"A little late this morning," Carol commented.
"There was traffic on 18th."
"Right. CJ?"
"Yeah."
"I'm assuming you're aware of the thing with the First Lady."
They rounded the corner and turned into CJ's office.
"The Ouja board again?" CJ returned, only half-joking.
"No."
"What thing with the First Lady?" She asked, putting her things down onto her desk.
"You know. The Time magazine thing."
CJ frowned.
"What Time magazine thing?"
"Uh oh."
"Carol."
Carol flipped through the many papers she held in her arms and pulled out a magazine.
"Here." She handed it to CJ.
CJ's jaw dropped when she saw the cover.
"Oh my God."
"I take it you didn't know after all," Carol said.
"Do the others know?" CJ questioned.
"I don't know. It was on my desk this morning."
"Do me a favor- round up the senior staff and bring them here please."
"Yeah." Carol paused. "Is this a good thing or a bad thing?"
"I honestly have no idea."
"Right," Carol said, ducking out of the room quickly.
CJ said down at her desk with the magazine and started flipping through it, when a thought occurred to her.
"CAROL!" She shouted.
Carol popped her head in on her way by the door.
"Carol, get me Amy Gardner in the East Wing and have her meet us in my office ASAP, please."
"Got it."
Five minutes later, CJ's office was filled with people- Leo, Josh, Sam, and Toby had all arrived.
"What's going on?" Toby asked, stoic as usual.
"Ok." She took a deep breath. "Do any of you guys subscribe to Time magazine?" CJ asked.
They all nodded in assent.
"When was the last time any of you was home long enough to actually go through your mail?"
The question was met with a chorus of "umm"'s and "well…"'s and quite a few shoulder shrugs.
"That's what I thought," CJ said, walking around to the front of her desk and sitting on the edge. "Then feast your eyes on this."
She handed the magazine to Leo, who stood nearest to her.
"Dear God," he said, with an amused, yet appalled, expression on his face. He handed the magazine to Sam, next to him. His face lit up.
"Dear, there IS a God!" Sam cried, expanding on Leo's statement.
He passed it to Josh. He looked shocked at first, then a smile crept over his face.
"At least it's a great picture of her," Josh said, passing the magazine to Toby.
As Toby regarded the cover, Sam and Josh started laughing like schoolboys.
"Has Time really come to this?"
Just then, Amy opened the door and practically hopped into the room.
"Hey. Sorry it took me so long."
"Hey, Amy," they all replied, in one form or another.
"What's going on?"
Without a word, Toby handed her the magazine. Amy grinned with satisfaction.
"All right, Mrs. Bartlet!" She exclaimed.
They all just stared at her.
"I bet this is a good read. Really."
Toby, CJ, and Leo looked at her sternly, while Sam and Josh continued laughing.
"What? You don't find this amusing at all!" Amy questioned, dubiously.
"Oh. Well, I do." Sam managed to put on a straight face, albeit mockingly, long enough to say.
"Mmm, yes. Me too," Josh said, seriously.
The two of them looked each other then burst out laughing again.
"It's just a magazine cover!" Amy insisted to those who seemed to be taking it too seriously.
"It's not just a magazine cover," CJ said, calmly.
"It's Time magazine, first of all," Toby stated.
"And that's the First Lady of the United States of America on the front!" Leo added.
"Not only that, but it's what's written on the cover that should be getting our attention."
On one side of the magazine's cover, there was a picture of Jacqueline Kennedy, and on the other end was a picture of Abigail Bartlet. Under the pictures, the words "Who's the Sexiest First Lady of All Time?" were printed. Below, in smaller letters, "You decide."
"Do you think the President knows about this?" Toby questioned.
"I think there's a very good chance the First Lady doesn't even know this," CJ answered.
"She never mentioned it to me if she did!" Amy said.
"No, they don't know about this. One of them would have told me," Leo stated.
"So how do we deal with this?" Toby asked.
"I don't know about you, but I wanna go to the website and cast my vote!" Josh answered.
"For Jackie or Mrs. Bartlet?" Sam asked, laughing.
"I'll never tell."
"I think we need to tell the Bartlets before we do anything," Amy suggested.
"Yeah, I agree," Said CJ.
"Hey, what happens if she wins? Wait. If she loses?" Sam inquired.
"Leo, do you think this is going to be a good or bad thing?" Josh asked.
"Well, I don't know if I like the First Lady being branded as a sex symbol," Leo replied.
"Worked for Jackie," Josh pointed out.
"Yeah, but we'll never know if Kennedy would have been reelected if not for Dallas."
"You think this is gonna affect the reelection campaign?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, it's gonna affect the campaign!"
"For the better or for the worse?"
"There's absolutely no telling. It could go either way," Leo answered.
"All right. Well, we better head to the Oval and let the President in on this," Said CJ.
They decided to inform the Bartlets all together- plus, Sam and Josh insisted they wouldn't miss this for the world. They stopped at Charlie's desk.
"Is the President in?" Leo asked.
"Yeah, he's inside," Charlie replied, gesturing toward the Oval Office. He was quite confused as to why the entire senior staff was crowded in front of his small desk.
"Anyone in there with him?"
"Well, yeah…the First Lady's in there with him, and Zoey and Elizabeth."
"Zoey and Elizabeth?" CJ repeated.
"Yes. And no, I don't know why."
"Ok, thanks. Let's go on in and get this over with."
"Wait a second, what's going on?" Charlie asked.
Amy held up the magazine for Charlie to see.
"Oh, no."
"Oh, yes. Come on."
Leo knocked on the door to the Oval Office.
"Come in!" Liz shouted.
"Wait a second!" The President called.
Then, quietly, he said, "Liz, I'm the President, I get to say 'come in.'"
"Oh, please, Dad."
"It's one of the few perks that come with this job," Jed insisted before shouting, "By the executive power vested in me, and me only, I hereby declare the invitation for you to enter the Oval Office in effect!"
Leo opened the door and they all walked in. Jed was in his cair, Zoey and Liz sat on the couch, and Abbey was sitting on the edge of the desk.
"Oh, my God," Liz said, shocked to see all of them pile into the office at once.
"Are we under attack?" Abbey asked, coyly, crossing her legs.
"Depends how you look at it really," Sam said, holding in his laughter. Josh was trying to do the same. Amy jabbed him in the ribs and he silenced himself.
"What's up, guys?" Jed asked, casually.
CJ walked over and sat down on the other couch across from Zoey and Liz.
"Mr. President, this may be a dumb question, but have you seen Time magazine today?"
"I haven't even seen my own face in the mirror today, CJ, what do you think?"
"Right." She looked up at Leo, helplessly.
Leo moved to sit beside CJ on the couch.
"Sir, we found this this morning. Actually, Carol found it. But either way…"
"What is it?" Abbey asked, anxiously.
"I swear I didn't know a thing about it, ma'am," Amy said, quickly.
"Know a thing about what? What is it?"
Reluctantly, Amy walked over and handed the magazine to Abbey. As she looked at the cover, her hand involuntarily rose to cover her open mouth. Her concerned frown turned into a grin and she began to giggle girlishly, to the amusement of Elizabeth and Zoey.
"Oh, my GOD!" She exclaimed. "Oh my God."
"What, Abbey? Give it to me."
She stood and handed it to her husband. He looked it over, then put it down on his lap. They all waited anxiously for his reaction. Finally, he spoke.
"Jackie Kennedy doesn't stand a chance!"
"What? Stand at a chance at what?" Zoey questioned.
"Oh, for God's sake," Liz said, getting up and taking the magazine from her father. She, like Sam and Josh, burst out laughing when she saw the cover. Zoey stood and looked over her sister's shoulder.
"Is this a joke?" Zoey asked.
Leo looked confused. The thought of this being a prank had never occurred to him. He looked suspiciously at his staff, especially at Sam and Josh.
"Well?"