Chapter Twenty-six
"Laurie and Sam, sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i- Ow! What did you do that for?" Josh said as he rubbed his head.
"My therapist said I shouldn't hold my feelings in and that if I'm finding a situation difficult I should let those around me know." Sam sifted through the pile of mail that was on his desk. After his talk with the President he had gone away to Boston and today was his first day back. "I was finding your juvenile response to the news that I have been staying with Laurie difficult to deal with so I let my feelings known."
Josh sat down in the visitor chair. "Well I don't think your therapist's advice was to hit me."
Sam glanced up from a letter. "Josh, everyone's advice is that I should hit you."
Josh turned serious and rested his arms on the desk. "Can you at least tell me if you slept together?"
"Josh!"
"What? I'm concerned about your welfare! You have this thing with women and their big stiletto heals and I'm just looking out for you."
Sam smiled and shook his head as he sat down. Finished with his mail, he opened his laptop.
Josh leant back and studied his friend for a while. "So, Toby tells me you're doing Capital Beat on Thursday."
"Yeah, it's the Clean Rivers thing."
"You up to that?"
"Yeah, it's time I got back to…you know…it's time."
Josh nodded and made his way to the door. He was about to go when Sam called out to him.
"Black stripes."
"What?" Josh walked back into the room.
"Capital Beat, Thursday, black stripes," Sam said as he stared at his laptop.
"I don't- oh, your tie!" Josh whispered.
Sam smiled, shrugged and carried on typing. His smile widened as he watched a grinning Josh head off to find Ginger, no doubt to place the first bet in the latest Capital Beat neck-tie book.
Ginger was reluctant to open her book again on Sam's choice of tie for his appearance on Thursday and Josh had to work hard to convince her that Sam didn't mind. He also had to do it without letting her realise he knew Sam didn't mind because Sam had tipped him off about which tie to bet on.
"I think I'll go for the beat-tie, no wait, plain blue actually, make it…yeah, I'll go for black stripes."
Ginger wrote Josh's bet down, took his money and the book was open again.
Sam knew Toby was watching him. He had been aware of it for the past hour. Every so often, Toby would appear at the adjoining window and stare at him. The next time Toby stood and walked over to the window Sam wasn't in his office. He stood and stared in anyway, taking in the sights of Sam's occupation. The glasses left on the pad, the half-finished bagel and coffee and the collection of scrunched up paper littering the bin. These unremarkable items brought a comfort to Toby that he would never admit to. Sam was with them again.
"I escaped," Sam said, suddenly appearing behind Toby and making him jump. He had meant he'd escaped from his office but Toby's face showed no amusement at the remark. "Toby?"
"Sorry, I was miles away," he said returning to stare through the window.
Sam stood beside him. "You know, I pictured this a lot when I was away." Toby had started to use the term 'away' when referring to Sam's abduction and now everyone else had adopted it as well. "I used to close my eyes and try to picture my office, all the things on my desk, in my drawers. When I had done that and opened my eyes and realised I was still in hell, then I would picture yours and Josh's. Sometimes I'd try to picture the walk from the front desk to the West Wing. It just, I don't know, it just made me feel better I suppose to try to go to a place where I felt safe."
"Do you feel safe now?" Toby asked. He had never been able to forget Sam's confession that everything scared him when Toby had woken him from a nightmare.
"I do. I never thought I would again, but I do." Toby reached up and squeezed Sam's shoulder. They stayed like that until Ginger tapped on the door.
"Toby, I just wanted to see if-" she looked up from her piece of paper and saw Sam. "Oh, Sam, you're here. It doesn't matter I'll come back."
"No, no, Ginger, you go ahead," Sam said. He had a feeling he knew exactly what Ginger wanted to ask and was pretty sure it had something to do with ties.
"Okay, well, Toby, I was just wondering if you'd decided yet about the thing?"
"The thing?" Toby asked.
"The thing on Thursday," Ginger expanded. Sam busied himself pretending to look at something on Toby's desk and hoped they couldn't see his smile while Ginger pointed surreptitiously at her throat.
"Oh the thing! Yeah, here," Toby grabbed a slip of paper and quickly scribbled on it and handed it to her. Ginger left quickly.
"I better get back to it. Do you want to look at what I've done so far?" Sam asked as he moved towards the door.
"No, you carry on, get it done."
"Okay, oh and Toby…" Toby looked up to see Sam pointing to his tie and mouthing the word 'red'. Sam returned to his office and couldn't resist a quiet chuckle as he heard Toby yell Ginger's name.
Sam stood and looked at himself in the mirror. No physical signs remained of his ordeal. Only someone who knew what had happened and made a point of noticing would see the difference in Sam's hand or the way it still sometimes let him down in dexterity or strength. Only someone who had known Sam before would notice the quiet spells he sometimes drifted into or the occasional need to leave a room suddenly. When it happened no one went after him and no one commented on it. Sam always came back and the episodes were happening less often.
Sam took a deep breath and studied his reflection more critically. He needed a haircut, he decided, but it was too late now, he was due at the Capital Beat studio in an hour. He turned to his bed and looked at the assortment of ties laid out. He had managed to tip-off everyone he could think of. Donna had been easy he had simply asked her if she liked his tie and winked. CJ had been harder, as Sam thought that if anyone would guess what he was up to it would be her. He had gone to her office, commented on a news story about Princeton and asked if she knew what Princeton's tie looked like. She didn't and so Sam had gone on to describe it in great detail adding that it was a tie worthy of being on television, filmed for posterity. He had seen her hurrying after Ginger not long after.
He had repeated his ruse so many times that he had forgotten to decide which tie he was actually going to wear and so found himself looking at his collection desperately trying to work out what he had said to whom. The phone ringing ended his deliberations.
"What am I betting on?"
"Okay, well, you see I'm having a problem with that," Sam explained.
"Sam! You're due on air in an hour! I'm meant to go to Ginger and casually place a last minute bet. If I don't do it soon she's going to close the book."
"Okay, okay, just give me a minute. Okay here we go, I'm looking now, everything's under control." Sam rummaged through the ties. "Do you think a tie with yellow fish on it would look bad on television?"
"Sam!"
"Okay, wow, remind me not to do a scam with you again. You have to keep cool you know, the whole point of scamming is to make the-"
"Sam, I'm due at a briefing in fifteen minutes if you don't hurry up and tell me what tie you're going to be wearing there's not going to be a scam just a big pot for next time."
"Got it!" Sam said in reply. "You said there was a bet for a pink patterned that no one had taken, right?"
"Yep, not pink striped that's gone."
"I know. That was Leo, man that was hard work."
"So, pink patterned, you're sure?"
"Yes, although I think I should point out it's a man's pink not a girl's pink, you know, not a pink like a girl would wear if girls wore-"
"Okay $40 on pink patterned at 5-1, great, I'm on way."
Sam thanked his partner in crime, put his tie on and hurried down to his car.
A small crowd had gathered in the Communications Bullpen. Josh rushed in to join them just as the opening credits to Capital Beat began. The faces turned towards the TV set were all trying hard to hide smug smiles as they thought of the tip that Sam had given them. The opening titles disappeared and Mark Godfrey's face filled the screen introducing his guests and the topics they would discuss.
"Come on, come on," Charlie whispered. He had placed a large sum on a black polka dot.
The screen cut to Sam on an agonizing close-up that still didn't reveal his tie. Sam smiled at the host and started to answer his question as the camera slowly zoomed out.
"Yes!" Josh shouted in triumph at the first sight of the tie. "Wait a minute, what the..."
Josh's words of bewilderment were drowned out by the similar sentiments of his bemused fellow viewers. One sound drowned them all out: Toby's laughter.
Josh turned and glared at him. "Sam made it very clear to me exactly which tie he would be wearing and from the looks of it he did the same thing to everyone in this room!"
"I know for a fact that you bet on red so I don't know why you're finding this so funny?" Josh fumed.
The crowd had begun to disperse, many of them shaking their heads and smiling as they swapped notes on how Sam had played them. They stopped when a call came across the Bullpen. "Ginger, am I okay to collect my winnings now?"
Ginger nodded and the man walked towards her. "Forty dollars on pink patterned at 5-1," she confirmed. She started to count the money out and then, sighing a huge sigh, she handed all of the money over.
The man took it and smiled. He nodded at Josh as he passed.
"Hi, Ron," Josh said despondently.
Toby shook his head and tried his best to stop grinning, aware of how unsettling it appeared to be for Josh. "Sam has spent the last few days ingeniously managing to hint at his choice of neckwear in such a way that had everyone running around after Ginger." He walked into his office and Josh followed. "Think back though, did Sam actually tell you what tie he was going to wear?"
Josh slumped on the sofa and thought about his conversation with Sam. "Well no, not in so many words but he hinted and a hint is as good as a nod."
"It's wink: a wink is as good as a nod to a blind man!" Toby perched on his desk and finally his expression returned to its more serious countenance. "I don't care that I've lost thirty dollars and I don't care that Sam has managed to turn Ginger's lucrative book into liquidation and the reason I don't care is that every minute Sam spent plotting and carrying out his plan was a minute that he wasn't dwelling on what happened to him or watching the walls close in on him or questioning his place in this White House."
"And this must have taken some planning," Josh said in admiration.
"Yep and when was the last time you looked at Sam and feared what was going through his head?" Toby asked.
"So what you're saying is that you don't think we need to do that anymore. You think we can go back to just being really worried about what might be going through his head?" Josh asked with a smile.
"Yeah," Toby replied. "Just like old times."
By the time Sam returned from the Capital Beat studio there were a few emails and notes waiting for him. Toby peered into his office and watched him read them. "You may want to think about not staying in your office," Toby advised.
"No kidding," Sam said as he read another email from one of his victims. "You know, I don't think people have taken my actions in the spirit in which they were intended."
"And what spirit was that?" Toby asked following Sam to the coffee machine.
"I was merely, as an upstanding member of the senior staff, attempting to show my colleagues the dangers that lie in the path of those who choose to gamble. Lady Luck is a fickle companion, Toby, and the responsibility rests with the likes of me to take every step necessary to help those infatuated with her." Sam took a sip of his coffee and walked over to Ginger. "Take Ginger for example, one minute she's running an innocent little book on my choice of tie and before you know it she's doing the Dance of the Seven Veils at the Palomino Club."
Ginger rolled her eyes. "Thank you, Sam, for saving me from my evil syndicate."
"You're very welcome, Ginger," Sam replied and then, spotting Josh, he called out across the Bullpen. "Hey, Josh! Wanna come and help me work out what to spend my winnings on?"
Josh glared at Sam and walked over to Toby. "Tell Sam I would rather tie myself naked to the White House fence and sing folk songs."
"Josh says he would rather tie himself…" Toby trailed off. "Hang on, your winnings? I thought Ron placed the bet."
"He did, but for me," Sam replied.
"What!" Josh cried, forgetting that he wasn't talking to Sam. "You can't place a bet on which tie you're going to wear! You know which tie you're going to wear!"
"Josh, Josh, Josh," Sam shook his head. "I did it for you. Toby, tell him about Lady Luck and the Palomini Club," Sam said as he returned to his office.
Bartlet was lying on the sofa in the Oval Office a book held above his head. He shifted slightly and swapped hands so that he could hold the book more comfortably. Leo entered from his office and walked over to the other door and waited for Bartlet."
"Leo, did you know that Coolidge refused to use the telephone when he was in office?"
"No, Sir."
"How do you think it would go down if I took the same stance?"
"Not too well," Leo answered as he put his hand on the door handle. "Come and look at this, will ya."
Bartlet peered at him over his book then placed it down and followed Leo out of the room.
They walked in silence, two agents following at a discreet distance. They walked into the Communications' Bullpen which was in darkness. Leo put his fingers to his lips and nodded towards Toby office. Bartlet stepped up beside him and looked into the room. He could see CJ's head just above the sofa and next to it, lower down, was Sam's. Toby was at his desk his feet on its edge and Josh was sitting on the other side in a similar position. Bartlet could hear their voices clearly.
"Got one!" Josh cried and turned his laptop screen towards Toby. "The Turn 2 Foundation founded by Derek Jeter to promote healthy lifestyles."
Toby snorted into his whiskey before taking a long sip. "We don't want to fund health-freaks!"
CJ had come into Toby's office earlier to find Josh bemoaning the fact that Sam was going to give his winnings to charity. Sam had soon joined them and as it was getting late, Chinese food had been ordered in. A little while later, Toby had opened a bottle that he kept in his filing cabinet and now they were still in his office trying to find the perfect charity.
Sam and CJ sat and listened to the suggested charities. CJ's feet were resting on the coffee table and Sam was resting against her. Her arm was loosely wrapped around him and his right hand was held by her. Occasionally she stroked her thumb across it, only too aware of the significance of Sam letting his hand been seen, let alone held.
"Truth in Labelling Campaign," Toby said as he read from his laptop.
"Are there untruths in food labelling?" Sam asked in mock despair.
Toby chuckled, a sure sign that the whiskey was going down well. "Actually, don't give to them; consumers need to be kept on their toes."
Sam shuffled down and out of view of Leo and The President but they could see Toby stand up and refill Sam's glass before returning to his laptop. "Here's one-
Philadelphia Young Playwrights." Most of Toby's suggestions had been sensible ones.
"No, I couldn't do it," Sam replied. "I'd feel like I'd neglected the Philadelphia old playwrights."
"The Brevard Rare Fruit Council," CJ said. Sam could feel the vibrations from her chest as she spoke and closed his eyes.
"Where did that come from?" Josh asked.
"I had to contact them for some information once and their name just came to me. Brevard Rare Fruit Council," she repeated, caught Toby's eye and smiled.
Toby raised his glass to her and returned the smile before looking at his deputy. "You alright there, Sam?"
Leo and Bartlet watched as Josh turned his attention from the laptop and towards Sam only looking back down again when Sam answered that he was fine.
"Okay," Josh removed his feet from the desk and sat up. "Oh man, I've got a great one here- , protecting employees from bad bosses." He looked up at Sam and returned the grin that greeted him.
"Sam, if you give your ill-gotten gains to that charity you'll really find out more than you ever wanted to know about badbossology," Toby warned.
Sam snuggled even more against CJ and smiled. "Okay, well find me a deserving cause then."
Bartlet put his hands in his pockets and sighed. He leant towards Leo and whispered, "If you'd told me a few months ago that I'd be standing here watching Toby, Josh, CJ and Sam behaving like, well, Toby, Josh, CJ and Sam, I wouldn't have believed you." Bartlet glanced at his friend and shook his head. "We nearly lost them all, Leo. If we'd have lost Sam we'd have lost them all."
Leo nodded and quietly the two men took one last look at the small group inside Toby's office and walked out of the Bullpen.
"Send a Cow!" Josh cried as he carefully wiped the drips from his glass, the drink having slurped over the edge as he had sat up abruptly. "Send a Cow, Sam. The title alone is worthy of a donation."
"Send a Cow," Sam repeated, his words slightly slurred.
"It's all about sending cows to Ugandan smallholders and farmers to help boost milk production," Josh explained.
Sam pushed himself into a sitting position but didn't remove his hand from CJ's. He looked at Toby, then Josh, before nodding. "Send a Cow, it is."
"Thank God for that," Toby sighed. The room became silent. Toby switched his laptop off and leant back in his chair. He watched Josh staring at Sam a small smile playing on his lips. Toby wondered if Josh was now able to look at Sam with an appreciation of what was rather than lingering fears of what might have been. He had only been able to do that himself recently. CJ pulled Sam's hand up to her mouth and kissed it.
Sam laughed sleepily. "What was that for?" When CJ didn't answer he hoisted himself up and turned to face her. She smiled at him but her eyes were red.
"It's alright."
CJ nodded, "I know, just, sometimes…"
Sam smiled and lifting CJ's hand repeated her gesture. Being here with his friends, feeling safe and feeling like he belonged, conjured up emotions in Sam that he feared he would never feel again. It had taken time, but he had found his way back. "A toast!" he said reaching for his glass. He tried to think of the words to express his gratitude to his friends and to tell them what it meant to be here with them.
Josh could see Sam faltering and stood and raised his glass. "Send a cow!" he toasted. Sam laughed as he repeated the toast, CJ and Toby joining in, their glasses chinking amidst the quiet chuckles as the four reached out to each other.