DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of these characters (except Olivia and Alex). They all belong to the brilliant Aaron Sorkin and NBC.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Please bare with me, this is my first West Wing fanfic. This comes out of my insane mind so pardon some of the weirdness that ensues. This doesn't happen during a specific time during the show's timeline, it is before Sam leaves. For my story's purposes, Mandy quit (I don't know what happened to her in the show) and I made up a staff position (please excuse its lameness).
"What I Did For Love"
Chapter 1- Interviews
Leo McGarry, President Jed Bartlet's Chief of Staff, watched as the Senior Staff filed into his office. It was 7:30 on a Monday morning and none of them looked very agreeable. CJ Cregg, the Press Secretary, came in first. There was a large stain down her front where apparently coffee had been spilled. A smile crept onto Leo's face. "Not a word, Leopold." CJ growled, warningly.
"Are you planning on looking like that at your briefing?"
CJ sighed. "Carol's going to get me clothes." She plopped into a chair in front of Leo's desk as Toby Ziegler, the Communications Director, walked in.
"Can we get this meeting started?! I have work to do!" Toby bellowed.
"And a good morning to you too, Toby." Leo smiled. Toby sat down in the chair next to CJ. A few seconds later, Josh Lyman, the Deputy Chief of Staff, and Sam Seaborn, the Deputy Communications Director, came into Leo's office together, arguing about something.
"I'm telling you, that would never work!" Sam said.
"Good morning," Leo grinned.
"How can you be smiling like that?" Josh groaned. "It's a Monday morning."
"What can I say, Josh? I love my job." Josh and Sam stood behind CJ and Toby and the meeting was ready to begin. "First thing on our agenda on this beautiful Monday morning," CJ, Toby, Sam, and Josh all moaned, "is new staff appointments. As you all know, Mandy quit, and since then the President and I have been looking at candidates to fill her spot as Media Director. The President has been quite insistent on a woman named Alexandra Cameron."
"No, don't hire her." Toby mumbled. "I don't like her."
"You know her?"
"Yeah. Kinda. She... she was manager on Walt Stedman's campaign for Congress. Her campaign blew my guy out of the water."
"So that would explain why you don't like her." Sam commented. Toby grunted.
"Josh, I've scheduled an interview with her at one. I want you to do it. Here's her file." Leo handed Josh a folder containing Alexandra's professional information. Josh began to glance through it as Leo continued. "Our other new staff appointment is for Senior Congressional Liaison. We need someone to keep Ed and Larry in check. We're going to interview Olivia Brooke about the position."
"Wait, wait, wait..." Josh looked up from the file he was reading. "You mean, Olivia Brooke as in your niece Olivia Brooke?" Leo nodded.
"That's not a good idea." CJ exclaimed. "The press is going to think that this is nepotism. Our credibility will go down, everyone's abilities will be questioned—"
"CJ, calm down." Leo said. "Olivia is more than qualified for the job. I would never even think about hiring anyone that wasn't. I even tried to convince the President not to appoint her because of my relation to her, but again he insisted. She's coming in at noon. Josh..." Leo held out Olivia's folder to Josh.
"Why do I have to do both of the interviews?! Make Sam do one!" Josh whined.
"Hey! I have important work to do!" Sam asserted.
"So do I!" Josh cried.
"Yes you do," Leo said as he shoved the folder into Josh's hands. "You have to interview these people and decide whether or not we should hire them. So Josh, after the interviews come and give the President and I your recommendations, all right?" Josh nodded grumpily and began to browse through the folders as the Senior Staff meeting continued.
Olivia Brooke paced around the Roosevelt Room in a very nervous manner. She had been in the West Wing before, but this was for a job interview, and she really wanted this job. The one thing that she had been preparing to do her whole life was work at the White House and this might be her only chance. It was almost noon, which meant that Josh Lyman would be striding in at any moment to start the interview. Her Uncle Leo told her that if he started treating her unfairly for any reason, she should just compliment him as much as possible. According to Leo, Josh had a rather big ego.
Olivia pulled her compact mirror out of her purse to check on her appearance one last time. Her brown hair, which normally cascaded around her shoulders, was pulled back into a neat bun. She smoothed the fly-aways that were starting to pop out of the bun. Next she checked her makeup. The little makeup that she wore made her green eyes and tan skin stand out. After she put her compact away, Olivia smoothed the wrinkles in her emerald dress suit, frantically. All she wanted to do was look distinguished.
"You all right?" came a man's voice from behind her. Olivia turned to see Josh Lyman staring at her, looking slightly amused. Her throat suddenly went dry so she just nodded. Josh smiled. "I'm Josh Lyman." He held out a hand and Olivia shook it.
"Olivia Brooke," Olivia managed to say.
"It's nice to meet you."
"You too, Mr. Lyman."
"Call me Josh." He said, motioning for her to sit down. She did, and then Josh sat in a seat across from her. "Well, I read all of your stuff here and you seem quite qualified. You scored almost as high as I did on the SAT's so... well done. Um... I'm just going to have to ask you a few questions and then... we'll see what happens." Olivia nodded.
The interview was going quite well. After the first question, Olivia's nerves relaxed and she answered them with ease. They were answered exactly the way that Josh wanted them answered. Olivia thought Josh seemed quite nice, which contrasted what she had heard about him. He could be putting on a face for the interview though, she thought. Josh thought, though he hated to admit it, that this girl was brilliant. For her young age, she knew a lot about politics.
Josh was about to finish up the interview when there was a knock on the door behind him. He turned to see Sam motioning for him to come out. "Excuse me, "he said to Olivia and went to greet Sam. "What's up?"
Sam shrugged. "Nothing. I was just bored." He looked into the Roosevelt Room. "Who's that?"
"Olivia Brooke, Leo's niece."
"She's hot."
Josh laughed. "Don't tell me you're thinking about dating another member of Leo's family?"
"First of all, nothing really happened with Mallory and I. Second of all, no I wasn't thinking about dating her. I was just commenting on the fact that she was hot."
"Okay... She is hot." Josh said, still laughing. "I gotta go in there and finish the interview now." Josh went back into the Roosevelt Room and Sam walked away. "Sorry about that. He was just... talking about the vote on the new federal budget." Josh lied. "Well Olivia, thanks for coming. Now all you have to do is go through the six weeks of boot camp and you might qualify for a government position."
Olivia's eyes practically popped out of her head. "I have to go through six weeks of boot camp?"
Josh paused for a moment, dumbstruck. "No... I was being sarcastic."
"Oh... right... sorry."
"No problem. Um... my assistant will bring you out." Josh went to one of the doors, opened it, and yelled into the hallway, "DONNA!!!"
Josh's next interview did not go as well. Alexandra Cameron, who had told Josh to call her Alex, was a rather short woman. She had dark blonde, layered hair that flipped above her shoulders, and she had piercing blue-gray eyes. The black pantsuit she wore complimented her figure nicely, and Josh couldn't help but be taken by her.
Knowing that Alex was a well-qualified democrat, Josh expected similar answers to those he got from Olivia. Much to his dismay, he found that not only did she outsmart him several times during the interview, but she also seemed to enjoy doing it. Before long, the interview had turned into a debate between Josh and Alex about various Bartlet policies. The two did not have completely different views, in fact many of their opinions were the same, it just seemed as if each wanted their say in the matter and enough time to use more big words than the other.
The interview ended with a stiff handshake. Josh then had to decide if he would recommend the two women for hiring. When he reached the Oval Office, Charlie ushered him in. Leo was going over something with the President, but when Josh walked in they both looked up. "Leo tells me that you've been doing interviews, Josh," the President said. "How were Alex and Olivia?"
"I think that they could both add something unique to this team." Josh answered.
"So we should hire them?" Leo asked.
Josh nodded.
Later that day, as Sam worked on an address that the President had to make to a Farmers' Guild, Josh came into his office. Josh sat down and Sam looked up. "Hey." Sam smiled. "What's up?"
Josh shrugged. "I hired them."
"Both of them?"
"Yeah."
"Good."
"I just hope I made the right choice."
"You did. They're both very qualified."
"Did you read both of their files?" Josh asked.
"Well not so much both of their files as just Olivia's file."
Josh laughed. "You have got it so incredibly bad."
"I do not have it bad."
"You've never even met her and you go out and learn everything about her!"
"I thought that it would be nice to learn about a possible new staff member who happens to be our boss's niece," Sam exclaimed. "She's also very hot."
"Okay," Josh said, still laughing, as he stood up and walked to the door.
Sam stopped Josh at the door. "How was the other one? Alexis or whatever her name was."
"Alex," he corrected Sam. "She was... a handful to say the least. Actually, she was pretty annoying. She likes to show off a lot."
"Kind of like you?"
"I do not show off!"
"Okay," Sam chuckled as he turned back to his work. Josh, unable to formulate a come back, turned and left the office.