Chapter 4
“You came back. That has to be a good sign.” Donna commented.
“I hope so.” Julie replied. “If I don’t have that much staying power you’ve
misplaced your faith in me.”
“I don’t do that often.” Donna told her. “But I thought after Josh’s…brutal review of
life as a candidate, you might have second thoughts.”
“I worked in Senator Stackhouse’s office and been through a couple re-election
campaigns. I may be from the Midwest, but I’m not that naïve.”
“Funny…I was.” Donna commented and saw Julie throw her a frown. “I’m from
Wisconsin originally, and when I first got to Washington I was every bit that naïve.”
“Actually, she’s from Canada.” Josh added when he joined them in the conference
room.
“Joshua…” his wife gave him the warning tone.
“And if you want a really good story about being naïve, ask her about the first
interview she gave as a White House Staffer.”
“Josh…” Donna’s voice went lower.
“Or you could ask her about the nuclear weapons under the White House putting
green.” Josh continued.
“They couldn’t possibly keep nuclear weapons at the White House.” Julie
interrupted.
“That’s right!” Josh exclaimed and Julie felt she was missing and inside joke here.
These two literally had a language all their own. Just as she was about to delve
further into the subject, people started streaming into the conference room and
Josh introduced each one.
“This is Brian Davis. He’ll be your on-site manager.” Julie nodded and shook his
hand. “Holly Reynolds will be acting as your campaign spokesperson.” Again,
handshakes were exchanged. “Laura Denning can’t be with us physically today,
but she’s joining us by phone; right Laura?”
“Yep.” Came a voice from the speakerphone.
“That response may not be reassuring to you since she will be writing your stump
speech and anything else you’ll need, but she is really good when she’s, you
know, awake.”
“I’m sorry?” Julie asked for clarification.
“Laura just got back from London and she’s a little jet lagged.” Donna explained.
“Oh. Hi, Laura. I’ll look forward to meeting you.” Julie offered.
“No, you really won’t…be meeting her, I mean.” Josh continued. “It’s very unlikely
you’ll ever even see her face. You should thank God for that, it’s very frightening.”
“Bite me, Josh.” Laura’s voice came over the speaker again.
“See? She can form complete sentences very well.” Josh smirked.
“That’s very reassuring.” Julie put a brave face on it. “Anyone else who will be
running my life?”
“Several people in fact, but we didn’t want to overwhelm you the first day; you
being a naïve Midwesterner.” Josh tossed another grin at his wife who merely
rolled her eyes.
“Dear God, please not the putting green story again.” Brian lifted his eyes to the
heavens. “Where’s our strategist?” he attempted to change the subject.
“Running late. He’ll be here any minute.” Josh took a seat and faced Julie. “Any
questions about the contract or about how we work?”
“No. I had my attorney look it over and we think everything is in order.” Julie
hesitated a moment. “I had a little trouble with the list you asked me to put
together. I know this kind of research and background is routine, but I wasn’t sure
what should be on the list and what should be left off. I finally settled on listing
anything that would embarrass my Grandmother.”
Brian let out a short laugh. “Sorry.”
“Depending on the grandmother, that’s a sound rationale. Anything top the list we
should discuss right now?” Josh asked with more gentleness than Julie thought
him capable of.
“Not really.” Julie told the group. “If there’s anything you need more detail on or
have questions about, just ask.” She handed over the list she had spent the day
compiling. Josh noted that it was short, before handing it to Donna.
“Good enough.” Josh leaned back in his chair and put his feet on the table. “Filing
day is our first order of business. We need to-“
The boss was interrupted by the conference room door slamming open to admit a
disheveled looking man in a palm tree print shirt and khaki shorts, followed by
Ben Lyman.
“Sorry I’m late. The flight was delayed. The kid said we’ve got a new client? Don’t
we discuss these things anymore as a group?” the man complained.
“Not when you’re on vacation.” Josh reminded him. “And ‘the kid’ is right; we do
have a new client. She’s here right now. This is Julie Peterson. She’ll be running
for a House seat out of Minnesota. Julie Peterson, this is your campaign strategist
Fred Fernandez.”
“Billy!” the room chorused.
“Oh, that’s right. Everyone else calls him Billy.” Josh smirked again.
Julie rose from her seat to shake Billy’s hand. “Very nice to meet you. Hi, Ben.
How was school?”
“Boring.” Now Ben rolled his eyes. “It was history day.”
“You don’t like history?” Julie asked.
“I love history. It’s the history teacher. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about
and all his stuff is so slanted right I’m surprised all the desks don’t slide to the
door. The guys a tool and he’s definitely Republican so you know he’s got, like, 2
brain cells-“
“Benjamin!” Donna stopped her son’s monologue.
“It’s true!” Ben maintained.
“Joshua…” Donna turned to her husband for support to find him biting his lip to
keep from laughing. “Look who I’m turning to…Benjamin, whatever the man says
or does he is still your teacher and deserves to be treated with respect at all
times. Are we clear?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Ben attempted to look contrite. “May I please stay?” He turned his
attention to his father.
“Take a seat.” Josh told his son. They went over the plan in as much detail as
they could without causing Julie’s head to explode. By 6, everyone was ready for
a break.
“Okay troops. That’s enough for now. Liz will start a new distribution list for Julie’s
campaign. Any new information should be posted to that list. Any
questions/complaints?”
“Can we revisit the issue of why I wasn’t included in this decision and yet I’m going
to Minnesota?” Billy asked.
“No.” Josh replied and picked up his papers.
“You snooze, you lose, buddy.” Brian teased his colleague.
“It was an Anniversary trip, there was very little snoozing, I assure you.” Billy
muttered while covering Ben’s ears.
“Then you should be in an awesome mood and be ready to hit the ground
running in the Land of 10,000 lakes.” Brian replied. “Relax, I’m going too. I’ll make
sure you don’t mess up to badly.”
“I appreciate that. I really do.” Billy said sarcastically.
“Can I go too?” Ben piped up.
“Don’t you have school, kiddo?” Billy slung an arm around Ben’s shoulder.
“I could bring work along. I’ve done it before.” Ben looked hopefully between Brian
and Billy.
“That’s not our call. You need to run that by your parental units.” Brian gave him
the bad news before turning to Julie. “Are you ready to do this?”
“Yes, I believe I am.” Julie. “Now if I can just get a cab and find someplace to eat.”
“You can eat with us, right Dad?” Ben offered. Josh exchanged a quick glance
with his wife.
“Sure. Brian, Holly, you’re both welcome too. It will give everyone a chance to get
to know one another better.” Josh tossed out.
“Hey. What about me?” Billy objected.
“You can’t make it.” Josh told him. “You have a lot to catch up on after your
vacation.”
“Donna?” Billy took the appeal directly to the top.
“You can come eat with us if you promise to do your work when the meal is done.”
She decided.
“Thank you, Donna.” Billy raised her hand to his lips and kissed them in a grand
exaggeration. “You are a true Lady. Dump this louse and run away with me
Mexico. We’ll change our names and run Mayoral campaigns up and down the
coast.”
Josh didn’t even watch the performance, he just kept gathering files and papers
until he heard his son giggle at Billy’s antics. It was a childish sound from a young
boy who was trying to grow up so fast. Josh looked over at Ben and winked.
“I think Jenny might have objections to that plan, Eduardo.” Donna laughed too.
“Who’s Jenny?” Billy deadpanned.
“She’s your wife!” Ben exclaimed. “I’m telling her you said that.”
“Come on Ben. Give me a break. Who could resist your mother?”
“Gross…” Ben declared.
“Thanks a lot kiddo.” Donna tickled Ben’s neck.
“Stop!” Ben squirmed out of her reach.
“Can I give you a ride over to Casa Lyman, Julie?” Brian asked.
“Thanks. That would be great.” Julie accepted. “Would you mind stopping at my
hotel first so I can change?”
“No Problem.” Brian replied.
“Everyone else in?” Donna asked.
There were no dissenters, so Donna grabbed her son to ride with her before
kissing her husband soundly. “Don’t stay too late, or I’ll take Eduardo up on his
offer.” She warned.
“I just need another half hour. The rest I can do at home.” Josh told her but pulled
her close for one more kiss. “You are quite irresistible.”
“I know.” She teased and walked out with their eldest child.
******************************************************************
“You’re sure this isn’t too casual?” Julie asked Brian for the second time.
“Believe me, you’ll be grateful you’re not wearing anything nice once you’re inside
the Lyman house.” Brian chuckled. “Wait. That came out wrong. You are wearing
very nice clothes. I just meant that they’re casual; casually nice. You know what? I’
ll just be quiet now.”
Julie appraised him humorously. “You won’t actually be speaking to the press, will
you?”
“Every day.” Brian laughed along with her.
“How long have you been with Lyman and company?”
“Just over 4 years. I did some work for the D triple C before that.”
“You must love it.” Julie noted and Brian gave her quick glance. “I mean you’ve
been there over 4 years and you obviously enjoy all the back and forth bantering
with your colleagues. You must really enjoy your job.”
“The Lyman’s are great to work with. It’s more like a family operation than a
corporation. You’ve signed on with the right group.”
“That’s what Senator Stackhouse tells me.” Julie replied. “The Senator seems to
find Josh very amusing, although he admits Josh is brilliant when it comes to
campaign strategy. His real affection is saved for Donna. He is particularly
enthralled with her.”
“The filibuster?” Brian asked.
“Yes, and then her follow up on the autism research and funding with Helen
Santos. It meant the world to the Senator.”
“That’s typical Donna.” Brian told her.
“How does she do it with four children, a busy career and then…”
“Josh?” Brian teased.
“I was going to say an equally busy husband, but yes.”
“They’re very big on teamwork. It’s the first word in our company mission
statement and it’s the only word in their family life. Wait ‘til we get there. You’ll see
what I mean.”
“Is it normal for everyone to end up at the Lyman household for dinner?”
“There’s nothing normal at the Lyman house.” Brian quipped. “But it’s not
unusual, no. Lots of times, we end up over there eating and strategizing while the
four kids use the adults as jungle gyms.”
“Considering the circumstances, I guess it’s not as unusual as I thought that Ben
is so knowledgeable and involved in the politics.” Julie mused.
“The kid napped in the East Wing and attended strategy sessions in the Oval
office with his father. It’s in the blood, too, but from what I’ve seen and heard Josh
and Donna have involved the kids from the beginning. They all have incredible
vocabularies.”
“Now THAT is not a surprise.” Julie remarked.
“Here we are.” Brian told her as he pulled up in front of a beautiful Colonial home.
“Just relax.” He advised her when he noted she appeared nervous. “This is just
dinner among friends…but don’t sit next to Jacob at dinner.”
Julie didn’t know what to make of that statement so she just nodded her head and
followed him to the door. The door was abruptly swung open by Ben, with Jenny
standing right behind him. Brian made the introductions.
“Please come in.” Jenny invited them. “Everyone is here but Josh and he’s on his
way.”
Julie thought the house was comfortably messy. There was lovely furniture and
beautiful pictures adorning the walls, but there were also toys and books
everywhere. Pages of polling data competed for space on the coffee table with
books that had Disney titles. It made her smile.
“Are you the new guy?” A blond haired, blue eyed pixie asked Julie.
“Yes, I’m the new guy. Which makes you…?”
“Victoria Helen Lyman. I’m five years old. How old are you?”
“Hey!” Brian objected on Julie’s behalf. “Where are you manners?”
“Never mind then. I’ll just read it in her campaign bio.” Tori announced and walked
away.
“She reads? Campaign bio’s?” Julie repeated.
“Oh, yeah. Don’t let her push you around.” Brian directed. “Sometimes I do, but it’
s just for show. Don’t let it fool you.”
Julie laughed. “Of course.”
“You made it.” Donna exclaimed as she entered the room. “With this one driving,
you can never be sure.” She indicated Brian. “He sometimes gets a little…lost.”
“I am, on occasion, geographically challenged in areas I’m unfamiliar with; that’s
all.”
“And Georgetown is an unfamiliar area Brian?” Donna teased.
“Okay, that was different. There was alcohol involved. And I wasn’t even driving!”
“But you WERE giving the directions.” Donna pointed out. “Don’t let him drive you
anywhere in Minnesota. You’ll end up in a lake.” She advised Julie. “Come on in
and make yourself at home. We’ll eat when Josh gets here or at 7, whichever
comes first. Have you met the rest of the clan?”
“Uh…Victoria Helen Lyman introduced herself, and I know Ben already.” Julie
replied.
“Okay, that leaves Ally, who’s sitting next to Holly on the couch, and Jacob, who is
currently trying to engage Billy in play by crashing his train into Billy’s legs. As you
can see, Jacob has inherited is father’s social skills. On the other side of Holly is
Jenny Fernandez, who is married to Billy. I think that’s all the players.” Donna
scanned the room again to be sure she wasn’t missing anyone. “I can draw you a
chart after dinner.”
“Thanks.” Julie answered.
“Would you like something to drink? We have soft drinks, wine, and beer.”
“I’d love a beer, thanks. Is there anything I can do to help with dinner?” Julie
offered.
“We’ve got it covered. We’re keeping it simple; spaghetti and garlic bread.”
Donna replied. “Brian, get the woman a beer.”
“Yes ma’am.” Brian disappeared to do as Donna said.
“You’re going to love working with this team. Every one of them is fun, smart, and
hardworking…except for Laura…she’s a little…grumpy. But then in my experience
that trait can make for a great speech writer.”
“Brian was just telling me how engaged all the children are in politics.” Julie
mentioned.
“Poor things never really had a choice.” Donna chuckled. “Maybe someday they’ll
appreciate the fact that they’ve listened to world leaders debate great issues in
their living room, but at present they’re all pretty pragmatic about it. President and
Mrs. Santos are Uncle Matt and Aunt Helen, after all.”
“Does Ben normally sit in on interviews?” Julie asked.
“Lately he has, as his school schedule allows. He’s very curious and has a good
sense about people. Honestly, I think Josh enjoys hearing Ben’s opinion and
since Josh has taught him how to question and debate since he started talking it’s
usually a lively discussion.”
“What about the other 3?”
“Ally is the quiet one, but she listens very carefully. If she thinks something is
important enough to say out loud, you should listen to her. Tori is our resident
policeman. She’s very rules oriented as most 5 year olds are, but her ‘rules’
revolve mostly around politics. Don’t say anything in front of her you don’t want
repeated ad nauseam. She’s got a memory like a steel trap. Jake is our resident
cheerleader. He loves to go to rallies and speeches as long as he can bring his
favorite train cars with. He ALWAYS sides with his father and loves the limelight.
But of all the kids, Ben is the one who show the most interest in the political
process. It will be fun to see what comes of it.”
“That’s quite a crew.” Julie noted.
“I would be lost without Jenny. She keeps us all on schedule and she’s wonderful
with the kids.” Donna gave full credit to her niece.
“My lady.” Brian produced the beer bottle with a flourish to Julie.
“Thanks, Brian.”
“I am home! Let the feast begin!” Josh bellowed as he came through the door.
“Somebody had a productive conversation with the DFL chair?” Donna guessed.
“Of course I did, Donnatella. Who ‘da man?” Josh spun her around with a grin.
“You ‘da man, Joshua. Now go wash up so we can eat.”
“Daddy! Ally shouted and jumped into his arms.
“Now here’s a woman who appreciates brilliance.” Josh pointed out. “How was
your day?”
“I got an “A” on my paper for Mrs. Nicholson.” She told him quietly.
“Awesome, Alley cat. Let me kiss your brain.” Josh planted a kiss on her head as
she giggled, before dropping her to the floor and taking her hand. “Let’s wash up
so we can eat. I’m starving from outwitting republicans all day.”
“Mommy, I already washed my hands, but Jacob is all dirty from playing with stinky
trains all day.” Tori announced.
“I’ll take care of it, Tori, thanks.” Donna smiled at her youngest daughter.
Tori then turned her attention to Julie. “You’re drinking beer?”
“Uh…yes.” Julie replied carefully. “Is that a problem?”
“Not here, I guess. But you shouldn’t drink it in front of the voters. They might
think you have a drinking problem, like that guy in Arizona. Remember, mommy?”
Tori informed her.
“Yes, I do. Why don’t you come with me to the kitchen to help me carry the food.”
Donna suggested. “Everyone else can grab a spot at the table. Dinner is served.”
She announced to the group.
They all gathered around the table, but Julie noticed they had all moved away
from her. She was about to say something about having showered that day when
Brian grabbed her arm and moved her to a different location.
“That’s Jake’s spot; with the booster chair? Don’t you remember what I told you?
Do not sit next to Jake, or near Jake if you can avoid it.” Brian admonished her.
Soon everyone was seated except for Josh and Ally. When Ally saw the lay of the
land, she quickly took the remaining chair that was not next to her little brother
who was already digging into his spaghetti; tossing more of it than eating it.
“Oh, come on!” Josh complained. “On spaghetti night too?”
“Deal with it Joshua.” Donna told her husband. “But you might want to change into
something that isn’t white before you sit down. Josh rolled his eyes but quickly
changed into a red t-shirt before eating. Within minutes, he was wearing quite a
bit of the pasta.”
“This child needs to learn table manners, Donna.”
“Good luck with that Joshua.” She replied.
As Julie surveyed the table, and in particular the damage Jacob was creating at
the other end, she sent a grateful look to Brian who nodded in acknowledgment.
She figured that this campaign would be like this meal; fun and unpredictable.
She had no idea what she was in for.