Jeannette was sitting in the armchair in Abbey's office drumming her fingers on the armrest waiting for her interview with Danny. She had changed five times before deciding to shock and awe him. She was wearing a fitted black skirt that fell a few inches above her knee and six inch black stilettos that made it look like her legs went on forever. She nixed the cleavage-baring sweater for a very tight black turtleneck that emphasized her massive breasts and tiny waist. Josh had quietly and well out of Donna's hearing range told her that she looked like a wet dream. Jeannette thought it was an odd compliment much preferring Sam's declaration that he wanted to take her on his desk. Jeannette had smiled and shimmed out of her tiny black lace thong, tucking it in to his top drawer. "Think of me sitting there being interviewed while I much rather have my legs spread and your tongue on me." Sam coughed and told her that she better make her way straight to his office after the interview for a debriefing. Jeannette giggled and told him that she planned on it.
Lily came in to the office and brought Danny in with her. "Miss Pierce..."
"Thank you Lily, Abbey mentioned that she ordered tea for me?"
"Yes it should be ready any minute and The First Lady will be joining you in twenty minutes."
"Thank you again Lily, hello Danny." Jeannette got up from the armchair and turned towards him extending her hand. She smiled when Danny checked her out; his glance lingering at her breasts before he looked her straight in the eyes.
"Hello again Jeannette, thank you for agreeing to this interview."
"I want to make sure the gala is a huge success for Abbey."
"I was looking to do a profile piece on you as well."
"I'm sure you've done your research Danny, you know the timeline of my career."
"Yes I do but why did you walk away from the stage?"
"Which time?" Jeannette asked with a smirk.
"The first time you cited utter exhaustion and then pregnancy. Your agent told me that when you left this May you said you were burnt out and wanted to spend more time with your daughter."
"Yes, I love Chantal with all my heart but the stage was keeping me away from her. I could never read her bedtime stories or be awake enough to have breakfast with her in the morning. She started school this year and I wouldn't have been around to help her with homework. Not that she needs it; my little monkey is taking some courses at the grade six level. She's a remarkable girl and I'm proud to be playing the role of her mother."
"She certainly is cute, you should have seen her smack down a member of the press during one of CJ's briefings."
"I heard all about that. My daughter and I do not suffer fools lightly."
"I've seen you and Chantal out and about a few times and Sam always seems to either be with you or meeting you. Are you dating?"
"I do not discuss my private life Danny. So who are you dating?"
"I...umm... actually...my private life is private."
"My point exactly."
"Off the record, Jeannette I know you are dating Sam."
"Off the record, Danny I know you wish you could be dating CJ."
"So about this gala." Danny stated knowing he wasn't going to get anything out of her.
Jeannette told him that she meet Abbey and Jed at Buckingham Palace after her last night performing Lola in Damn Yankees. She explained that Abbey was upset that she couldn't see her play Lola and asked if she'd be willing to headline a gala at the Kennedy Center.
"I must admit, Danny the thought of carrying a show was very daunting. An Evening with Jeannette Pierce. I was going to turn Abbey down until someone told me that she actually had a pleasant singing voice. I told her I'd do it if she got on stage with me to do a number. Abbey then asked if I'd be able to get a few friends to join me to lighten my load. It was a brilliant idea so: An Evening with Jeannette Pierce & Friends was born. I decided that if it was my name on the marquee that I'd need complete creative control. The charities the proceeds are going to are so worthy that I feel totally responsible for it's success. It's really not a Diva thing Danny."
"Why do you have the reputation for being a Diva?"
Jeannette took a long sip of tea and thought about how to answer the question, "Part of it is due to my perfectionist tendencies. Part of it is that I refuse to suffer fools. I don't care if it's the first day of a workshop or the first day of rehearsal you show up prepared. It's all about being a professional. If Chantal got sick, I'd refuse to go on. My understudies always got a decent amount of stage time. I have acted like a Diva a few times and usually it's been because I was extremely tired and frustrated before I came in contact with someone or it was a matter of the lack of professionalism on someone else's part."
"Can you give me a few spoilers on what songs patrons will hear?"
"It won't all be songs. I'll be telling some stories about my life and asking some of my guests to share a story. As for songs there will be selections from my Christmas album, On My Own, Whatever Lola Wants, Oklahoma with Hugh Jackman and Somewhere That's Green from Little Shop of Horrors."
"What will you be performing with The First Lady?"
"That is a State Secret, Daniel," Abbey replied with a grin as she entered the room."
Danny stood up right away and shook her hand, "Thank you for inviting me in to your office."
"You are welcome Danny. I'll give you a hint; think classic Christmas movie."
"White Christmas?"
"Right movie but we are not giving the song away. In fact, it shouldn't take much thought to figure it out so would you mind going with the State Secret line instead?" Jeannette asked.
"Sure, Jeannette do you think you could release another song, duet or friend every week? It would make it easier for me to mention the Gala."
"I could do that, I'll pass the information on to CJ and you can get it from her. Gives you an extra excuse to see her every week."
Danny chuckled, "Just like being in the East Wing gives you an excuse to go over to the West Wing."
"Daniel, if you cause trouble for Jeannette you will be answering to me!" Abbey added.
"Yes, Ma'am."
"Danny, you are invited to the gala but in the spirit of it, your ticket will a minimum of $100."
"Do you know the ticket prices Jeannette?"
"I know that Front Orchestra is $100 because I bought a ticket for Chantal and two of her friends. She didn't care that there were better seats she wanted to be in row A, dead center. I think the best seats in the house are $300 each. Lily might have the prices or she can get them for you."
"I'll ask her on the way out. Thank you both, for your time."
"You're welcome Danny," Abbey and Jeannette said in unison.
Once Danny left and the door closed Abbey and Jeannette enjoyed some tea before Abbey asked a question, "So who is Chantal's other friend? Is it Sam?"
"No, I made him pay for his own ticket. She invited Edward, the bellhop from the Plaza to be her date and then she invited Gavin from her class. The little scamp made it clear to Gavin that Edward was her date because she asked him first."
"Sam thinks she has a crush on Gavin."
"I think she does too but she invited Edward first."
"Does Sam, know about Edward yet?"
"No, I keep forgetting to tell him."
"Keep forgetting my ass Jeannette! You just don't want to deal with his reaction."
"I know and since I'm going to have Sam and Donna give him a tour of the West Wing, I guess I better tell him soon."
"I think that would be a very good idea, Dear."
After finishing her tea Jeannette gave Abbey a hug and made her way over to Sam's office. She stuck her head in to Toby's office and was surprised when he called her in.
"Lola, we are busy today there is no time for you to tempt young Samuel."
"I only need half an hour, maybe forty minutes at the most."
"No can do. You've got fifteen minutes to TALK to him, give him a kiss or two and then I'm walking in and escorting you out."
"Toby, you are no fun what so ever!"
"Frankly my Dear, I don't give a damn."
Jeannette gave him the evil eye and left his office. Sam was on his phone so she closed the door, locked it and pulled down the vertical blinds. Toby can't come in if I lock him out, she thought. Sam smiled at her and quickly got off the phone. "Baby, I'm afraid we can't have that debriefing today."
"So I've been informed."
"How did the interview go?"
"Danny went off the record to tell me that he knew I was dating you. I responded by saying I knew he wanted to date CJ. He stopped asking personal life questions."
"Good way to shut him down. Now if you could manage to be quiet, I can give you an orgasm or two. It's a good thing I've been in here since you left, every time I open my drawer naughty thoughts invade my mind and my body responds."
"If I wasn't so bloody horny, I'd offer to take care of that for you but I'm afraid it's all about me." Jeannette replied as she stood unzipped her skirt and sat down on his desk putting her knees over his shoulders. Sam gave her a rather large, round cherry lollipop and told her to suck on it to help keep her quiet. Jeannette had to cover her mouth at one point but she succeeded in being rather quiet. Sam had just finished with her when his cell phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Hi Sam, it's me. Do you happen to know where mummy is?"
"Hello, my precious girl. She's with me actually."
"Gavin and I have a project to work on and I was wondering if I could go to his house after school?"
"Does his mom know?"
"Yes, he just called her to see if it was OK. She was going to pick us up and I was hoping you could come get me after dinner."
"So around seven?"
Sam could hear Chantal asking Gavin and his response. "7:30 would be perfect Sam."
"I'll come get you from work so call me when you arrive and give me the address."
"Mummy has it at home."
"Yes but your mother may forget to call me with it. I know you won't."
Chantal giggled, "True, thanks and see you later."
"You are welcome, love you."
"Right back at you, bye."
"Bye Chantal." Sam pocketed his cell phone and handed Jeannette her black lace thong back. She put it back on and leaned over to kiss Sam.
"Thank you for taking care of my needs. Do you really have to work until 7? We could have fun with Chantal gone and I wouldn't have to worry about being quiet."
"I was going to tell you today was a busy day. That's why Toby put his foot down." No sooner were the words out of Sam's mouth than there was a bang against the window between Sam and Toby's office. A few seconds later, there was another bang on the window.
"What on earth is he doing?"
"Tossing his ball against the window. That's how he summons me."
"Well that is rude! You are not moving an inch until he summons you properly." Jeannette got off the desk and unlocked the door before sitting down in a guest chair. Sam cleaned his desk up and found the file he knew Toby wanted.
Ten minutes later Ginger knocked on the door and Sam told her it was open, "Sam, he's driving us nuts, would you just get in there!"
"Tell Tobias that I will not allow Samuel to be summoned in such an uncivilized manner. If he doesn't want to get up he can use the phone."
A minute later Ginger was at the door again, "He went for a third option: Tell Sam to get his ass in here now."
Sam chuckled, grabbed the file, left a kiss on Jeannette's cheek and thanked Ginger before walking the few feet in to Toby's office.
"Ginger, I'm hungry would you like to go have lunch with me?"
"I'd love to, let me just go tell Toby." Ginger returned a minute later, "We've got an hour how about the Old Ebbitt?"
"Perfect and I'm paying."
"Thank you, we'll take my car."
Ginger and Jeannette returned a few minutes late and found Toby gone and Bonnie handing files to Sam. "I'm back boss, where's Toby?"
"Josh just borrowed him for a hour or two."
"I'm going in there and stealing all those bloody pink bouncy balls. Death to anyone who rats me out!" Ginger declared.
"Allow me to do the honours, Ginger then no one can rat you out. Toby doesn't scare me, I control access to my daughter," Jeannette laughed. She grabbed all the balls and dropped them in a plastic bag Ginger handed her. Bonnie and Ginger grinned then got back to work.
"Sam, would you say that you are in a good mood?" She inquired.
"Darling, we can't have sex..."
"For once I'm not trying to proposition you."
"Oh, I'd say I'm in a good mood. Why?"
"Gavin is not our daughter's date to the gala. She asked another boy first, a very sweet, harmless boy from NYC ..."
"Harmless? How old is he Jeannette?"
"Nineteen, he works at the Plaza as a bell hop to pay his rent and his tuition at Columbia. He's in his second year of Political Science and International Relations."
"He agreed to go on a date with a 5 year old?"
"I sort of gave him no choice; Chantal was about to say her Dad worked in the White House so I stepped in. I told him about the gala and that I could arrange a tour of the White House for him. Chantal told him he could be her date. His first question was if there would be a responsible adult with her. I assured him there would be."
"Well there is nothing I can do about it now. I'm going to be watching him like a hawk. What is his name? "
"Edward."
"Well Edward better be the world's most perfect gentleman. I also suck at giving tours."
"I thought you could do the bull pen part and I was going to ask Donna to do the rest."
"Fine, when you have his flight info Ginger can arrange a pass for him."
"Thank you Sam."
"You're welcome, I'll see you at home."
Jeannette gave him a short kiss then headed out to ask Donna to help her out. Donna agreed for the price of being a member of the audience for the dress rehearsal. That went well, she muttered to herself as she left to meet her driver.
