"Leo says can you call him with an update as soon as we get back from the
dedication." Josh whispered to Donna when he finally managed to stand next
to her at the dedication while Abbey made her speech.
"Okay. What did he say about keeping it from the President?" She whispered back.
"'Did you ever try to stop the President from getting involved when his politics affected his family?' That's why he wants the updates. He'll tell the President if and when."
"If the President does find out tell him it was at my urging that it was kept from him. If he decides he doesn't want me as the First Lady's Chief of Staff any more I still have a job to go back to."
"You're good as CoS but if it does happen you can be my assistant until you find me a new one, I could do with a new Senior Advisor. Plus if you can yell at Governors you can yell at Congressmen and Senators."
"Congressmen and Senators are owed more respect than Governors. I would yell at them, I only yell at people who threaten my boss. But don't tell the President that, I know he was Governor of New Hampshire and he was good at it."
"I promise. Do you think we can have dinner when we get back to Washington?"
"I think I could find sometime in my schedule." She said trying to hide a smile. "And I still need to talk you about the First Lady's proposal. I have people working on a memo for you. But I'd like to speak to you in person about it."
"Call my Mom I'm sure she can schedule something."
"By the way any ideas what being CoS pays?"
"Not as much as the President's DCoS." He whispered back.
"Okay, but I get a pay rise right?" She asked.
"I'd think so."
"Good. I'll be back in a minute." Donna walked across the group and whispered to one of the staffers who then disappeared off. Then Donna found Tracey and whispered something to her which had her nodding. Donna handed Tracey her cell phone and took a sheet of paper from her. As Donna was making her way back to Josh one of the agents stopped her.
Donna finally reached him again when Abbey was shaking hands with people after cutting the ribbon opening the new paediatric burns unit.
"We're going back to the hotel now." Donna told him.
"What did the agent want?"
"Agent Connors?" Donna questioned, Josh nodded. "He's head of Mrs Bartlett's Secret Service team. It's probably best not to talk about this here. Ride back with Mrs Bartlett and I in the car." Josh nodded as they made their way to the waiting car.
"Donna." Tracey said stopping her before they got into the car, she handed Donna back her cell phone. "Margaret is setting up the call for an hour."
"Thank you. Tell Jake to find out the score and let me know when we get back."
"Of course. Tell Mrs Bartlett well done for me." Donna nodded then both she and Josh got into the car.
"You did very well Mrs Bartlett." Josh said as the car started.
"We were all impressed." Donna added.
"Well Sam is a very good writer remind me to thank him when we get back. So what were you speaking to Connors about?"
"I'm having a conference call with Leo and Ron when we get back to the hotel after a quick briefing with the Agents. Josh is going to stay with you and go over your speech for tonight. I'll brief the rest of the staff on what's happening tonight when I get off the phone. Dinner is being arranged for when we get back to the hotel tonight, I had James fax CJ the statement for why you're leaving the dinner early. Mark has the statement to give to the press here."
"Donna, don't go and offend all the south Jed is going to need them for re- election."
"Mrs Bartlett, we were never going to win Louisiana and from what I've heard it's only the Governor who is having problems, the rest of the state seems to be happy you're here." Josh reassured her. "He just wants to make a splash."
~ ~ ~
"Don't worry your never going to be able to spin this none of us would." Josh said as they made their way back to the hotel room after Mrs Bartlett's speech at the DNC dinner.
"Spin." Donna mumbled, her eyes lit up. "You're a genius." She pulled his tie and crushed her lips to his.
"What did I do to deserve that?" He asked as she broke the kiss. "Not that I mind."
"You're a genius Josh."
"Is this like the whole antiquated thing?" He asked.
"Sort of." She pulled out her phone and dialled a number. "Kim, it's Donna. I need you to research the Governor's political agenda and find anything that even remotely links to Mrs Bartlett's. ... Fine I'll get some one at the White House to do it." She hung up. "These people are useless. Can I send them on a job swap when we get back so they can learn what they're supposed to do?" Donna asked.
"Sure. Why do you want the Governor's political agenda researched?" He asked.
"Spin. I need to call some." She thought for a second before dialling.
"Josh Lyman's office." Hannah answered.
"Hey Hannah. It's Donna. How's everything going there?" She asked as she opened the door to her room.
"It's going great actually. I've had Carol and CJ help me staff out anything that can't wait and I've set up all the appointments for when Josh gets back."
"That's great." She turned to look at Josh who was stood outside the door. She grabbed his hand and pulled him in.
"How's Josh? Have you had a chance to talk about everything yet?"
"Not yet, something came up here that I need to fix first. That's why I called, I was wondering if you could do a bit of research for me. I know it's late there and you should have really gone home a couple of hours ago, so I suppose it can wait until morning."
"What do you need?" Hannah asked.
"I need you to research the political agenda of the Governor of Louisiana. Any policy or state principals that he's put forward or mentioned that even remotely relate to something on Mrs Bartlett's agenda. You should be able to get that from a woman called Katie Harnold who works in Mrs Bartlett's office."
"Right I've got that written down. I'll do it first thing in the morning."
"Thanks Hannah. This has to stay away from the Oval Office, it's nothing the President needs to be concerned with. When you have the information can you e-mail it to me?"
"Of course. I'll talk to you again soon Donna and tell my son I love him and to behave himself."
"I will. Thanks Hannah have a nice evening." Donna hung up. "Your Mom said to tell you she loves you and to behave yourself."
"So what are you going to spin and how?" Josh asked.
"That would be why we need an early morning conference call to CJ and Toby. Besides I might be able to save CJ from Danny for a few days."
"How?" He asked wondering what Danny had to do with this.
"You'll just have to wait until morning to find out. Either way it's going to look good for Mrs Bartlett. It's been a long day and I'm going to go to bed now."
"Okay. I'd better go." He said backing away. "I'll see you in the morning."
"Joshua Lyman hold it right there." She stated. "Where do you think you're going?"
"To my room?" He offered.
"You could stay you know." Donna said sitting on the bed and kicking her shoes off.
"Donna, I think we should have a long talk about where we stand before anything happens." Josh said chivalrously.
"I didn't mean anything had to happen I just meant it would be nice to be held all night. But if you feel uncomfortable, you don't have to stay."
"Are you sure this is what you want?" He asked.
"Josh, I wouldn't have asked you to stay unless I wanted you to. I'm going to take a shower and I'll leave the decision up to you. And if my phone rings and you've decided to stay get it would you." She kissed his cheek and headed for the bathroom.
"Okay. What did he say about keeping it from the President?" She whispered back.
"'Did you ever try to stop the President from getting involved when his politics affected his family?' That's why he wants the updates. He'll tell the President if and when."
"If the President does find out tell him it was at my urging that it was kept from him. If he decides he doesn't want me as the First Lady's Chief of Staff any more I still have a job to go back to."
"You're good as CoS but if it does happen you can be my assistant until you find me a new one, I could do with a new Senior Advisor. Plus if you can yell at Governors you can yell at Congressmen and Senators."
"Congressmen and Senators are owed more respect than Governors. I would yell at them, I only yell at people who threaten my boss. But don't tell the President that, I know he was Governor of New Hampshire and he was good at it."
"I promise. Do you think we can have dinner when we get back to Washington?"
"I think I could find sometime in my schedule." She said trying to hide a smile. "And I still need to talk you about the First Lady's proposal. I have people working on a memo for you. But I'd like to speak to you in person about it."
"Call my Mom I'm sure she can schedule something."
"By the way any ideas what being CoS pays?"
"Not as much as the President's DCoS." He whispered back.
"Okay, but I get a pay rise right?" She asked.
"I'd think so."
"Good. I'll be back in a minute." Donna walked across the group and whispered to one of the staffers who then disappeared off. Then Donna found Tracey and whispered something to her which had her nodding. Donna handed Tracey her cell phone and took a sheet of paper from her. As Donna was making her way back to Josh one of the agents stopped her.
Donna finally reached him again when Abbey was shaking hands with people after cutting the ribbon opening the new paediatric burns unit.
"We're going back to the hotel now." Donna told him.
"What did the agent want?"
"Agent Connors?" Donna questioned, Josh nodded. "He's head of Mrs Bartlett's Secret Service team. It's probably best not to talk about this here. Ride back with Mrs Bartlett and I in the car." Josh nodded as they made their way to the waiting car.
"Donna." Tracey said stopping her before they got into the car, she handed Donna back her cell phone. "Margaret is setting up the call for an hour."
"Thank you. Tell Jake to find out the score and let me know when we get back."
"Of course. Tell Mrs Bartlett well done for me." Donna nodded then both she and Josh got into the car.
"You did very well Mrs Bartlett." Josh said as the car started.
"We were all impressed." Donna added.
"Well Sam is a very good writer remind me to thank him when we get back. So what were you speaking to Connors about?"
"I'm having a conference call with Leo and Ron when we get back to the hotel after a quick briefing with the Agents. Josh is going to stay with you and go over your speech for tonight. I'll brief the rest of the staff on what's happening tonight when I get off the phone. Dinner is being arranged for when we get back to the hotel tonight, I had James fax CJ the statement for why you're leaving the dinner early. Mark has the statement to give to the press here."
"Donna, don't go and offend all the south Jed is going to need them for re- election."
"Mrs Bartlett, we were never going to win Louisiana and from what I've heard it's only the Governor who is having problems, the rest of the state seems to be happy you're here." Josh reassured her. "He just wants to make a splash."
~ ~ ~
"Don't worry your never going to be able to spin this none of us would." Josh said as they made their way back to the hotel room after Mrs Bartlett's speech at the DNC dinner.
"Spin." Donna mumbled, her eyes lit up. "You're a genius." She pulled his tie and crushed her lips to his.
"What did I do to deserve that?" He asked as she broke the kiss. "Not that I mind."
"You're a genius Josh."
"Is this like the whole antiquated thing?" He asked.
"Sort of." She pulled out her phone and dialled a number. "Kim, it's Donna. I need you to research the Governor's political agenda and find anything that even remotely links to Mrs Bartlett's. ... Fine I'll get some one at the White House to do it." She hung up. "These people are useless. Can I send them on a job swap when we get back so they can learn what they're supposed to do?" Donna asked.
"Sure. Why do you want the Governor's political agenda researched?" He asked.
"Spin. I need to call some." She thought for a second before dialling.
"Josh Lyman's office." Hannah answered.
"Hey Hannah. It's Donna. How's everything going there?" She asked as she opened the door to her room.
"It's going great actually. I've had Carol and CJ help me staff out anything that can't wait and I've set up all the appointments for when Josh gets back."
"That's great." She turned to look at Josh who was stood outside the door. She grabbed his hand and pulled him in.
"How's Josh? Have you had a chance to talk about everything yet?"
"Not yet, something came up here that I need to fix first. That's why I called, I was wondering if you could do a bit of research for me. I know it's late there and you should have really gone home a couple of hours ago, so I suppose it can wait until morning."
"What do you need?" Hannah asked.
"I need you to research the political agenda of the Governor of Louisiana. Any policy or state principals that he's put forward or mentioned that even remotely relate to something on Mrs Bartlett's agenda. You should be able to get that from a woman called Katie Harnold who works in Mrs Bartlett's office."
"Right I've got that written down. I'll do it first thing in the morning."
"Thanks Hannah. This has to stay away from the Oval Office, it's nothing the President needs to be concerned with. When you have the information can you e-mail it to me?"
"Of course. I'll talk to you again soon Donna and tell my son I love him and to behave himself."
"I will. Thanks Hannah have a nice evening." Donna hung up. "Your Mom said to tell you she loves you and to behave yourself."
"So what are you going to spin and how?" Josh asked.
"That would be why we need an early morning conference call to CJ and Toby. Besides I might be able to save CJ from Danny for a few days."
"How?" He asked wondering what Danny had to do with this.
"You'll just have to wait until morning to find out. Either way it's going to look good for Mrs Bartlett. It's been a long day and I'm going to go to bed now."
"Okay. I'd better go." He said backing away. "I'll see you in the morning."
"Joshua Lyman hold it right there." She stated. "Where do you think you're going?"
"To my room?" He offered.
"You could stay you know." Donna said sitting on the bed and kicking her shoes off.
"Donna, I think we should have a long talk about where we stand before anything happens." Josh said chivalrously.
"I didn't mean anything had to happen I just meant it would be nice to be held all night. But if you feel uncomfortable, you don't have to stay."
"Are you sure this is what you want?" He asked.
"Josh, I wouldn't have asked you to stay unless I wanted you to. I'm going to take a shower and I'll leave the decision up to you. And if my phone rings and you've decided to stay get it would you." She kissed his cheek and headed for the bathroom.