4:26…

4:27…

4:28...

Where can Josh and Donna be? This is not looking good. I'm pacing back and forth in Leo's office. C.J.'s sitting on the couch reading, Leo's on the phone with the Minority Leader and Toby's fumbling with his tie.

Toby finally puts his tie down. "Sam! Would you please stop pacing? It's getting on my nerves."

"Toby, I'm just worried about them. Where can those two be?"

"We're right here." Josh and Donna appear in Leo's doorway.

"Josh, what took you so long?"

"I'm sorry. I got a call from Chris Wick. He wanted to know if he could play chess with the President again and I told him in no uncertain terms, to get the hell off the phone."

Leo hangs up the phone. "Good…Margaret!"

Margaret pops her head in the door. "Yeah?"

"Shut the door and go get something from the Mess…and take a leisurely walk in the Sculpture Garden. I'll page you when we're done."

"Sure." Margaret closes the door.

I turn to look at Leo. "Leo, what the…"

Leo gets up, walks over to the door and BANG!

"Ow!" came Margaret's voice from behind the door.

"GO!"

We hear the footsteps slowly fade away as Margaret leaves her desk.

Josh places his hands on his hips. "Okay, Leo, why are we here-why is Donna here?"

I hand Josh The Post. "Here, take a look at the highlighted part. Donna, I believe you already know what it says."

Josh begins to read with Donna reading over his shoulder. Donna lets out a little gasp.

"I don't understand, Sam. What does this letter have to do with…oh, God." Donna looks positively ashen. Josh turns to look at her. "Donna, what…"

Leo leans against the door. "Donna, did you write this letter to the columnist?"

Donna takes a deep breath before beginning. "Do you all think of me as a complete imbecile?"

C.J. stands up. "Donna…"

Donna doesn't let her continue, her voice slightly rising. "I may not have multiple degrees. Hell, I don't even have one degree. But please give me a little credit here!"

It's Toby's turn to try and butt in. "We certainly…"

It doesn't work. "I have worked for this administration since the campaign. I survived Josh's possible firing AND his surgery. I have done nothing-nothing but support this administration and it's staff. How dare you accuse me of something such as this. I've been in Washington long enough to know what's damaging and what isn't. This…this column has caused much more of an uproar than Sam's situation last year."

Now it's my turn. "Hey! How did…"

"Shut up, Sam!" Josh and Donna said in unison.

Donna lowers her head and lowers her voice. "I…I thought you guys were my friends. I was truly beginning to feel like a vital piece of this administration. I was beginning to make a difference."

Josh turns to her and lifts her head with his hands. "Look, Donna. I have never-never not considered you vital. You were there for me while I recovered-both physically and emotionally. Don't ever second guess yourself with me." Josh then spins around and glares at me.

"Sam. Is that why you were in my office earlier this morning? Is that why you choked on your coffee when I mentioned the column? You son-of-a-bitch." He starts heading towards me.

Leo stands away from the door and forcefully grabs Josh by the shoulder, spinning him around to face him. "All right! That's enough! Josh, he was concerned for Donna and you. Sam's ready to defend you to the death, if need be. I was the one who organized this meeting. So if you want to call anyone a son-of-a-bitch, say it to me."

Josh drops his head. "Sam, Leo, I'm sorry. I…I didn't mean that. Oh, Stanley said something like this would come about."

I walk over to Josh and place a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay. No harm no foul."

"Thanks, buddy."

"Uh, excuse me?" Toby raises a hand. "But what, exactly, did Stanley mean by what you just said?"

Josh clears his throat. "Well, he said that eventually something would happen to me in the event that someone would harm…"

"Would harm what, Josh?" questioned C.J.

Josh looks at Donna. "Not what, who. Stanley said that I would explode when someone harms a person I love."

All of us look at Josh with our jaws dropped. He admitted it! He finally admitted it!

"Well, isn't this a nice little picture we've got here."

The entire Senior Staff turns to look at the President and the First Lady standing in the doorway between the Oval Office and Leo's. Damn. In all this excitement, we forgot to close the one door that really mattered.

"Well, isn't anyone going to say anything, or are we just going to stand there and look like statues?"

Donna clears her throat. "Mr.…. Mr. President. Sir, we are so sorry."

"It's all right, Donna. Could we see you and Josh in the Oval, please?"

Josh and Donna march in line into the Oval Office, like two kids being called in by the principal. Leo starts towards the door and is met by the First Lady as she shuts it.

I adjust my glasses. "Well, I can't stand this. I'm going to listen in." I go over to the door and place my ear to it.

"Me, too." C.J follows suit and leans against the door across from me. Toby soon follows.

"Toby, you too?" Leo asks.

"What can I say, I'm a sucker for romance."

Leo sighs. "The Post was right. I do run a high school yearbook staff…Oh, what the hell. Move over somebody." Leo joins us at the door.

(Mr. President, Donna and I are sorry about this.)

(Yes, sir. It was all a complete misunderstanding.)

(Look, you two. I know that Leo and the rest were trying to keep me out of this. But, I do read The Post. And we all know about your feelings for each other don't we?)

(Yes, sir.)

(But, can we please focus on the issues at hand first? The last thing I need is for my staffers to be concentrating on who's making goo-goo eyes at who and other sophomoric things.)

(Jed, please.)

(Abby, in case you haven't noticed, we do have a country to run here.)

(All right pumpkin. But, I just want to make it crystal clear. If anything happens to Josh and Donna's career, there'll be hell to pay.)

(Abby, what the hell are you talking about?)

(Boy, you have forgotten. Jed, Josh and Donna are the younger version of you and me. You see, I was in love with Jed and he was with me, although he was too stubborn to admit it. Sound familiar, Josh?)

(Yes, ma'am.)

(Finally, I had had enough. I started seeing someone else and things got serious. It was only then that the President realized how much I meant to him, so he took action. And the rest is history.)

(Oh, Mrs. Bartlet, I had now idea that you hold Josh and me in the same company as you and the President.)

(Donna, I knew that the two of you were meant to be together ever since the Illinois primary. You were so concerned for Josh after his father died. And you continued to be after the shooting and recovery. It's just that politics is a tough business. These critics will eat you alive. They will call you so many unbearable names, you'll just want to quit and walk away from it all.)

(Abby's right. My only concern is that will you two be able to focus on the work that's at hand?)

(Yes, sir. Donna and I are capable of doing that, right Donna?)

(Well, I don't know…)

(Donna!)

(Just kidding, Josh. Mr. President, I love Josh. I would never to anything to jeopardize his career or yours for that matter. Our first priority is to get you re-elected. And if in the process, we were to see each other socially, I assure you that we would not bring shame to the White House.)

(Well, thank you, Donna. But the re-election thing hasn't been decided yet. Abby and I must still talk it over.)

(But, Mr. President…)

(Josh, take it easy. Don't blow a gasket.)

(Yes, sir.)

I hear C.J. quietly sniffing. I, myself, feel some tears forming. This is turning out excellent.

(Knock, knock, knock. Excuse me, Mr. President, but I have an extremely urgent envelope for Josh.)

(Thanks, Charlie.)

(Josh, what's the matter? Josh?)

Evidently, the First Lady didn't shut the door all the way, because as all of us lean closer to hear better, the door gives way and the four of us tumble into the Oval Office.

Everybody turns to look at the commotion. The President shakes his head. "Welcome, glad you could all join us."

We all scramble to our feet. "We're sorry, Mr. President."

"That's all right, Sam. Josh what's in that envelope?"

"Let's hope it's not the same thing as before." Oops, did I just blurt that out?

"SAM!" Donna looks at me, horrified.

"Well, Mr. President, the person who wrote that letter to The Washington Post has been revealed."

I run over to where Josh and Donna are standing, practically knocking over a priceless antique that's on loan from an English museum. "You do? Who is it?"

"Well, let me read it to you all:"

'Dear Josh,

I hope you and the rest of the Senior Staff got a kick out of my little letter in The Washington Post. I know
it got you guys scrambling for a defense plan. And all that time you were forgetting how to run a country.
It's a pity, really. No focus at all on the affairs of state. Enjoy your stay while you can. We'll see you at the
polls.

Sincerely,

Ann Stark'

"I'll kill her. I will physically go up to her office, drag her down the steps of the Capitol Building by her hair and flog her." C.J. says through gritted teeth.

"How the hell can she do that Leo?" Josh's arms are flying all over. I push Donna back so neither one of us gets hit.

"This is nasty politics, ladies and gentleman. Now it's time to fight back. Mr. President, what's the next course of action?"

"Leo, I cannot decide that now. I don't want to break a deal."

Mrs. Bartlet walks over to her husband and looks him straight in the eye. "Screw the deal. We're going to bury that bimbo. There's no way in hell I'm letting her be in charge of the White House. Woman or no woman, Jed."

A smile spreads across everybody's face.

Abby then turns to the rest of us. "Okay, gang. We all know what we need to do. First I want to finish the conversation with Josh and Donna. You guys are free to stay."

"There's no way I would miss this," I answer.

"Josh, Donna. Nobody in this room has a right to tell you what to do in regards to your love lives. However, I do want to caution you. You may be met with a lot of negative things. Especially with Ann Stark running the Republican campaign. But, you may be met with positive things, too. We'll just have to test the waters. The President and I want nothing but the best for the two of you. Just please be careful and keep the 'extra-curricular' activities limited to the private sector."

"Abby!"

I can see both Josh and Donna blush. "Yes, ma'am." They are so inseparable.

The President clears his throat. "Ahem. Well, now that that's settled. Let's finish out the day and tomorrow morning we'll begin ripping apart Ann Stark and her boss."

"Thank you, Mr. President."

"Oh, and Josh?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Take Donna out tonight. You both deserve it. I'll have Charlie set up a reservation for you."

"Thank you, sir."

Leo, C.J. and Toby head back to Leo's office while Josh, Donna and I walk out by Mrs. Landingham's desk. I drop back a little to let the couple walk together. Josh's hand is on Donna's shoulder, but then he slips it off and reaches for her hand. Donna gives his hand a squeeze as they turn toward their bullpen. I stop at the entrance and watch them walk.

I love my job.

THE END