A Friend in Deed
Chapter 10:
Ben sauntered over to Donna's desk convinced that he had done his
good deed for the day.
"Hello, beautiful. Ready for lunch?"
"Let me tell Josh you're here." Donna gave him a non-answer as she
rose to knock on Josh's door. It had been closed since he got back
from the Hill, and that disturbed her.
"Josh, Ben is here for lunch." She told him.
"I'm pretty tied up here. You two go ahead." He replied without even
looking up.
"Come on, Lyman. It's your favorite kind of lunch…free!" Ben
interjected from behind Donna.
"Thanks, but I can't. Maybe you could bring something back for me?"
"Sure, no problem. Come on, Donna. Let the man get back to work."
"Maybe I should stay, too. Josh is hopeless about finding things he
needs." Donna hesitated.
"I think Josh can take care of himself for an hour. I watched him
very carefully at Harvard and I know he's got hidden depths." Ben
reassured her. "Tell her it's fine to go, Josh."
"It's fine to go Donna. It's really fine." He finally met her eyes
and Donna saw the resignation in them. She nodded and left with Ben
without another word. Josh tried to concentrate on what he was
reading, but in the end he had to turn and look out his window as Ben
and Donna walked away from the White House together.
Nearly an hour later, one of the interns from human resources knocked
on his door.
"Whatever that is, give it to Donna, will you?" He requested, barely
sparing the intern a glance.
"Which one is Donna?" the intern asked.
"She's right outside my- never mind, I forgot she's at lunch. I'll
take it."
When he glanced at the inter-office mail he noticed it was for Donna
from human resources. What the hell? Without giving a thought to the
ethical line he was crossing, he opened the envelope and stared in
disbelief at the paper inside.
It stated that the request for Donna's transfer to the Chief of
Staff's office had been approved and was effective immediately. It
had even been signed by Leo!
`Okay,' he thought, `I know things have been tense and awkward
lately, but to request a transfer without even talking to me about
it?'
Josh sank back in his chair as the reality of the situation hit him.
After a few minutes, he got up and carefully placed the transfer
request on Donna's desk and went out in search of Sam. Sam would know
what to do.
Ben had a meeting at his new law office directly after lunch, so
Donna walked back to the White House alone. She noticed Josh's door
was open, that was a good sign, but as she drew closer she saw it was
empty. Maybe he left her a note about his whereabouts on her desk.
There was a piece of paper, but when she picked it up and read it she
literally dropped into her chair. She was being transferred? Josh
requested that she be transferred and it was effective immediately?
She launched out of her chair and bolted down the hall to Leo's
office.
"Margaret, can I see Leo a minute?"
"I'm sorry, Donna, he's in the Oval. Should I call you when he's
done? Is everything okay?"
"Yes, I mean no…I'm not feeling well and I need to go home. I don't
know where Josh is and I need to go home. Will you please tell one or
both of them I went home sick?"
"Sure, but are you okay to drive?"
"I think so, yes. Thanks Margaret."
Donna paused only a moment at her desk to retrieve her purse and then
she practically ran to her car. Once inside her vehicle, she started
to cry. She kept it together until she got inside her apartment, but
then the sobs overtook her. It was going to be a long weekend.
Sam walked up the stairs with Josh. Josh was visibly upset, and
although Sam kept assuring Josh there must be some kind of
explanation, Sam couldn't figure out what it was. He did convince
Josh to go with him to talk to Leo, though, so that's where they were
headed now.
The two men literally ran into Leo outside the Oval office just as
Leo was coming out.
"Just the guy I was looking for." Leo motioned to Josh. "I tried to
find you earlier, but you were still on the Hill. I made a decision
you may not like at first, but I want you to hear me out and think
about all the implications before you over-react."
"How the hell could you transfer Donna without talking to me first?!"
Josh burst out loudly.
"How did you find out already? I literally signed the paperwork like
30 minutes ago?"
"Can we skip past the part where you are amazed that I found out so
quickly and go back to the part where I am amazed you did this behind
my back?" Josh was getting seriously unhinged.
"Josh, calm down." Sam began. "Let Leo explain."
"What possible explanation could he have? What crazy ass reason could
he possibly give for stabbing me in the back like this? Why would he
think that once I `thought out the implications' I would be okay with
Donna requesting this transfer?" Josh was completely round the bend
now.
"Josh!" Sam tried to bring him back.
"Donna didn't request any transfer Josh." Leo explained. "It was
completely my idea. Or mine and Ben Abrahms." Josh looked
bewildered. "Let's go into my office and discuss the rest of this
privately, shall we?" Leo led the way to his office.
"Leo, Josh, I need to tell you-" Margaret started.
"Not now, Margaret." Leo held up a hand to her.
"But-"
"Just five minutes Margaret, and then you can fill me in on whatever
it is." Leo slammed the door shut as soon as Sam and Josh cleared the
doorway.
"First of all," Leo hit Josh up the back of his head with the file
folder he was holding. "Don't ever speak to me that way in front of
people again." Leo fixed him with a glare, Josh nodded reluctantly.
"I'm sorry, boss, I just- this just blind sided me, that's all." Josh
took a seat next to Sam.
"That's my fault. I should have talked to you before I signed off on
the paperwork. NOT that it would've changed my mind, but at least you
wouldn't have been taken by surprise." Leo admitted. "Now let me say
again, now that I feel you can actually hear me; Donna did NOT
request the transfer. It was my idea."
"Why Leo? We worked out our problem. Things were going just great
between us again."
"Were they really, Josh?" Leo probed. "`Cause I got to tell you it
didn't look like it from where I'm sitting."
"Your friend Ben Abrahms came in today; about the associate counsel
position? We got to talking and some of his comments made me realize
that you might be in a difficult position with Donna reporting
directly to you. He also mentioned how much Donna enjoyed the
challenge of some of the extra projects I've asked her to take on.
After giving it a little thought, I figured out I could get two birds
with one stone. Donna could get a promotion she has earned, and you
could benefit from not having her as a direct report to you." Leo
paused and waited to se if Josh understood what he was getting at.
Leo could tell from the beginnings of a smile on Sam's face that he
was already there.
"I need her in my office, Leo." Josh objected.
"Oh, I believe you need her, Josh, just not necessarily in your
office." Leo responded. "As research assistant to the Chief of
Staffs' office, she will report directly to me, but I would assume
that in that position, she would need to work closely with my deputy
on various assignments."
Josh absorbed this information with growing interest. "You mean, we
could still work together, but she would have added responsibilities
and report directly to you." He clarified.
"Exactly."
"See, I told you there was a logical explanation, Josh." Sam
beamed. "Why don't you go tell Donna about it now, before the rumor
mill gets a hold of this and SHE misunderstands the transfer thing?"
"Yeah, I'd hate for her to hear about it before we had a chance to
tell her why I did it." Leo commented.
"Oh, shit." Josh exclaimed. "The paper! The transfer paper. That's
how I found out about it. I left it on her desk." Josh was losing it
again.
"Go and get it before something bad happens." Leo ordered and Josh
dashed out of his chair and into Margaret's office where she stopped
him dead in his tracks.
"Not now, Margaret. I have to find Donna." Josh told her.
"That's what I'm trying to tell you, Josh. Donna went home sick."
"Sick? What are you talking about? She was fine an hour ago."
"Well she didn't look good a few minutes ago when she came to see
Leo. She was pale and shaking and her eyes looked glassy. She said to
tell you and Leo that she was going home." Margaret reported.
"Damn, she must have seen the transfer order. Leo I need to go talk
to her." Josh implored.
"We've got two many irons in the fire this afternoon, Josh, I need
you here. Try to call her. Otherwise you'll need to wait until we're
done for the day."
"Leo!" Josh protested.
"I know, and I'm sorry, but the President needs you here until after
the meeting with Hardin." Leo apologized. "Understand?"
"Yeah." Josh answered resignedly as he walked back to his office to
try to call Donna.
Three hours later, as he went into the final meeting of the day, he
was frustrated by his inability to reach Donna. Figuring she was
employing caller ID, he gave up trying to call her himself, and
instead convinced Sam, CJ, and even Toby to try to contact her, but
they had no success. Donnatella Moss was unavailable.
Epilogue