Chapter 16
“That appears to be your third.” Toby pointed out.
“Thanks, cause I always had trouble with what comes after 2.” Josh replied sarcastically.
“I’m just guessing here, but you probably shouldn’t have three. You’re supposed to be talking people
out of their hard earned money.”
“I’m doing my job. My pockets are filled with checks.” Josh told him.
“Oh-kay.” Since Toby couldn’t talk him out of the third drink, he would at least stand by in case some
trouble ensued as a result of the third drink. Toby noticed his friend was unusually tense this evening.
At the moment, Josh seemed to be staring over his shoulder, so Toby turned to see what got his
attention. Rose was glad handing the big dollar donors and getting more formal pictures taken by
their staff photographer.
“I’m guessing she’s getting a few checks too.” Toby muttered.
“She seems to get what she’s after.” Josh replied. “What do you think of her?”
“She’s a shark.” Toby replied without any hesitation.
“Maybe this campaign needs a shark.”
“Is she after you?” Toby asked and Josh spit out part of his drink.
“The hell?”
“You said she gets what she’s after. She’s spending an inordinate amount of time with you, so I asked
if she’s after you.”
“That’s insulting, Toby.”
“To whom? You or her?” Toby asked rhetorically. “She’s getting the job done.”
“Is she?” Josh asked rhetorically. “Just which job are you referring to?”
Toby was about to reply when Billy walked quickly over to them. “Obi-wan, we might have a thing.”
“What kind of a thing?”
“There’s a rumor floating around…” He began.
“About what?!” Josh snapped and Toby’s eyebrows winged up.
“Our media strategist.” Billy coughed up. “She’s been using her rather high profile here to market
herself up a rung or two.”
“With. Who?” Josh demanded.
“I’m pretty sure that should be with ‘whom’?” Toby corrected and Josh rolled his eyes at the
speechwriter’s editing.
“She’s pedaling a political cable show. Hence all the on-air work she’s been doing these past 2
weeks.”
“Uh-huh.” Toby commented.
“That’s not all.” Billy revealed. “She’s promising an exclusive with former President Bartlet”
“How do you know this?” Josh inquired.
“People like me. They tell me things.” Billy answered. “Apparently she believes working the campaign
swing with President Bartlet and Sam will get her an all access pass.”
“She will soon be disabused of that notion.” Josh predicted and took two steps toward her, when Toby
grabbed his arm.
“Not here. You don’t want to put on that kind of a show here. It’ll look like the campaign isn’t being
managed well and that’ll be the story.”
“It isn’t being managed well. Maybe you should take over Fred.” Josh muttered.
“I’m not ready for that kind of responsibility.” Billy shook his head ruefully.
“I don’t know; that idea about how to incorporate more military events into the campaign was brilliant.”
Josh looked at Billy closely and could see him squirm.
“About the military events…” Billy trailed off, not sure how to continue.
“Ah-hah!” Josh jumped all over it. “I knew it. SHE gave it to you, didn’t she? And the debate
negotiations? She prep you for that too?!”
“Rose?” Toby guessed.
“No, Donna.” Both Josh and Billy chorused.
“Didn’t you feel any guilt in taking credit for someone else’s ideas?”
“I felt a lot of guilt, but Rose wasn’t passing along Donna’s ideas and Donna didn’t want you to think
she was working on stuff she wasn’t supposed to or getting worked up.” Billy justified.
“So you just lied to me?” Josh’s voice got a little louder and raised an octave.
“I was trying to help!” Billy’s voice rose too. “She’s been miserable without you and it made her feel
good to think she was helping you with this.”
“Now you’re going to lecture me about my wife?”
“Somebody better!” Billy shot back.
“See, the thing is, Josh has had three drinks; which is over his two drink limit.” Toby explained and
both men turned angry stares at him. “I’m just saying…”
“We’ll discuss this later.” Josh told Billy. “Not a word to anyone else for now.”
“Yes, sir.” Billy saluted then took the drink out of Josh’s hand and replaced it with his own bottle of
water before walking away.
“That kid…” Josh motioned toward Billy’s retreating form with the water bottle.
“Reminds me of you.” Toby decided. “He doesn’t seem to have a problem speaking truth to power
either.” Toby noticed Josh was staring at Rose again.
“Donna told me that Rose was filtering out things between us and I accused her of being jealous.”
“Yeah, you’ll be paying for that for awhile.” Toby concluded.
“I don’t know how I screwed this up so badly, Toby. It’s like I have the Midas touch in reverse. The
woman I love most in the world thinks I don’t need her anymore…Maybe it was partly fear of losing her
or the baby.” Josh shook his head, feeling all kinds of a failure. “I swear, I was trying so hard to keep
all the balls in the air and I still ended up dropping all of them.”
“It’s because you don’t have your balance.”
“Excuse me?”
“Donna. She’s your balance. Without her, you keep listing to starboard.”
“Ah-kay.” Josh decided it was simpler to agree, but exchanged his bottle of water for Toby’s whiskey.
**************************************
“Are we almost done?” Ainsley asked between clenched teeth as the photographer took another
photo.
“I’m sure we are.” Sam replied. “How many digital pictures can one memory card hold? 15? 20? It’s
got to be almost over. Many of the guests have left.”
“President and Dr. Bartlet arrive tomorrow. I was thinking it would be nice to get some sleep before
they arrived and I made a fool out of myself in front of them again.”
“You’ve never made a fool out of yourself in front of them!” Sam countered.
“Hello? The bossa nova? Dancing in my office? Peeing in Leo’s closet? Does any of this ring a bell?”
“Well, okay, you’ve made a fool of yourself in front of the President, but Dr. Bartlet wasn’t there for
any of that.” Sam assured her.
“Thanks, Sam, I feel immeasurably better.” Ainsley shook her head. “I need 15 minutes with you
before the Bartlet’s arrive.”
“Only 15 minutes? I feel so cheap.” Sam quipped before Ainsley stepped on his foot with her sharp
heels. “Owww!”
“We have a policy initiative we’d like to speak to you about.”
“Who’s we?” Sam asked.
“My team.” Ainsley replied as Toby joined them.
“You’re not going to want to miss this…” he said as he walked past them. Sam and Ainsley exchanged
puzzled glances, but trusted that Toby was right and followed behind him. Billy hurried to catch up to
the Seaborns.
“Wait for me.” Billy whispered urgently as he caught up to them.
“What’s going on?” Sam asked him.
“If I’m right, we’re doing a little campaign re-structuring.” Billy told them before clasping his hands
together and looking skyward. “Please, God, let me be right.” They walked quickly to the hallway. Josh
was pacing back and forth and Rose was watching him with a foreboding expression.
“…so I thought we should make some changes for the Bartlet visit...” Josh was saying to Rose.
“They arrive tomorrow. What kind of changes are you suggesting? I mean, this whole thing has been
very carefully orchestrated.” Rose explained.
“Yes, perfectly orchestrated, which is why I want you to go to Los Angeles and start advancing that
trip. Fred and I can handle the Bartlet visit.”
“But-“ Rose cut herself off and Josh watched as she struggled to find an argument for staying with the
Bartlets. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why not?” Josh asked innocently. “We’re all set to go, aren’t we?”
“Of course. It’s just that I’ve set up some media contacts along the way and they’re expecting to meet
with me personally. If I don’t show up, they may feel snubbed.”
“I’m sure they’ll get over that once they meet the former President of the United States. President
Bartlet has that effect on people.” Josh pretended to turn away, then turned back to her again. “Oh,
one other thing. We got a 3 point bump among military personnel over the last few weeks.”
“Well then I guess I was wrong about those events on the bases.” Rose shrugged.
“Yeah. It makes me wonder if we’d be up even more if you’d passed on Donna’s ideas about the
bases when she first emailed you.” Rose looked visibly startled. “I knew it wasn’t Sam’s campaign that
had you all fired up, but I did think it was in your best interest to make sure he succeeded so I let that
go. You had contacts and you had experience, so I took a chance. It was obviously a mistake, but one
I can rectify. You’re fired.”
“Wait!” Rose insisted. “I’m doing my job.”
“But it’s not your primary focus. Getting a political issues show on cable is your primary focus. Sam
deserves better than that; from both of us. You’ve been using me and this campaign to bring the
focus on you. That goes against my cardinal rule; we are not the story. I must have been distracted
by something shiny, because I forgot that for awhile. Your biggest mistake though, has been running
interference between me and my wife. Maybe you’d be better off on cable. You can spin media with
the best of them, but your interpersonal skills suck. A campaign can only afford one person like that
on staff and on this campaign, that’s me. Good luck, Rose. I’ll send you your last check.” Josh turned
without another word and left a slack jawed Rose staring after him. Then she noticed the small crowd
gathered nearby.
“Sam, Josh is trying to fire me.” Rose stated. “I can’t believe you’d let him do that after all the hard
work I’ve put into your campaign.”
“Josh is the campaign manager; he makes all the hiring and firing decisions.” Sam replied evenly.
“Even though I wanted to, I didn’t reverse his decision when he hired you, so I’m certainly not going to
interfere with his decision to fire you now.”
Rose’s eyes bugged out.
“Good luck with the cable thing.” Ainsley smiled coldly. “Having done quite a few of them myself, I can
tell you I think you’d be perfect for that medium. Something along the lines of the Taylor Reid show,
perhaps…Sam, let’s go home.”
******************************************
Donna wasn’t sure what had awakened her, but she sat up a bit, disoriented. The room was very dark
so it took her a minute to see Josh’s silhouette sitting in the chair across from the bed.
“Josh? What time is it?”
“Just after 2.” He replied quietly. “Go back to sleep.”
She saw that he had her laptop open. “You had a burning desire to send an email?”
“I really did. I needed to let the rest of the campaign staff know that Rosita Sanchez is no longer
working for us.” Donna blinked. “Now that I see all that you were sending her that she was blowing off,
it makes me want to find her and fire her again.”
“What?”
“All these emails you sent. They’re all here; sorted by issues. You’re very organized, Donna. Then
there’s the internet history. It’s quite illuminating too. You’ve been busy.”
“I needed something to keep me busy and-“ Donna broke off, unwilling to continue.
“And what, Donnatella?” he asked quietly and leaned forward in the chair.
“You wouldn’t listen to me.” Donna whispered. “I tried to tell you how I was feeling, and you wouldn’t
listen to me. You cut me off and it was always ‘Rose this’ and ‘Rose that’. I felt useless; even worse, I
felt like a burden to you. I’ve been an obligation.”
“That’s not true.” Josh said sincerely. “I was scared, Donna. I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared; not
even in Gaza, because now there’s you and the baby, and Ben too. I didn’t want to say or do anything
to upset you. It’s bad enough I dragged you across the country, pregnant, to work on this campaign,
now look what happened.”
“Josh, the doctor told us one has nothing to do with the other.” Donna reminded him.
“She doesn’t know that for sure. Maybe if I’d stayed in D.C. Maybe if I’d cut back your schedule to
begin with, things would have been different.”
“So this is just an exercise in Lyman guilt?” Donna asked. “You punish yourself by cutting yourself off
from us? First of all, it wasn’t you that made those decisions, it was us; together.” She paused and
looked straight in his eyes. “I miss you Josh, I miss all of it; but I especially miss you. You hardly even
touch me anymore.”
“I’m afraid I’ll hurt you or the baby.” Josh admitted.
“Joshua...” Donna blew out a breath and held out her hand. He got up from the chair instantly and
took her hand so she pulled him down on the bed next to her. “It hurt me so much that you could just
pick up the pieces and do all this without me.”
Josh let out a laugh. “I was just lamenting to Toby about how I was dropping all the balls I’d been
trying to keep in the air, and he said the reason was because without you, I lost my balance. But it’s
worse than that. It’s like…losing my eyesight. I can’t see clearly. I can’t function. You are such an
integral part of who I am that without you, I’m a mess.”
“I’m a mess without you too. I have felt so alone, Josh, even with Ruth and Ben here. I need you.”
Donna told him.
Josh carefully moved her so that she was tucked into his side. “I’m sorry. I really am. I thought I was
taking care of you by keeping you out of the fray.”
“You really fired her?”
“I should never have hired her. I wouldn’t have if I’d discussed it with you first.”
“What are you going to do about a media strategist?” Donna asked.
“I’m thinking a job share; someone I know and trust to formulate strategy, and someone I know and
trust on the road wrangling press.”
”And who are you considering for this job share?”
“I’ve already hired someone for the ‘on the road’ portion of the job. I still need to interview for the
formulating strategy portion. Know anyone who might be interested?”
“Maybe. I’d need some information about salary and benefits.”
“The salary isn’t anything to write home about, but the benefits are very impressive.” Josh leered at
her and made her smile.
“Do I need to submit a resume?”
“Nah, I know your work history. I should probably just familiarize you with the benefit package.” Josh
leaned closer and kissed her tenderly.
“I’m sold. When do I start?”
“A few weeks ago, I think.” Josh noted and had Donna looking up at him in surprise. “The military
bases? Debate negotiations?” Donna had the grace to blush a little.
“I was just giving a friend some advice.” She maintained.
“Lucky for us your friend works for me.” Josh kissed her again. “Go back to sleep now.”
“You should set the alarm. What time do you need to be up?”
“I don’t. I’m taking the morning off to be with my family. I’ll join Sam and Ainsley when the Bartlet’s
arrive in the afternoon.”
A genuine smile bloomed on Donna’s face. She wrapped herself around him as well as a 7 months
pregnant woman could and quickly fell asleep.
Ruth was well aware that her son hadn’t made it home at night on several occasions, and she hadn’t
heard him come in last night either. So, as had become her habit, she quietly opened their bedroom
door to check on Donna. She was delightfully surprised to see her son and daughter-in-law cuddled
together in sleep. It was a sight she hadn’t witnessed since Donna came home from the hospital and it
made her heart lighter. She closed the door silently and went to see if her Grandson was up yet.
**********************************
“We have to go now.” Sam called to his wife. She appeared at the top of the stairs.
“I don’t know. Does this dress make me look fat?”
“There is no way I’m answering that. I will say that it is just as lovely as the other 4 outfits you’ve had
on.”
“You’re no help at all. I need Peyton.”
“Sorry. He won’t be back until tomorrow and I’d like to think he has more important decisions to make
than consulting on your wardrobe.” Sam smiled. “You look great. Let’s go.”
“I’m not going to make a fool of myself today.” Ainsley announced.
“That’s great news, but is that actually a choice you get to make?”
“It can be…and I’m saying that I have made that choice. I’m using positive mental imagery to ensure
that I don’t make a fool of myself in front of President and Dr. Bartlet which might have ramifications
that are both personally and politically embarrassing.”
“Then we’re all set.” Sam laughed and tugged her hand toward the door, but she stopped short and
grabbed her briefcase.
“You’re going to work on the way to the airport?”
“We both are. You promised me 15 minutes to go over a policy initiative.” Ainsley replied.
“What kind of policy initiative, Ains?” He asked as they got into the car.
“Disaster relief.” She answered right before the car doors slammed shut on either side of them.
***********************************
“There he is! The next Governor of California…” Jed Bartlet pulled the candidate into his arms for a
warm hug that was captured over and over by the gathered press while Ainsley received a similar hug
from the former First Lady.
“It’s so good of you to come out, sir.” Sam told him.
“We wouldn’t miss it for the world, would we Abby?” Jed proclaimed.
“Miss an opportunity for political speeches and rubber chicken? Not a chance.” Abby agreed. “How
are you holding up, Ainsley? I’ve always believed this process is a lot harder on the spouse than the
candidate.”
“I wish we were a little closer to November, but other than that…”
“Tell us about Donna.” Jed requested.
“She’s been depressed about the bed rest, but physically she’s doing fine. Every day that brings her
closer to the due date makes everyone happy.” Sam relayed. “Josh has been a mess.”
“I would think so.” Jed added as they got into the waiting car that would take them to their first event. “I
thought he was going to meet us here.”
“He’s going to meet us at the thing.” Sam explained. “He’s enjoying a little family time.”
“Then we’ll excuse him for now.” Jed decided.
“Show them the policy initiative you want to introduce.” Sam suggested to Ainsley once they were
settled inside the limo.
“No, I want you to introduce it and I’m not sure I’m ready for this kind of audience.” Ainsley hedged.
“I think it’s a perfect audience. President Bartlet has had to declare his share of Federal Disaster
areas and Dr. Bartlet knows a lot about medical responses to disasters.” Sam argued.
“We have a long ride ahead of us and I’ve always admired how your sharp brain works. Show me what
you’ve got.” President Bartlet encouraged her.
“Actually, Donna and I have been working on this together. She’s amazing with research and she did
quite a few disaster area trips with Mrs. Santos.” Ainsley admitted. “Then when Sam and I were
helping in San Francisco, I saw some things that I thought could be improved.” Ainsley pulled out the
briefing book she and Donna had compiled and handed it to President Bartlet.
With Abby reading over his shoulder, they perused the document, occasionally asking a question or
making a comment. Ainsley was as nervous as she’d been trying her first case in court. This was a
hell of a first audience.
“This is a very interesting proposal Ainsley.” The President said once they’d gone through everything.
“I’m a little concerned though about the reduced role of the Federal response teams.”
“The Federal arm is the most expensive and least effective part of disaster relief. President Santos
made some effective changes to FEMA, but the red tape generated at the Federal level almost
defeats the very purpose it was meant to serve. The last thing these people who live through
catastrophic events need is ‘help’ from overly bureaucratic Federal Government.” Ainsley spoke
faster and faster with increasing conviction until she caught Abby’s smirk and Sam’s attempt to turn a
laugh into a cough. As she thought about the disparaging things she said about the Federal
Government to the man who led the Federal Government for 8 years, she turned red and began to
stammer. “I…I meant…Oh, my God, I did it again!”
“Yeah, but it took longer for you to get there this time.” Sam consoled her.
“Shut. Up.” Ainsley insisted while the Bartlet’s laughed.