Office Policy

SUMMERY: At a dinner at the White House after the election Josh reveals an office policy that he is determined to bring to the Santos administration.

NOTE: This story started out as a part of another, longer, fic that I am still in the process of writing, but when I was reading this part over I realized that it no longer fit with the story it was meant to. That's what I get for writing the ending before I do the beginning and middle of a story, I guess. Anyway, I did some tweaking and turned this into a ficlet.

SPOILERS: the entire series up to Election Night 2

RATING: G

CHARACTERS: Josh, Donna, Matt, Bartlet, Helen, Abbey, CJ, and Leo

"So, have you considered any office policies you want to impose?" Bartlet asked.

"Not really, sir, no," Matt said.

Josh, however, had been thinking a lot on the subject. Though it had been a foregone conclusion since the beginning Matt had officially asked him to be Chief of Staff and, after Josh and Donna talked it over and discussed how it could affect the new revelation in their relationship, he had accepted the job. "Well, actually, I was thinking of one," Josh said. Everyone looked at him expectantly. "Big Block of Cheese Day," he announced.

"What?" Matt and Helen asked at the same time.

"Big Block of Cheese Day," Donna repeated, remembering them fondly.

"A Leo McGarry legacy," CJ agreed with a nostalgic smile. "I approve, mi amore."

As much as they had all always complained, everyone—except maybe Toby—really liked Leo's Cheese days. At least, as long as Margaret wasn't angry with you when she was making up the assignments. She could find the perfect meetings to punish you if she wasn't happy with you when a Cheese Day rolled around.

"Promise not to do the speech?" Donna pleaded.

"It wouldn't be Big Block of Cheese Day without the Andrew Jackson speech," Josh said defensively. Donna and CJ didn't say anything but they could both vividly remember Josh and Leo having a 'discussion' about that very topic more than once, and that was hardly Josh's view on the matter at the time.

Matt frowned. "What is Big Block of Cheese Day?"

Bartlet and Abbey grinned. They had always taken great pleasure in watching the Senior Staff and their assistants dealing with the people that Josh and Sam had deemed 'the funnel people'. "It was one of Leo's pet projects. Every once in a while he would take a day of the Senior Staff's life and make them meet with people and groups that don't usually get the attention of the White House," he said warmly.

"Apparently nothing in the world is where we think it is," CJ said. Josh grinned at that. He had a print of the 'Peters Projection' map hanging in his apartment because it never failed to make him laugh. "Germany, for example, is in some corner of the world instead of where we think it is."

"Cartographers for Social Equity?" Matt asked.

"How'd you know?" CJ asked with a smile.

"Met those nuts my first term in Congress," Matt replied with a good-natured smile. "So, Big Block of Cheese Day? Explain this to me."

Josh cleared his throat dramatically. "Andrew Jackson, when he was President, had a big block of cheese in the main foyer of the White House," he said, starting the speech in pretty much the same way that Leo always had.

"Oh, god, he's going to do the speech and everything," Donna groaned, sharing a pained look with CJ.

"The thing weighed two tons," Josh continued as if Donna hadn't said anything, much to the amusement of Matt and Bartlet. "President Jackson wanted the White House to really belong to the people, especially those who didn't normally get the attention of those in power, so he got the cheese and opened the doors and invited anyone who wanted some to come by and, you know, get their share of the cheese."

Not exactly a Leo calibre Andrew Jackson speech, but no one wanted to say it that way—Josh was already dealing with enough issues in regards to measuring up to Leo.

"You need some practice," CJ observed.

"Hey, it's been a while, and it's not like I was born in the land of cheese like someone else in the room," Josh protested, pointing in my direction.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I have never said I was born in Wisconsin, Joshua. I was born in Minnesota, only I wasn't because of the stupid border, and then I moved to Wisconsin when I was six," Donna said patiently. She had been hearing Josh's jokes about being from Wisconsin since she had started working for him almost ten years earlier and she had stopped caring about what he said about her home state after working for him for two weeks.

"What?" Helen frowned. "What do you mean you were born in Minnesota only you weren't?"

Abbey smiled as she fielded that question. "It turns out that Donna missed being an American citizen by, what was it? Four miles?" the First Lady said. Donna nodded. "INS re-clarified the US-Canada border and it turned out that Donna was a Canadian citizen all her life. How's that massive inferiority complex coming along, by the way?"

"It was pretty much gone until I got into a fight with a chicken," Donna replied with a smile.

"Finally a story I remember," Matt smiled. Though he had, thankfully, stopped saying it aloud, Donna knew she was fated to be 'Chicken Fighter' in his eyes for the rest of her life.

"That's good to hear," Abbey said to Donna.

"You know, it's funny talking about it now, but I was really freaked out after Josh told me what was going on. And it only got worse when I got that letter from the Canada Census and Revenue Agency. If it wasn't for some friends in high government office I would have had a lot of back-taxes to pay to the Canadian government," Donna added, flashing the President a grateful smile.

"It was the least I could do, Donnatella," the President said with a fatherly smile. "After all, you were the only one to ask about how I was feeling when you found out about the MS; everyone else started looking for political cover but you wanted to know if I was in pain. Promise me you won't lose that 'people first, politics second' mentality."

"If nine years joined at the hip with Josh didn't kill that impulse in her I doubt anything could," CJ smirked.

Abbey nodded. "Agreed."

"I resent that," Josh frowned.

Matt laughed at the interplay between the group of people who had known each other for the better part of a decade. "Josh, promise me we'll have stories like this to tell when our term's up," he said.

"You can pretty much count on it, sir," Josh said with a dimpled smile.

"Good," Matt grinned.

Complete