Josh was stoked. Seriously. He had already pumped his fists in the air, taken a bow and exclaimed for all to hear that "He was da Man!" He was strutting the conference center with the unmistakable swagger and NOTHING could bring him down. Ok, almost nothing.
The third ever Santos McGarry campaign rally had seemingly gone off without a hitch. The first had been rocky, the second nerve-racking, and now the third, a flawless wonder. Josh couldn't believe he had pulled it off! Of course this isn't to say he hadn't had help. The entire West Wing staff had hit the campaign trail over the last two weeks to help start their Democrat successors off on the right foot. Let's just say that at the beginning it was a lot like the mishaps during Sam's campaign where children were stuck at Disney Land and the President insulted the French. Nevertheless, Josh was able to forgive and forget and was now happy to have C.J., Toby, Annabeth, Kate Harper and Charlie all there to rally the support of the voters (not to mention the President and Mrs. B.).
Aside from these West Wingers who descended from their lofty positions to get down and dirty on the campaign trail, Josh had assembled a crack squad of political operatives to pad the Santos McGarry ticket. He of course kept Rona around, her talent to remain calm in the midst of chaos was something that Josh sincerely appreciated. He had Bram, a tall and impressive aide from the campaign trail. He hired one not-so-slick member of the Hoynes' team who in a moment of lust tipped Donna off to his candidate's California trip cancellation. This guy had practically crawled with his tail between his legs to Josh and appealed to his ego when he said: "I want to learn from the best." The two Santos originals plus the new guy made three. Josh hired one from Baker's camp making four but he knew any good team would need to consist of seven: The Magnificent Seven, the Seven Deadly Sins, the perfect number, SEVEN! All of these were rules to his strategy and he must have seven.
Of course he wanted Donna. Not as his assistant or even his direct subordinate. He wanted her as the policy director. He wanted her as an ear to the constitutes and the one to have her finger on the American people's pulse. And that is exactly the way he propositioned her to come and work withhim. She drove a hard bargain, including the incessant reminders of Will's talents and great political skills (she had it from a reliable source that Josh had yet to reach his lucky seven). Josh finally gave in and against his better judgment invited Will to join the team. If Toby wasn't mad at Josh before, this move would've definitely sealed the deal.
So that was it: Josh, Donna, Rona, Bram, Will, Not so Slick from Hoynes, and the Baker Brat. He had his TEAM! And now this team had managed to pull off what he almost hadn't thought was possible.Did I mention that he was stoked?
He was now walking swiftly down the main convention corridor with shouts of applause echoing in his ears as red, white and blue balloons drifted aimlessly among thousands of happy Democrats. His work was done, the rally was finished and as long as the Congressman or Leo didn't fall off the stage while receiving this final thunderous standing ovation he was set! That's when Rona joined him in the hall.
"Josh" she begins, of course observing his smug overtones as she joined him in his overly hastened hustle.
"Yes Rona, my dear?" Josh shot back playfully enjoying his good mood.
"I haven't got numbers."
"Oh numbers, Rona, just listen to the cries of the people do you really think we need numbers at a moment like this?" He had thrown both his arms into the air and was spinning with an enormous dimpled grin as he exclaimed these words.
Rona had never heard Josh be so glib when it came to numbers. He had quite the reputation for being demanding in this very area (ok, I guess all areas) so his statement left her in a slight state of shock. She stopped walking and cocking her head to one side she studied Josh with a knowing smirk. "Are you enjoying this Josh?" she let out slowly, with a slight tease in her tone.
"Oh yes Rona I am!" Josh glanced to his side where he expected to find the short brunette but upon realizing that she had fallen behind he pivoted around, took her in his arms and spun her forward towards him. It was a quick and playful gesture that made her and Josh laugh and as they stood facing one another in the somewhat abandoned halls of the corridor Josh saw something over her left shoulder and it was his turn to freeze in his tracks.
Not too far up the hall and more towards where the large circle track turned slightly to the left, Josh spotted the back of a skinny blond and the unmistakable pointy face of Will Bailey. They were standing close to one another, and it looked like she had her hand up on his chest. He was talking and laughing and nodding and her shoulders were bouncing up and down so Josh assumed she too must be having a good chuckle. Josh squinted and was about to approach the secretive couple when SHE suddenly leaned in for a kiss.
"Josh?…ahh…Josh?" Rona was now looking a little frightened as Josh had yet to let go of her arms and was now tightening his grip every so slightly on her biceps.
"Josh?"
"No," he began, barely audible. He spun back around so that his back was now to the couple but his height restricted Rona's view.
"No, you don't want me to bring you the numbers as soon as I get them?" Rona liked Josh, but frankly these last few minutes had weirded her out immensely. He had literally gone from cloud nine one second to this zombie, sick puppy look the next. Not to mention he was STILL holding onto her arms and she was tempted to use a move she had learned in a self-defense class if he didn't back off in a few seconds.
"JOSH!" This final attempt to break through to him seemed to have worked. Josh looked at her, let out the breath he had been holding now for a good 45 seconds, and said eloquently "What…huh…what was that?" He looked down and realized he was still holding onto her and letting go he brushed his hands on both her shoulders to straighten her crumpled shirt as if he were inspecting a uniformed solider.
"The numbers Josh, I will get them to you as soon as I can?" Rona was now way past weirded out and felt like she must be dreaming this whole thing.
"Yeah, sounds fine." Josh was standing stiff and straight and not really making eye contact. His brow furrowed and he turned to look over his shoulder as Rona made a quick turn on her heels to rush away. "See you!" she sung, her eagerness to get away from him reflective in her voice.
"Yeah, bye." Josh said turning back towards her, the couple from the hallway was seemingly long gone and Josh was left in the expansive hallway feeling more than just a little claustrophobic.