"Donna Moss, the First Lady's Chief of Staff, calling for the Governor."
Donna said pacing the room. "I honestly don't give a damn." She snapped.
"You either let me talk to the Governor right now or you're going to be
bombarded by calls from the White House Press Secretary, both the White
House Communications Director and the Deputy Communications Director, the
White House Deputy Chief of Staff who is with me right now, the White House
Chief of Staff and since this involves Mrs Bartlett I'm sure the President
too. If you give me another five minutes I could get the heads of the CIA,
FBI, the National Security Advisor, Chairman Fitzwallace and few of the
other Joint Chiefs involved. Not to mention the Secret Service agents here
who definitely would like to speak to him." Donna said in one breath.
"Thank you." Donna waited to be put through. "Governor," She said
respectfully. "The quote that I was given is it accurate?" She waited.
"Governor I may have only had this job for a few hours, but don't you dare
think you can play political hardball with me. .. Yes I know no-one
elected the First Lady but she's here and there is not a damn thing you can
do about it. .. Excuse me Governor, I'm beginning to think the this is
going to have the makings of a Federal case. .. There are a couple of
Agents here with very high security clearance who listen in on all the
phone calls made and record them. So I don't give a damn if you think I'm
some jacked up secretary on a power trip." Donna lowered the phone at the
knock on the door and indicated for Josh to get it. "Governor, the First
Lady is going to deliver her speech and then she is leaving, I don't give a
damn about your need for photo opportunities.." Donna continued to rant.
"Yes." Josh asked the woman at the door.
"I'm sorry to interrupt but Mrs Bartlett is looking for Donna."
"Donna is busy at the moment. I'll come and talk to the First Lady." Josh said wanting to get out of there.
"Yes Mr Lyman."
~ ~ ~
Josh knocked then entered Abbey's room.
"Donna, we need to." She stopped when she saw Josh. "Sorry Josh I thought you were Donna."
"Donna's a bit tied up at the moment I thought I'd see if I could help."
"I just needed to go over some things for tonight with her."
"Tonight's still up in the air right now. Donna's working on the situation."
"What happened?" Abbey asked sitting down.
"One of the Governor's assistants called Donna to tell her about a comment the Governor was making about you. Donna got us on a conference call with Toby and CJ. You're just going to go in and make the speech and then leave no photo ops. Donna will issue a statement saying you aren't feeling well."
"What did he say?" Abbey asked.
"It doesn't matter. I'm sure he's say worse things right now and Donna, well I thought I was bad when it came to yelling at Senators and Congressmen. She practically threatened his assistant with the whole Federal government to talk to him. Do you really have your phone lines tapped by Secret Service Agents."
"They track everything that isn't a call to or from the White House. It was Donna's idea." Abbey acknowledged.
"She's a good choice for your Chief of Staff."
"I see she told you about that. I was going to talk to you about it."
"Don't worry about. You need a Chief of Staff and from what I've seen Donna's good at it. I'll just have to get used to it."
"Donna doesn't think you should work together anymore anyway. Besides this way there will be plenty of reasons for you two to have lunches alone to discuss initiatives. I take it you told her?"
"Yes ma'am but we didn't have much time to discuss it due to the situation with the Governor."
"I'm sorry Josh. Things keep on getting in the way lately. This is why you should have figured it out sooner and told her somewhere romantic like the Rose Garden."
"Yes ma'am." Josh agreed. "I'm used to having crisis's in the White House I guess I'll just have to get used to Donna having them too."
"You're a good man Joshua Lyman." Abbey said with a smile.
Donna knocked on the door and entered. "You wanted to see me ma'am?" She asked.
"Did you work things out with the Governor?" Abbey inquired.
"Let's just say I'm not on his Christmas card list." Donna stated.
"Do I need to send flowers?" Josh asked trying to lighten the mood.
"I'm sure the Treasury department will take care of that. Ron is sending someone to investigate the Governor covertly. Ma'am. I've talked to Agent Connors, he's happy to let you go tonight, but he wants to double the number of agents and he would request that you didn't stay any longer than necessary. As Josh probably mention I spoke with Toby and CJ, this speech tonight is important and we'd like you to give it but we'd rather you didn't stay for dinner."
"I can work with that. Is CJ ready to deal with the press fallout when Jed finds out?" Abbey asked.
"Mrs Bartlett, we're trying to fly this under the Presidents radar. Hopefully we can let the Secret Service deal with this, if it becomes anything bigger we'll fill the President in then, but for now we'd like to keep it discreet. Josh can you brief Leo, if it does become a thing we need him to keep the President from overreacting."
"I call him now. Can I use the phone in your room?" He asked.
"Dial 174 and tell the agent who answers that you're calling the White House so they don't need to listen in. Once you dial the number they'll stop recording."
"Thanks. I'll see you later Mrs Bartlett."
"Thank you Josh." Abbey called after him. "Donna." She said turning back to her new CoS. "I'm sorry everything between you and Josh got interrupted."
"Mrs Bartlett, everything in the White House gets interrupted you learn to live around it. Don't worry about Josh and I, we'll talk about everything at some point, right now I need to sort out the situation with the Governor. Here are the comments Sam wrote for the hospital dedication. Someone is having another of your outfits pressed as the outfit you were planning on wearing will clash with the flowers. I also need a medical term for why you won't be staying at the dinner."
"That I can help with. Are you sure you want to keep this off my husband's radar, he'll be pretty angry when he finds out."
"Ma'am, when the President finds out he'll make it a national issue, if we can deal with it quickly and without his interference we can probably keep it from the Press. If the Governor wants to make it a major issue Toby is working on a statement for the press and CJ will leak it to Danny."
"What did the Governor say exactly?"
"He made comments which the Secret Service deems a threat. That's all you need to know ma'am. We'll take care of it."
"Are you sure you're up to it, it is your first day?" Abbey pointed out.
"Ma'am, I worked for Josh for long enough to know how to defuse a situation with angry Senators and Congressmen. I can handle a Governor who sounds like he wants to make a big splash before he retires. Trust me threatening you is not going to his method of choice."
"Thank you Donna. You're a good girl."
"Yes ma'am. If you'll excuse me I need to get back to Agent Connors."
"Go, I'll figure out an excuse for tonight."
"Thank you ma'am." Donna said before walking out.
"Yes." Josh asked the woman at the door.
"I'm sorry to interrupt but Mrs Bartlett is looking for Donna."
"Donna is busy at the moment. I'll come and talk to the First Lady." Josh said wanting to get out of there.
"Yes Mr Lyman."
~ ~ ~
Josh knocked then entered Abbey's room.
"Donna, we need to." She stopped when she saw Josh. "Sorry Josh I thought you were Donna."
"Donna's a bit tied up at the moment I thought I'd see if I could help."
"I just needed to go over some things for tonight with her."
"Tonight's still up in the air right now. Donna's working on the situation."
"What happened?" Abbey asked sitting down.
"One of the Governor's assistants called Donna to tell her about a comment the Governor was making about you. Donna got us on a conference call with Toby and CJ. You're just going to go in and make the speech and then leave no photo ops. Donna will issue a statement saying you aren't feeling well."
"What did he say?" Abbey asked.
"It doesn't matter. I'm sure he's say worse things right now and Donna, well I thought I was bad when it came to yelling at Senators and Congressmen. She practically threatened his assistant with the whole Federal government to talk to him. Do you really have your phone lines tapped by Secret Service Agents."
"They track everything that isn't a call to or from the White House. It was Donna's idea." Abbey acknowledged.
"She's a good choice for your Chief of Staff."
"I see she told you about that. I was going to talk to you about it."
"Don't worry about. You need a Chief of Staff and from what I've seen Donna's good at it. I'll just have to get used to it."
"Donna doesn't think you should work together anymore anyway. Besides this way there will be plenty of reasons for you two to have lunches alone to discuss initiatives. I take it you told her?"
"Yes ma'am but we didn't have much time to discuss it due to the situation with the Governor."
"I'm sorry Josh. Things keep on getting in the way lately. This is why you should have figured it out sooner and told her somewhere romantic like the Rose Garden."
"Yes ma'am." Josh agreed. "I'm used to having crisis's in the White House I guess I'll just have to get used to Donna having them too."
"You're a good man Joshua Lyman." Abbey said with a smile.
Donna knocked on the door and entered. "You wanted to see me ma'am?" She asked.
"Did you work things out with the Governor?" Abbey inquired.
"Let's just say I'm not on his Christmas card list." Donna stated.
"Do I need to send flowers?" Josh asked trying to lighten the mood.
"I'm sure the Treasury department will take care of that. Ron is sending someone to investigate the Governor covertly. Ma'am. I've talked to Agent Connors, he's happy to let you go tonight, but he wants to double the number of agents and he would request that you didn't stay any longer than necessary. As Josh probably mention I spoke with Toby and CJ, this speech tonight is important and we'd like you to give it but we'd rather you didn't stay for dinner."
"I can work with that. Is CJ ready to deal with the press fallout when Jed finds out?" Abbey asked.
"Mrs Bartlett, we're trying to fly this under the Presidents radar. Hopefully we can let the Secret Service deal with this, if it becomes anything bigger we'll fill the President in then, but for now we'd like to keep it discreet. Josh can you brief Leo, if it does become a thing we need him to keep the President from overreacting."
"I call him now. Can I use the phone in your room?" He asked.
"Dial 174 and tell the agent who answers that you're calling the White House so they don't need to listen in. Once you dial the number they'll stop recording."
"Thanks. I'll see you later Mrs Bartlett."
"Thank you Josh." Abbey called after him. "Donna." She said turning back to her new CoS. "I'm sorry everything between you and Josh got interrupted."
"Mrs Bartlett, everything in the White House gets interrupted you learn to live around it. Don't worry about Josh and I, we'll talk about everything at some point, right now I need to sort out the situation with the Governor. Here are the comments Sam wrote for the hospital dedication. Someone is having another of your outfits pressed as the outfit you were planning on wearing will clash with the flowers. I also need a medical term for why you won't be staying at the dinner."
"That I can help with. Are you sure you want to keep this off my husband's radar, he'll be pretty angry when he finds out."
"Ma'am, when the President finds out he'll make it a national issue, if we can deal with it quickly and without his interference we can probably keep it from the Press. If the Governor wants to make it a major issue Toby is working on a statement for the press and CJ will leak it to Danny."
"What did the Governor say exactly?"
"He made comments which the Secret Service deems a threat. That's all you need to know ma'am. We'll take care of it."
"Are you sure you're up to it, it is your first day?" Abbey pointed out.
"Ma'am, I worked for Josh for long enough to know how to defuse a situation with angry Senators and Congressmen. I can handle a Governor who sounds like he wants to make a big splash before he retires. Trust me threatening you is not going to his method of choice."
"Thank you Donna. You're a good girl."
"Yes ma'am. If you'll excuse me I need to get back to Agent Connors."
"Go, I'll figure out an excuse for tonight."
"Thank you ma'am." Donna said before walking out.