"Sam!" she yelled. His tired face looked up from the memo he was currently reading, and watched as the door swung open so fast that it hit the wall. The press secretary stormed angrily over to his desk, and threw down the newspaper. His heart stopped at what he saw. Sam had been dreading this day. The cover page read 'two former white house staffers, Steve Joyce and Mark Brookline, bringing up a law suit against the White House'.
"Brookline claims Steve and himself were unfairly fired by a senior staffer, Samuel Seaborn." CJ read. "Why am I just hearing about this?" she waved her hands furiously. "I don't know." He drew out, dumbly. "Sam!" she yelled again. "When did this happen?"
He paused for a moment, sucking in a breath. He glanced up, meeting her angry eyes, and pulled off his glasses before saying, "about a month ago."
"A month ago!" CJ yelled. "Why did I not know about this sooner?" her eyebrows rose waiting for a response from the deputy communications director. "I didn't think it was important." Sam answered. He diverted his attention away from CJ and began to read the memo from the minority whip once again. "Sam!" she shouted, startling him. "You didn't think it was important?" she quipped. "Do you have any idea how serious this is?" CJ took a step closer to his desk, her eyes wide. "I know it's serious. I'm saying I didn't believe it was pertinent a month ago when I fired two staffers for harassment, I didn't know it was going to evolve into a law suit." Sam countered. He folded his arms over his chest, waiting for a response from her.
"I'm your first phone call, Sam." CJ told him, pointing to herself. "When?" he questioned. "Before. Now. In the future. Any time you're into something, and you don't know what. I'm your first line of defense. I need to protect you, and I need to protect the President." She retorted. CJ took a breath, and looked at the uncaring, gets distracted easily, man in front of her. "Sam you're a high-profile, very visible, much noticed, member of the senior staff."
"CJ…" he began, but was interrupted by his colleague, and longtime friend. CJ lifted her left wrist, which was occupied by a watch, checking the time. "We'll discuss this later. I have a press briefing." She announced before exiting the room.
"Did you know about this?!" Sam heard CJ snapping at Toby. "No." the man grumbled back. Toby appeared in Sam's doorway. "How the hell did I get in trouble?"
"You got out of bed this morning." Sam joked.
"What's going on?" the older man asked. Sam opened his mouth, and sighed. "We may have a problem."
She was having a good day. A great day, actually. As great of a day you could be having being a Republican in a White House run by Democrats. She typed away on her computer, writing notes on the piece of legislation Josh had asked her to review. The light knock on her door pulled her from her bubble of no distractions. "Come in." she mumbled, clicking away at her computer keys. He stepped into her office, and quietly shut the door after himself. "Hey." Sam said awkwardly. She looked up from her work, hearing the familiar voice. "Hey." She repeated, flatly. Her cheeks blushed a light pink, not knowing what to say. The young blonde crossed her arms over her chest, and asked, "What can I help you with?"
Sam took a stride closer to her desk, and looked her in her eyes. His mouth opened, trying to find his words. "Ainsley, have you seen the Post today?" he pondered. She leaned back in her chair, sporting a confused look on her face. "The Washington Post?" she asked to clarify. "Yeah." Sam answered simply. "No, why? Did somethin' happen ?" she drawled out in her Southern accent. He held out the paper, and she accepted it. "They're filing a law suit?" she looked up at him horrified. "Well first there has to be an investigation." He pointed out. She ran a hand over her forehead, and began fiddling with her necklace, a nervous habit of hers. "This…This is bad." She stuttered.
"We have a meeting with Lionel tomorrow morning." Sam informed her.
