CHAPTER VI
Annie almost shook with anxiety waiting for her grandmother to come into the main room where she and her grandfather sat. She wished that her time here could have been a little bit longer, but frankly she was surprised she wasn't sitting in this chair hours ago. It was during this thought that the First Lady entered and sat silently next to her granddaughter on the sofa.
"Annie, Eli...your mother called a few minutes ago looking for you. She's on her way right now to pick you up."
Jed Bartlet was more direct. "Annie, sweetheart, why did you run away from home?"
Annie had been thinking of several lies to answer this question for a long time. She thought she might say that her brother's lack of personality was about to bore her to death, but after a few thoughtful seconds decided to tell the truth. "I couldn't stand the fighting anymore."
The president gazed at his granddaughter with utmost concern and sympathy. This was news to him, but he hid his shock well. His surprise and stress wouldn't show until later, when a few more crevices would be added to the already busy map that was his face. "Annie, I'm so sorry. But to leave home?"
"I couldn't concentrate. I couldn't sleep. I'm still worried about mom and Gus, but I needed, I needed..."
"You needed help, and so you came to us. That's fine Annie, but don't run away from home." Jed's eyes wavered slightly. He hadn't said what was really on his mind, but his wife took care of that for him.
"Damn you Doug, God damn you." Abby had the anger of a hungry tiger in her eyes. "Annie, did he hurt you...did he hurt..."
"No, grandma, but I was scared he would. Sometimes, he would get angry, so angry, I would take Gus upstairs to play games, but we could still hear them shouting, could hear dad swearing..." Annie trailed off into muffled mumbles. She hadn't expected to get so emotional, but her fear was truly returning as she gave them her account. What would he do when she got home?
Everyone sat in silence for a few moments. The president was tired and confused. Doug always seemed so happy, so positive. He couldn't see him having anger problems, but he didn't doubt one iota of his granddaughter's testimony. Testimony. Jed hoped to God it would never come to that.
Unexpectedly Charlie entered the room. "Mr. President, in a few minutes everyone will be gathering just outside the briefing room, so if there was anything you needed to do to get ready..."
"Thank you Charlie." Abby watched as her husband's assistant exited the room and noiselessly shut the door behind him. Then she turned back to Annie. "Don't worry, honey. We'll talk this all out when your mother gets here, and it will all turn out all right. Come into the kitchen with me, you can help me wrap CJ's present." Abby let Annie enter the kitchen before her. Before joining her granddaughter in the next room, she glanced back at her husband who sat seriously in his chair, deep in thought and lost in his own mind. She had to keep him relaxed, she thought, or it could bring on another attack. With those worries around her neck, Abby stepped into the kitchen. She had to try to manage a good mood for CJ.
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Toby rushed through security as fast as possible and ran over to his office. He had to have all these balloons blown up in less than fifteen minutes. Thinking quickly, he walked out into the busy hallway.
"Bonnie! Donna! Ginger! Everyone and anyone who's not doing anything but running around and looking busy come into my office. We need to blow up some bras...balloons...I meant balloons." That damn dirty-minded lady, Toby thought, she had him thinking in all the wrong ways.
Within seconds a few certain brunettes, blonds, and redheads were all gathered inside Toby's diminutive office. "Okay everyone, here's the deal. We have to blow up as many of these balloons as possible in under ten minutes. Lets get started." As Toby began to close the blinds and the assistants remaining outside looked on in unhealthy suspicion, Bonnie piped up with the inevitable question.
"Why are they black?"
"We're celebrating happy times Bonnie, only black would do."
As Donna ripped open a package of the balloons, she had a thought. "I could bring some over to Margaret to help with, she's got great lungs."
As all the assistants nodded in agreement, Toby decided he didn't want to know how they all knew this fact. "Okay, Donna, take some up...But be sure to avoid CJ."
In a flash Donna was out the door and the happy few who remained began huffing and puffing their way through dozens of party balloons.
Toby undid the ribbon from its plastic wrapping. "Once you've blown up a balloon, tie a string on the end. Don't make them too long, though, or else the secret service will have a bird if they block the view of the security cameras."
Ginger paused to comment. "Are balloons even allowed in the west wing?"
Toby conceded. "Probably not, good point Ginger. When you guys leave to take your spots outside the briefing room, hide the balloons under your shirts. You'll look funny, but I don't really care about that."
A few minutes later the assistants who remained outside were greeted with the sight of an exhausted looking Toby finally opening his blinds as a stream of pregnant-looking interns exited his office.
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Donna walked in with a half blown-up balloon in her mouth. With various inflective mumbles she presented Josh with Gail Jr., the one they had picked out at the pet store a few days earlier to replace the deceased senior version. As she set the bowl down on Josh's cluttered desk, Josh stepped forward to peer into the glass.
"Wow, that's amazing Donna, she'll love it. Where did you find it?" Josh was staring at the ornate miniature podium Donna had placed as a decoration. Gail Jr. swam swiftly around it, as if he was playing as both CJ and the press and having a ball. Josh gazed at the details on the ornamental podium as Donna blew up her balloon, when suddenly...
POP!
"Oh, God, I'm so sorry Josh..." Shards of black balloon plastic littered the fish bowl. Both boss and assistant worked feverishly to fish it all out before the actual fish was harmed. Eventually, all was clear, and Gail Jr. continued to swim around and around the podium.
Donna checked her watch. "We should probably head down there. It's getting close."
"Yeah, no kidding. Hurry up, I don't want to miss it."
Donna picked up the fish bowl and followed Josh down the hallways to the briefing room. Gail Jr. continued to swim around and around the pocket- sized podium, around and
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around the cobbler's bench the monkey chased the weasel, that's the way the money goes...POP goes the weasel.
As Carol waited for the weasel...for CJ...she couldn't get one of the verses of the popular nursery rhyme song out of her head. That's the way the money goes...POP goes the weasel. That's the way the money better go, Carol thought, that's where it better...
"Carol!" CJ streamed down the hallway, upset that she was late for the briefing. "Carol, is there anything last minute?"
"Nope, nothing you need to worry about. Go get 'em CJ." CJ smiled at her aide and headed toward the briefing room, she was about to walk in when Annie approached her. The two struck up what must have been a depressing conversation as Carol looked on in apprehension.
Carol spoke to herself in mumbled whispers as she cradled the remote that housed the button she would soon need to press. "Come on, come on, come on..."
"Carol, Carol do you have it?" Josh appeared anxious as he interrogated the assistant to the press secretary.
"Have what?"
Josh looked back at CJ, who was still intently focused on Annie. He turned back and spoke in a hard whisper. "The cake, you were supposed to pick it up, do you have it?"
Carol jumped for joy in her heart. This was the perfect opportunity. She feigned surprise as she replied, "Oh, no...I left in my car. Here hold this, I should be back in time, but if I'm not, you need to do this..." Carol handed Josh the remote.
"What's this?"
"It's the remote control to the radio that's hidden in CJ's podium, when she just about gets to it, press the yellow button. The radio should start playing happy birthday, which is the cue for the press to start singing and for the rest of us to come out of hiding." Carol watched as Josh slowly but surely accepted her explanation.
"Okay. You go on and get that cake. I'll take care of this."
Carol paced briskly out of the west wing. Finally, she thought, the American media would get what they deserve.
The deputy chief of staff watched with excitement as CJ gave a hug to Annie and then turned to walk up to the podium. He watched her saunter through the doors of the pressroom and agreed with his earlier assessment that CJ had a sexy behind. He took a quick glance in both directions to make sure everyone was set, and sure enough he could see practically the entire staff of the west wing hiding in the nooks and crannies of the surrounding offices with black balloons either above their heads or beneath their shirts. Josh looked through the doors again. CJ had just reached her podium. Here it goes, he thought, and then Josh pushed the yellow button.
The pressroom erupted in a flash of light.
POP goes the weasel