August 2005
“Go get in the game, Donna.” That’s what he told me, so that’s what I did. Lou is a riot and she
has almost as much fun giving Josh shit as I do. We bonded immediately. Lou and Ronna and
Annabeth have formed the Sisterhood part deux.
“How are we on the answer about the fence?” Lou asks.
“Josh is editing it.” Annabeth responds and everyone groans.
“Donna, go rip it out of his fingers and explain that the questions are all locked now.” Lou
directs.
“Why me?” I demand.
“He’s less likely to hurt you.” Lou answers.
“How do you figure that?” I shout after her. She exchanges
a look with Annabeth who exchanges a look with Ronna. “What?”
“Nothing.” Ronna replies but cracks a grin with Annabeth.
“What?” I ask again.
“Nothing. If you want to keep private things private that’s fine with me.” Lou tells me. “Nothing I
hate more than having to pretend to be interested in someone else’s love life.”
“Love life?” I sputter. “I don’t have time for a love life. Or a person to have a love life with.”
“Okay.” Ronna nods agreeably which fails to make me more agreeable.
“No, seriously. Who do you think I’m involved with?”
“Who do you spend most of your time with?” Annabeth counters.
That’s when the shoe drops. “NO!” I protest loudly. “No, no, no, no , nooooo.” I don’t know
what else to say so I add another “no” for good measure.
“Look, I don’t lean in that particular direction, but I can see the attraction. He’s cute if you’re
into that driven ball of energy with dimples kind of guy.” Ronna placates me.
“You don’t lean…you mean you’re…” I trail off unsure how to continue.
“Gay? Yes.” She admits and I sputter out a laugh. All three women turn to stare at me.
“No, no, I don’t mean that.” I hasten to add. “It’s just after I first met you, I saw you in a bar with
Josh one night and I thought maybe the two of you were…involved.” I explain.
Now all of us go into gales of laughter. So naturally that’s when Josh appears. We fall
immediately silent. He looks at us suspiciously but launches right into his problem with our
answer on building a fence in response to immigration issues.
“…so I’d like you to change the last two sentences to reflect that, okay?” Josh asks and hands
the paper to me. I get an encouraging nod from Ronna and a smirk from Annabeth.
“No.” I stand tall with my arms crossed.
“Excuse me?” Both his eyebrows go up along with the pitch of his voice.
“We’ve decided the answers are locked and we’re not making any more changes.” I tell him.
“Ummm…who is ‘we’ and who is the campaign manager here?”
“The Sisterhood has made an executive decision. The Campaign Manager title? More of a
ceremonial thing.” I report. Josh moaned as soon as he heard the ‘sisterhood’ line.
“You know, I really thought one of the advantages of not having CJ on this campaign was that I
wouldn’t hear any more sisterhood tripe.” Josh drawls.
“Tripe?” Lou repeats and stands shoulder to shoulder with me.
“That really doesn’t sound very professional.” Ronna adds while Annabeth flanks us on the
other side. Josh’s eyes get very wide and takes a step or two backwards.
“I meant that in this context, the sisterhood, who certainly has strength in numbers if nothing
else, really aren’t in a position to make this kind of call.” Josh backpeddles.
“We think we do.” Lou counters. “Now go back into your office like a good boy and play with
your dry erase board.”
“But-“ Josh protests.
“I think it would be best, Joshua. I’ll have an intern bring you a burnt burger.” I placate him.
He looks at me strangely, then turns to go.
“…and a salad.” I add on with a wicked grin.
“Donna…” he whines.
“We’re going into a Presidential debate and you’re already exhausted. You will, at the very
least, get some decent food.”
“Fine.” He pouts and I melt a bit. I love his pout. Once he’s cleared the area my three
compadres turn on me like rabid dogs.
“He totally does whatever you tell him to.” Ronna is the first to note.
“Right.” I scoff, thinking about our initial job interview.
“And he looks at you during meetings when you’re not looking in his direction.” Annabeth adds
.
“This is all true, but the clincher is how you two finish each others’ sentences.” Lou added with
an eye roll. “It’s disgustingly sweet how you share food too.”
“That doesn’t mean that-“
“Oh, my God.” Annabeth hits me on the arm. “You seriously aren’t involved?”
“This is what I’ve been trying to tell you!” I say in exasperation.
“Guys,” Annabeth gets the attention of the other two. “Is it possible that two grown adults who’
ve been around one another for years are ignorant of the fact that they’re in love with each
other?”
“No, way.” Ronna decides. “It’s just to obvious.”
Lou is giving me a contemplative look. “Lyman is a Fullbright Scholar, but I never thought that
his IQ actually translated to the personal social arena. But Donna? Are you honestly saying
you don’t know that he’s in love with you and vice versa?”
I hem and haw a bit. “What I am honestly telling you, is that we have never been romantically
involved.” I assert.
“That’s not what I heard.” Annabeth sing-songs.
“Annabeth!” I look at her in horror, but she’s already turned to Lou and Ronna in a
conspiratorial air.
“When Donna was involved in the bombing in Gaza, Josh was in such a rush to get to her, that
he left the country with only his backpack and the clothes on his back. And that was in the
middle of an international crisis!” Annabeth continues.
“That’s the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard.” Ronna exclaims with her hands crossed over
her heart.
“We’re very close friends.” I argue.
“Keep it that way. We don’t need anything else distracting the press from the candidate and
the debate.” Lou admonishes and I nod agreeably.
“I don’t know. How often does love like that come along?” Ronna wonders aloud.
“Hardly ever.” Annabeth answers with a dreamy smile on her face too.
“Oh, brother.” Lou leaves us on that note.
************************************************
“Your burger, sir.” I present it with a flourish and his lips twitch.
“Did you come to see if I was eating my salad?”
“Of course you’re eating your salad. I have your mother on speed dial and you know that I
have no trouble using it.” I hand him the ketchup without him having to ask for it. “The intern
you sent the hamburger back with was pretty shaken.” I mention casually.
“It wasn’t burnt!” He protests and passes me his beer bottle to take a sip. “I mean maybe a little
around the edges, a very little, but I made it crystal clear that I wanted it burned completely
through. What the hell?”
“That’s certainly a mortal sin, Joshua, but maybe you could relay your dissatisfaction and your
request for a different burger in a more tactful way.”
“You know I’m not good at that.” He scoffs as if this excuses his behavior.
“Yes, you are; when you choose to be.” I continue and snatch a few of his fries.
“I’ll apologize.” He whines. “But I WAS very clear in the first place, Donna.”
“I’m sure you were.” I pat his head and he smiles at me. I turn to leave but he calls me back.
“Say…I got an interesting fax from the White House today.”
“You did? About what?”
“There’s this guy who did an unauthorized biography of me awhile back and someone sent him
a letter to take him to task about his treatment of me in the book. He sent it on to the White
House to get permission to publish it in the next addition of the book and the White House sent
a copy to me asking if I knew who would possibly communicate with this scumbag.”
“Must be someone green to do something like that.” I reply, my heart pounding.
“No, it couldn’t be. The author related that they had been a firsthand witness to some of the
events in the book; from the Secret Plan to Fight Inflation, to the Government shutdown.”
“I never wrote anything about the Secret Plan-“ I protest only to realize I walked right into that
one. His mouth is grinning so widely, I briefly consider shoving some of the burnt burger in it.
“Whatever possessed you to-“
“He pissed me off, okay? He had this superior air like he actually knew you and then he made
those scurrilous accusations about us and I realized that those rumors were probably part of
the reason you didn’t want to hire me again. It made me so angry that I just HAD to write to
him.” I’m yelling now, so Josh stands up to put his hands on my arms and gives me a ‘shhhhhh’.
“It’s okay. It was really very sweet. And I have to say, I didn’t know if you still thought that way
about me anymore. It made me feel very good.”
He’s taking a risk so I decide I will too. “You’re a very good, albeit slightly deluded man. I’m
very proud of you; personally and professionally.”
He takes a step closer to me and his pupils dilate at the expression on my face.
“Donna? Lou needs to go over your statement before your next briefing.” Ronna tells me from
the doorway while Josh and I break apart.
“Thanks, Ronna.” I tell her with what I’m sure looks like a tight expression on my face. Ronna,
damn her, is smirking now.
“Go get in the game, Donna.” That’s what he told me, so that’s what I did. Lou is a riot and she
has almost as much fun giving Josh shit as I do. We bonded immediately. Lou and Ronna and
Annabeth have formed the Sisterhood part deux.
“How are we on the answer about the fence?” Lou asks.
“Josh is editing it.” Annabeth responds and everyone groans.
“Donna, go rip it out of his fingers and explain that the questions are all locked now.” Lou
directs.
“Why me?” I demand.
“He’s less likely to hurt you.” Lou answers.
“How do you figure that?” I shout after her. She exchanges
a look with Annabeth who exchanges a look with Ronna. “What?”
“Nothing.” Ronna replies but cracks a grin with Annabeth.
“What?” I ask again.
“Nothing. If you want to keep private things private that’s fine with me.” Lou tells me. “Nothing I
hate more than having to pretend to be interested in someone else’s love life.”
“Love life?” I sputter. “I don’t have time for a love life. Or a person to have a love life with.”
“Okay.” Ronna nods agreeably which fails to make me more agreeable.
“No, seriously. Who do you think I’m involved with?”
“Who do you spend most of your time with?” Annabeth counters.
That’s when the shoe drops. “NO!” I protest loudly. “No, no, no, no , nooooo.” I don’t know
what else to say so I add another “no” for good measure.
“Look, I don’t lean in that particular direction, but I can see the attraction. He’s cute if you’re
into that driven ball of energy with dimples kind of guy.” Ronna placates me.
“You don’t lean…you mean you’re…” I trail off unsure how to continue.
“Gay? Yes.” She admits and I sputter out a laugh. All three women turn to stare at me.
“No, no, I don’t mean that.” I hasten to add. “It’s just after I first met you, I saw you in a bar with
Josh one night and I thought maybe the two of you were…involved.” I explain.
Now all of us go into gales of laughter. So naturally that’s when Josh appears. We fall
immediately silent. He looks at us suspiciously but launches right into his problem with our
answer on building a fence in response to immigration issues.
“…so I’d like you to change the last two sentences to reflect that, okay?” Josh asks and hands
the paper to me. I get an encouraging nod from Ronna and a smirk from Annabeth.
“No.” I stand tall with my arms crossed.
“Excuse me?” Both his eyebrows go up along with the pitch of his voice.
“We’ve decided the answers are locked and we’re not making any more changes.” I tell him.
“Ummm…who is ‘we’ and who is the campaign manager here?”
“The Sisterhood has made an executive decision. The Campaign Manager title? More of a
ceremonial thing.” I report. Josh moaned as soon as he heard the ‘sisterhood’ line.
“You know, I really thought one of the advantages of not having CJ on this campaign was that I
wouldn’t hear any more sisterhood tripe.” Josh drawls.
“Tripe?” Lou repeats and stands shoulder to shoulder with me.
“That really doesn’t sound very professional.” Ronna adds while Annabeth flanks us on the
other side. Josh’s eyes get very wide and takes a step or two backwards.
“I meant that in this context, the sisterhood, who certainly has strength in numbers if nothing
else, really aren’t in a position to make this kind of call.” Josh backpeddles.
“We think we do.” Lou counters. “Now go back into your office like a good boy and play with
your dry erase board.”
“But-“ Josh protests.
“I think it would be best, Joshua. I’ll have an intern bring you a burnt burger.” I placate him.
He looks at me strangely, then turns to go.
“…and a salad.” I add on with a wicked grin.
“Donna…” he whines.
“We’re going into a Presidential debate and you’re already exhausted. You will, at the very
least, get some decent food.”
“Fine.” He pouts and I melt a bit. I love his pout. Once he’s cleared the area my three
compadres turn on me like rabid dogs.
“He totally does whatever you tell him to.” Ronna is the first to note.
“Right.” I scoff, thinking about our initial job interview.
“And he looks at you during meetings when you’re not looking in his direction.” Annabeth adds
.
“This is all true, but the clincher is how you two finish each others’ sentences.” Lou added with
an eye roll. “It’s disgustingly sweet how you share food too.”
“That doesn’t mean that-“
“Oh, my God.” Annabeth hits me on the arm. “You seriously aren’t involved?”
“This is what I’ve been trying to tell you!” I say in exasperation.
“Guys,” Annabeth gets the attention of the other two. “Is it possible that two grown adults who’
ve been around one another for years are ignorant of the fact that they’re in love with each
other?”
“No, way.” Ronna decides. “It’s just to obvious.”
Lou is giving me a contemplative look. “Lyman is a Fullbright Scholar, but I never thought that
his IQ actually translated to the personal social arena. But Donna? Are you honestly saying
you don’t know that he’s in love with you and vice versa?”
I hem and haw a bit. “What I am honestly telling you, is that we have never been romantically
involved.” I assert.
“That’s not what I heard.” Annabeth sing-songs.
“Annabeth!” I look at her in horror, but she’s already turned to Lou and Ronna in a
conspiratorial air.
“When Donna was involved in the bombing in Gaza, Josh was in such a rush to get to her, that
he left the country with only his backpack and the clothes on his back. And that was in the
middle of an international crisis!” Annabeth continues.
“That’s the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard.” Ronna exclaims with her hands crossed over
her heart.
“We’re very close friends.” I argue.
“Keep it that way. We don’t need anything else distracting the press from the candidate and
the debate.” Lou admonishes and I nod agreeably.
“I don’t know. How often does love like that come along?” Ronna wonders aloud.
“Hardly ever.” Annabeth answers with a dreamy smile on her face too.
“Oh, brother.” Lou leaves us on that note.
************************************************
“Your burger, sir.” I present it with a flourish and his lips twitch.
“Did you come to see if I was eating my salad?”
“Of course you’re eating your salad. I have your mother on speed dial and you know that I
have no trouble using it.” I hand him the ketchup without him having to ask for it. “The intern
you sent the hamburger back with was pretty shaken.” I mention casually.
“It wasn’t burnt!” He protests and passes me his beer bottle to take a sip. “I mean maybe a little
around the edges, a very little, but I made it crystal clear that I wanted it burned completely
through. What the hell?”
“That’s certainly a mortal sin, Joshua, but maybe you could relay your dissatisfaction and your
request for a different burger in a more tactful way.”
“You know I’m not good at that.” He scoffs as if this excuses his behavior.
“Yes, you are; when you choose to be.” I continue and snatch a few of his fries.
“I’ll apologize.” He whines. “But I WAS very clear in the first place, Donna.”
“I’m sure you were.” I pat his head and he smiles at me. I turn to leave but he calls me back.
“Say…I got an interesting fax from the White House today.”
“You did? About what?”
“There’s this guy who did an unauthorized biography of me awhile back and someone sent him
a letter to take him to task about his treatment of me in the book. He sent it on to the White
House to get permission to publish it in the next addition of the book and the White House sent
a copy to me asking if I knew who would possibly communicate with this scumbag.”
“Must be someone green to do something like that.” I reply, my heart pounding.
“No, it couldn’t be. The author related that they had been a firsthand witness to some of the
events in the book; from the Secret Plan to Fight Inflation, to the Government shutdown.”
“I never wrote anything about the Secret Plan-“ I protest only to realize I walked right into that
one. His mouth is grinning so widely, I briefly consider shoving some of the burnt burger in it.
“Whatever possessed you to-“
“He pissed me off, okay? He had this superior air like he actually knew you and then he made
those scurrilous accusations about us and I realized that those rumors were probably part of
the reason you didn’t want to hire me again. It made me so angry that I just HAD to write to
him.” I’m yelling now, so Josh stands up to put his hands on my arms and gives me a ‘shhhhhh’.
“It’s okay. It was really very sweet. And I have to say, I didn’t know if you still thought that way
about me anymore. It made me feel very good.”
He’s taking a risk so I decide I will too. “You’re a very good, albeit slightly deluded man. I’m
very proud of you; personally and professionally.”
He takes a step closer to me and his pupils dilate at the expression on my face.
“Donna? Lou needs to go over your statement before your next briefing.” Ronna tells me from
the doorway while Josh and I break apart.
“Thanks, Ronna.” I tell her with what I’m sure looks like a tight expression on my face. Ronna,
damn her, is smirking now.
