Happy Thoughts

Part Five

Six weeks later

Donna straightened her suit jacket out before knocking on her boss' door.

"Come in!" Came the booming voice of Ted Williamson.

She entered and sat down when Ted motioned to the chair.

"Donna, thank you for coming in." Ted smiled from behind his desk.

"No problem sir." She smiled. "What can I do for you?"

"You have been with us for about a month now, right?" Ted asked.

"Yes."

"How are you adjusting?" He questioned. "How are you liking our operation? I know it isn't quite like what you are used to, after working at the White House."

"No, it's not quite the same." She chuckled. "But I'm enjoying it here. The people are great and it's been a relatively easy adjustment."

"Good!" He smiled. "I'm so glad to hear it because I have a project that I think you will be perfect for and I wanted to give it to you myself so I can explain a few things."

"Alright." She was glad to be given a new project. The projects she was given when she first started were easy and she wondered if they were simply a test to see what level she was at before being given something more substantial.

"I assume you are aware of the education bill that was passed recently, right?"

"Yes." She nodded, a pit forming in her stomach as she figured out what her project was.

"There were several provisions that were cut before it went to a vote." Ted explained. "Now these provisions are extremely important and they need to actioned, which is why we want to get them attached to another bill as an amendment."

"I see."

"I'm trusting you with this project because I know you will be able to make sure it is completed. I have faith in your ability to get this done. Frankly, your previous ties to the White House are a huge asset to this team and will enable you to have certain insights no one else on the team could possibly imagine. The previous team I assigned hasn't had much luck."

And there it was. Josh warned her that she was hired because of her ties to the White House and here was the proof.

She had told Josh that it didn't matter if they only hired her because of her ties to the White House, but it did matter a little to her. All she was trying to do as prove that she was capable of more than just being an assistant. She didn't think it was many young girls' dreams to stay an assistant their entire lives and it certainly wasn't hers. She had seen Josh be so good at his job that she couldn't help but crave that kind of respect. She thought going out on her own, away from Josh and the White House may be the way to do it.

Ultimately, who cares what got her in the door though? At least she was here to play the game. And play the game she would. She resolved to make sure that this amendment not only got attached to a bill but also got passed.

"Our previous attempts to get Senators or Representatives on our side have failed." He handed her a report. "All of our previous action are outlined in there, including which members of Congress we have approached. I'm hoping a fresh set of eyes and a change in the team leadership will help this project take off."

She flipped through the report, scanning the document to see who had been approached.

"So what do you think?" Ted asked. "Do you think you can do it?"

She looked at her boss and smiled. One of the basic things she had learned from Josh was that no matter what, if someone in a position of power asked you if you could do something, you always replied affirmatively. "Of course, sir."

"Wonderful!" Ted beamed. "Let me know if you need anything. This is a top priority project so I don't mind throwing as many resources in as necessary. You have my full authority to do whatever it takes."

"Thank you sir." She said, getting up from the chair and heading out of the office. She closed the door to Ted's office after she left and stood there for a moment. Josh wasn't going to be happy about this.

For a moment she considered not telling him, but realized that was stupid. He would find out one way or the other. It would be better if he found out from her. But he wasn't going to be happy since the education bill was his responsibility. He struggled with getting that bill passed for weeks, and she knew the reasons the provisions had been cut. The votes simply weren't there for that section. And she was now tasked with fixing that problem.

She had a feeling this could cause some problems with them if she wasn't careful about her approach. As she walked back to her office she thought back to the last six weeks and how good things had been between them.

True to her word, she had found an assistant for him that was working out so far. The only problem was her name was Dakota, like the state. She had interviewed several candidates who might have worked, but ended up picking Dakota because of the name, knowing that Josh would be both amused and annoyed every time he said the name. He had mentioned once that parents shouldn't name their children after states and she couldn't help leaving him with one last tiny prank.

Their relationship was going well. Unless he was out of town traveling for the campaign they took turns staying the night at each other's apartments. They even had some clothes they kept at the others' apartment so they wouldn't have to constantly bring a bag every night. Some might have called it fast and too much too soon, but she didn't care.

It still felt like she didn't see him enough.

She went from seeing him all day at work to only a few hours in the evenings and weekends. It was a hard adjustment—at least for her. If Josh was having any problems with it he wasn't saying anything to her about it.

While she tried to stop herself, she had fallen in love with him and came to that realization last weekend.

"Donna! You are out of milk!" Josh yelled from the kitchen.

She turned the corner to see him pour the last of the milk into his cereal. "Josh…"

"What?" He asked, slapping a grin on his face. "I needed milk for my cereal. You know I like to have cereal with milk while watching the Sunday political shows. It's practically a tradition."

She sighed and planted a kiss on him. "Well since you used the last of it, you can go get more later."

"Um, I think I'll be busy later." He chuckled.

"Doing what?" She asked, looking at him quizzically.

"Rocking your world in bed?" He guessed.

"Only after you get the milk." She whispered in his ear.

"Alright. You drive a hard bargain." He groaned, walking over to her couch and turning on the TV.

Meet the Press was about to start and she knew he was going to be occupied for the next hour. She grabbed a muffin from the counter and went over to sit on the other side of the couch to watch with him.

A few moments later he surprised her by lightly grabbing her arm and motioning for her to sit closer. She scooted over and he wrapped his arm around her, eating his cereal with one hand, all while still watching Meet the Press.

She looked over at him and smiled before resting her head on his shoulder.

That was the moment she knew she was a goner. While she had loved Josh for a long time, she was now in love with him—which she took to be a completely different thing. You could love someone without being in love with them. That was one of the leading causes of divorce in the country. But for better or worse, her heart now belonged to Josh.

She wouldn't say anything to him about it though. She knew he didn't deal well to change, and he had been given a lot of change lately. The last thing she wanted to do was spook him.

Later that day, she stood in the waiting area of Minority Leader Wendell Tripplehorn. After reading the report Ted gave her cover to cover, she realized no one had approached the Minority Leader yet. While she realized that it was a long shot, she knew that Tripplehorn wasn't exactly thrilled with the President or Josh right now and that meant there was a small chance she could persuade him to work on this with her.

"It will be just another couple of minutes." His secretary told her.

"No problem." She smiled. Her phone started to ring and she quickly grabbed it. "Hello?"

"Donna. Where did you put the files on the last primary polls?" Josh asked.

She couldn't help but roll her eyes. This wasn't the first time he had called asking for direction about where she had put something. Sometimes she wondered if he did it because he wanted an excuse to call her, but she would never ask him that. "It's in the filing cabinet for that year under May."

"I though Dakota looked there." He said absentmindedly.

She heard him yell the location to Dakota.

"So how is your day going?" He asked.

"Fine." She answered. "And yours?"

"Oh same old, same old." He chuckled. "Hey, what do you want to do about dinner tonight? I was thinking maybe I could bring some pizza?"

"Actually, I was thinking of cooking." She explained.

"Well that definitely sounds much better than pizza." He laughed.

"Any idea when you are getting out of there?"

"The way the day is going, probably around 8."

"I'll have everything ready for 9:30." She told him, knowing that he was never able to correctly gauge the time he could leave.

"You're the best." He sighed.

"Senator Tripplehorn will see you now." The secretary said loudly.

Donna grimaced, knowing that Josh heard that on the other end of the phone.

"Hey, Donna, what are you doing in Tripplehorn's office?" Josh inquired.

"Nothing." She lied quickly. "I've got to go. See you tonight."

She hung up and put the phone away before entering Tripplehorns' office. "Leader, thank you for meeting with me on such short notice." She reached out and shook his hand.

"Of course, Miss Moss." He smiled. "When you mentioned it was about the education bill I was intrigued. You said you are with the Children's Literacy Group now but you used to work for Josh Lyman, correct? As his assistant I believe?"

"That is correct." Now that he was seated, she sat down in front of his desk.

"It's nice to see that you landed somewhere more deserving of your talents."

"Thank you sir."

"You must be aware of the fight Josh had getting that bill passed." Tripplehorn commented.

"I am, sir." She nodded.

"And I believe I know why you are here." Tripplehorn chuckled. "Your group has quietly been approaching member of Congress on both sides of the aisle to get an amendment going with the parts of the education bill Josh axed."

"Yes." She admitted. "Though to be fair, this is my first day leading the project."

"First day, huh?" He laughed heartily. "And you came straight to me. I'm honored. I was beginning to think that I wasn't worthy of being asked."

"Well I think the previous team was most likely hesitant to visit you because of your reported good relationship with the Bartlet administration." Donna volunteered.

"I like how you put that, Miss Moss." He said, sitting back in his chair. "Reported good relationship. You're a straight shooter, Miss Moss and I like that."

"Please, call me Donna." She corrected him. "And I say reported because you and I both know that you aren't happy with a lot of the things going on in the administration and…"

"And you were hoping that I would be willing to cause a ruckus by working with you to get these provisions passed." He finished her sentence for her.

She had to admit that the man was good at reading people and situations. But so was she. "You are correct, sir."

"You should know that Josh has already been by to warn me that someone from your group might try to sway me."

This was news to her but she didn't let it show.

"In fact, Josh has made his way around to every member in Congress in the past few weeks, trying to scare them into refusing whatever offer your group makes, saying that the White House won't let a special interest group dictate policy. I would suppose that's why your group hasn't had any luck so far."

The fact that Josh had been doing this for the past few weeks made her furious at first until she realized that it was his job. He had to do it, just like she had to do what she was about to do.

"What Josh doesn't realize is that we aren't trying to dictate policy." She explained. "We are simply trying to reintroduce something that was grossly and recklessly taken out of the bill. It was in the original bill for a reason and we want to rectify his mistake. He was wrong to take it out of the bill and should have fought harder for it, for America's children. But we are more than happy to take up the mantle and fight for America's children since he wasn't able to. We just need a senator who is brave enough to help us."

Tripplehorn was quiet for a few moments and she wondered if she went too far. After analyzing the report, it became clear to her that this was their best option. If this didn't work, she wasn't sure what the next step would be—especially with Josh going around to Congress. His head start wasn't good for her.

"I'll be perfectly honest with you, Donna. When you came in here, I was on the fence about this. I figured I would listen to you and then send you on your way because I didn't think a former assistant would be able to convince me to do something like this. But you are no ordinary former assistant, are you? You know how to read people, how to say what they need to hear to feel comfortable enough doing what they wanted to do in the first place. I appreciate that. So I'll help you."

"Really?" It took her a moment to regain her composure because she truly didn't expect it to be so easy to convince him.

"Absolutely." He said, standing up. "Get with my secretary on the way out. Have her carve out some time in the next few days for us to strategize the next step."

She stood up and shook his hand. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet." He chuckled. "We still have a long way to go. But I'm willing to give this a chance."

Donna knocked on her boss' door, coming in when she heard him say it was alright.

"Donna! What can I help you with? Is everything alright?" Ted asked.

"Of course." She nodded. "I have an update for you on my project. I figured since it is such a high priority, you would want to know that I have Senator Tripplehorn willing to help us introduce the provisions as an amendment."

"What?" Ted laughed. "You got the Minority Leader to go against the White House on this?"

"Yeah." She nodded.

"Seriously?"

"Yes." She nodded again.

"Donna, that is amazing and such great news!" Ted smiled. "How is it you were able to do in one day what everyone else couldn't do in weeks?"

"I don't know, sir." She answered honestly. "Maybe I just got lucky."

"No, that isn't it." Ted argued. "Well now I am 100% certain I picked the right person for this project. Wonderful job Donna. Keep up the good work."

"I'll try sir." She said before leaving his office. This was just the first step in a long process but it was a first step in the right direction.