Epilogue
“Congressman, what brings you here? I thought you’d still be riding high on the Patient’s Bill of Rights
win?” Donna noted.
“Believe me, I am, but since that was partly your brainstorm, I felt it was only fair to come and deliver my
thanks in person.” Congressman Santos sat across from her desk.
“It was a group effort, sir.”
“Matt.” Santos corrected her.
“Yes, sir.” Donna smiled.
“How long have you been in Parker’s office?” Santos asked.
“Three months. Since I came back to work after my maternity leave.”
“So…it would be incredible rude, and probably professionally risky to try to steal you for my office?”
Santos guessed.
“Congressman?” Donna blinked in surprise at the turn in conversation. She’d worked pretty closely with
Matt Santos over the past 4 weeks working out the Patient’s Bill of Rights with him, Minority Leader
Parker and Sam of course. It had been invigorating and reminded her of working the votes with Josh at
the White House. But her work for Parker’s office had only been part time and mostly done
independently from home up until that point and she had been fine with that…until this bill had fired her
up again.
“I’m not trying to poach Parker’s staff…well, I guess I am a bit, but Sam said you might be up for some
bigger challenges and he mentioned that this has been more of a project by project gig for you than a
permanent position?” Santos turned the statement into a question.
“It has, yes, but I’ve got a baby at home and the project by project, work mostly from home kind of
schedule is working for me.” Donna explained.
“Would you consider the same kind of schedule working in my office?”
“I…” Donna hesitated. “I’d have to think about it, Congressman.”
“Fair enough.” Santos nodded. “Give it some thought, but let me know as soon as possible. I’m staffing
up and I could use someone like you on board.”
“I’ll give it some thought.” Donna promised and did nothing but that for the rest of the day.
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“Hoynes calling again?” Donna guessed when Josh let the phone go to voice mail after checking the
caller ID.
“He’s ramping up the calls.” Josh sighed.
“Did you not explain to him that you weren’t diving back into Presidential politics?”
“Repeatedly.” Josh replied. “Now he just calls with ‘questions’.”
“I can’t believe he’s going to run for re-election.” Donna sat down next to her husband while he
perused the latest batch of senior papers he needed to grade.
“His ego certainly knows no bounds.” Josh agreed.
“Your bill is getting all kinds of play on the news tonight.” Josh smirked.
“It’s not MY bill.” Donna but grinned nonetheless. She was very proud of her contributions.
“Congressman Santos served it up.”
“Parker seems to be tapping him for a lot of screen time lately.” Josh noted.
“He handles the press well, and the other members even better.” Donna shrugged.
“I guess you’ve gotten to know him pretty well over the last few weeks.”
“I have. He’s a good man. He’s got two darling kids and a beautiful wife: he’s always showing me
pictures.”
“A family man serving in Congress? Will wonders never cease?”
“I think there are more of them than you’re willing to admit.” Donna paused for a second, wondering the
best way to mention the job offer when she decided just to blurt it out. “He offered me a job today.”
That made Josh look up from the paper he’d been grading and push his reading glasses on top of his
head. “Santos?”
“He said he was impressed with my work on the Patient’s Bill of Rights and was staffing up…”
“Staffing up? Is he… did he mention why he’s staffing up?” Josh interrupted.
“No, he didn’t. But he did say I could continue part time and work a lot from home just like I’ve been
doing with Parker.”
“Why can’t you just continue doing the work with Parker?” Josh asked.
“They don’t really need me there, and I liked working with Matt.”
“Matt?” Josh chuckled. “Okay.”
“Okay as in ‘it’s okay for you to take the job with Santos’ okay?”
“Hell no.” Josh refuted. “Okay as in ‘do you realize he’s playing you’ okay.”
“Playing me?”
“It’s an election year Donna. Why do you think a three-term Congressman might be ramping up his
staff?”
“He’d have had to file by now, wouldn’t he?” Donna asked.
“He’d be late joining the party, but not too late, and Hoynes is definitely vulnerable.”
“And you don’t want your wife on his staff helping him, if that’s what he’s doing, because you’ve already
turned Hoynes down?” Donna tried to get a handle on his objection.
Josh pushed his glasses back down in front of his eyes to continue working on the paper in front of
him. “No, I just don’t want to see you being used by Santos.”
“Used how?”
“He’s using you to get to me.” Josh declared.
“Oh is he?” Josh may not have been married all that long, but he knew that tone in Donna’s voice
meant trouble.
“That may not be his sole reason for hiring you, obviously you have skills that any Congressman
would…”
“His sole reason?” Donna repeated. “Your ego really knows no bounds does it?”
“That might have been a little… Look, the President of the United States is calling for advice on his re-
election run and he’s not the only high profile Democrat calling either, so I don’t think it’s simply ego
causing me to think Santos might have ulterior motives here.”
“Matt isn’t like that.” Donna insisted. “If you’d bother to get to know him before you decide he’s like the
majority of his fellow Congressmen…”
“He’s doing good things. I don’t deny that, but…”
“But he’s only offering me a job because the person he REALLY wants working for him is you.” Donna
concluded. “You know, I was going to politely decline but you’ve changed my mind. I think I have
something to contribute to Congressman Santos’ office. I think he may be the next ‘real thing’ and I’m
not missing out on this opportunity to work with him because of your delusions of grandeur.”
“Donna…”
“I’ll be back in an hour or so. Listen for Nate.” She grabbed her purse and coat before slamming out
the door.
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Sam’s door slammed shut with something akin to a hurricane force wind. He had no trouble discerning
the cause and it had more in common with a hurricane than most people saw at first; it was Josh
Lyman. He could move just as fast as a hurricane when the situation warranted it and was certainly
capable of causing as much destruction.
“I had a feeling I might be seeing you today.” Sam sighed.
“Really? You must be psychic!” Josh said sarcastically. “Otherwise, how on earth would you divine the
fact that you would be seeing me today?”
“Josh…”
“Could it possibly be because you’ve hooked Donna up with some Congressman?” Josh asked
rhetorically.
“I didn’t set her up on a date or anything.” Sam noted but that only seemed to fuel Josh’s fire.
“Sam!” Josh exploded. “She’s already doing side jobs for your office, why did you have to…”
“First of all, I didn’t DO anything.” Sam stood up to defend himself. “He met her, was impressed with her
for reasons I surely don’t need to explain to you, and made the offer all on his own. The only reason I
know about it at all is because Donna mentioned the job offer to me afterwards.”
“Well, she only JUST got around to mentioning it to me.” Josh complained.
“Then that’s something you should address with her. She didn’t keep if from you on advice from me, I
assure you.”
“We’re out of the D.C. scene, Sam. We’re perfectly happy being outside the beltway.” Josh continued.
Sam laughed. “You can delude yourself all you want, my friend, but you are NOT outside the beltway.
You guest on any of a half dozen political shows, you write op/eds and you do some part time
consulting. You have NOT removed yourself from D.C. politics.”
“What has that got to do with…”
“Everything!” Sam exploded back. “You’re like a cigarette addict who’s slapping on nicotine patches on
every skin surface while claiming it’s great to be off cigarettes! Give me a break! In the meantime,
Donna is likewise itching to get back in the game, but she’s so busy tiptoeing around you on the
subject that…”
“Hold on.” Josh held his hands up in protest. “Do not lecture me about my marriage.”
“You’re the one who brought your marriage into my office today, Josh.” Sam pointed out.
Josh took a moment to consider that. “Shit.”
“Yeah…” Sam sat down again. “She wants to work WITH you on this stuff but you keep slamming the
door in her face about it.”
“She’s got Nate and school and the consulting she’s done for your office.” Josh replied.
“I think she’s looking for bigger challenges than research and briefing materials for my boss.”
“I don’t want to get back into this cesspool, Sam.”
“Nice…”
“I didn’t mean Parker.” Josh amended. “I just meant all of this in general.” Josh waved his arms around
the office trying to encompass Congress in general.
“You don’t have to get back into anything; though if you ask me, you really do want to get back in the
game. You’ve been healthy and doing great. Why wouldn’t you want to take a swing at some of the
issues and candidates around?” Sam asked him. “But you need to let Donna know you’re okay with this
career move for her.”
“Even if I’m not?” Josh sat down in Sam’s visitor chair dejectedly, steepling his fingers together.
“Especially if you’re not.” Sam told him. “Hasn’t she always done the same for you?”
“Yeah…” Josh sighed out a deep breath.
“Santos is a good guy.” Sam noted. “She’ll do really well working for him.”
“He’s only been here, what, 2 terms?” Josh scoffed.
“In the last year of his third.” Sam corrected.
“Give him time. The ambition bug will bite him and then it will all go to shit.” Josh predicted. “Believe me,
I have experience with politicians from Texas.”
“He’s not like Hoynes.” Sam argued. “He’s happily married, for one thing, and for another thing… don’t
you think Donna’s radar would have gone off within minutes of meeting him if he was that kind of
politician?”
“Yeah… I guess.” Josh allowed.
“You guess?” Sam laughed. “You’re always telling me how sharp her radar is. She’s met with Santos
half a dozen times and has nothing but good things to say about him. That should tell you something.”
“It does.”
“I have an idea.” Sam began. “Invite Congressman Santos out to speak to one of your classes. You’ll
get to know him a little bit and see him up close and personal.”
“I’ll think about it.” Josh hedged and got up from his seat, heading for the door.
“Where are you going now?” Sam asked.
“I need to buy my wife some flowers to congratulate her on the new job.” Josh called back.
Sam smiled. Josh would do anything for Donna - including swallowing his own opinions on working in
politics again. It looked like Donna had figured out what was next for her too. This, he couldn’t wait to
see…
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Josh led the applause that concluded Congressman Santos’ remarks. Matt Santos had cemented the
impression he’d already made on Josh. Santos was a witty, personable, bright man who believed
passionately in what he was doing in Congress.
“Do you have time to catch something to eat before you head back?” Josh asked him.
“Sure.” Matt agreed and followed Josh to the cafeteria.
“I’d stay away from the egg salad but otherwise it’s all pretty decent.” Josh advised and waited while
Matt made his selection and they took a seat at a table in the back.
“Maybe I should have taken a table more out in the open?” Santos joked.
“I’m sorry?”
“Donna… she shared some of your concerns about the job offer I extended to her.”
“Ah.” Josh smiled grimly. “I wish she hadn’t done that.”
“I think she was giving me fair warning that you might show up in my office with a hunting knife.” Santos
explained. “In any case, I thought I could take this opportunity to assure you that it’s Donna I’m after…
in a professional capacity only.” Santos hastened to add.
“Ah-kay.” Josh took a bite of his sandwich.
“I mean it. I don’t have any Presidential aspirations, Josh. In fact, this will be my last year in Congress. I’
ve decided not to run for re-election.” Santos continued. “The reason I’m adding staff is that I have
certain things I’m determined to get done before I leave and I’m going to need some top of the line staff
to help me accomplish those goals.”
Josh considered what Santos was telling him. “You’re off to a good start with the Patient’s Bill of Rights.
Donna will be able to help you get your agenda through.” He replied. “You really don’t have any
Presidential ambitions?”
“None.” Santos chuckled. “My wife would shoot me dead for even considering it. I promised her that this
time next year I’ll be at home in Houston.”
“That’s a shame. I could see you going in that direction… down the road.” Josh surmised.
“I consider that a compliment coming from you.” Santos admitted. “But there’s a great deal of freedom
that comes with not having to worry about re-election and being able to leave it all on the field.”
“I’m sure. You just don’t see many people making the choice not to return to Congress voluntarily.”
Josh toasted Matt with his soft drink.
“So, you’re fine with Donna coming to work for me?”
“Not that it matters to Donna but, yes.” Josh told him. “I think you’ll both benefit from the relationship. I’ll
be looking forward to watching what you two come up with.”
“To a productive last year in Congress.” Santos raised his glass in a toast with the Styrofoam cup.
“It’s sure to be a wild ride.” Josh returned the toast.
The End.
Find out “What’s Next” for the gang in this universe in the sequel; The Next Thing. (coming soon)