**********An Introduction.**********
Title: Tears and Triumphs Category: Drama/Romance, Toby/Ginger Rating: PG-13 for situations and language. Summary: Ginger may have met her match. Authors: bymilagro - Jj7zero@aol.com. Heidi H. - buGrad2023@aol.com Postings: Just tell us where. Legalities: Yeah, 'tis a 'disclaimer'. Joy of joys. We don't own any of the characters on The West Wing. Whoever the hell it was who created and wrote the show owns the rights to it and we will never... ever... (sigh) ever profit from it. But, hey, we do own Steven. He is our plaything. If you'd like to play with Steven, he's available on Fridays, weekends, and Tuesdays after five p.m.
Enjoy our story. We try.
**********Chapter One***********
"Ginger."
"Toby."
Toby Ziegler stopped on his breeze through the communications bullpen as his assistant went about her business.
"Where's Josh?"
She didn't bother to look up from the schedule she was filling. "He's not here. That I know of."
"Wha-" Ziegler stared down at her, perplexed. "He should be here- in my office."
"Well," Ginger glanced up "did you check in your office? Because I don't file your visitors into my inbox when they get here. He actually might be in your office." She looked back down and continued her work, her fallen blonde hair partially masking the small smirk on her face.
Toby gave a quick half-grin. It looked more like a grimace on him and was gone in a second, but it was definitely there. It was a 'since-when-did-my-assistant-become-a-smartass' look. He got it back together and spun around in the direction of his office, straight into Joshua Lyman. "Josh" he flinched, startled.
"Hey, Toby, guess what."
"Ginger and Donna exchanged brains on their way in to work today."
Josh's eager expression from earlier was suddenly replaced by a confused one. "What?!"
"It seems like I get the" Toby turned to Ginger, still sitting at her desk, hiding a smirk "SMART ASS ASSISTANT today" he yelled in her direction. Unfazed, Ginger laughed. Normally she wouldn't have bothered to take an extra step to mess with her boss, but it was Friday. Toby was in an unusually light mood, and if anyone could use even the slightest bit of humor in their lives it was him.
Ziegler rolled his eyes and beckoned Josh into his office. Lyman glanced at Ginger with a smirk before following Toby into his office and shutting the door behind him.
"Exchanged brains?"
Toby rolled his eyes at Josh, too, as he sat in the chair behind his desk.
Josh shook his head and moved on. "No, really, guess what."
"I'm not guessing, Josh."
Josh frowned at him. "You know, in your old age, you're losing your..." Josh sat in a chair opposite Toby's desk "...fun."
Toby leaned on his desk and propped his head up with his hand. "My fun?" he mumbled. Josh bobbed his head enthusiastically. "My fun. Right. Josh?" he scooted up in his desk "Those of us with college educations don't 'lose our fun' in old age; we grow up and get jobs and... use good grammar."
"And give our assistants imaginary lobotomies?"
Toby let out a long, suffering sigh, closing his eyes instead of rolling them.
"Yeah. Anyway, I've got Lillienfield's office nagging me about the damned 'office waste issue' now."
Toby raised his eyebrows in interest.
"He's sending his people in and out all the time now. They're mucking up the place."
"'It's only the White House, just another office, doesn't mean they can waste our time like some damn insurance company'?"
Josh nodded. "Yeah. That. So I've got them walking around with checklists for things like, throwing away paper with stuff only written on one side, and" he looked up, searching. "And,... not using mousepads, which supposedly ruins your computer mouse so we have to buy a new one, and... you know, stupid stuff."
Toby grabbed a legal pad and a pen, scrawling a note to himself. "Well, we'll have to get them out. You can't expect to have an efficiently-run government without killing a mouse or two. Damn people probably used more paper comin' up with that idea than we do in a week, anyway."
Josh snorted at that and changed the subject again. "So, about the housing assistance thing-"
"The President's speech Monday? As soon as Sam gets back, that's done."
Josh looked at him wide-eyed. "You mean, like, more than ten minutes before 9 PM on Monday?! Toby! This is cause for celebration!" He threw his hands up in the air and Toby gave him a dead-pan look.
"Right."
~*~
Steven Lewis was on a mission. Granted, a lame one, but the scenery was nice. He was looking for waste in the White House. Yes, lame. But that always looked good to potential employers. Not looking for waste, but working in the White House. It was true. He could put it on a resumé and it wouldn't be a lie. He had worked in the White House. For Peter Lillienfield of the United States House of Representatives. That looked even better.
So, onward and upward to an area on his list called the 'communications bullpen.' Several empty desks, but people swirled all around him. Stacks of papers, ringing phones, the buzz of life, activity, and overuse of electricity. There was sweat, excitement, chaos.
Except for one spot. In front of a closed door, he saw her. The peaceful, serene,... sexy blonde on the side of the bullpen. He had a job to do, but the 29-year-old in him gravitated towards her.
He immediately set his sights on her. Steven wanted her in more ways than one. He walked over to her desk and perched himself on the edge.
Ginger looked up at the man who had his butt on some files that she needed. She bit the bullet and spoke to him.
"Would you please move it? I am trying to do some work and right now, and your butt is on some files that I need."
"Why don't you feel your way to the right files." Steven smirked and watched the young blonde blush and look away.
"Because that is not proper. I really do need to work, so if you could leave me alone." Ginger shoved him hard enough to unsettle him off of the desk. She grabbed the files in question before Steven had a chance to react.
"First of all, I think you should be nicer to me. My name is Steven Lewis and I work for Congressman Lillienfield." Steven let what he said sink into her pretty little head.
"Oh, that's nice, but I really need to get back to work." Ginger started working on a memo that Toby needed typed up.
"What kind of work do you do?" Steven asked with a suave smile and waited for her response.
"I am the assistant to the Communications Director and the Deputy Communications director."
"Well, you are just so sexy, I would have figured that you do something else for those lucky guys." Steven said with a sexual overtone in his voice.
Ginger grimaced. "No, that is just a disgusting thought and just, just -leave me alone." Ginger was enraged at this slimeball even making those types of suggestions.
"I would never leave someone with a hot body like yours alone." Steven smirked and walked out of the office.
Ginger couldn't believe that guy. Not only was he a jerk, but an idiot at that. No one would ever believe that she had a thing with Toby and Sam. She blew him off and forgot all about him by the time she returned to typing the memo.
Steven was bound and determined to have that sexy little 'assistant'. There was no way he was going to let some girl get the best of him. He would have the last word and everyone would remember who he was.
**********To be continuted.**********