Title: White House Syndrome
Character: Carol
Word count: 500
Summary: Carol gets her fun where she can, even if it's living vicariously through CJ's flirtation with Ben.
A/N: Written for pockyslash's Tertiary Characters Ficathon.
Carol can't remember the last time she went on a date or even when she last saw non-White House friends. She's not sure she still has any non-White House friends which, she thinks, is really sad.
She loves her job, of course. It's a privilege to work in the White House, CJ's a great boss and she has a lot of fun with the other assistants.
It's just that lately it seems like there's been one crisis after another and Carol's lucky if she makes it home before midnight. So it's no real surprise that her social life's taken a bit of a beating.
So Carol gets her fun where she can, even if it's living vicariously through CJ's flirtation with Ben.
Hanging out with the Muppets, though, was also entertaining, and Carol is now "cool" according to her nephew, Adam. All of four years old, he told her that he wants to work in the White House when he grows up so he can meet the Muppets too. Carol doesn't have the heart to disillusion him.
Carol isn't sure what she wants to do when this term is over. She knows she doesn't want to spend another eight years here, that's for sure.
Still, she thinks she'll be sad when it finally comes time to leave. Some of the other assistants already know: Margaret will be with Leo as long as he needs her and Donna wants to study.
A long, relaxing holiday on a beach somewhere sounds appealing.
The phone rings: Ben for CJ. She puts him through, watches CJ's face light up and thinks, I really need to get a life.
A couple of days later, when Ginger mentions that she has a friend of a friend she thinks Carol might like, Carol agrees to be set up.
Michael turns out to be handsome, smart and funny, to Carol's immense relief. But there's no spark, and when he kisses her cheek at the end of the evening, Carol knows she won't be seeing him again. Which is a pity, because he really is a nice guy, and those are a rare species in DC.
Maybe she should give up now, she thinks. Buy a cat and resign herself to the idea of growing old alone.
It occurs to her that sleep-deprivation makes her come up with really strange ideas, and maybe she shouldn't wait until the end of the term to take a vacation.
Even a weekend off would be good enough.
She thinks longingly of being able to sleep in on a Saturday; staying in her pajamas all day, lying in front of the TV watching girly movies.
But she's so used to running around all day she thinks she'll go mad without anything to do. She wonders if this makes her a workaholic. She mentions it to the other assistants, who all know exactly how she feels.
Margaret calls it the White House Syndrome. She says there's no cure.
That's exactly what Carol's afraid of.