Part 3 of 'Who's Fooling Whom?'

Disclaimers and notes in Part 1

*

Toby had lain awake all night, words whirling round his mind like a mantra; 'how could I have been so blind, how could I have been so blind. . .' Now, in his car on the way to collect CJ from her apartment, his befuddled brain struggled to make sense of the previous evening, and his battered heart leaked springs of sudden emotion. He was clueless about what to do next and he hated it.

"Morning," She was waiting for him on the steps, cell phone in hand. She looked shattered.

"Morning." 

"Wasn't sure if you would turn up. I was just about to call a cab." She shut the car door, fastened her belt and wedged her briefcase between her ankles. "Look, Toby . . ."

"No, CJ. You've said enough. I'm too tired to think." Toby pulled away from the curb and joined the heavy traffic. They traveled the rest of the way in silence.

The car parked, Toby let CJ walk in front of him through the lobby. Suddenly, she turned to face him.

"I think maybe I need to review my position here. Consider this a heads up."

Toby froze. He watched her pick up speed, brushing past Josh without a word of greeting.

"Hey, Toby . . . what was that about? CJ looks like her world's fallen apart . . ." Josh caught hold of Toby's arm.

"Maybe that's because she thinks it has." Toby noticed Josh staring at him. "I said she THINKS it has." And he pulled away, hurrying to his office.

*

Josh knocked on the door frame of Leo's office.

"You wanted to see me?"

Leo walked round his desk to talk to him. "Josh, the President has asked for the senior staff and assistants to gather in the residence this evening. I know when I suggested a poker game that CJ had a problem with tonight, but could you let everyone know that their attendance isn't optional."

"Leo – I 'm worried about CJ."

Leo looked hard at him and paused. "Toby's dealing with it."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Yes!" Leo sighed with increasing frustration.

"Then things don't look too good." Josh ran his hand through his hair and pondered filling Leo in on that morning's encounter.

"Toby will come through. Don't worry about it."  Leo walked back to his desk,

effectively dismissing the younger man.

Josh frowned, but decided to let the issue drop, at least for the moment. "Fine - I'll spread the word about the meeting."

*

"I know that I asked you all here tonight with very little notice, and I understand that some of you may have been inconvenienced as a result." Jed Bartlet paused and looked at the array of faces spread before him. He had resumed his office after a very harrowing few days. A few days where his sanity and his health had hung in the balance, and when the drama had drawn to its messy, but ultimately happy, close, he had been moved in a way he never had before by the loyalty and support shown by the people in front of him. "I wanted to thank you. Thank you all for the love you have shown Abbey and I.  Love has many different forms and I think I have been fortunate in my life to have known most of them." He noted the appreciative, embarrassed, emotional expressions as he scanned the room, but his eye was caught by two important members of his senior staff; one looking as though he had the weight of the world on his shoulders but with a focused and determined set to his jaw; the other leaning against the wall, the most loved and respected member of his team, despair and hopelessness etched large on her face and in the slump of her shoulders. He continued, "And to my mind, the most powerful love of all is the love that is expressed with true sincerity and passion, selflessly and purely. That is what you have shown me and my family. And that is what I offer humbly back to you."

Murmurs of appreciation and thanks filled the room. Leo watched his President with pride and then turned his head sharply as a voice cut through the hubbub.

"Mr. President, I would be grateful if you would allow me to say a few words." Toby stood tall amongst the crowd, his eyes straying to the unhappy woman in the corner of the room. He continued at the President's nod of consent.

"Two weeks ago, Sir, I stood in the Oval office and told you that the people in that room would rather die than let you down. I believed that to be true then, I believe it to be true now and I extend that thought to cover everyone standing in this room."

Toby turned slowly to encompass everyone in the intensity of his gaze, until his eyes fixed on CJ.

"But there is someone here who needs to hear something more. Someone who needs me to direct those words at them. They need to hear that I have been a fool to myself, that I have let them down in the past, but that I would rather die than let them down again. There is something I should have done fifteen years ago. Something that would have changed my life for the better and made me a better man, a happier man. But I'm going to do it now and I don't believe I could find a finer group of people to witness it."

Toby walked slowly over to CJ, took her head in his hands and pressed his lips to hers.

"Do you hear me now? Do you see me now? Do you believe me now?" He broke the kiss and breathed into her ear. "I love you too."

CJ's tear-filled eyes darted over towards the President and her voice cracked, "With your permission, Sir?"

"Yes, CJ. You and Toby are excused." The President's eyes twinkled with delight at

the unexpected turn of events.

The whole room watched them leave hand-in-hand.

Leo chuckled and turned to Josh, "Toby handled the problem.  I told you he would. It was guaranteed, a mortal lock.  Next time I tell you something, you should just trust

that I know best."

A grinning Josh started to argue, but was interrupted by the Commander-in-Chief.

"Right everybody," the President addressed his friends, "the champagne is open. I believe we have more than one reason to celebrate. Here's to love – in all its forms."

The End