XI
THURSDAY:
Leo surveyed his troops. Sam didn't look any less hungover than the day before, but at least he was actually there on time. Toby was dour as ever, but CJ was grinning and so was he. Things really were beginning to look up.
Josh positively bounced into the room, taking bows left and right. "It's done! I did it! The vote it ours. I am the man. The man is me."
Even Sam managed to muster a smile for him. Yes, Josh was ridiculously over the top - but he was also right. Nobody had expected him to rescue Friday's vote, least of all Leo, but somehow he'd managed it.
"Guys, this is exactly the victory we needed," Leo nodded. "This is our chance to turn things around. CJ, how are things going with the press?"
She grinned back. "Right now? We're groovy. Clearly, we should shoot reporters more often." It would take somebody who knew CJ as well as the rest of the senior staff did to realise exactly how much relief and delight that casual quip actually masked.
"What's next, Leo?" Josh asked brightly. Buoyed up by his success, he was ready to take on the world. This was definitely exactly what Josh had needed to put the wind back in his sails.
Leo glanced at his notes, more out of habit than from any need to remind himself. "CJ, I need you to make sure tomorrow's vote doesn't get completely buried in the fuss over tonight's dinner party. We've got some good news; let's get it out there."
Josh grinned smugly.
"What time's the First Lady coming in?" CJ asked.
"Her plane touches down late afternoon, so she probably won't have much time before the party starts," Leo told her. "Zoey'll be here earlier, which should put the president in a better mood for the rest of the day." Not that he needed it; the president had been decidedly cranky over the past few weeks, but the good news about the Healthcare Bill had given him a new lease of life. Leo was very relieved to see him smiling again. Maybe they really were coming out of the slump they'd been in since reelection.
He checked his mental agenda. "Okay, at the party, I want you to take some temperatures about the Peterson single-parent families thing. Toby, have you got that summary?"
Toby looked across at Sam, who straightened up in his seat. "Ginger was on it last night," he supplied.
"Okay." Leo nodded, and decided to ignore the slightly challenging look Sam shot his superior. What did he care who actually summarised it, as long as it got done? "I'll read it over, but I already know there're a few things in there the Republicans aren't gonna want to swallow, so let's do a little unofficial polling and find out where we're going with this."
What else? Ah yes, his least favourite item on the agenda. "We've got some recommendations through on a new Sex-Ed initiative, so we'll be revisiting that fairly soon. That's gonna go down like a lead balloon." The last set of recommendations had been shelved until after the Midterms, and somehow never got un-shelved. There never was a right time to tackle sex education in schools; anything that approached a safe middle ground got you jumped from both sides simultaneously.
"Unfortunate choice of words, 'go down'," Josh smirked. Leo gave him a look.
"You think we can get somewhere with this?" asked Toby, a little sceptically.
He shrugged. "Maybe. Tomorrow's vote should put a little power back in our corner, but..." Leo sighed. Scraping through a Healthcare Bill that a lot of people wanted was a long way different from throwing their weight behind an initiative everybody wanted to get as far away from as humanly possible. "Still," he cracked a grin, "I want you all to read through the briefing notes carefully. You never know, you might learn something."
CJ rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well. As long as we're working here, it's all academic anyway."
Smiling, Leo dismissed the group. Things weren't quite bright and cheerful yet, but a little bit of the old camaraderie was beginning to creep back. And with Abbey and Zoey in the house that evening, it might just start to feel a bit like old times.
The president bounded out eagerly at the sound of voices in reception, although his smile fell a little when he saw that it was Leo. "Damn. I was hoping that you'd be my wife."
"You know, there's probably a joke in there somewhere, but we're not gonna go there," Leo observed.
"Good idea," he agreed, shooting a suspicious sideways glance at Charlie. His young aide was keeping a remarkably straight face, but then he usually did.
The two men casually fell into step as they walked. "My wife and daughter are going to be here for tonight's dinner, Leo," he said excitedly. Not that there was any possible way Leo could not know as much, but it was hard to stop the cheerfulness from bubbling over.
"Is Zoey here already?" Leo asked.
"Yes. She's up in the Residence, getting ready for the party."
Leo gave him a look. "We still have about five hours until it starts, right?"
"Yes."
"What the hell is she doing up there?"
"I decided it was safer not to ask."
"Yeah."
Jed quickly waved down the staffers jumping out of their seats as they passed through. Why couldn't he ever train people not to do that? No matter how long he'd already been president, he still found it disconcerting.
"How long is the First Lady staying?" Leo asked him.
He pulled a face. "Not very long, unfortunately. She's got a thing in... California? Monday."
"Oh, man," Leo groaned. Jed gave him a sharp look.
"What was that 'oh man' about?" he demanded. "Why did you just 'oh man' me?"
"I can't commiserate with you about being apart from your wife?" his Chief of Staff said innocently. Jed continued to glare. "That and the fact you get totally cranky when she's not here."
He was scandalised. "I do not get cranky!"
"Sure you don't."
"I am bright and cheerful and a joy to be around."
"Yeah, you're a real treasure," said Leo dryly.
They were quiet for a moment as they walked. Jed sighed. "It's just that I don't sleep," he admitted quietly.
"What's that, Mr. President?"
"I can't sleep! I'm not a man who's accustomed to being in bed on his own. It isn't right."
"Sir, whatever you're asking me to do about that, the answer's no."
He gave Leo another look. "Remind me why I keep you employed?"
"Oh, you are definitely cranky." Leo smirked and peeled away before he had time to think of a suitable parting shot.
"What are you looking at?" he asked Charlie, who was definitely smirking on the inside even if he was doing a damn good job of not showing it.
"Excuse me, Mr. President?" asked his young aide innocently. Jed wasn't fooled. His body man wasn't nearly so meek and guileless as he seemed - something that troubled him more than a little, considering said body man was also his youngest daughter's boyfriend.
"Excited about spending an evening with Zoey?" he asked instead.
Charlie hesitated for a fraction of an instant. "Yes, sir."
Jed pounced. "What was that hesitation about?"
"Sir?"
"Don't 'sir' me, you hesitated. I heard you do it. Are you telling me you're not excited about spending the evening with my daughter?"
"No, sir. I mean... I am excited, sir, yes."
"Oh, so you're excited, are you? How excited?" he demanded suspiciously.
Charlie blinked. "Is there any safe way out of this conversation?"
"Not a chance, it's a one of the delightful side effects of dating one of my daughters." Jed wagged a finger at him. "I expect at least one of you to be within my line of sight at all times this evening," he ordered. "If both of you disappear for more than fifteen seconds, I'm sending the Secret Service."
He was joking. Mostly.
"I don't think Zoey would appreciate that very much, Mr. President."
No, probably not. Zoey might've always been a daddy's girl, but she'd also inherited her father's stubbornly independent streak. If she made her mind up to do something, then she was going ahead and doing it, to hell with the consequences.
He just had to make sure that getting her hands on Charlie wasn't one of those things. With Zoey away at college, they didn't get to see each other as much as they liked, and he had a niggling suspicion that if he turned his back for a few moments, they'd be all over each other.
Well, he'd soon put a stop to that. The most foolproof method would be to tail the young couple himself, but there was that minor little inconvenience of being the president to get in the way of that. Maybe if he enlisted Abbey...