Notes: A story, in three parts, about the fateful
events on the eve of President Bartlet's second term.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Joshua
Lyman looked at his watch and winced. He was cutting it close. There was
the ceremony on the Hill and then that other thing to take care of before
he could even think about his evening plans. It was an odd concept, having
plans for the evening. He shook his head as he made his way through the
nearly empty halls of the West Wing. He was enjoying the relative quiet
of the late morning. However, his pleasure was short lived as he rounded
the corner and approached his bullpen.
"It would be like a day without orange
juice, wouldn't it, Josh?" CJ Cregg snarled as she appeared in his doorway.
"You couldn't let it slide, not even once. The man is an influential US
Senator!"
"I am an influential person, too,"
he retorted.
"You're an infantile person," she snapped
with her wide eyes wild and quivering in their sockets. "This is a man
whose support we need, if I'm hearing Leo and Toby correctly. I realize
that you were baited into making a comment..."
"I was," he agreed.
"I also realize that the fact that
certain people breathe the same air as you is considered baiting in your
book," CJ continued.
Josh brushed off the lecture with a
wave of his hand. He had endured similar ones from both Leo and Toby for
half an hour that morning. Sam Seaborn agreed that Josh had perhaps gone
a bit far in admonishing the senator the previous afternoon on the capitol
steps. Only Sam didn't quite say so. It was the look on his face that told
the story.
"You're going to fix this, right?"
CJ asked as she followed him into his office.
"Don't I always?"
"Always?" she said. "Good word. It
connotes the perpetuity of your stupidity! Josh, couldn't you have waited
24 hours? One day. That's all I ask. I mean, the President has even been
sworn in again and already you're picking fights!"
"First, it wasn't a fight," he assured
her. "It was a verbal disagreement held in civilized tones that no camera
or microphone caught. Next, and more important to me, I'd like to point
out that no one has yet to say I was wrong."
"Well, of course you weren't," CJ said.
"But that's really beside the point. Fix this!"
"I'm on it," he said grabbing his jacket.
"Calm down, CJ. Senator Hannah and I have an understanding. We're both
intelligent men, though you gotta agree that, in a basic battle of wits,
the man is not in my league."
"Humility, Josh," she said. "Learn
that word before you get to Virginia!"
"It's under control," he said easily.
She sighed and turned deftly on her
heel. Josh looked briefly out his window. The cloud ceiling was falling
steadily but though the skies were gray there was no rain or snow yet.
The temperature was edging toward the low 40s. Fair inaugural weather,
he though.
"Donna!" he yelled as he peered into
the gray flannel above. "Donna!"
"Stop shouting," she said calmly in
his doorway. "You really need to work on that."
"On what?"
"Your yelling," she said. "It's distracting
to people who are working."
"Okay, maybe but there's two things
wrong with that statement," he said. "First, no one is working right now
and second, I'm your boss. I'm allowed to be distracting."
She looked at him unmoved. He stared
back at her expectantly and made an emphatic gesture with his hands.
"Well?" he said.
"What?"
"Are we going?" he asked. "I have precisely
one hour to watch this thing before I have to hop a plane to Virginia.
You arranged it all, right?"
"Yes, but I need to know one thing,"
she said.
"What?"
"Why are you flying?" she asked. "It's
like a one hour drive."
"I'm flying there because it's like
a three hour drive," he said. "I don't want to spend the entire evening
on the road."
Donna walked to the outer office to
grab her coat. Josh stood in his doorway, making no move to help. She cast
him a brief perturbed glance and shook her head.
"It would serve you right if you had
to drive all night," Donna said. "It's your fault you have to go to Virginia
at all."
"Thanks for the support, Donna," he
said.
"I do support you," she said. "In fact,
I do it so well so often, I've begun to wonder if I'm enabling your behavior.
We really should work on your impulse control."
"Yeah, let's do that," he said.
"Really?"
"No," he said shaking his head.
"I still think you shouldn't get off
this easy, if not for this, then for what you did to me," she said. "You
sabotaged my date for the inaugural ball."
"We are not back to that again," he
protested. "Donna, sabotage is an ugly word that implies premeditation."
"Josh..."
"Donna, you should thank me," he said.
"I did you a favor. You stood him up once, and he cast you aside like a
leper. I mean, it couldn't be clearer. The guy obviously has issues. Do
you need someone with issues in your life?"
"Afraid of the competition?"
"I do not have issues," he said. "I'm
complex. Didn't you read the cover story in Time last week? The
word they used was 'complex.' "
"Complex is a word used by someone
who is sucking up to a man with issues," Donna replied tossing her head.
"And I'd like to point out that your ego has yet again turned my dilemma
into a discussion about you."
"Sounds like you're the one with the
issues," he offered with the hint of a smile. "Look, I'm sorry your date
fell through."
"Are you really?"
"No, not really, but it seemed like
the polite thing to say," he replied. "Look, I told you I would make it
up to you. You can take a day off."
"When?"
"Some time," he said. "When I don't
need you here."
"But I still have to go the inaugural
ball alone," she said. "I'm one of the most eligible women in Washington,
Josh."
"Right."
"I am an erudite conversationalist,"
she continued unhindered. "I am well-read, considered quite attractive
and fashionable. But do I have a date to the social event of the year?"
"No, and do you know how I know this?"
"Because I keep telling you," she replied.
"Yes, hourly," he remarked. "I think
you're taking a very narrow view of the facts if you thinks it's my fault
you missed your date."
"You insisted that I stay here until
3 a.m. to help you research the historical and constitutional trends of
immigration restrictions on contiguous territory," she informed him.
"Which I thanked you for," he said
hesitantly, then paused as she glared at him. "Didn't I?"
"No."
"Well, I'm sure I meant to," he said.
"I'll make it up to you."
"A day off at some unspecified point
is not good enough, Josh," she said. "It doesn't solve the problem of me
going alone tonight."
"Donna, are you that insecure?"
"I am not insecure," she said confidently.
"Then is it really that much of a problem?"
"Yes," she said. "It doesn't look good."
"You shouldn't put so much stock in
appearances," he told her.
"Is that the new motto of your fan
club?" she asked. "This is a special event, Josh. The inaugural ball is
a place to be seen. Look, you graduated from Harvard and Yale and have
all the connections in the world to set yourself up after the president
finishes his last term. I do not. I need to market myself. I'm out of a
job in four years."
"Or maybe sooner."
She ignored his comment as she donned
her coat.
"Besides, walking in alone is... well,
it's depressing," she said. "Everyone who is anyone wants to be at this
event, but I managed to not find a date."
"Fine, I'll take you," he said. "You
won't have to walk in alone. Satisfied?"
"Let's go!" CJ shouted. "If we're not
out there by the time the President arrives, I'll never hear the end of
it, and therefore neither will you. And Josh, you're already never going
to hear the end of your latest fiasco. But I've got to thank you. It gave
me a great gift idea for your next birthday."
"Really," he said anxiously. "What?"
"Lobotomy," CJ said.
Josh let the comment slide as he and
Donna followed the raging press secretary. They exited the building with
Josh and CJ squabbling over how he should approach his meeting in Virginia.
They ceased their wrangling only when they took their places on the Capital
Hill dais. The rest of the staff was already gathered in the stands. They
did not wait long for the arrival of the commander-in-chief. The president's
motorcade was pulling up as they took their seats. Then the formalities
began.
President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet took
the oath and launched into his speech. Beside Josh, Sam could be heard
quietly repeating the words in synchronization, words he had begun writing
a year earlier when the campaign began in earnest.
"You're flying?" Toby whispered into
Josh's ear.
"Yeah," Josh said without turning.
"I'll be back early this evening."
"You'll be back when you've fixed this
mess," Toby replied.
"I'll be back with a better deal than
we would have gotten had I not opened my mouth," Josh said. "And I will
do it with ample time to make it to the party tonight. Sen. Samuel Hannah
and I are intelligent men. We will reach an understanding."
"I don't care what you reach so long
as it includes an acceptable apology from you that keeps him in the box
for a week until we can launch our education plan," Toby said and leaned
back.
The President's speech concluded half
an hour later and the staff piled into the motorcade. It took them back
to 1600 Pennsylvanian Avenue where they would watch the parade.
Inside the west wing, Josh grabbed
several files then prepared to leave.
"No," Donna said as he passed her desk.
"No what?" he asked stopping in mid-stride.
"No, I'm not satisfied with your offer,"
she said and looked at his bewildered expression. "See, you've forgotten
already. You'll do the same thing this evening; not that you'll be back
in time anyway. You're a very inconsiderate man, Josh."
"I keep telling you," he said in earnest
tones. "It feels better when you say things like that at the top of your
lungs. You should try it. Shouting is a good release. Imagine what a stress
ball I would be if I kept quiet all the time."
"Imagine our shock if you did," she
said. "And let me point out that (again) we weren't talking about
you. But if we were, I'd have to say that you are conceited and do not
deserve the likes of me as an escort."
"I'll be there," he said.
"No, you won't," she said.
"Donna, I promise," he said.
"You promised me it wouldn't take long
to research the immigration trends," she said. "Nine hours constitutes
a long time, Josh."
"Fine," he relented. "I'll put it in
writing. That way it's a contract, a binding agreement that I must honor."
He grabbed a pad from her desk and
scribbled on it. Sam was passing by, heading for the parade stands, when
Josh stopped him.
"Sam, sign this," he said handing him
a pen.
"Sure," Sam said and briefly reading
it. "Am I understanding this? In essence, you are promising not to forget
to bring Donna to the Inaugural Ball tonight under penalty of... well,
basically shouting by the aforementioned party in front of the entire staff
without a single syllable of protest from you?"
"Yeah."
Sam laughed. "Oh, like that's gonna
happen."
"Shut up and sign it," Josh said.
"Okay," Sam agreed while penning his
name. "Donna, if you want to run through some choice adjectives later,
I'm offering my time and many suggestions."
"Thank you," she said, palming her
contract.
"You leaving now?" Sam asked as Josh
grabbed his bag.
"Yeah, I got this thing in Virginia,"
he said looking at his watch. "It's 1:30 now... I'll be back by seven,
eight at the outside. Donna, your place, 8:30. Don't still be playing with
your hair."
"Ha! If you think I'm going to spend
my entire afternoon getting ready for a date with..." she scoffed as he
hurried down the hall. "Hey! Josh!"
"What do you need?" Sam asked.
"I need to work with him on his social
skills," she sighed. "He didn't say good-bye."
***************************************************
"Yeah, McGarry," Leo said brusquely
into his phone.
"Leo."
"Josh."
"I've been trying to call you for the
last half hour," Josh said. "Margaret kept saying you were too busy. Then
I called back again, and it took you six rings to answer."
"Well, I'm kinda busy here, Josh,"
Leo said. "I just got the president sworn in and am preparing to launch
his next administration. You might not believe it, but some members of
the staff make that job a little more difficult than others."
"You don't need to get hostile, Leo."
"I trust you have news," Leo said.
"It's 5:30. I told you to call every hour."
"I thought you wanted to know when
it was fixed?"
"I did," Leo replied. "I also wanted
you to call every hour. That's why I said: Josh call me every hour and
let me know when it's fixed."
"Well, I'll let you know," he said.
"It's not?"
"Almost," he said. "Fred Drummer...."
"Hannah's chief of staff?"
"Yeah, he and I are close to getting
somewhere," Josh said. "Hannah's driving back to DC tonight so he can think
things over; he's actually driving himself."
"Why?"
"He said he thinks better when he drives."
"Right," Leo said looking at his watch.
"Did you apologize?"
"Sort of."
"By sort of you mean no?"
"Yeah," Josh said. "I told you, Leo.
Trust me. We'll reach an understanding. Look, they're gonna cancel the
later flights."
"Weather?" Leo asked glancing at the
sky that had grown darker by the hour.
"Yeah, it's coming in quicker than
they expected," Josh said. "Anyway, Fred's a pilot. He's got his own plane.
He says if we leave now, we can beat it. So, I'm flying back with him.
Hannah's gonna call when he gets to DC and tell me what he thinks about
what I said."
"Which wasn't an apology?"
"No."
"Josh, fix this thing."
"Leo, don't worry," Josh assured him.
"It's under control. I've gotta go. Fred's ready. I'll be back in an hour."
"You're sure it's okay to take off?"
"Hey, I'm just the passenger," Josh
said.
"Should you wait?"
"No can do," he said. "I helped us
win this thing, Leo. I'll be damned if Sam and Toby get to take my share
of the credit. Besides, I got a contract to fulfill or else Sam is gonna
write a speech for Donna so she can call me names."
"What?"
"Nothing. Gotta go."
Leo hung up and sighed in the exasperate
way he was only able to conjure with Josh. He turned his eyes again toward
the cloaked skies and shook his head then shrugged.
**************************
"CJ," Josh's voice sounded far off
with the static over the line.
"Where are you?" she asked. "Did you
apologize?"
"I just talked to Leo 15 minutes ago,"
he said. "You don't have to worry. I'm on it."
"Wonderful, Josh," she said flatly.
"But I can't help but think how much better I would feel if you said 'I
fixed it' or maybe if you just hadn't opened your mouth to begin with..."
"CJ..."
"Where are you?" she asked. "I can
barely hear you?"
"I can't get Leo back on the phone
so give him a message," he said distantly through a wall of static. "I'm
meeting with Hannah before we take off so I'll be a little later than....."
"Apologize, Joshua," she said and disconnected
when it appeared the connection was lost.
************************
Donna Moss sat on her couch wearing
her newly-purchased, designer knockoff and tried to look passive.
She held in her hands the now-damp note bearing Josh's handwriting. The
words were smeared from having been held of so long. She looked at the
clock. The hands were about to reach nine. She had begun composing in her
head an indignant speech around 8:35. She was preparing to call a cab when
the knock on her door arrived.
She jumped from her seat and hurried
to the mirror in her bathroom to check that her make-up was still pristine
and her dress draping appropriate. Her blond tresses were swept up in a
loose and sultry fashion that accented her eyes and delicate cheekbones.
The dress was worth every penny. It was slate blue silk with spaghetti
straps with a plunging back. The rich fabric clung to her body as though
it was made only for her. She took one last look in the mirror and practiced
her aloof expression. He would be wearing his tuxedo, and she did not want
to be phased by formal attire; she was mad and he would hear it. She took
a single deep breath before opening the door.
Before her stood Sam Seaborn, dressed
in top coat and tuxedo. What Donna noted first was that he was wearing
his glasses; it was a sign she did not like. It meant he was working. She
sensed something was awry but pushed aside those thoughts as she glanced
down the hall in search of another face.
"I didn't want you to be waiting,"
Sam said.
"What's wrong?"
"Wrong?" he repeated with a stilted
expression.
"Where's Josh?"
"Uh, he's not here yet," Sam said.
"You should come with me for now."
Donna grabbed the sheer wrap that matched
her dress and followed Sam to the waiting limo. Snow was falling as the
winter storm that was not supposed to hit until the following day made
its own appearance for the inaugural festivities. The revised reports indicated
the storm would clear the area soon. Donna hurried to the car trying not
to spatter her dress with the slush on the ground.
She sat silently the rest of the ride
as Sam watched the city slide by the tainted windows and sighed occasionally.
Her stomach was uneasy, but she refused to speculate. Whatever Josh had
done this time, he would find a way to fix it. Probably.
They arrived at their destination and
emerged in a hail of flashbulbs. They crossed the red carpet with Sam grasping
her elbow. She wondered fleetingly who he was looking to support, her or
himself. Together they entered the impressive ballroom that was festooned
with flags and swags and a sea of gowns and tails. The music and commotion
were dizzying compared to the desolate silence on the limousine.
"Leo's in the back," Sam said as he
ushered her toward the back of the room.
In a small conference room guarded
by Secret Service agents, President Bartlet and Leo were talking in hushed
tones. Sam peeled off instantly and made a call on his cell phone. CJ and
Toby were locked in conversation and refused to meet Donna's eyes.
"Donna," Leo said beckoning to her.
"You look lovely tonight, Donna," President
Bartlet said.
"Thank you, Mr. President," she said.
"Leo, where's Josh?"
"Sam didn't tell you?" Leo asked and
shot a dagger glare at the Deputy Communications Director who caught the
look and winced.
"What's happened?" she asked.
Toby approached with CJ in tow. Their
faces were drawn and serious. They looked at her with pained expressions.
CJ opened her mouth, but no words emerged. Toby sighed after a moment then
found his voice.
"Josh changed plans a the last minute,"
Toby said lowly. "He decided to fly back in a private plane with Fred Drummer."
"He called me," CJ said absentmindedly.
"He said they were going to be delayed so he could make a last ditch effort
with Hannah. I was so mad that he hadn't apologized."
"He's still in Virginia?" Donna asked.
"According to the tower, the plane
took off at 6:15--against advice from air traffic control," Toby said.
"It was supposed to land a little after seven."
"Supposed to?"
"Donna," Leo said calmly. "The plane
dropped off radar about half an hour into the flight."
Donna cupped her hand to her mouth
to stifle a gasp. She trembled for a moment then managed to speak.
"They crashed?" Donna asked. A cold
bolt of pain stabbed at her stomach. She bit her lip and held her breath.
"We don't know that," Sam interjected
vehemently. "The plane is only listed as being late right now."
"It's been two hours," she said.
"Two hours is only late," Leo remarked.
"But it went down?"
"We don't know," Sam continued. "It
just isn't on radar. There's bad weather all around us. I know Fred. He's
a good pilot. He might have put down in a field to be safe."
"What about the radio?" Donna asked.
"Nothing," Toby said.
"Josh has his phone," she said. "Did
you try it?"
Toby sighed and looked away giving
her the answer she dreaded.
"We don't know anything for certain,"
Leo said. "There were no distress calls and so far no reports of... of..."
"Crashes?" she offered.
"Crash related activity," Leo relented.
"They didn't file a flight plan so we aren't one hundred percent sure where
they were specifically, but we have a general idea. The weather is breaking.
When it's safe to take off, a search will be launched from the air. Ground
rescue crews have already been alerted."
"Why did they take off with a storm
coming?" Donna asked.
"They thought they could beat it,"
Leo said. "Josh was hell-bent on being here."
"It's his night as much as mine," the
President said. "It belongs to all of you. This is not the way I want to
start this term."
"No sir," Leo agreed. "Let me say again,
we don't know anything for certain."
Donna let her eyes fall out of focus.
She was aware of Leo offering her a chair. She sat for lack of anything
better to do; she didn't care that it was breaking protocol with the President
in the room. It hardly seemed to matter.
"He didn't say good-bye," Donna said
quietly.
"He also didn't apologize to Senator
Hannah or fix his mess," Leo said gruffly. "He told me he would do that.
I have never known Josh to fail me. His wins aren't always pretty, but
he gets it done. I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't have enough
information right now to believe that has changed."
"Yet," Toby offered morosely.
"Thank you, Toby," President Bartlet
said. "You're a real rock in a storm. Leo, let's go out there, and get
this damn party going; I want updates every 15 minutes."
Donna stared at the scrap of paper
in her hands now turning to lint. Josh's scrawl was obscured and illegible.
She smoothed the fragile slip then carefully folded it into her palm again
and held it tight. All around her, there were sporadic conversations on
phones. Each ended with an order that sounded like a pray and a plea for
information as soon as possible. Sam and CJ drifted in and out of the room
periodically with grave expressions. From the noise in the adjacent room,
Donna surmised the President had made his grand entrance and had his ceremonial
dance with the First Lady. Leo stayed in the back with his cell phone attached
to his ear. Toby made calls and signaled each back to Leo with a terse
shake of his head.
A multitude of images whirling around
in Donna's head making her dizzy. Watching Josh disappear at the end of
the hall as he left that afternoon, the elated look on his face on election
night when the pivital electoral votes swung to the President; the quizzical
expression he wore the first time she laid eyes upon him in New Hampshire
years earlier. The images blurred together. She forced them back and tried
to not think of Josh as he was. She was afraid to do so. It seemed like
an act of finality. Instead, she stared at the door, willing him to breeze
in sounding his own accolades about his trip to Virginia. She was so fixated
on the door that she neither saw nor heard anything else in the room for
a while. She was startled by a hand placed on her knee.
She snapped her eyes downward to see
Sam squatting before her with a concerned expression.
"Donna, can I get you anything?" he
asked.
She wanted to say, "answers," but knew
it would be inappropriate. Sam was distraught as well. She knew he was
doing everything in his power to get the information she desperately wanted.
She shook her head.
"Okay," he said. "How are you holding
up?"
Donna shrugged. She wanted to say something
chic, something to show she was strong and that she had faith this would
all be resolved positively, but the words were not there. She remembered
this feeling from the emergency room after shooting. The difference was
at that time there was an information source. The doctors were working;
the experts were trying. This time, there was just waiting.
"I'm good at forbearance," she said
finally. "It's a prerequisite for working with Josh."
"You need it," Sam agreed as he offered
a strained smile. "Patience is not his forte."
"He would disagree, of course," Donna
said.
"Of course, because most people to
fly off the handle and proclaim: 'I'm so sick of Congress I could vomit.'
Very composed and very eloquent of him, no?"
"He could benefit from practicing impulse
control from time to time," she agreed.
"You're very good to him, Donna," Sam
said. "He's not easy to work for, but you manage. He probably never said
so, but he appreciates it."
"He does," she said. "I mean, he says
it, but not like you did. Josh.... He has his own, special way."
"Well, he's as sensitive as a callous
some days," Sam said.
"I know," she said. "But not always.
He did offer to be my escort tonight after I accused him of wrecking my
date."
She paused and looked at the note she
was clenching in her fist. Sam saw this and placed a comforting hand on
her wrist.
"It's not your fault," Sam said. "He
made a decision. Josh thinks for himself and does what he thinks is best.
He wanted to be here tonight."
"Yeah," she said. "He probably would
have forgotten me anyway."
"No, he wouldn't," Sam assured her.
"That I know. Donna, Josh..."
Toby, standing in the corner on his
phone, snapped his fingers to get Sam's attention. Sam left Donna's side
and the two men spoke briefly in hushed tones.
"Are they certain?" Sam asked after
a moment.
"What is it?" Donna asked.
Sam looked sick as he eyed Toby, who
shook his head then sighed.
"There is a report of a probable crash
site just outside Carterville, Virginia," Toby said. "It's pretty rough
terrain so it's not like anyone can get to it easily. The NTSB is on route."