"Max." Josh repeated the name to himself, ruminating on the possibilities before shaking his head. "No, the President doesn't have a nephew named Max."
The man who called himself Max, who had, by now, been released from the hold of the agents, reached into his pocket and pulled out an old, yellowing photograph. He held it in front of Josh's astonished eyes.
"Then how else would I have this?"
It was a black and white picture of the President and First Lady looking younger than Josh had ever seen them, and he thought he had seen everything. They were standing in a city that looked to him like Boston, or what he remembered of it from his college days at Harvard. Josh snagged the photograph out of Max's hand and turned it over. There, written in a handwriting that vaguely resembled the First Lady's, the words 'To Michael- With love, Abbey and Jed, 1966' were scribbled. 1966. Josh paused and squinted his eyes in deep thought. The First Couple had been married in 1967. Their wedding portrait was the earliest photograph Josh had seen of them together, and the earliest photograph that had ever been released to the public at large. This guy had to be telling the truth.
Josh titled his head toward the desk in the lobby.
"Sign in."
Max rushed over to the desk and signed the log.
"It's okay, guys. I'll take this," Josh said to the agents. "The President's in the Residence anyway, and he looks harmless enough. He causes any trouble, it's on me."
The agents nodded solemnly and allowed Josh to lead Max into the West Wing offices.
"You better be telling the truth," Josh said as they entered his office.
"I am. I swear."
Josh handed the photograph back to him.
"Sit down."
Max complied, and Josh left the office momentarily, shouting Donna's name at the top of his lungs. He reentered the room, with Donna following close behind, and shut the door.
"If you're the President's nephew, how come I've never heard of you before?" Josh questioned.
"It's a long story. In short, the President…technically doesn't know I exist. I swear I'm telling the truth. I…I used to work for Congressman Fields, but since he was voted out I've been unemployed and I…"
Josh held his hand up.
"Okay, hang on, one thing at a time. First off, I don't think you're lying, Max, so you can take it easy. Second, I don't think you should be hanging around Pennsylvania Avenue after you've had a couple of beers." He turned to Donna. "Get him some coffee, will you?"
Donna nodded and left the room without hesitation.
"On the back of the photograph, it says 'To Michael.' Am I to assume that's…"
"The First Lady's brother, yes," Max replied tersely.
"Okay. And in the, what, twenty-five years since his death, neither the President nor the First Lady have been told of your existencee."
"Thirty years, but yes, that's correct."
"What about your mother?" Josh asked, sitting down on the edge of his desk and folding his arms across his chest.
"Her name was Patti Curtis. She died a few months ago."
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay. Thanks.
"And you worked for Congressman Fields?"
"For the last three years," Max answered.
"So you live here in Washington," Josh assumed.
"Alexandria actually. Closer to Langley, if you want to get specific."
"How come you haven't come forward sooner?"
Max avoided Josh's gaze apprehensively and began wringing his hands.
"I didn't want to get in the way, and I didn't want it to seem like I was just revealing myself out of nowhere because he'd been elected president. I'm not that kind of guy."
"What's different now?" Josh questioned.
"What's different now is I need a job."
"Uh huh. Well, I admire your honesty."
"I've been searching with no avail for months now and nothing. I thought maybe the First Lady might have some use for me on her staff."
"Even I know the First Lady couldn't possibly refuse the offspring of her dead brother." He paused, blushing slightly. "Sorry, that was a pretty jackass thing to say."
"Hey, it's Washington," Max said. "You can't go a minute without someone saying something insensitive around here."
"Well, that's politics for you."
Donna returned to the office and handed a steaming mug of coffee to Max.
"Thank you."
"Sure." Donna smiled.
"Listen, Max, I'm gonna go see what I can do about this. You can wait here. This is my assistant, Donna Moss, she'll keep you entertained."
"I will?" Donna asked warily.
"Yeah. Tell him about your days milking cows in Wisconsin or…something."
Josh headed back to CJ's office as quickly as his legs would take him. Toby, Will, Elsie, and CJ were still lounging around the office finishing up what was left of the Chinese food and arguing about something or other. Josh entered the room and closed the door tightly behind him, leaning against it after he had done so.
"Hey," CJ greeted him.
"What's up with the crazy nepotism guy?" Elsie wondered.
"Well, you're not gonna believe this but, it's not my family he's a part of…it's the President's."