh who had brought him to the White House…both times. He
couldn’t disappoint Josh.
“Hi Carol, is he in?” Sam heard Donna’s voice outside the door.
“Sorry Donna, he just went down to the sit room. Do you want me to call you when he
gets back?” Carol offered.
“That would be great, thanks.” Donna accepted.
“You really don’t have to schlep over here to see Josh you know. He can come to you
once in awhile.” Sam called out to her. “You don’t work for him anymore…or was this a
personal visit?” Sam’s lips twitched. He was still pretty amused about the fact that his
two dear friends had finally figured out what was between them.
“It was business actually, but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t kill 2 birds with one stone.”
Donna accepted the teasing from Sam good naturedly. “Actually, I could run this by
you, I guess.”
“I don’t know what good that would do you. I haven’t exactly been a stellar performer
around here. I can’t figure out a way to get the President’s education reform bill out of
committee.” Sam’s gaze dropped back to the notes he’d been writing.
“I’m thinking about aligning the First Lady with an education issue that we can fold into
the education reform package.”
“What kind of education issue?” Sam asked offhandedly.
“I’m still researching, but I thought if I could find something that would dovetail with what
you’re working on the East and West wing could both push for the education package.”
“Yeah? More pressure and publicity couldn’t hurt. You’ll run it by Lou so we’re not
stepping on one another’s message?”
“Sure. She and Annabeth can coordinate the communications.” Donna agreed.
“Works for me.” Sam stood up. “I am heading back to the hill for a fruitless conversation
with Congressman Keating…I doubt he’ll even take a meeting with me at this point.”
“Don’t make an appointment.” Donna suggested.
“What?”
“Don’t make an appointment with Keating. He gets knocked off his balance when you
just show up and demand time. He doesn’t like the loss of control and he can’t think fast
enough on his feet to come up with objections when you don’t give him advance
warning on a topic.”
“Donna, that’s brilliant!” Sam kissed her cheek enthusiastically. “If this works, I owe you
one.”
“We’re all a team.” Donna brushed off the compliment nicely. “Go get him.”
When Donna got back to her office, she saw the blue press office folder on her desk
and quickly opened it to look over the latest stories. The first one didn’t bode well.
The Red Cross luncheon that was hosted by the First Lady last week
was a success; if by success you mean that it raised money for the
cause and no one spilled anything on the guests. It was the typical
East wing social affair with all the usual suspects. We were hoping
that Mrs. Santos would be bringing the same kind of fresh approach
to her office that her husband is working hard to bring to his. However,
between Mrs. Santos who is new to the national scene and her Chief of
staff Donna Moss, who is also without previous experience in the East wing,
perhaps we should adjust our expectations.
Donna was nearly seething. It was their first week in office for God’s sake! Could they
get any kind of break with these people? The even went off without a hitch and Mrs.
Santos was able to introduce herself to the Washington power group of women. Donna
continued through the clippings and was somewhat mollified by the last editorial in the
pile.
Helen Santos: A Voice in Search of a Message?
Mrs. Santos appeared ready to get on with the business of
being First Lady but what the business is going to be, she hasn’t
quite decided yet. “I want to make a difference in the lives of
Americans in this office. My staff and I have been deluged with requests
for help from various organizations and we’re still getting our sea legs
here.” Mrs. Santos admitted. Her Chief of staff (and significant other to
President Santos’ Chief of Staff Josh Lyman) Donna Moss agreed. “Mrs.
Santos is determined to make a substantive contribution to important issues
in this country. She will be a leader in these issues as we go forward.” That
may be true. The potential is there; Mrs. Santos is a bright, attractive, and
articulate woman who has captured the interest of the entire country. But
what she does with that remains to be seen.
Okay. They saw a substantive agenda from the First Lady as doable. That was a start.
Now she just needed to find an issue. And it would be so nice to see her name in the
paper, just once, without being linked to Josh. Speak of the devil and he appears.
“Hey, are you ready to go?” Josh asked her as he walked into her office unannounced.
Josh had walk in privileges in her office just as she had in his; unless it was a security
clearance issue.
“Just about. I’m surprised you’re ready to go. It’s barely seven.” Donna noted consulting
her watch and packing up some of her things.
“The President left for the residence a few minutes ago and I don’t have anything to do
here that I couldn’t accomplish at home. I say, we order in some Chinese and kick back
tonight.”
“That sounds perfect.” Donna agreed. They chatted about their respective days as
Josh’s agent drove them home. Josh gave an abbreviated version of his senior staff
meeting; thinking Donna didn’t need to hear about how abrasive and combative Amy
had been. Donna gave him an abbreviated version of the press reports; thinking he
didn’t need to get his blood pressure up over some of the innuendo that had been
printed about them.
“I would like to point out that you said you didn’t want ANY egg rolls, and yet you’ve
eaten one and are now trying to steal the second one off my plate.” Josh complained.
“Baby, I’m just looking out for you.” Donna explained. “The fried egg rolls really aren’t
any good for you.”
“You’re too good to me, really.” Josh drawled. “Hey, Sam got Keating off the fence. The
ed bill is going to get voted out of the committee this week.”
“That’s awesome!” Donna kissed his cheek. “The President must be thrilled.”
“He’s riding pretty high on this.” Josh agreed. “We think if we can come out strong and
roll this through Congress quickly it going to pick up some momentum for us on other
issues.” Josh chuckled. “The President has a laundry list and I’m having trouble getting
him to focus on the top three.”
“Tell me about it.” Donna replied. “We’re getting hit from all sides by groups that want
Mrs. Santos to support their cause or be their spokesperson. We’ll be wading through
this stuff for the entire first term.”
Josh smiled at her ‘first term’ phrase, implying that a second term was a foregone
conclusion. Josh popped the last of his Kung Pao chicken in his mouth and stood up to
throw the cardboard containers away while Donna polished off the egg roll. When he
returned to sit next to her on the floor of their living room again she surprised him by
giving him the last bite.
“Let’s put work away for now.” She suggested. “We don’t need to be in the White House
until noon. I say we stay up late for reasons unrelated to work.” President Santos had
laid down the law about working on Saturdays. He didn’t want his staff in before noon
unless there was an emergency of some kind. Josh thought that schedule was
unrealistic but he was willing to go along with it for now and at the moment, when Donna
was crawling onto his lap to straddle him, he decided he was a proponent of the
schedule.
“Oh, I don’t know…I have a couple riveting reports that I should get to.” Josh pointed
out while simultaneously slipping his hands under her shirt to pull it over her head in
one smooth move.
“Oh, well, if you have important work to finish, I completely understand.” Donna
explained while she removed his shirt. Josh reached back to undo her bra, but she
stopped him by laying her hand over his on top of the bras strap.
“What?” Josh look perplexed.
“Not here.” Donna whispered, her eyes moving significantly to the front door and back
to him again.
Josh’s head dropped back onto the couch he was sitting against. “Donna, they can’t
hear anything outside the door.” He tried to undo the bra again, but she covered his
hand again and shook her head. “You’ve got to be kidding me here! We’re not going to
have sex in my living room because there’s a Secret Service agent outside my door?
Does this mean no kitchen sex either?”
“I am not having sex 50 feet from where your agent is standing.” Donna remained
steadfast.
“Hey, you’re the one who started this in the living room and can I just add that he may
be fifty feet away but the fifty feet lead to the OUTSIDE of our place not the inside.”
Donna smiled at his ‘our place’ and rewarded him with another kiss for it, which Josh
misinterpreted as permission to continue where they were currently seated. But Donna
quickly disabused him of that notion and stood up. “In the bedroom.” She whispered
urgently.
“Ah-kay.” Josh got up easily. He was in desperate need of Donnatella Moss and he
wasn’t going to let a little thing like location stand in the way. He took her hand to lead
her back into the bedroom with him but called out loudly. “Okay, let’s go back to the
bedroom, Donna, but only to sleep. No hot steamy sex for you, woman. I’m not that kind
of guy!”
Donna smacked him upside the head with her free hand. “You ass!”
“You prude!” He shot back. “You think they don’t know we have sex?”
“I prefer not to think about whether or not THEY think about us having sex in here.”
Donna replied. “You know why? Because when I think about them thinking about us, it
makes me self-conscious and when I’m self-conscious, I’m very unlikely to have sex of
any kind with anyone anywhere.”
Josh though about the implications of the long winded speech. “Right. It’s just us here,
babe.”
He picked her up and gently tossed her on the bed before joining her there. What
began as playful soon turned passionate and desperate. Their bodies were already
moving to a rhythm that was theirs alone. Josh knew instinctively where and how to
touch her and Donna’s open response to him brought Josh to new levels of desire.
When Donna quickly reached her climax, it brought Josh over the edge as well. The two
of them, exhausted from their effort, collapsed together in the middle of the bed. Their
comforter had ended up on the floor despite the chill in the air.
“You were kind of loud there, Donnatella. I bet Jack heard you despite the fact that we
moved our little show into the bedroom.”
“What did I tell you about being self-conscious?” Donna asked.
“I heard you, but we’ve already had sex now, so I can tease.” Josh replied with a quick
kiss before leaning over to pull the comforter off the floor for them. Donna took the
opportunity that presented itself and pushed him onto the floor where he landed on his
head with a thud.
“That hurt.” He muttered.
“I’m sorry, Joshua. But as least you landed on your head, so we know you didn’t injure
anything important.” Donna cooed.
“Ha. Ha.” Josh quipped as he got back into bed with the comforter and covered them
both with it. “I’ll have you know, that this brain,” he said tapping his forehead with his
finger. “Is going to get the President’s education reform bill through Congress in record
time.”
“Uh-huh.” Donna placated him. “You da man.”
“I know you’re mocking me right now, but I’m too tired and sexually satisfied to care.”
“Then you bring it up because…”
“Just to let you know I’m aware.”
“Got it.” Donna replied.
“We’re going to get things done this time Donna; right out of the gate. It’s not going to
be like when Hoynes weakened us at the beginning of Bartlet’s first term.” Josh noted.
“We’re making important changes in the West wing in the President’s first hundred
days.”
“Just so you understand we’ll be making some important changes in the East wing as
well.” Donna pointed out.
“Sure…” was the last thing Josh said before he fell asleep; leaving Donna to wonder if
he really meant it.
*************************************************
“Donna? Have you got a minute?” Deb asked.
“Yes, we’re all finished here. Thanks everyone.” Donna dismissed her staff. “What’s up
Deb?”
“I just got a call from Senator Lee’s office. He’s wondering if you could make time for him
this afternoon.”
“Senator Lee? From California, right?” Donna confirmed and Deb nodded. “Sure, I can
make time for him, but did he say what it was about?”
“His assistant said he wanted to discuss the First Lady’s agenda with you.” Deb
shrugged.
“What agenda?” Donna quipped. “Call them back and give them an appointment at 4.”
“You got it.” Deb agreed. But all day long the exchange was on Donna’s mind. What
could the junior Senator from California possible want from her…or the First Lady? So
when Donna brought lunch to Josh’s office so they could eat together, she decided to
do a little reconnaissance.
“What do you know about Senator Lee?”
“Blowhard from California, serving his second term after a squeaker of an election. He’s
unmarried and 38 years old. He started in the State assembly there and made a name
for himself in the immigration fight.”
“All of which I already got from a Google search.” Donna replied. “What do you know
about him?”
“We…had a run in or two during the campaign. He likes to triangulate people; divide
and conquer. He works very well with the media. You know the expression; the most
dangerous place to be is between Senator Michael Lee and a camera.”
“What were your run ins about?” Donna asked.
“The driver’s license bill that was on the Governor’s desk. He wanted Santos to come
out against it and I was in his way on that. Then after the Governor’s veto he got all
pissy because he wasn’t invited as part of the press conference to announce it.” Josh
paused. “Why?”
“His name was on my call sheet.” Donna told a half truth. “I just wanted to know who I
was dealing with.”
“He’s not someone I’d call a friend, or even friendly, I guess. But he is a Democrat in the
Senate, so try not to piss him off about anything. We’ll need his vote coming up here.
You can pass it over to Lou’s office if you want.” Josh offered.
“I think I can handle a conversation with the Senator, Josh.”
“I didn’t mean it like that.” Josh was quick to point out.
“Sam seemed pretty stressed the other day when I stopped by.”
“He just needs to work out a system.”
“A system?”
“A way to get things done. An approach to wrangling votes…I mean members of
Congress, course.”
“Of course.” Donna agreed. “And your method of going to the hill and threatening
bodily injury or basically scaring the hell out them won’t work for Sam?”
Josh shook his head. “Won’t work for him. He’s too pretty. He needs to develop his own
style and he just hasn’t found it yet.”
“But you’re supporting him right?”
“Supporting him?” Josh repeated laughing. “What the hell, Donna? We’re the Executive
branch of the Federal Government not AA or something.”
“I’m not accusing you of being a girl or something else equally distasteful. I’m just
saying-“
“Can I state for the record that I do not find girls in any way distasteful?”
“Good for you Josh.” Donna replied. “But in the meantime, your friend and Deputy is
struggling in his new job and it might help him, not to mention you and the President, if
you gave him some advice and encouragement instead of just ordering him ‘get the job
done’.”
“That’s always what Leo did with me.” Josh protested.
“You are not Leo and Sam is not you.”
“Thank you, Donnatella Moss, Master of the obvious.” Josh teased while he took
another bite of lunch.
“Fine, but the longer it takes Sam to magically discover the secret to being Deputy
Chief of Staff, the longer it’s going to take for you to push the President’s agenda
through.” Donna shrugged.
Josh considered this for a minute. “Okay, I see your point, but…”
“But what?”
“I’m not good at the mentor thing. I’ve just always gone with my instincts.”
“And they’re good ones. But you’re forgetting how you do your homework.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“You have some of the greatest political instincts of anybody, but your people skills,
though they’ve improved over the years, suck. What you do, is your homework. You, or
your valuable assistant, learn everything you can about the issue, the candidate, the
bill…whatever! Then you use that knowledge, combine it with your instincts and make
things happen. You need to show Sam how you do that.”
“But-“
“No, he’s not you and your way may not work for him but it will give him a starting point
and he’ll feel like he’s working with you instead of letting you down.”
“He knows this job. He watched me do it for years.”
“Yes, and you watched him write speeches for years. Are you ready to write the
President’s next address?” Donna replied.
“That job requires specific skills.”
“So does Deputy COS.”
They were abruptly interrupted by President Santos himself as he walked through the
door that connected Josh’s office with the Oval.
“Josh I- Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize you and Donna were having lunch.” The President
apologized while Josh and Donna rose to their feet.
“That’s no problem, Mr. President. Did you need something?”
“Nothing that can’t wait until after your lunch. How are you doing, Donna?”
“Fine, thank you, sir.”
“Helen tells me she’d be lost without you on the other side of the building.”
“I’m lost without her on THIS side of the building.” Josh muttered and President Santos
pretended not to hear.
“The First Lady is a force to be reckoned with, sir.”
“All women are, in my opinion.” President Santos added with a smile. “One such woman
just dropped this on my desk a little bit ago.” The President handed Josh a piece of
paper.
Josh’s expression grew grim as he read it. “I’ll deal with this, sir. It won’t happen again.”
“Please. I don’t want anything slowing the momentum on Education reform.” The
President reiterated. “Finish you lunch. I’m sorry I interrupted. Thanks for all your hard
work, Donna.” He called over his shoulder before he shut the connecting door again.
Donna smiled.
“What?”
“I was just thinking about what you said before…location, location, location.”
“Right. Next time we have lunch in your office.”
“You got it…and if you want to bring 50 or so friends to join us they can come along
because I have plenty of space.” Donna tossed her trash in the can next to the desk
and gave him a kiss before she let him get back to work. Whatever the President had
given him had not put Josh in a good moor. “I’m leaving early today so I’m going to walk
home.”
“You’re leaving early?” Josh pouted.
“By early I mean around 6. I don’t work for a slave driver anymore. See you at home.”
“I thought you’d spoken to Harding already?” Josh asked Sam.
“I did.” Sam acknowledged. “He’s still not voting with us.”
“Talk to him again.” Josh ordered.
“Josh he isn’t-“
“Talk to him again.” Josh repeated. “We have to get this done and done quickly.”
“Then maybe you should-“
“We can’t start out that way. They have to know that when you show up on their
doorstep you mean business.” Josh explained.
“Yes, but I haven’t even been in Washington for years. The few here that do remember
me, remember me as a speech writer. That hardly inspires fear and respect.” Sam
pointed out.
Josh ran a hand over his face. “This isn’t something I can do for you Sam. You have to
figure out a way to make it work for yourself; a way to make them work for you.”
“Thanks. That’s very helpful advice.” Sam muttered.
“Try talking to Keating. If you can get him on board the two of you can double team
Wilson. Once you get him, he’ll get the bill out of subcommittee.” Josh reasoned.
“I’ll give it another shot.” Sam promised.
“Josh?” Carol’s voice came over the intercom. “Your presence is being requested in the
sit room.”
“On my way.” Josh grabbed his suit jacket and slipped it on as he headed out. “Talk to
Keating.”
“I’m on it.” Sam sighed. He started jotting down notes about Keating and Wilson that
might help him move their sorry asses to their side of this vote. He knew this job was
going to be a different kind of challenge; he knew how hard it would be to re-establish
himself here in this new role. But for the first time he was really concerned about letting
his friend down when Josh was counting on him. Yes, he served at the pleasure of the
President, but it was Josh who had brought him to the White House…both times. He
couldn’t disappoint Josh.
“Hi Carol, is he in?” Sam heard Donna’s voice outside the door.
“Sorry Donna, he just went down to the sit room. Do you want me to call you when he
gets back?” Carol offered.
“That would be great, thanks.” Donna accepted.
“You really don’t have to schlep over here to see Josh you know. He can come to you
once in awhile.” Sam called out to her. “You don’t work for him anymore…or was this a
personal visit?” Sam’s lips twitched. He was still pretty amused about the fact that his
two dear friends had finally figured out what was between them.
“It was business actually, but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t kill 2 birds with one stone.”
Donna accepted the teasing from Sam good naturedly. “Actually, I could run this by
you, I guess.”
“I don’t know what good that would do you. I haven’t exactly been a stellar performer
around here. I can’t figure out a way to get the President’s education reform bill out of
committee.” Sam’s gaze dropped back to the notes he’d been writing.
“I’m thinking about aligning the First Lady with an education issue that we can fold into
the education reform package.”
“What kind of education issue?” Sam asked offhandedly.
“I’m still researching, but I thought if I could find something that would dovetail with what
you’re working on the East and West wing could both push for the education package.”
“Yeah? More pressure and publicity couldn’t hurt. You’ll run it by Lou so we’re not
stepping on one another’s message?”
“Sure. She and Annabeth can coordinate the communications.” Donna agreed.
“Works for me.” Sam stood up. “I am heading back to the hill for a fruitless conversation
with Congressman Keating…I doubt he’ll even take a meeting with me at this point.”
“Don’t make an appointment.” Donna suggested.
“What?”
“Don’t make an appointment with Keating. He gets knocked off his balance when you
just show up and demand time. He doesn’t like the loss of control and he can’t think fast
enough on his feet to come up with objections when you don’t give him advance
warning on a topic.”
“Donna, that’s brilliant!” Sam kissed her cheek enthusiastically. “If this works, I owe you
one.”
“We’re all a team.” Donna brushed off the compliment nicely. “Go get him.”
When Donna got back to her office, she saw the blue press office folder on her desk
and quickly opened it to look over the latest stories. The first one didn’t bode well.
The Red Cross luncheon that was hosted by the First Lady last week
was a success; if by success you mean that it raised money for the
cause and no one spilled anything on the guests. It was the typical
East wing social affair with all the usual suspects. We were hoping
that Mrs. Santos would be bringing the same kind of fresh approach
to her office that her husband is working hard to bring to his. However,
between Mrs. Santos who is new to the national scene and her Chief of
staff Donna Moss, who is also without previous experience in the East wing,
perhaps we should adjust our expectations.
Donna was nearly seething. It was their first week in office for God’s sake! Could they
get any kind of break with these people? The even went off without a hitch and Mrs.
Santos was able to introduce herself to the Washington power group of women. Donna
continued through the clippings and was somewhat mollified by the last editorial in the
pile.
Helen Santos: A Voice in Search of a Message?
Mrs. Santos appeared ready to get on with the business of
being First Lady but what the business is going to be, she hasn’t
quite decided yet. “I want to make a difference in the lives of
Americans in this office. My staff and I have been deluged with requests
for help from various organizations and we’re still getting our sea legs
here.” Mrs. Santos admitted. Her Chief of staff (and significant other to
President Santos’ Chief of Staff Josh Lyman) Donna Moss agreed. “Mrs.
Santos is determined to make a substantive contribution to important issues
in this country. She will be a leader in these issues as we go forward.” That
may be true. The potential is there; Mrs. Santos is a bright, attractive, and
articulate woman who has captured the interest of the entire country. But
what she does with that remains to be seen.
Okay. They saw a substantive agenda from the First Lady as doable. That was a start.
Now she just needed to find an issue. And it would be so nice to see her name in the
paper, just once, without being linked to Josh. Speak of the devil and he appears.
“Hey, are you ready to go?” Josh asked her as he walked into her office unannounced.
Josh had walk in privileges in her office just as she had in his; unless it was a security
clearance issue.
“Just about. I’m surprised you’re ready to go. It’s barely seven.” Donna noted consulting
her watch and packing up some of her things.
“The President left for the residence a few minutes ago and I don’t have anything to do
here that I couldn’t accomplish at home. I say, we order in some Chinese and kick back
tonight.”
“That sounds perfect.” Donna agreed. They chatted about their respective days as
Josh’s agent drove them home. Josh gave an abbreviated version of his senior staff
meeting; thinking Donna didn’t need to hear about how abrasive and combative Amy
had been. Donna gave him an abbreviated version of the press reports; thinking he
didn’t need to get his blood pressure up over some of the innuendo that had been
printed about them.
“I would like to point out that you said you didn’t want ANY egg rolls, and yet you’ve
eaten one and are now trying to steal the second one off my plate.” Josh complained.
“Baby, I’m just looking out for you.” Donna explained. “The fried egg rolls really aren’t
any good for you.”
“You’re too good to me, really.” Josh drawled. “Hey, Sam got Keating off the fence. The
ed bill is going to get voted out of the committee this week.”
“That’s awesome!” Donna kissed his cheek. “The President must be thrilled.”
“He’s riding pretty high on this.” Josh agreed. “We think if we can come out strong and
roll this through Congress quickly it going to pick up some momentum for us on other
issues.” Josh chuckled. “The President has a laundry list and I’m having trouble getting
him to focus on the top three.”
“Tell me about it.” Donna replied. “We’re getting hit from all sides by groups that want
Mrs. Santos to support their cause or be their spokesperson. We’ll be wading through
this stuff for the entire first term.”
Josh smiled at her ‘first term’ phrase, implying that a second term was a foregone
conclusion. Josh popped the last of his Kung Pao chicken in his mouth and stood up to
throw the cardboard containers away while Donna polished off the egg roll. When he
returned to sit next to her on the floor of their living room again she surprised him by
giving him the last bite.
“Let’s put work away for now.” She suggested. “We don’t need to be in the White House
until noon. I say we stay up late for reasons unrelated to work.” President Santos had
laid down the law about working on Saturdays. He didn’t want his staff in before noon
unless there was an emergency of some kind. Josh thought that schedule was
unrealistic but he was willing to go along with it for now and at the moment, when Donna
was crawling onto his lap to straddle him, he decided he was a proponent of the
schedule.
“Oh, I don’t know…I have a couple riveting reports that I should get to.” Josh pointed
out while simultaneously slipping his hands under her shirt to pull it over her head in
one smooth move.
“Oh, well, if you have important work to finish, I completely understand.” Donna
explained while she removed his shirt. Josh reached back to undo her bra, but she
stopped him by laying her hand over his on top of the bras strap.
“What?” Josh look perplexed.
“Not here.” Donna whispered, her eyes moving significantly to the front door and back
to him again.
Josh’s head dropped back onto the couch he was sitting against. “Donna, they can’t
hear anything outside the door.” He tried to undo the bra again, but she covered his
hand again and shook her head. “You’ve got to be kidding me here! We’re not going to
have sex in my living room because there’s a Secret Service agent outside my door?
Does this mean no kitchen sex either?”
“I am not having sex 50 feet from where your agent is standing.” Donna remained
steadfast.
“Hey, you’re the one who started this in the living room and can I just add that he may
be fifty feet away but the fifty feet lead to the OUTSIDE of our place not the inside.”
Donna smiled at his ‘our place’ and rewarded him with another kiss for it, which Josh
misinterpreted as permission to continue where they were currently seated. But Donna
quickly disabused him of that notion and stood up. “In the bedroom.” She whispered
urgently.
“Ah-kay.” Josh got up easily. He was in desperate need of Donnatella Moss and he
wasn’t going to let a little thing like location stand in the way. He took her hand to lead
her back into the bedroom with him but called out loudly. “Okay, let’s go back to the
bedroom, Donna, but only to sleep. No hot steamy sex for you, woman. I’m not that kind
of guy!”
Donna smacked him upside the head with her free hand. “You ass!”
“You prude!” He shot back. “You think they don’t know we have sex?”
“I prefer not to think about whether or not THEY think about us having sex in here.”
Donna replied. “You know why? Because when I think about them thinking about us, it
makes me self-conscious and when I’m self-conscious, I’m very unlikely to have sex of
any kind with anyone anywhere.”
Josh though about the implications of the long winded speech. “Right. It’s just us here,
babe.”
He picked her up and gently tossed her on the bed before joining her there. What
began as playful soon turned passionate and desperate. Their bodies were already
moving to a rhythm that was theirs alone. Josh knew instinctively where and how to
touch her and Donna’s open response to him brought Josh to new levels of desire.
When Donna quickly reached her climax, it brought Josh over the edge as well. The two
of them, exhausted from their effort, collapsed together in the middle of the bed. Their
comforter had ended up on the floor despite the chill in the air.
“You were kind of loud there, Donnatella. I bet Jack heard you despite the fact that we
moved our little show into the bedroom.”
“What did I tell you about being self-conscious?” Donna asked.
“I heard you, but we’ve already had sex now, so I can tease.” Josh replied with a quick
kiss before leaning over to pull the comforter off the floor for them. Donna took the
opportunity that presented itself and pushed him onto the floor where he landed on his
head with a thud.
“That hurt.” He muttered.
“I’m sorry, Joshua. But as least you landed on your head, so we know you didn’t injure
anything important.” Donna cooed.
“Ha. Ha.” Josh quipped as he got back into bed with the comforter and covered them
both with it. “I’ll have you know, that this brain,” he said tapping his forehead with his
finger. “Is going to get the President’s education reform bill through Congress in record
time.”
“Uh-huh.” Donna placated him. “You da man.”
“I know you’re mocking me right now, but I’m too tired and sexually satisfied to care.”
“Then you bring it up because…”
“Just to let you know I’m aware.”
“Got it.” Donna replied.
“We’re going to get things done this time Donna; right out of the gate. It’s not going to
be like when Hoynes weakened us at the beginning of Bartlet’s first term.” Josh noted.
“We’re making important changes in the West wing in the President’s first hundred
days.”
“Just so you understand we’ll be making some important changes in the East wing as
well.” Donna pointed out.
“Sure…” was the last thing Josh said before he fell asleep; leaving Donna to wonder if
he really meant it.
*************************************************
“Donna? Have you got a minute?” Deb asked.
“Yes, we’re all finished here. Thanks everyone.” Donna dismissed her staff. “What’s up
Deb?”
“I just got a call from Senator Lee’s office. He’s wondering if you could make time for him
this afternoon.”
“Senator Lee? From California, right?” Donna confirmed and Deb nodded. “Sure, I can
make time for him, but did he say what it was about?”
“His assistant said he wanted to discuss the First Lady’s agenda with you.” Deb
shrugged.
“What agenda?” Donna quipped. “Call them back and give them an appointment at 4.”
“You got it.” Deb agreed. But all day long the exchange was on Donna’s mind. What
could the junior Senator from California possible want from her…or the First Lady? So
when Donna brought lunch to Josh’s office so they could eat together, she decided to
do a little reconnaissance.
“What do you know about Senator Lee?”
“Blowhard from California, serving his second term after a squeaker of an election. He’s
unmarried and 38 years old. He started in the State assembly there and made a name
for himself in the immigration fight.”
“All of which I already got from a Google search.” Donna replied. “What do you know
about him?”
“We…had a run in or two during the campaign. He likes to triangulate people; divide
and conquer. He works very well with the media. You know the expression; the most
dangerous place to be is between Senator Michael Lee and a camera.”
“What were your run ins about?” Donna asked.
“The driver’s license bill that was on the Governor’s desk. He wanted Santos to come
out against it and I was in his way on that. Then after the Governor’s veto he got all
pissy because he wasn’t invited as part of the press conference to announce it.” Josh
paused. “Why?”
“His name was on my call sheet.” Donna told a half truth. “I just wanted to know who I
was dealing with.”
“He’s not someone I’d call a friend, or even friendly, I guess. But he is a Democrat in the
Senate, so try not to piss him off about anything. We’ll need his vote coming up here.
You can pass it over to Lou’s office if you want.” Josh offered.
“I think I can handle a conversation with the Senator, Josh.”
“I didn’t mean it like that.” Josh was quick to point out.
“Sam seemed pretty stressed the other day when I stopped by.”
“He just needs to work out a system.”
“A system?”
“A way to get things done. An approach to wrangling votes…I mean members of
Congress, course.”
“Of course.” Donna agreed. “And your method of going to the hill and threatening
bodily injury or basically scaring the hell out them won’t work for Sam?”
Josh shook his head. “Won’t work for him. He’s too pretty. He needs to develop his own
style and he just hasn’t found it yet.”
“But you’re supporting him right?”
“Supporting him?” Josh repeated laughing. “What the hell, Donna? We’re the Executive
branch of the Federal Government not AA or something.”
“I’m not accusing you of being a girl or something else equally distasteful. I’m just
saying-“
“Can I state for the record that I do not find girls in any way distasteful?”
“Good for you Josh.” Donna replied. “But in the meantime, your friend and Deputy is
struggling in his new job and it might help him, not to mention you and the President, if
you gave him some advice and encouragement instead of just ordering him ‘get the job
done’.”
“That’s always what Leo did with me.” Josh protested.
“You are not Leo and Sam is not you.”
“Thank you, Donnatella Moss, Master of the obvious.” Josh teased while he took
another bite of lunch.
“Fine, but the longer it takes Sam to magically discover the secret to being Deputy
Chief of Staff, the longer it’s going to take for you to push the President’s agenda
through.” Donna shrugged.
Josh considered this for a minute. “Okay, I see your point, but…”
“But what?”
“I’m not good at the mentor thing. I’ve just always gone with my instincts.”
“And they’re good ones. But you’re forgetting how you do your homework.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“You have some of the greatest political instincts of anybody, but your people skills,
though they’ve improved over the years, suck. What you do, is your homework. You, or
your valuable assistant, learn everything you can about the issue, the candidate, the
bill…whatever! Then you use that knowledge, combine it with your instincts and make
things happen. You need to show Sam how you do that.”
“But-“
“No, he’s not you and your way may not work for him but it will give him a starting point
and he’ll feel like he’s working with you instead of letting you down.”
“He knows this job. He watched me do it for years.”
“Yes, and you watched him write speeches for years. Are you ready to write the
President’s next address?” Donna replied.
“That job requires specific skills.”
“So does Deputy COS.”
They were abruptly interrupted by President Santos himself as he walked through the
door that connected Josh’s office with the Oval.
“Josh I- Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize you and Donna were having lunch.” The President
apologized while Josh and Donna rose to their feet.
“That’s no problem, Mr. President. Did you need something?”
“Nothing that can’t wait until after your lunch. How are you doing, Donna?”
“Fine, thank you, sir.”
“Helen tells me she’d be lost without you on the other side of the building.”
“I’m lost without her on THIS side of the building.” Josh muttered and President Santos
pretended not to hear.
“The First Lady is a force to be reckoned with, sir.”
“All women are, in my opinion.” President Santos added with a smile. “One such woman
just dropped this on my desk a little bit ago.” The President handed Josh a piece of
paper.
Josh’s expression grew grim as he read it. “I’ll deal with this, sir. It won’t happen again.”
“Please. I don’t want anything slowing the momentum on Education reform.” The
President reiterated. “Finish you lunch. I’m sorry I interrupted. Thanks for all your hard
work, Donna.” He called over his shoulder before he shut the connecting door again.
Donna smiled.
“What?”
“I was just thinking about what you said before…location, location, location.”
“Right. Next time we have lunch in your office.”
“You got it…and if you want to bring 50 or so friends to join us they can come along
because I have plenty of space.” Donna tossed her trash in the can next to the desk
and gave him a kiss before she let him get back to work. Whatever the President had
given him had not put Josh in a good moor. “I’m leaving early today so I’m going to walk
home.”
“You’re leaving early?” Josh pouted.
“By early I mean around 6. I don’t work for a slave driver anymore. See you at home.”
