We make to the car with moments to spare and I am amazed at how Donna is able to put her
professional face on and converse with Helen Santos, reviewing the points we want her to hit at
the charter school, even though we’ve just experienced the most mind blowing sex I’ve ever
had…3 times. It would have been only twice, but then I convinced Donna we really needed to
shower, and that it would save time if we showered together. I’m still not sure how my campaign
for Santos will turn out, but I feel pretty confident that my campaign for Donnatella Moss made
great inroads today.
I manage to get my head back in the game when Donna tells them they’re having a breakfast
sit down with Greg Brock. Helen looks concerned, but Donna immediately reassures her and
promises to prep Helen for it herself when we get back. I only make note of this fact because I
was really hoping she and I could ‘strategize’ a bit more when we got back. Now it’ll have to
wait. Damn Presidential campaign.
“Josh?” Santos says my name like he’s repeating himself.
“Sorry, sir. I lost my train of thought there for a second.” Santos notes where my gaze has been
focused and grins.
“So I gathered.” He says. “That happens to me sometimes too. They can be very distracting,
can’t they?” he nods towards Donna and Helen.
“Yes, sir.” I agree. “However, we’ll have to summon the strength. This is a great opportunity to
tout the kind of educational reforms you’ve been talking about. This charter school has
extended the number of student contact days and has developed their own teacher incentive
program; both of which have garnered tremendous results.”
“I read Donna’s cards Josh.” Santos informs him. “I’ve got it down. Are you sure there’s going
to be anyone there to listen to what I’m saying?”
“Relatively sure, yeah.” I indicate the crowded parking lot and people lined up for blocks waiting
to get inside the charter school.
“It looks like it’s going to be packed.” He says in an astonished tone.
“Josh pulled a few strings and bumped up attendance.” Donna smiles at me while she tells
Santos. “He knows people here who owe him.”
“I guess.” Santos cranes his neck trying to see where the line of people ends. “Maybe we
should have picked a bigger venue. I don’t think all these people will fit inside.”
“We don’t want a bigger venue. We want the visual of a room overflowing with people. I can get
them here, but now you have to get them to stay and see your point of view.”
“Well, no pressure there.” Helen quips and leans over to squeeze her husband’s hand.
“Uh, Josh, the entrance was back there.” Matt tells me as we pass the front door of the school.
“Yeah, but the line goes back 5 or 6 blocks. The car’s going to take you to the end of the line.
You can walk your way up to the entrance, shaking hands all the way into the school. They
want to see you up close and personal, so that’s what they’re going to get. Mrs. Santos, stay
glued to your husband’s side. There are going to be plenty of photographers and camera
operators here and I want every click of the shutter to capture the two of you together.” I
explain.
“This is what we were talking about before, Helen. We’re creating a visual in the minds of the
voters. You and Matt are a team. It will make a nice contrast to Russell and Waverly who are
campaigning solo.” Donna reminds her.
“Knock ‘em all down, sir.” I tell him as he exits the car with Helen. It takes almost an hour to grip
and grin their way into the charter school, making the tour and speech that much later, but it
doesn’t matter because these people have made a connection with him already. He lauds the
successful innovations the school has made and talks about the hopes he has for his children’
s public school education and for the public education system itself.
Helen Santos is phenomenal. She asks lots of questions and appears sincerely interested in
the answers she’s receiving. She manages to weave in some of the policies her husband has
worked to enact without sounding like a political ad. Except for the time the Congressman
spends at the podium, Helen follows Donna’s instructions and stays glued to Matt’s side.
Matt Santos gets a standing ovation from the overflowing crowd which several local news
outlets capture on film and will undoubtedly be fed to their network affiliates. When we get back
to the hotel, we gather in the Santos suite for a late night snack, a recap of the day and a
review of tomorrow’s schedule. We’re still pretty wired when we break up for the evening and I
am able to persuade Donna to come back with me to my room for more strategizing.
Let me say for the record that I love strategizing. It has always been my favorite part of any
campaign. However, strategizing has now moved to another level and I can’t get enough of it.
For the first time in my life, politics is taking a back seat in my list of priorities.
“Why did you tell Greg Brock that you want to change the nature of our relationship?” she asks
me as her fingers trace the scar on my chest.
“Because I do.”
“But why tell Greg Brock that?”
“This isn’t something I want to hide. People are going to notice we’re together and I want
people to know that it’s both a recent development and that is was a conscious choice born out
of many years of friendship, not some campaign fling.” She smiles. “What?”
“You’re trying to protect my reputation.” She kisses my chin. “That’s really very sweet.”
“I can be sweet.” I protest.
“I know you can.” She assures me. “But you don’t let it show very often, which makes it even
more special when you do. We should get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day.”
“Yeah, we should.” I reply yawning and tuck her head onto my shoulder. “I love you,
Donnatella.” He head pop up like it’s on a spring.
“What did you just say?” she questions me.
“Ummm…I love you?” she looks alarmed and that alarms me now.
“Do you think you could say it again without the question mark at the end?”
“I…love you.”
“I love you too, Joshua; so very much.” She tells me quietly and the intensity of the emotions in
her voice is my undoing. I roll us over until I am laying full length on top of her. My exhaustion
has disappeared…who needs sleep anyway.
I wake up the next morning so happy that I think I might simply die from it. I carefully extricate
myself from Donna to start some coffee brewing and grab the paper from outside my door.
The headline, just below the fold, has Greg Brock’s byline and reads:
“Following their Hearts to Santos”. Brock skillfully interweaves the two campaigns I told him I
was on (Santos & Donna) and tells the reader about the romance of the dark horse campaign;
literally and figuratively. It is a great piece and it’s going to generate a lot of ink. At the end, he
promises his readers an in depth look at Matthew Santos after his interview with him this
morning.
I take the paper back to bed with me where Donna is watching me sleepily. I hand the paper to
her and watch as a wide smile blooms on her face. I can’t help it. I have to kiss her. Knowing
there is a time constraint, I remove myself from temptation and go to take a shower.
“Coffee’s brewing.” I toss over my shoulder. “You could bring me in a cup when it’s done.”
“Dream on Joshua. That part of our relationship isn’t going to change.” She promises and I find
myself able to live with that considering the trade off.
**************************************
Chapter 11
Donna’s POV:
We are gathering momentum every day, but I see the concern in Josh’s eyes that it is too little
too late. This competition between our campaign and Russell’s has taken on epic proportions.
It’s not just about Santos winning, it’s about Will Bailey losing. It’s become personal for Josh
and that concerns me a bit.
When we arrive at the Capitol for the stem cell vote, my heart starts hammering when I see two
figures waiting at the entrance to the floor of the House of Representatives: Will Bailey and Cliff
Calley. Is there anyone else you’d like to throw in there, God? Maybe Jack Reese or Amy
Gardner? I turn quickly to Josh.
“Why don’t you head back to the office? This is just a pit stop. I can handle it.” I suggest
moving to block his view of the people ahead of us.
“You know if I had made that suggestion, you’d have hit me for it.” He chuckles. “It’s fine.
Besides with all the press covering the vote you might need me for spin too. I’m thinking after
the vote we should…” he trails off as he spots Will and Cliff. His head swings to me and he
gives me dirty look. “You think I can’t handle the dynamic duo?”
“They’re not really a team, Joshua.” I remind him.
“They’re a little too close for comfort.” He responds and we reach the men in question.
“Thanks for taking time out of your campaign to come and vote this one, Congressman.” Cliff
offers and shakes Matt’s hand, then moves on to shake Josh’s. “Congratulations on your
recent victories.”
“Thanks, but it’s all about Super Tuesday now. How’s my office?” Josh strikes back.
“A little small, but it’s all about the location.” He jokes and turns to me, kissing my cheek. “Hey
Donna, the campaign trail must agree with you. You look gorgeous.”
I know most of that was meant for Josh’s ears. Cliff seems to enjoy yanking his chain. Still I kiss
him back and smile at him. “It’s good to see you Cliff.” I can feel waves of energy radiating off
Josh now and he possessively takes my hand in his.
“Bailey…” Josh calls to him. “Here to soak up a little free media?”
“The Vice President retains his floor privileges in the House. It’s an important vote for the
President and the Vice President is here to lend moral support.” Will responds.
“That’s very big of him…but then that’s really the only thing Russell can offer, isn’t it?” I whisper
a warning ‘Josh’ in his direction but he ignores me. “Truly it takes a lot of guts to waste time
here, where Russell doesn’t even have a vote, instead of stumping for Super Tuesday. Or is
your war chest running so low that Russell has to come to the cameras instead of having the
cameras come to him?” Josh asks jovially. Now I am tugging him forward past Will. This can’t
end well.
“Hi Donna. Looks like things are going well for you.” Will says looking down at where my hand
is joined with Josh’s. “I want you to know there are no hard feelings about you leaving the Vice
President’s campaign. Obviously, the Santos campaign had…additional benefits that I just
couldn’t match.” Josh starts to move back toward Will but I keep him moving forward. I do call
over my shoulder to respond to him though.
“That’s true Will. You are no match for Josh Lyman.” Cliff laughs out loud and walks down the
hall with us while we wait for the vote to conclude.
“Seriously, I appreciate you pulling in all your surrogates for the vote.” Cliff repeats.
“It’s an important vote.” Josh answers. “It was the right thing to do.” Cliff nods in response. If I
didn’t know better I’d swear something passes between these two. They may be on opposite
sides of the aisle, but they are a lot more alike than either one of them would care to admit.
Maybe that’s what attracted me to Cliff in the first place. Both men have a strong sense of right
and wrong…and huge egos. My musings are interrupted by the arrival of Matt Santos and Bob
Russell. They explain that the Speaker pulled the vote once he saw how many Democrats were
on the floor.
Russell notes that there isn’t anything more that can be done, and he’s off to hit the campaign
trail for Super Tuesday. Cliff rolls his eyes.
“Congressman, can I convince you to stay a little longer? Give me some time to come up with
another strategy?” Cliff implores Matt.
“We’ve got a big fundraiser to get to.” Josh reminds him.
“I’d be happy to stay if it would make any difference.” Matt told him. “But as long as we’re here
the Speaker won’t call the vote. The minute we leave; he will. Do you two see any way around
that?”
“Even if we wait it out someplace else, Haffley will hear if we cancel the fundraiser.” Josh
comments. “We need to go, sir.”
“But we could come back, couldn’t we? After the event?” I ask. “The Congressman flies himself
so no one would know where we were headed but us.”
“We’d still need someplace to hide out when we got here. If the Speaker catches sight of us we’
re dead in the water.” Josh notes.
“Let me take care of the details. You and your surrogates will come back after the event?” Cliff
clarifies.
Matt and Josh exchange glances and Josh nods. “We’ll fly back later tonight. You work out the
details before we get back.” Matt decides. I smile because this is what it’s like when you’re
working for the real thing…it feels good.
*******************************************
Cliff’s POV:
There are over 30 members of Congress stuffed into the Vice President’s office on the hill. I
figured since he was going to be out campaigning, he couldn’t possibly be using it. More
Congressmen and women are coming even now; being ferried by the Congressman from
Arkansas who lives in his office here. It’s become a kind of high school lock-in atmosphere;
everyone is relaxed and cracking jokes. I decide to take my life in my hands and sit next to Josh
Lyman who is pouring over some papers in the dim lamp light.
“Thanks for making this happen.” I tell him sincerely and he looks up at me.
“I told you, it’s the right thing to do.” He replies. “And there is the added benefit of sticking it to
Haffley.” He grins when he says this and I see the dimples that Donna wrote about in her diary
so long ago.
“Put that down and eat something Joshua.” Donna thrust a couple plates with sandwiches on
them at us.
“I need to go over the latest numbers, Donna.”
“Then eat something so you have the energy to do that.” She winks at me even as she scolds
him. “And put on your reading glasses so you don’t hurt your eyes. Cliff would you like some
coffee?”
“That would be great, thanks.” I agree and Josh shoots her an incredulous look which she
completely ignores.
“You two have turned into quite the formidable team out there.” I comment.
“We’ve always been a formidable team.” He corrects me.
“I guess.” I agree thinking about diaries and Congressional investigations. “But if you don’t
mind me saying so, it seems different now.”
“I guess.” He repeats my words back to me then give me another nasty look as I take the coffee
Donna hands to me. “I could use some coffee too.”
“You’ve had enough.” She responds without even looking at him.
‘It must be nice…having someone looking out for you all the time.” I muse out loud.
“It really is.” Josh says as he takes the coffee out of my hand and drinks it. “She’ll get you
another one.” He justifies his theft. “Even better than that, she reminds me why we’re doing
this. You know what it’s like now. Being Deputy Chief of Staff, you get so caught up in winning
the battle that you can easily forget why you’re fighting the battle in the first place; but that will
never happen with Donna next to me.”
“Is that why you started with Hoynes? Donna wasn’t there to remind you?”
“I thought she would kick my ass all the way to Texas.” Josh laughs. “She saw the real thing in
Santos even before I did. She is incredible.”
I watch him watching her and I see a connection that rekindles a jealous feeling deep inside
me. I know that what these two have is special.
“Actually, I think she did for awhile.” I note. “I read some of the back and forth between you
when you were still in opposite camps.” To my relief, Josh laughs at that too.
Donna chooses that moment to return to us and her eyes narrow on the cup in Josh’s hand.
“He gave it to me, baby, I swear.” He defends himself and damned if I don’t nod in agreement.
She looks at us both skeptically before opening the door in answer to the secret knock and lets
in another 5 members of Congress.
“This is going to be quite the coup.” I remark.
“If you can goad Haffley into the vote over squash.” He challenges me.
“Trust me. Piece of cake.” I boast. There is companionable silence for a minute.
“We should take a picture of this.” Josh suggests.
“What, for posterity?” I ask
“No. Well, that too. But I was thinking we could email it to Bailey when this is all done. Thank
him and his candidate for their unwitting hospitality.” Josh chuckles.
“Unwitting…that sums up the whole Russell campaign doesn’t it?’ I start laughing. Josh joins in
and soon we’re both laughing so hard tears are coming down our faces.
“Everything alright over here, guys?’ Donna asks looking concerned.
“Fine.” Josh tries to sober. “We’re just comparing notes.” That strikes us both as terribly funny
when we consider how she might have interpreted it and we burst into laughter again. “I mean
about the job…Deputy C.O.S.” Which is true, but equally hard to believe when we’re both
laughing so hard.
“Uh-huh.” Donna takes the cup from Josh, sniffs it, then takes a sip. Deciding it is still straight
coffee, she hands it back. “You two should try and get some sleep. The Congressman too, but
he’s a little busy trying to win over one more vote.” She nods her head at where Matt is in a
heated discussion with the Congressman from Arkansas.
“He’ll get it too.” I add. “He’s a good man. I hope he gets the nomination. Of course, he’s
doomed to failure once he faces Vinnick, but he should still know the victory of the nomination
at least.” I tease.
“Thanks.” Josh replies. “It’s good to know Republicans can still spot a good man; it’s been so
long since they’ve had one among them.” We all smile companionably at each other and when
the vote passes the next day; it’s a victory for all of us.
It wasn’t until the next day that I had time to send an email to Will Bailey, CC’d to Josh Lyman. It
was a note thanking the Vice President for the use of his office and included a photo I’d gotten
with my cell phone. Josh Lyman sound asleep on the Vice President’s couch, Donna is his
arms, surrounded by dozens of other sleeping Democrats. I didn’t get a reply from Bailey, but
Josh’s reply had me laughing the rest of the day.
***************************************
Chapter 12
Josh’s POV:
We’re 4 days out from the convention and trailing Russell by 31 votes going into the
convention. Damn, if we just had one more primary…Now, Russell has approached the
Congressman about taking the VP spot on his ticket to avoid a floor fight. Seriously, I had to
hang up the phone to keep from laughing in Bailey’s ear. No way were we going to come all this
way and then take the second spot…especially not the second spot under Russell.
I’m racking my brain looking at the delegate count trying to figure out who I can get to switch on
the second ballot and how when Donna bursts into my office.
“You need to call Toby.” She says urgently.
“I tried last week, Donna. The man doesn’t want to talk to me. I can’t force him to talk to me.”
Toby and I had a bit of a…falling out the last time I was at the White House. It was ugly and it
got physical. Toby said some pretty hateful things to me and I took it very personally. We
haven’t spoken since, despite Donna’s best attempts at brokering a peace deal.
“It’s not always about you, Joshua. Would you look at me please?” Donna’s shrill tone got my
attention. “There’s been an accident on the Space Station and they’re not expecting the
astronauts to survive. You need to call Toby.” She reiterates.
My mind struggles to catch up with what Donna is telling me. “What about the Soyuz capsule?”
“It’s been damaged too. They can’t use it to get home and the other two shuttles can’t be
readied in time to help. Call Toby.” She hands me the phone now.
“What has this got to do with-“ Finally the pin drops. Toby’s brother, who was an astronaut died
just before our last encounter at the White House. David had been sick, but suicide was the
cause of death. If there were 3 more astronauts in mortal danger, than Toby would be…
I took the phone from Donna and dialed. I asked for Toby Ziegler and wonder of wonders, he
picked up.
“I trusted you to beat that weasel Bailey and you’re still 31 votes down. I taught you better than
that.” This is how he opens the conversation.
“You taught me…right.” I agree since Donna is watching and listening to me intently. “I hear
you guys are having quite the day over there.”
“Uh-huh.” He replies without emotion in his voice.
“Are options being discussed?”
“I’ve been told there aren’t any.” Toby tells me tightly.
“Uh-huh.” I take this in. In my position as Deputy C.O.S., I’ve learned things that I’m not always
comfortable knowing. Toby, as Communication Director is privy to some of those things, but not
many of them. Now I’m left wondering if Toby is really aware of exactly what options the
President actually has.
“I know better, however, so I’m having a little trouble keeping my mouth shut.” He admits. So
much for wondering what he knows.
“Trouble keeping your mouth shut?” I repeat. “That doesn’t sound at all like you.” I cover the
phone for a second to ask Donna to give us a minute. She gives me a puzzled look but exits my
office. Once she does I resume our conversation. “We can’t really talk like this.” I warn him.
“I know that.” Toby snaps back at me. “I can’t really talk to anybody.”
“Sure you can.” I disagree. “Talk to him, Toby. He’ll listen to you; he always has.”
“Not lately he hasn’t” Toby counters. “Since you left, he’s closed himself off from all of us. He
doesn’t even seem to trust C.J. anymore.”
“You need to try again, Toby. This is too important. He wants to go there already I promise
you.” I try to convince him.
“And just what do I say? What can I say?”
“You say that if there’s any means the President has to save these people, it would be morally
reprehensible to ignore them.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” I confirm. “Go find him now. The clock is running out, right?”
“Right.” He agrees. “Josh…thanks.”
The light on my phone line barely blinks off before Donna once again bursts into my office.
“Were you just sitting out there watching for when my phone light went out?”
“Maybe. Is Toby okay?” she asks me with concern evident in her voice.
“I’m not sure.” I answer honestly. “We’ll see. At least he’s talking to me now.”
“I told you before it wasn’t really you he was mad at.”
“He did a pretty good imitation of someone who’s mad at me. I have a lot of experience in that
area, Donna. I know the signs.” I tell her authoritatively.
“He’d just lost his brother, Josh, and seeing you reminded him that he’d lost his honorary
brother to Santos. He was angry and took it out on you. Don’t take it personally.”
“I’m trying not to.” I turned back to the papers on my desk trying to make the numbers change
by my telepathic power.
“We need to eat some dinner.” She reminds me.
“I’ll eat later.”
“Josh, it’s already 9 o’clock at night. Later would be breakfast. Let’s go get some food.” She
takes the papers away from me and pulls me up to standing. “We can take another pass at this
after we eat.”
“Donna…”
“We’ll just go to the deli down the street. Just a few minutes to recharge the batteries and get
some fuel.”
”You know I’m a person, not a car, right?” I confirm.
“Most definitely.” She agrees. After a sandwich and a little necking on the way back I do feel
refreshed. We hit the delegate count again and try to come up with a plan to shake enough
votes loose to capture the nomination.
“We can do this all night, but it’s not going to change anything before the first ballot.” Donna
notes. “Take me back to the hotel and make love with me.”
“How could anyone turn down an offer like that?” I tug her closer to me and kiss her
enthusiastically. “This is just a Presidential election after all. No big deal.”
“Actually, it’s just the nomination for the Presidential election.” She corrects me.
“Then why did we come back here at all?” I ask and kiss her again. “Hell, let’s just lock the door
and clear off the desk.” I tease and I’m delighted to see her consider that option for a moment.
“I’d prefer a bed.” She decides. “Come back with me Joshua. Leave the convention stuff here.
It will be waiting for us when we get back.”
I meant what I said to Calley. It’s great to have someone who takes care of you and needs you.
But as I’m lying next to her, watching her sleep, I think the best part of this new relationship with
Donna is the peace I feel whenever we’re together. It’s an incredible gift and one I hope I never
take for granted.
The alarm goes off at 6 and I take a shower first. When I get out, Donna has CNN on and there
are tears in her eyes. I check the scrawl to see what’s happening. They’re announcing that the
3 astronauts are returning safely to earth after miraculously making repairs to their spacecraft.
Her shining eyes meet mine and I feel a smile stretch across my face as I wrap my arms around
her from behind her and we watch the footage of the astronauts returning home together.
“That a boy, Toby.” I chuckle. The day is off to an auspicious start.
****************************************************
Donna’s POV:
This is it. Russell and Santos will both address the convention before the first ballot is called.
Josh has managed to finagle several more votes for Santos from some smaller candidates,
including some crack smoking Hoynes supporters, but he still doesn’t have the 2,162 votes for
the nomination. Santos has a 20 minute speech in which to persuade enough of these
delegates to elect him as the nominee.
Russell actually wanted to speak first and we all agreed we should let him. He’s introduced by
one of his Congressional brethren. We watch with baited breath as he speaks, and although
he doesn’t stumble, he doesn’t set the place on fire either. The Congressman watches from the
wings and fingers his speech nervously. This one is a little different. Dave started it, but I think
when he realized all that was riding on it, he got a little overanxious. Josh took what Dave had
and sent it to a friend to look at. 2 days later, Josh handed Matt the finished speech and
credited it to a friend named ‘Bob’.
We all agreed it was excellent. The Congressman in particular, pressed Josh for more details
on who wrote it, but Josh was unusually quiet on the subject. I wasn’t fooled for a second. I may
have distinctive penmanship, but Toby Ziegler has a distinctive writing style. I understand why
he couldn’t help us overtly while he was still at the White House. But the fact that he could and
did help us under the radar, seemed to heal a lot between Josh and Toby.
Will Bailey is standing not 10 feet from me and I watch him for awhile. If it’s possible, he seems
more nervous than either candidate and I’m reminded that this is his first National election.
Russell finishes and Will let’s out a huge sigh of relief. That must be true anxiety…being afraid
that every time your candidate opens their mouth they’re going to say something stupid. I
remember that feeling from my brief tenure with the Russell camp and thank God that I came to
my senses…in more ways than one. I glance over to see the pacing movement of Josh Lyman.
Lots of people might look at his behavior and see just nerves. They are certainly there, but this
behavior isn’t about nerves; it’s about excitement. He keeps saying ‘it’s all going to be over
tonight Donna, I can feel it’ despite my pleas for cautious optimism. Our eyes meet for a
second and he grins at me before looking around me at Will and then rolling his eyes. Russell
has come off stage and the Congressman is being introduced by his wife.
Helen Santos appears nervous, who wouldn’t be, but her smile stays bright and she gives her
audience a sincere picture of who her husband is. You would have to be blind not to see the
love and the pride in her face as she introduces her husband and Matt Santos takes the stage.
He starts out slowly and deliberately laying out his plan for our country, building in tempo and
volume until the room is at fever pitch. They are chanting his name so loudly, that he has to
shout to be heard over the voices at the end. I get Goosebumps all over and I look to see Josh’
s reaction. He’s finally stopped moving and is simply staring out from beside the curtain to the
crowd beyond.
“Look what you’ve done.” I tell him directly in his ear and place my hands on his shoulders. He
covers my hands with his.
“You mean what we’ve done.” He says before he kisses me. We can both hear the
Congressman belting out the last few lines of the speech
“…Then you can go back to Chicago and Atlanta and Philadelphia with your heads held high
and say ‘I am a member of the Democratic Party’!”
The place goes wild. We watch Matt and Helen soak up the cheers and the applause for almost
10 minutes. Finally, the Chair is able to gavel the crowd into submission and orders the state
roll call for the first round of voting.
I meet Matt and Helen at the stage entrance and escort them quickly back to their suite. They
are to stay out of sight. Once I have them settled there I look for Josh. Nobody can tell me
where he is. I am getting a little frantic when I feel my cell phone vibrate. The caller ID simply
reads: Josh
“Where are you?” I answer.
“Get down here!” He’s shouting to be heard over the crowd.
“Where are you?” I demand.
“Texas.”
“What?!”
“Meet me at the Texas delegation.” He shouts.
“WHY?!”
“Meet me in Texas.” He repeats before I hang up.
Trying to get anywhere during a convention is tricky at best. Trying to get across the
convention floor during balloting could be deemed suicidal. By the time I get near the Texas
delegation, Pennsylvania is awarding all its’ delegates to Matt Santos. I’m searching the crowds
of people for Josh when I finally spot him sitting behind the group of rowdy Texans. I think he’s
the only one in the entire building who is sitting down.
I fight my way through the crowd and he takes my hand to pull me into the seat next to him.
“What are you doing here?” I shout in his ear.
“Watching history.” He replies. “South Carolina, South Dakota, and Tennessee are all passing
so Texas can have the honor of putting Matt Santos over the top and making him the
Democratic nominee for President.”
It’s a common occurrence at a national convention, giving the nominee’s home state the honor
of awarding the nomination to their native son, but we weren’t sure what the outcome was
going to be tonight with the head to head combat with Russell. At least the rest of didn’t
know…Josh Lyman seems to have had it all worked out. Did I mention the man is brilliant?
“How did you know-“
“By Idaho I figured we’d have a great shot on the first ballot. By Louisiana, I had the math
figured out and talked to South Dakota, South Carolina, and Tennessee.” Both his dimples are
showing as we hear the Tennessee chair pass on their opportunity to cast their votes and all
eyes turn to Texas.
“Mr. Chairman, the great State of Texas casts all of its’ votes for the next President of the
United States and native son Matthew Santos!” …and the crowd goes wild; balloons drop and
confetti flies.
I look over at Joshua and see this wonder on his face; like a little kid at Christmas. I check the
monitors, hoping the staff has followed instructions and kept the Democratic nominee and his
family off camera. So far, it’s just shots of happy convention goers. Although at one point, they
get a shot of a very disappointed Will Bailey. Then I hear Josh’s voice over the din.
“What?!” I ask him to repeat whatever he’s saying. He leans over so his lips are right next to my
ear.
“Marry me.” he whispers and I pull my head back to look at him. Damn, he’s serious. He’s even
holding a ring. His eyebrows go up and I see a couple people in front of us elbow the people
next to them as they discover the little drama going on behind them.
“Josh!” I laugh embarrassedly but his eyes never leave mine.
“I want the promise, Donna. Marry me.”
“You’re proposing to me on the floor of the Democratic National Convention?”
“Think of the story it will make for our kids.”
“Our kids?” Now I’m worried he’s lost his mind. Maybe this campaign was all a bit much for him.
“I’m getting old here, Donna. Are you going to marry me or what?” I look around and see
everyone is watching us. So much for not being the story.
“Yes. Yes, I will marry you!” I have to shout to be heard over the crowd, but he either hears me
or reads my lips because he slips the ring on my finger and kisses me like we are alone in our
room. We break apart when we hear cat calls from all around us. Some enterprising
cameraman has captured the event on film and our images are up on the screen now. I turn
bright red and bury my head in Josh’s chest. He laughs and waves before pulling me up from
our seats and leading me out of the convention center. This has been my favorite national
convention ever…and it’s only the first day.
*************************************
Chapter 13
Josh’s POV:
We’re still maneuvering our way off the convention floor when my phone starts vibrating. Yeah,
that shot of us on the big screen is going to mean all kinds of phone calls tonight, I’m guessing.
The caller ID notes that this particular call is from the White House.
“Josh Lyman.” I answer resignedly.
“Please hold for the President of the United States.” Of course. Is it too late to hang up? Cell
phone calls get dropped all the time, right?
“Joshua!” The booming voice of President Jed Bartlet comes over the line.
“Good evening Mr. President.” I answer and Donna’s shoots a glance at me.
“I was going to congratulate you on helping yet another no chance candidate win the
Democratic nomination, but now I see it was all a ploy to get Donna to marry you.”
“Well, it worked, didn’t it?” I shoot back.
“It appears that it did.” He agrees jovially. “Congratulations, Josh, and give my love to Donna
will you?”
“Yes, sir, I will.”
“We’ll be there Wednesday. Tell Matt I’m looking forward to meeting with him then.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Oh and I meant to ask you. Who wrote the Congressman’s speech tonight?”
“Uh…a new kid I hijacked from the Hoynes campaign.” I hedge.
“A new kid? Incredible. It had the feel of an experienced Presidential speechwriter.”
“Yeah, well he has an old soul, Mr. President.” I try for humor and hit the mark as I hear the
President laugh. He knows very well who wrote the majority of that speech and he wants me to
know that he knows. Just then another call beeps in…my mom. And the hits just keep on
coming…”Sir, my mother is calling in, would you mind?”
“See you both Wednesday, Josh.” He says before hanging up and I click over to the other line.
“Hi Mom.” I say and Donna bursts out laughing. That is until her phone starts ringing. She rolls
her eyes and answers.
“Josh, darling, how are you?” She plays it all cool. The woman is good I tell you.
“Good, good. You?” Two can play at this game.
“Fine. Just got back from the movies with Ardy and thought I’d check in with my only son to see
how he was.”
“I’m just fine. What movie did you see?” I volley back to her.
“It was ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’.” She hits back.
“That’s not in theaters anymore, Mom.”
“It was showing at the senior center and I thought I should watch it just, you know, in case it had
any relevance for my life.” Ruth Lyman continued. “Planning a wedding can get very
complicated, Joshua. You have no idea.”
“I would never want to put you through that Mom.” I deadpan. “How about I promise that if I ever
get engaged, I’ll elope.” That did it. I broke her. She lets out a big huff.
“I’m done talking to you now, Joshua. Put Donna on the phone.” She tells me sternly.
“What makes you think Donna is with me right now?” I ask.
“Oh, the fact that I can see you both on TV right now gave me a pretty good indication.” Okay,
maybe she won that round. I look around for the camera even as I hand the phone to Donna.
She hands me hers and mouths “Sam”. I am definitely getting the better end of this deal.
“What the hell are you doing calling my fiancé?” I joke with my friend of 20 years.
“When you decide to do something, you really go big don’t you?”
“No other way to play.” I agree and smile as I watch Donna try to field what I’m sure are a million
questions for which we have no answers yet.
“My next question, of course, is how did you get Toby do write that speech for you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I reply laughing. I finally spot the camera that’s fixed on
us and use my free hand to pull Donna off the convention floor with me. We need to get to the
Congressman now.
“Uh-huh.” Sam makes no further comment on the speech. “I just wanted to say I’m happy for
you and proud of you.”
“About the nomination or the other thing?” I ask for clarification.
“Both, but mostly the other thing.” Sam chuckles. “Although taking Matt Santos to the
Democratic nomination, and beating the sitting Vice President while you did it…There’s going
to be no living with your ego now is there?”
“I’m guessing Donna will be able to keep me in check. She always has.”
“If anyone can do it, it would be Donna.” Sam agrees. “Give her a kiss for me and good luck
with the rest of the convention.”
“Thanks, Sam. Bye.” I hang up and take my phone back from Donna. “We’ve got to go now,
Mom. We’re meeting with the Democratic nominee for President.”
“Fine, but I want an update by this time tomorrow…from you, not CNN, understand?”
“Yeah, I’ve got it. I love you Mom.” She returns the sentiment, although it sounded a little
grudging and we hang up. Donna knocks on the suite where the Santos family is residing for
the week.
Miranda Santos is standing just behind the Secret Service Agent who opens the door. I imagine
the only reason she’s allowed to stand there is that the Secret Service has already cleared the
hallway and the Agent opening the door already knew it was Donna and me standing there.
Now that Matt Santos is the nominee, Agents are going to be everywhere.
“Hey Miranda.” Donna greets her. “Wasn’t your Daddy great on TV tonight?” She asks as we
enter the suite.
“Uh-huh. So were you! Daddy laughed when he saw you, but Mommy cried.” She relays all the
reactions to our television appearance.
“What did you think?” Donna presses for Miranda’s opinion.
“I don’t know why big people like kissing all the time.” She shakes her head sadly. But then an
idea occurs to her. “Hey, if you’re really gonna get married can I be the Flower Girl?”
“Miranda!” Helen scolds laughing. “That’s very impolite.” She reaches around her daughter
and hugs Donna. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks.” Donna answers Helen before turning back to Miranda. “We haven’t made any plans
for the wedding, but I think you’d make a great Flower Girl.”
“Josh, I hope you know that I have a Secret Service detail now, and if you ever hurt Donna I’ll
use them to make you disappear like Jimmy Hoffa.” She smiles when she says that, so I’m
reasonably sure she’s kidding…still…
“Josh. Tell me you didn’t convince me to run for President just so you’d have an opportunity to
propose to Donna?” Matt shakes my hand and then envelopes Donna in a hug. “You sure you
want to take him on permanently, chicken fighter?”
“Yes, sir, I certainly am.” Donna answers confidently and I think I feel my chest swell.
“Then I think we have more than one reason to break open this bottle of champagne, don’t
we?” he replies and pops the cork. He fills the glasses that Helen hands to him until everyone
has a glass, then proposes a toast.
“To following your heart.” He announces and we all drink.