Please see Chapter 1 for general info and disclaimers.
*~*
Shadows were beginning to descend upon the White House when the senior staffers heard from their assistants and each other that Leo was calling for another senior staff meeting in five minutes. Holding double staff meetings was not unheard of; as a matter of fact, they had held at least two of them a day while the Grand Jury hearings had been in session. But since the Grand Jury had ruled that the President and his senior staff had not obstructed justice by failing to report his MS to the public, the number of staff meetings had dwindled back down to the original once a day.
C.J. stopped by Sam's office and rapped lightly on his open door. "Do you know something I don't know?" she asked when Sam raised his head.
"C.J.," he began in a serious tone, "there are multitudes I know that you don't know." A smile broke out on his face.
"Ha-ha, Sam. That was just hilarious. I don't know why I bother to ask you anything."
"C'mon, C.J.," Sam beckoned after her departing figure, "I was just kidding!"
"Do you know what's going on?" C.J. demanded as she blocked Toby's doorway.
"It's nice to see you, too, C.J.," Toby responded wryly without looking up from the screen of his laptop.
"I'm serious, Toby. Do you know why Leo called for a second staff meeting?"
"I don't know. Maybe he didn't think we were all listening to him this morning and he wanted to touch base again before we call it a day."
"How can you be so blasé about this? It's only been three weeks since we were having these things three to four times a day. Things are finally going back to normal and now we're back to double meetings. Are you holding out on me?"
The sharpness in C.J.'s tone caused Toby to look at her in disbelief. "C.J., I honestly don't know why Leo wants another staff meeting."
"You're telling me the truth, right? Cause you guys have this really annoying habit of keeping me out of the loop right when I need to be in the loop."
"C.J., I swear that—"
"Hey, what's going on? Are you having a pre-staff meeting party without me?" Josh shouted from the Communications Bullpen as he made his way to Toby's office.
"C.J.'s having trust issues," Sam called back in response. He'd overheard C.J.'s exchange with Toby from behind her.
C.J. turned to look at Sam in disdain. "I'm not talking to you anymore, little man."
"Hey, don't kill the messenger."
By this time, Josh has reach C.J. and Sam, and was greeted with C.J. asking, "Do you know why Leo wants to hold another staff meeting?"
"Nope. I know that something's up, though, because Margaret had to reschedule most of his meetings today. And Donna overheard Charlie rearranging the President's schedule as well."
"Oh, God," C.J. groaned.
"Okay, everyone out of my office," Toby ordered gruffly as he began ushering people away from his doorway. "Why don't we just ask Leo why he wants another meeting instead of driving me crazy with your speculations."
With that command, they all regrouped in Leo's office. Even though everyone except C.J. was attempting to appear as if this second staff meeting wasn't bothering him or her, they were all internally worried. C.J. had been right; the days of high stress and tension from the Grand Jury hearings still occupied the front of their minds. Before one of them could speak, Leo hurried into the room and closed all the doors.
Shuffling some papers in his hands, he said, "I know you're all probably wondering why I've called you here again today, so let's just cut to the chase and get started, okay? Why don't you all have a seat?" When everyone remained standing despite his invitation, he shrugged his shoulders, dropped the papers onto his desk, and turned to face his staff. "Remember when we were celebrating the Grand Jury's decision and the President thanked all of you for your support and hard work and promised that there were no more skeletons in his closet?"
"Yeah…" Josh prompted.
"Well, he may have accidentally overlooked one little skeleton."
The senior staffers exchanged silent looks of alarm with each other before Toby cleared his throat and asked, "What sort of skeleton are we talking about, Leo?"
"Well…" Leo took a deep breath as he pondered the best way to break the news. "Twenty-six years ago, the President had an affair that resulted in the birth of a little girl. That little girl has grown into a beautiful young lady who's now in town."
Leo watched as his most trusted staff members stared back at him in shock at the news they'd just been told. "Sure you don't want to rethink that offer to sit down?" he asked.
After they had all collapsed onto a couch, armchair, or table, Leo pulled an empty chair towards them and sat down. Placing his hands in his lap, he leaned forward and said, "Now let me fill you in on some of the details and answer the numerous questions I know you all have for me."