She had been accepted to college. Again. 80 hours plus what she had earned in Wisconsin and she would have an undergraduate degree. She had gotten friendly with the GW administration. 40 hours for her extensive work in the West Wing, work on two presidential campaigns, and a couple of aced placement tests. That turned into 50 hours after the President of the United States made a personal call to the University on her behalf. She hadn't expected that. CJ, Leo, Toby… maybe even Josh – one of them must have mentioned it.
That put her course load at 30 hours. Her mother dug up documentation of a community college course she had taken some 6 or 7 years ago, which left her with 27 hours to complete. Being unnaturally ambitious, Donna vowed to complete her undergraduate degree by Christmas. Three of her classes were independent studies to be performed, thank goodness, with CJ somehow. Not like she was expecting a sleepover.
The leak was intensifying things, to say the least. No one was happy. There was no humor – no practical jokes or Friday night poker games… it was a West Wing she was unfamiliar with. Still, walking through security she felt an odd sense of calm that had been lacking in her work with the Russell Campaign. She was ushered by a kid she had never seen before towards Leo's-… towards CJ's office.
"DONNA!" Margaret shrieked, grabbing her arm, "Thank God." She turned to the kid. "I'll take her from here, Wes."
"Jess, Ma'am"
"Right."
Donna smiled, and the two women turned and walked together.
"How… how are things?" Donna turned a loose hair behind her ear.
"Not so okay, but just fine."
"Sounds about right."
Margaret sat down at her desk, rustling through a few files. "She'll see you in just a minute – want some coffee or something?"
"You were going to get me coffee?"
"No, not really, but I thought about it"
Donna sat down. "Nice to know."
"How's Will?"
"Haven't talked to him in a few days. He's still with Russell, doing as much as he constitutionally can."
"Too bad," she sipped her coffee, "but I guess that comes with losing."
Donna looked up at her.
"Oh… sorry Donna, I didn't mean-"
"No, it's fine. I chose" she stopped herself "It was a good experience for me, even if we did-"
CJ chose that very opportune moment to open the door. She smiled, looking down at her two friends.
"Donna, you want to come in now?" she took the files handed to her by Margaret.
"Sure."