A/N: So I tried writing this in a style completely different from anything I've done before. This is my first attempt at an all-dialogue story, and I think it went okay, but I'd love to hear your thoughts! It's essentially a series of phone conversations between Josh and Donna while Josh is helping Leo with debate prep and Donna is in Houston with the Santos's.
"He understands this is his last trip home until the election, doesn't he?"
"No idea, does he?"
"Let me put it another way: tell him this is his last trip home until the election."
"You didn't tell him?"
"Not in so many words."
"In any words?"
"Josh says this is your last trip home until the election."
"Donna!"
"What?"
"Some deftness, a little finesse."
"He knows."
"That's not the point."
"Josh, chill."
"Did you just tell me to chill?"
"It would appear so."
"Is it somehow not clear that I'm your boss?"
"Congressman's recommendation."
"Oh."
"To which I heartily concur."
"Yeah, I don't think you tell me to chill."
"I wanted to scream it every day for eight years."
"Whatever inhibition prevented you, summon it…I've got to go."
. . . . . .
"Hey, it's me."
"I know. What's up?"
"Well…"
"What?"
"Leo's first debate practice."
"Not good?"
"That's gotta be the understatement of the year. Lou wouldn't even let me watch the whole tape."
"Any chance she's exaggerating?"
"It was really bad, Donna. Just the part that I saw was…painful. Annabeth and Otto were there, and they seemed to agree."
"So what'd you do?"
"Well, I destroyed the tape for one."
"What!"
"I don't want Leo to see it, it'll mess with his head."
"So, what, you're just going to lie to him? Tell him he's doing great? Come on, Josh, that's not going to work."
"I know…I know. We're gonna fix it, we have to, but we have to make sure he stays out of his own head."
"Maybe have him talk to the President, or have CJ give him some pointers. You've got options, Josh, no time to panic yet."
"I know. Thanks. How are things going there?"
"We're fine. The Santos kids have colds so the Congressman seems a bit tense around them."
"The last thing we need right now is a sick candidate."
"Josh. We all know that. Kids get colds, the Congressman will be fine, I'm sure everyone will be all settled down my lunch."
"Yeah. Listen, I gotta run, Lou and I need to touch base about how to move forward with this thing. Tell the Congressman to take it easy?"
"Sure thing boss."
. . . . . . . . .
"You didn't say anything, did you?"
"Well hello to you too, Josh."
"I'm serious, Donna."
"I don't even know what you're talking about."
"It's all over the internet that Leo's struggling in debate prep."
"Who would I have told, Josh? I've been holed up in the Congressman's house ever since we go here, and it's really not my place to discuss strategy with anyone here."
"Well, someone leaked it! And I want to know who!"
"Josh. Relax. You and I both know it's not a big deal, or at least not as big as you seem to want to make it. You have a plan. Stick to it."
"Why do you always insist on injecting logic into situations where it really doesn't belong."
"It's just part of my charm…Josh?"
"Yeah?"
"He's gonna be fine."
"I'm trying to be positive when he's around, but I'm awful at lying to Leo. He knows we're worried, and this leak thing is just gonna shake his confidence even more."
"He's gonna be fine, Josh. You getting all weird and anxious is only going to make this worse. So calm down and go do your job."
"You know, you're really not supposed to tell me what to do."
"And how has that worked out for you in the past?"
"I could fire you, you know."
"I work for Lou, not you, and she works for the Congressman, not you."
"It's very difficult to feel in charge when my entire staff conspires against me."
"Would you just stop complaining and go back to whatever it is you're supposed to be doing? Or at least let me go back to what I'm supposed to be doing?"
"And what is that, by the way?"
"The Congressman has a few events while we're here, remember? We're working with him to revise his stump speech into something less, well—"
"Repetitive?"
"Exactly."
"Wanna trade?"
"You wish."
"I do. Actually, I wish I had sent someone else to Texas. I could really use you here right now."
"Who else would you have sent? You need Lou and Otto and Annabeth and Ronna there to help with debate prep. You made the right decision, you always do."
"Thanks…I really needed to hear that right now."
"I know. Now, go. Do good."
"Yeah. Can I call you again later?"
"I'd expect nothing else."
. . . . . . .
"Look who's calling who this time."
"Thought I'd save you the trouble for once."
"Well that was uncharacteristically thoughtful of you."
"I'm just full of surprises I guess."
"Everything going okay down there?"
"As well as was to be expected. We just got back from the event. He did well."
"He always does. Everything okay the family?"
"I'm trying not to pry, it's really none of my business."
"So, no then?"
"No, not no…"
"But as expected?"
"Yeah. How did practice go this afternoon?"
"Really not great. Annabeth worked with him all afternoon and it was a little better, but barely. We have another session tomorrow."
"Will he be ready by tomorrow night?"
"He'd better be."
"So he worked with Annabeth all day, huh?"
"Yeah, why?"
"No reason."
"Donna!"
"What?"
"Why?"
"You really don't wanna know."
"Donna."
"Trust me, Josh. Just stay focused."
"She's helping him with his presentation!"
"I know she is."
"You're saying things, but it sounds like you mean different things."
"Amazing how that works, isn't it?"
"I'll never understand women."
"No, you won't, but that's just the way we like it."
"You're insufferable."
"Yet you've called me four times in the less than two days I've been gone."
"You called me this time."
"If I hadn't you, would have. It counts."
"You can't make up your own rules!"
"I think you should know by now, I can do pretty much whatever I want."
"Why didn't I fire you years ago?"
"You'd lose your head without me, Joshua, and you know it."
"That is…fair, I guess. Also, don't think I didn't notice that you changed the subject. We will be addressing that in the future."
"But?"
"But I'm actually exhausted right now, and it sounds like tomorrow is going to be a long one."
"Get some sleep, Josh, you've earned it."
"Not yet I haven't."
"Josh. You're doing great. Leo's going to be fine. Relax, get some sleep, and start over again tomorrow."
"Yeah. G'night, Donna."
"Night, Josh."
. . . . . . . . . . .
"What do you want?"
"Good morning to you too."
"Josh, it's five in the morning!"
"No, it's…oh."
"Yes, oh. Did you actually want something or is this just part of your plan to make my life as difficult as possible?"
"I'm sorry, I tried to wait as long as possible, I just forgot about the time difference."
"Josh, how long have you been up?"
"A few hours, I don't know. I couldn't sleep."
"Josh!"
"I couldn't sleep! I've got way too much to do. And it's a good thing I was up, because the press has it that Leo tanked at practice again."
"It wasn't me, Josh, and I haven't talked to anyone here about it."
"I know it wasn't you."
"Then why are you calling me before the sun is even up?"
"I just…I felt better after I talked to you yesterday."
"Oh."
"I'm sorry. I'll let you go back to sleep."
"Josh, wait. I'm already up now, you might as well talk or whatever it is you need to do."
"I honestly don't know what I was thinking. I'm still just worried about Leo. The debate's tonight, the last thing we need right now is him reading this crap."
"He's read a lot worse."
"I know, it's just…shit."
"What?"
"Donna, do you have your laptop?"
"I have it. Why?"
"Turn it on. I just sent you something."
"What is it?"
"It's…god, the Congressman's gonna be pissed."
"Josh?"
"It's…it's a picture from the other day. When the family was on the front lawn."
"I'm logging into my email now."
"Can you hurry up?"
"Be patient Josh, I can't control how fast my computer goes!"
"Get a better computer!"
"How about you get me a better computer?"
"How about you focus please?"
"Right. Okay, here it is…shit. Is that…?
"Yeah."
"Should I…?"
"I'm sorry Donna."
"Not your fault. It's all part of the job. I'll talk to Bram. Do I have to tell them first thing or can I wait for them to get back from church?"
"Talk to Bram. But it shouldn't get picked up until later in the day, so you should be fine waiting until they get back. Just make sure they hear it from you."
"Right. Anything else?"
"Not right now. Stay in touch throughout the day?"
"Of course. Josh?"
"Yeah?"
"Stop beating yourself up. It's not going to help Leo, it's not going to help the Congressman. We'll get through today, then we'll get through tomorrow."
"Yeah."
"And I'm glad you called, even if you still need to learn how time zones work."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I guess I got so used to hearing you talk constantly for eight years that it feels weird to go too long without hearing your voice."
"Oh. Well, then."
"Yeah. You'd better get ready for everyone else to get in."
"Yeah. Good luck today."
"You too."
. . . . . . . .
"Hey. Sorry I missed you earlier. It got kind of crazy around here."
"Yeah, I bet. Everything okay?
"I think 'okay' might be a ways off. The Congressman insisted on calling the publisher himself to complain. If nothing else, I think it made him feel better."
"Lou's probably gonna say that that was a bad decision, but I honestly could care less."
"I thought you'd be pissed too, honestly."
"I probably should be, but I get it. I mean, if someone tried to publish something like that about you…or, y'know, anyone else, I'd try to ruin their career. So I'll deal with Lou or whatever else, you just focus on keeping things together down there."
"Easier said than done."
"I have faith in you. You're a people person."
"So I've heard."
"From me, if I recall."
"From you…Josh?"
"Hmm?"
"You know there's an upside, right?"
"Yeah, that was all Lou talked about all morning honestly. I think she's just looking for anything to take our minds off the train wreck tonight."
"You see her point though, right? About it appealing them to younger voters?"
"Yeah, I see her point, I just don't like it. It's disgusting how low people will stoop for a headline."
"Does it still surprise you?"
"Not a bit."
"Then…"
"It's just not right. I just…I don't know, never mind."
"Josh? Are you okay?"
"Fine. Just worried about tonight, and everything, I guess."
"How'd the last practice go?"
"He blew it off. Said he wanted to take the day for himself to clear his head and just walked out."
"It's Leo, Josh. Trust him. He knows what he's doing."
"I hope so."
"So what have you been doing all day, since your primary job ran off?"
"You mean besides listening to Lou bark orders about how we wanna attack this Mrs. Santos thing?"
"Right."
"I talked to Toby for a bit."
"Oh yeah?"
"I don't know why I called him, honestly, I don't know what I expected him to say."
"Did everything go okay?"
"No, but…yeah, I guess. I'd been dreading talking to him again, and I didn't even realize I was calling him until he picked up, and I still feel on-edge around him, but now that I did it, I feel…a little better than I did before, at least."
"He used to be one of your best friends, Josh. You worked so closely together for such a long time, a few months of arguing isn't going to change how tuned to each other you are. Whether you two know it or not, he knew what you needed to hear, and I'd bet he feels better after talking to you too."
"Maybe…I don't know. It's weird."
"You're weird."
"Thanks for that."
"All part of my job."
"It's really not."
"Did it get you to smile?"
"No."
"Are you lying?"
"Donna!"
"Josh!"
"Okay, this is what I don't have time for right now."
"What else would you be doing? Listening to Lou bitch at you?"
"Okay, yeah, I guess. I might go see Leo, just see if he wants one more quick run-through."
"Just relax. You freaking out is only going to freak him out."
"I can be calm!"
"I never said you couldn't."
"Okay, well…"
"Josh."
"What?"
"Go. I'm going to go catch up with Mrs. Santos, make sure she'll be okay."
"Good idea. I'm sure I'll be talking to you?"
"At this rate, I give it an hour tops."
"Complaining?"
"Not at all. Believe it or not, I actually like talking to you."
"Good. Later then."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
"Look who it is."
"Just thought I'd check in. We're on our way over now."
"Who's in the car?"
"Just me. Lou and Annabeth are harassing Leo in the other car and everyone else is meeting us there."
"Poor Leo."
"Right? No way was I going to be any part of that. Annabeth has been merciless all week."
"Of course she has."
"Would you stop that?"
"What?"
"You know what! That—that thing you keep doing whenever I mention Annabeth!"
"I'm not doing any 'thing', Josh."
"Fine, whatever."
"You're oddly unargumentative right now."
"I might have a few other things on my mind at the moment."
"Understandable."
"I'm just ready for this to be over with, honestly."
"Josh, you've done everything for Leo you can. It's up to him now. Trust him."
"I do trust him."
"I know that. And he knows that. So whatever happens, happens."
"Yeah. Thanks."
"Don't worry about it."
"And thanks for, y'know, putting up with me all week. And in general, but I know I've been particularly annoying about this whole Leo thing."
"Seriously Josh, don't worry about it. If I didn't want to talk to you, I would just hang up the phone. You're not that hard to avoid."
"I think you're forgetting that I'm your boss."
"So?"
"So you really don't get to 'avoid' me."
"Do you see me trying?"
"I'm just saying!"
"Josh. I would never avoid you, and not just because you're my boss, okay? So if you need to call me again tonight, call me. If you need to call me at three in the morning, call me."
"Yeah."
"What do you need right now?"
"I need…I really wish I hadn't sent you all the way to Texas."
"It's a good thing you did, though. But I know what you mean. We'll be back tomorrow."
"I…I miss you. I got so used to having you around again. I don't know what's different this time."
"I miss you too, Josh. But now, you've got a job to do. Motivating words, soothing tones, right?"
"Something like that. We're pulling up now, I've got to go."
"Wish Leo luck for me!"
"Will do. And Donna?"
"You'll call me later?"
"Yeah."
"Go."
"Okay."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
"Did you see that!?"
"Happy?"
"Oh my god, Donna, did you see that?"
"Of course I saw that. I thought he did well."
"I don't—man I don't even know where that came from!"
"I told you he'd be fine! He's always fine."
"I'm going to pretend you didn't just say 'I told you so' because no one likes that person, and I'm not going to let you ruin my good mood."
"Good, you deserve to celebrate a bit."
"So I probably shouldn't tell you that I'm on my way back to the office right now?"
"Josh!"
"What? The Congressman comes back tomorrow, the campaign's still going, there's work to be done."
"There is absolutely nothing so pressing that you need to do anything but go home and get some rest. You got, what, four hours last night?"
"It doesn't matter."
"So less than that, then."
"Donna, stop, I'm too wired to sleep right now anyways, might as well get something done."
"Josh, you know as well as anyone how crazy things get at the end of a campaign. You should sleep while you can."
"I'll sleep when I'm dead."
"So sometime in the next two months."
"Very funny."
"I'm serious, Josh, please take care of yourself."
"I am!"
"You really aren't. What have you eaten today?"
"I don't know, what are you, my mother?"
"Apparently someone needs to be."
"I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself."
"So prove it, then. Go home."
"Donna."
"Josh. Go home."
"Just for a bit. I won't be too late, I just want to make sure everything is ready for when you guys get back tomorrow."
"Okay. Do you want to call me when you're on your way home? So I know you're not actually here too late?"
"Donna, you have a five a.m. flight tomorrow. You actually do need to sleep."
"I can sleep on the plane. And I haven't been run nearly as thin as you have been."
"I'm fine."
"Promise?"
"Donna…yes, I promise. One hour and I'll go home."
"Thank you."
"I should let you get to sleep. You have an early morning."
"Yeah. G'night, Josh. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Sleep well."
"Get home safe."
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
"Yeah."
"Hmmm? Donna?"
"Hey. Sorry if I woke you."
"Nah, no, I mean, just a little. I was gonna get up soon."
"You didn't call me when you left the office."
"I told you I wanted to let you sleep."
"Then how do I know you did what I asked?"
"I guess you're just gonna have to trust me, aren't you?"
"I suppose I can live with that."
"So what's up? Or did you just miss me that much?"
"Would that be a problem if I did?"
"Oh. No, I guess it wouldn't."
"We're about to board. I just wanted to, I don't know, check in one more time."
"Yeah. Okay. Good."
"Good. I think we're coming straight to the office from the airport."
"Yeah. Vacation's over."
"What vacation?"
"You know what I mean."
"Right."
"I think Lou has a thing she wants you to do when you get here, but you'll have to talk to her about it."
"I'll touch base with her when we get there then."
"Good, good. I guess I'll see you in a few hours then."
"I guess you will."
"Donna?"
"Hmm?"
"I'm—I'm glad you called, y'know, just now. Before you left."
"Me too."
"After, um, after we finish up tomorrow…do you wanna grab dinner? Y'know, if we have time? Just to catch up, I mean, since we haven't—"
"Josh. I'd like that. Even if it's just takeout in your office."
"Yeah?"
"Definitely."
"Okay. Okay, good. I'll…see you in a few hours then."
"I'm looking forward to it."
"Yeah. Me too. Have a safe flight."
"Thanks. Should I call you when we land?"
"Might as well, yeah."
"Okay."
. . . . . . . . . . . .
"Hey."
"Hey. Flight okay?"
"Yeah, we're in the car now."
"So, what, fifteen minutes away?"
"I'd say closer to thirty, but you can think what you want."
"You have entirely too much energy for someone who was up before the sun."
"What can I say? I'm having a good day."
"And why is that?"
"I think you know why."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"Oh. That's—that's good. Me, uh, too."
"Good. What's going on there? Now that the normal people are awake."
"We debriefed from last night as a group, so that's all over and done. Leo's got something in Portland, so he and Annabeth are on their way to the airport. I've been with Lou the rest of the time and if you asked me what the hell we talked about I honestly couldn't tell you."
"That's because you went back to the office instead of going to bed, and you're tired."
"No, it's because Lou talks a lot, and I've learned that if she really needs me to know something, she'll make sure I know."
"If you say so."
"Are you all in one car?"
"I'm with the Congressman if that's what you mean."
"Yeah."
"He says hi."
"Okay. How far are you now?"
"You're worse than a child, you know that, right?"
"How am I worse?"
"Because you can lie to a child. You, unfortunately, are a bit smarter than the average four-year-old."
"Gee Donna, you're so good to me."
"The Congressman says to chill."
"Is he actually saying that or are you just using it as an excuse to be mean to me?"
"Josh, chill."
"He's actually saying it."
"Yeah, I got that. You still haven't answered the question."
"Soon, Josh, we'll be there soon. Don't you have work to do?"
"I'm multitasking."
"You're terrible at multitasking."
"I'm a campaign manager. I'm a political operative. I multitask all the time."
"No, you bounce between ten things in two minutes. You can't do two things at once. Josh, I've worked with you for a long time. I think I know how you function."
"You know nothing."
"Okay, Josh."
"You're mocking me."
"Imagine that."
"I'm still your boss."
"I know."
"So maybe you shouldn't do that."
"Hmmm I think it's a little late for that."
"I could fire you."
"You won't."
"You're infuriating."
"So are you."
"When will you be here?"
"Josh."
"What?"
"Soon, okay? Very soon."
"Okay. I just…miss you."
"I promise. Your office will be my first stop."
"Kay. Thanks."
"We're here."
"Really?"
"Yes, Josh, we just pulled up."
"Oh. Okay, good."
"I'm going to hang up now. I'll see you in a few."
"Yeah. Can't wait."
"Me neither."
"And Donna?"
"Yeah?"
"We should do this more often. When we travel."
"Yeah, okay. Bye Josh."
"Bye Donna."