From: Job and Josh Lyman

Dear Donna,

Matt shared Josh's email with me and I should tell you that nobody is mad at you. I should also mention that I smacked upside his head for asking you directly if Josh was seeing anybody. We had a bet and he was trying to cheat. I apologize for any discomfort he may have caused and assure you that my husband will be in the doghouse for some time to come over this one. I should also say after Josh's email you have officially been outed and further denials will be futile. You and I will have to discus Josh and Maui in greater detail later. If I have to suffer you calling me mam, I think the least you could do is dish on the man who is responsible for my suffering. While we're on the topic of the email despite the assurance of everyone that you are apparently a special case; (which we will discuss in detail later and further proves my point that you are the right person for the job), and normally a senior assistant does not out rank a senior advisor there is a flurry of activity caused by the comment that you out ranked top tier advisors. Otto and Bram are demanding administrative flow charts for the last dozen administrations in addition to the implementation of a flow chart for this administration for Santos 1 that includes assistants and figuring out where they would stand. Rona is walking around like the cock of the walk crowing about The fact that as the President Elect's executive assistant she would beat least 2 tiers above Senior Assistant to the Whitehouse Deputy Chief of Staff she must out rank just about everybody. Frankly I haven't seen her this spunky since she broke up with her last serious girlfriend.

I apparently didn't make my case clear enough so let's see if I can do it in writing better than I did in person. You are the top and only name on my staffing list. I talked with current First Lady Bartlet as well as Amy Gardner, (who in all honesty has been my friend for that last couple of years) and Lilly Mays (whom had nothing positive to say about the man you are currently sharing a hotel suite with.) I don't get that by the way how can you spend a week showing me these palatial estates and then fly coach half a dozen time zones and then spend a week in a 2.5 star timeshare condo. Anyway the women I talked to all listed you as their top choice. Lilly stated that you were capable and able to navigate the press cycles. Dr. Bartlet said that iI'd be lucky to get you and that I might be able to gain some ground by pointing out that this is one of the few non west wing Whitehouse jobs and that I could offer a flexible schedule to complete any academic or other personal schedule that you may need.

Let me put this plain as I can. Matt was never supposed to be president I was never supposed to be first lady. Matt grudgingly accepted the congressional nomination on the promise that there was no way a democrat could win his district but that he could shape the debate and bring to light some issues which had far gone ignored by our district's federal representation. Then low and behold after 6 count them 6 long years in Washington we were going to once again be a family and then Josh Lyman shows up at our door one Christmas Eve and next thing I know my children will each have a team of bodyguards for at least the next 29 years. I am out of my depth and out of my liege. I am going from junior congressmen's wife from the great state of Texas to being someone who is going to have books written bout me long after I am dead. I need help You're the best person to help me, and the rest is just incidental. I haven't sworn in months which when you get to know me is huge. I'm losing myself. I spend my days looking at mansions and at china patterns, listening to pitches about the political ramifications of where we send our kids. I swear I'm going to hurt the next person that talks to me about using my children's future to score some cheap political points, unless you agree to come on board as my Chief of Staff then I might be persuaded to hold off a week before maiming anyone.

I hope to hear from you soon.

Helen Santos First Lady in training and hopefully future employer

P.S. What's the deal with this Sam Seaborne character that is filling in for your bed warmer?


Author's note I may or may not have been drunk off my behind for these last couple of chapters. I apologize; I will reread and edit them on a day when I actually had a good day at work and haven't consumed a case and a half of Hornsby's.