"Want some company?" Sam walked up to Ainsley, who was eating alone in the Mess. He realized how infrequently he actually got to see her, even though they worked in the same building. They'd spent some time together over the past few months, though, helping with the preparations for Josh and Donna's wedding, which had reminded Sam of how much he enjoyed being around her, despite the fact that her political views drove him up the wall – or maybe even partly because of that fact.

"Sure," she gave him a smile.

He sat down next to her. "So how's everything going in the Counsel's office?"

"Great. We just hired a new associate counsel. A guy named Brian."

Sam grinned. "So how's he liking the steam pipe trunk distribution venue?"

"Oh no," Ainsley shook her head. "One of my first executive decisions upon taking this job was that the steam pipe trunk distribution venue would not be used for anything other than…well, steam. He has a regular office, with a window and everything. You know, I don't know why you guys couldn't have done that for me."

"Hey, don't blame me. I wasn't the one who assigned the offices."

"I know," she nodded, and then paused for a minute, nibbling on her muffin. "So I hear the President's going to make a big push for government-run health care."

"It's called Medicare, and we already have it, and it's pretty popular in this country in case you haven't noticed. So popular he wants to expand it to all citizens."

"He doesn't have the votes to get it passed. Not even with the new Senate."

"Well, we won't know till we try, will we?"

"It's socialized medicine. Why do liberals think government can solve every problem?"

"You know, contrary to the stereotype, we don't think government can solve every problem. But we do think it can help solve some problems. And socialized medicine? Come on, Ainsley, you can do better than that. You can't just plop the word 'socialized' in front of every government program in order to bash it. I'm actually glad we have 'socialized' police departments, and 'socialized' fire departments, and 'socialized' schools. Why should health care be any different? How can you think that in a decent, compassionate society only the wealthy should have access to something as basic as health care?"

Ainsley sighed. "There you go again, with yet another insinuation that Republicans are mean and only care about rich people. It's not true, Sam. Just because we don't trust the government as much as you do doesn't mean we don't care."

He sighed. "You know, you keep saying that. Us big bad liberals think all conservatives are mean. Well, if you and your fellow Republicans don't want to be considered mean, maybe you guys should stop advocating for policies that hurt people. How can you be okay with the fact that there are millions of people out there right now ignoring serious health symptoms because they don't have insurance and they can't afford to go to the doctor? Or that there are people facing bankruptcy because they can't afford to pay for their cancer treatments? Those things don't bother you?"

"Of course they bother me. I'm just not sure the solution is to make a big government bureaucracy even bigger. Do you have any idea of the regulations that the government imposes on health insurance companies? Maybe if some of those were relaxed, health insurance would be more affordable. And then tax credits could be provided to help people buy insurance on the private market. No bureaucracy involved."

"Those regulations are there for a reason – to prevent insurance companies from weaseling out of paying for expensive treatments. And no Republican to date has proposed a health care tax credit that would be anywhere near enough for a struggling family to afford private health insurance. Not to mention that tax credits do nothing for people with pre-existing conditions who insurance companies don't want to cover at any price."

She shook her head. "Sam Seaborn, you are one of the most maddening people I have ever met in my life."

"Because you know I'm right. Come on, admit it. Your secret's safe with me."

She was quiet for a moment. "I believe in limited government, but I will admit it's a big problem, and so far the free market by itself doesn't seem to have offered a solution. If President Santos can convince me that the government can do a better job than private insurance companies, maybe I'll listen. But you'll notice he hasn't told us yet how much he's going to have to raise the Medicare tax to pay for this scheme of his."

"It'll be a lot less than people are paying to the insurance companies now, I can tell you that much."

"We'll see. Hey, are you going to eat both those cookies?" She glanced at the two chocolate chip cookies on his plate.

"Help yourself," he smiled as she grabbed one of the cookies and took a bite. "I don't know how you can eat all that junk and stay so skinny."

She shrugged. "Fast metabolism, I guess."

"I guess."

"So do you want to go out for dinner sometime?" Ainsley asked in a casual tone that caught Sam off guard.

"What?"

"Dinner. You know, a restaurant, food, conversation. I'm not picky about where we go as long as they have an above-average bread basket."

"Are you asking me out on a date?"

"If you want to call it that."

"I…well…" he paused, and then finally smiled. "Yes, I'd love to have dinner with you sometime."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"This is Donna Lyman," Donna answered her own phone since her assistant, David, was out running an errand for her. Using her new married name still made her smile.

"You haven't returned my voice mails."

"Who is this?" Donna asked, although she knew the answer to that question. Sean had left her at least half a dozen voice mails in the three days since he'd been sworn in, all of which she'd deleted as soon as she'd heard his voice.

"It's Sean."

There was a long, tense silence. She briefly considered hanging up on him, but she forced herself to remember that she was a professional, Helen Santos' chief of staff. And Sean was a congressman. However much she disliked him, it would reflect poorly on the First Lady for her to behave immaturely in any way.

"What can I do for you, Congressman?" she asked flatly.

"Please, no need for formalities. Not between us. I'm Sean to you."

"Is there something I can help you with, Congressman?"

"Fine, if you're going to be that way…" he paused. "Yes, there is. I'd like to meet with you at your earliest convenience."

"Regarding what?"

"Just something you need to be aware of."

"Can you be more specific? My schedule's awfully busy."

"Trust me, Donna, you'll want to meet with me. I can either tell you this personally or you can hear it on CNN. But I don't think the President would be very happy about the latter."

She wasn't sure exactly what he was getting at, but she didn't like the sound of it. She felt a knot form in her stomach.

"Fine," she finally conceded.

"How's this afternoon?"

Talk about arrogance! She fumed silently. He just assumed she would clear her schedule for him at a moment's notice. Still, she mused, maybe it was best to get it over with. She knew she was going to have a hard time focusing on anything else until she'd gotten this meeting out of the way.

"Fine. I can fit you in at 3:30." Her voice was sharp and cold.

"I'll be there."

She hung up the phone and rubbed her eyes. She should have told Josh the truth the other night. Or at the very least, the partial truth. Rather than yelling at him over nothing like a crazy person, she should have just told him that Sean Lamb was her ex-boyfriend from Wisconsin, the guy Josh not-so-affectionately knew as "Dr. Freeride".

But what would he have thought then? Wouldn't he have wondered why a guy she'd broken up with more than a decade ago could still get to her like that? He might even have thought…she shivered. Josh might even have thought she still had feelings for Sean. The thought made her ill.

She sighed. She'd told Josh so many stupid lies about "Dr. Freeride". That she'd slipped on ice. No, wait, that she'd had a car accident. And he'd stopped for a beer on the way to the hospital, and that had been why she'd broken up with him. Where had she come up with that one, anyway? True, it had given her the opportunity to come closer than she ever had at that point to telling Josh how she felt about him – "if you were in an accident, I wouldn't stop for red lights" – but it was still an awfully silly story when she thought about it. Sean had been a jerk and she'd dumped him – that had been what she'd wanted to communicate to Josh that evening. And that much had been true. The fact that she'd had to fib a little bit – okay, a lot – about the details had seemed reasonable to her at the time. She hadn't wanted to tell Josh the real story because it had still been upsetting to her, and she'd still felt humiliated by it, and because Josh probably would have gone ballistic. Looking back, she wished she had just told him the truth then, but she hadn't. And now…

Now there was no way she could tell him. It wouldn't be fair. He was the White House Chief of Staff. There might be situations where he would have to work with Congressman Lamb. She didn't know if he'd be able to do that if he knew the truth. It was bad enough that she was being put in that position – having to work professionally with someone she could barely stand to look at. She couldn't subject Josh to that as well.

At least that was the excuse she was currently using. But although there might be some validity to it, the truth was that she also really didn't want to have to tell Josh she'd been lying to him for all these years about something like this.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"So something strange happened today," Sam told Josh as they walked down the hall.

"What?"

"Ainsley asked me out."

"Ainsley Hayes?"

"Yeah."

"As in, 'the town of Kirkwood is in California, not Oregon'?"

"I'm never going to live that down, am I?"

"Not likely."

"Well, it was a fluke. I want a rematch with her on Capital Beat. Topic: the President's Medicare plan. I kicked her ass debating that with her over lunch. I bet even she'd agree."

"Somehow I don't think Lou would sign off on a member of the administration going on TV and arguing against the President's agenda."

"I guess when you put it that way, probably not."

"So are you going out with her?" Josh asked.

"Yeah, I think so." He paused. "There's no…rule against the Deputy Chief of Staff dating the White House Counsel, is there? I mean, I'm not her boss and she's not my boss, so I don't see why there would be…"

"I don't think so," Josh shrugged. "I mean, you know, I'd suggest you run it by the Counsel's office, but…"

"Yeah."

"On the other hand, the controversy that could ensue when the world finds out you're dating a Republican…"

"You think we might get letters?"

"Oh yeah," Josh laughed. "You should see the letters Donna and I get. People tell us we've desecrated Judaism and/or Christianity with our wedding service. Donna gets accused of setting the women's movement back 50 years by taking my last name. Everyone has an opinion. It's insane."

Sam nodded. "So you gotta figure…a mixed-political affiliation relationship – I guess that's about as controversial as you can get in Washington."

Josh nodded. "So you really like her?"

"She's fun to argue with."

"That's it?"

"And she's pretty. And charming. And I forget all about Marissa when I'm around her."

"That's a start."

Sam nodded and headed into his office, his mind still reeling somewhat. He liked Ainsley, there was no denying that. She was gorgeous, and friendly, and smart. There was the Republican thing, of course, but maybe he could get past that. Or not just 'get past it', he mused. Maybe that was actually part of her appeal. All he knew for sure was that just thinking about her put a smile on his face.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Donna?" David poked his head into her office. "Congressman Lamb is here to see you."

She rubbed her forehead. She might as well get this over with. "Okay, send him in."

Sean walked into her office and closed the door behind him – an action which made Donna slightly nervous. He glanced around at the spacious office.

"Nice. This is way bigger than my office on the Hill, that's for sure."

"Have a seat, Congressman." She was in no mood for small talk.

"You've done well for yourself, Donna. Chief of Staff to the First Lady. Not bad for someone who dropped out of college and doesn't even have a bachelor's degree."

She felt her cool demeanor start to crack at that comment coming from him. "You have a lot of nerve!"

He took a seat, and she sat down at her desk.

"We had some good times together, didn't we?"

"That's not what I remember."

"It couldn't have been all bad. You were with me for more than two years. You moved in with me."

"I was young and stupid then," she snapped. "Anyway, is there something I can help you with? Because if the point of this meeting was just to sit around and reminisce, I really do have a lot to do today."

"Fine. Here's the point." His expression darkened slightly. Clearly he was done pretending they were still on good terms. "I'm a congressman now, Donna, and I think you know that if certain things got out, they could hurt me politically"

"You think?"

"Who all knows about…what happened between us? That boyfriend of yours? How much have you told him?"

"He's not my boyfriend, he's my husband."

"Whatever. What does he know?"

She took a deep breath, feeling her heart begin to pound. "So what you're really asking is…does the White House Chief of Staff know you like to beat up on women?"