Donna had fallen asleep before the verdict of battle Octopus, the third episode of their little marathon, and woken up rather abruptly at 5 am. She glanced over to the chair where she had last seen Will. He was barely in it, now, his glasses were crooked and he was twitching his nose. She poked him.
"Wake up."
He closed his eyes tighter. "It is not morning. Tell me it is not morning."
"It was morning when we fell asleep."
"I sort of want to die."
"Yeah. Feeling that." She pulled out her cell phone. "I'm calling a cab. If I don't at least shower and change clothes, today will be far worse than already expected."
He made a undeterminable noise and stood.
"You going to talk to CJ today?"
"I think I have to."
"Yeah. Okay. Well… not to be a horrible host, though I think we're past that, but I'm getting in the shower. I'll see you in what, an hour?"
"Yeah" she smiled "thanks Will, you know, for hanging out. It was fun. Unhealthy, but really fun."
About 45 minutes later, a slightly refreshed Donna wandered into her office. She glanced around. This was going to be hard.
"You Okay?"
Margaret raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah… just… long night. Hey, is she in?"
"Uh-huh"
"Can I get a few minutes, as soon as possible?"
"Yeah" she flipped through some papers, "how about lunch?"
"That's be great."
"These are for you" She handed Donna a stack of papers
"Briefings?"
"Oh yeah."
"Thanks." She turned to go "Hey, Donna?" She turned again.
"Yeah?"
"You're leaving, right?"
She winced. Margaret was good. "I… don't know. Probably."
Margaret smiled. She turned and headed back towards CJ's office.
"You've got Kate now and lunch with Donna, then the teleconference with-"
"Yeah. Send her in."
CJ was distracted. Kate was talking… or something. Honestly, she hadn't listened to her in days. She had read the briefings, of course, but actually listening…
"CJ?"
"Mm… uh, yeah?"
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah… hey how do you feel about ham and cheese?"
"Excuse me?"
"As a sandwich."
"Okay, I'm going to go now."
"Kay." She leaned back in her chair "Margaret?"
"Yes?"
"Can I get a ham and cheese sandwich on… on that bread with the crunchy little pieces in it?"
"Of course. Donna's here."
"Yeah."
Donna poked her head through the door. "Hey"
"Come on in"
She walked in and took a seat.
"So… you wanted to see me?" CJ shuffled through some papers
"Yeah… you doing alright?"
"Sure."
"Okay… well… God this is weird…"
CJ looked up. Now she was paying attention.
"Donna… what's that in your hand?"
"CJ, in a few minutes you're going to hear something about an alleged relationship between myself and Will Bailey and possibly even some pictures of us stumbling out of a bar…"
"Donna-"
"Look, I don't want to cause any trouble. I don't want there to be a scene. I've got another job lined up" she handed the envelope in her hand over the desk "and my letter of resignation from… whatever job it was that I had…"
CJ took a breath. She studied Donna's face, then hit a button on her phone.
"Margaret, get me whatever articles appear in the morning papers on Donna Moss and Will Bailey please"
"CJ, I'm really sorry about all this, I-"
"Oh shut up, Donna. You got a job on the campaign."
"I was going to tell you…"
"Did he finally break down and call you, or what?"
"Actually, no."
"Well what the hell happened?"
"Louise Thornton offered me a position as spokesperson"
"He doesn't know."
"I'm really not sure"
"This is a bad idea"
"CJ, as much as I value your opinion, I can make this decision on my own."
"I thought you… I thought we talked about…"
"It's not about him."
"Like hell it's not!"
"It's not. It's about securing a future."
"He's not going to like it."
"Maybe not. Look, like it or not, next year things are going to change. Working here has been… the most important thing I have ever done… but you've got enough people to help you end this administration with a bang. I want to be here when another one starts."
CJ nodded. She closed her eyes.
"Get something done out there, okay?"
Donna smiled.
"Always."
She turned to leave.
"Donna?"
"Yeah?"
"You and Will?"
"He helped me make some decisions. We're friends."
"I had to ask"
"Yeah. I'll… see you soon."
"Call whenever. If I'm not, you know, avoiding crisis, I'd love to chat."
There was a beat of silence.
"Claudia Jean, I do believe your memo is incorrect. Firstly, there are 12 Russian-"
The President stopped.
"Ah. My apologies, I thought you were alone."
The two women were standing.
"Hello, Donna"
"Good afternoon, Mr. President."
"I was just leaving, sir."
CJ brushed off her skirt.
"Sir, today will be Donna's last day with us."
He gave a concerned look.
"Surely not. She just got back!"
"She's joining the campaign, sir."
He nodded. "Well, you keep them in line, Donnatella."
"Yes sir. It's been an honor."
"Yes it has. Now shoo – I have to scold CJ mockingly for a bit longer.
"Thank you Mr. President"
She closed the door behind her and pressed her back against the wall. Just get out of here without crying, she thought, that's all you need to do.
It was harder the second time.
Donna woke up a few hours later.
She was at home, in her own bed with an empty pint of ice cream on her nightstand.
She picked up her phone and checked her messages, then found a note she had written herself a few days earlier and punched the numbers into her cell.
"Yeah?"
"Donna Moss for Louise Thornton please"
"Speaking"
"Oh, hi. I was just returning your call…"
"Yeah, listen Donna let me just cut to the chase here. I really want you on board. We're understaffed and there's a lot of work to do, it can't wait till Friday either. Are you in?"
"Yeah."