[A.N. - Chapter revised 11/19/14 and re-posted. The first time through, I had intended to have a certain character move the plot in one direction, but she had a mind of her own and started saying other things :). The second try was more successful.]

Election Day '98

Bartlet for America HQ, Manchester, NH

11:10 am

Donna stepped out to the rear deck of the campaign office for a moment of fresh air and quiet. It wasn't even lunchtime, yet she felt like days had passed since she woke up this morning - weeks since the last conversation she and Josh had together on this deck.

Donna's cell buzzed and she glanced at the caller I.D. - Josh. It was a heady sort of synchronicity, she thought. I picture him and he calls me. In little moments like this she thought the universe was trying to tell her something.

"Hey," she said brightly. "Are you on your way back?"

"Wheels up in about five minutes. We were waiting on the 11am exits."

"And?"

"Pennsylvania's tightening. Ohio, even New Jersey."

"New Jersey will turn around," Donna replied. "Democrats vote late."

"Yeah," Josh breathed. "But we can't take anything for granted."

Through the phone Donna heard the flight attendant announce the cabin door was closing in preparation for take-off.

"Here's what I need you to do," Josh continued, in a rush. "We need every vote in the electoral college. This could come down to one or two and we can't have a tie in electoral numbers send this thing into a vote in the House of Representatives."

"I know."

"Maine splits its electoral votes. It's not winner take all. I don't trust the tallies coming out of the coordinated campaign. I need you to check on it."

"How?"

"Drive to Portland. There's a woman in the state party office today named Amy Gardner, monitoring GOTV for the EMILY's List Senate candidate. She's an old college friend of mine. Well, not friend, exactly."

Donna heard the flight attendant address Josh sharply. "Sir, you need to turn off your phone for takeoff."

"Take my car," Josh continued. "I can't have yours breaking down in the White Mountains or getting stuck because you don't have snow tires."

"It's not snowing Josh."

"Take my car. Find Amy. Tell her I need numbers I can work with. I'll call you when we land."

Donna placed her phone in her coat pocket and walked back to Josh's office. She understood the tone in his voice. These were orders she was expected to follow without question, whether or not she knew precisely how to execute them. In other jobs, in other circumstances, that kind of request might have made her feel somehow demeaned. Here, in this job, she recognized the faith and loyalty behind the request. Josh had a duty to Leo and to Governor Bartlet, and Donna had a duty to Josh. She didn't intend to let him down. She opened the top drawer of Josh's desk and grabbed his car keys.

1:30 pm

Three hours later Donna was seated in a darkened pub in Portland's Old Port, having a beer and bowl of lobster stew with Amy Gardner.

"Isn't your first obligation to yourself," Amy asked, rhetorically, full of outrage as she finished up a war story. "Why should I support a candidate who's bad on my issues just because an old white guy at party headquarters says it's his turn to run for the seat. Where would you be if Bartlet had waited his turn?"

Donna half listened, sensing that Amy didn't require much of a response from her conversational partners. The waitress approached the table with their entrées and a second beer for Amy.

"What time do you think we'll have new numbers?" Donna asked. "Josh is going to call as soon as he lands in Manchester."

"It can wait until we're done with lunch," Amy replied. "I appreciated Josh's, um, intensity," she continued, drawing out the word for emphasis and arching her eyebrows. "It's sexy. It what makes him Josh. But I think in this case it's misguided."

"You don't think Maine 2nd is important?"

"I think it's important, I just don't think there's anything you can do about it. The die has been cast. Bartlet is going to lose Florida, and that's the ball game. Shifting the ratio of turnout calls in the Maine 2nd isn't enough."

Amy's supreme confidence in that conclusion took Donna by surprise. "Josh isn't going to give up while the polls are still open, while there's still something we can do," Donna said.

"Josh wants the illusion of control," Amy continued. "And we'll give it to him. After lunch."

Donna took a bite of her salad and offered no response. She sensed there was something wrong about Amy's attitude - towards Josh and towards politics - but she didn't yet have the words to articulate it.

"Is Josh still seeing Mandy?" Amy asked. "I don't know why Leo hired her to do media. Her ads are uninspired - pedestrian."

While Donna was working up a response, her cell phone rang. "Excuse me for a moment, Amy."

Donna stood up to take the call away from the table, but Amy motioned her stay at the table.

"That's great news," Donna said into the phone. "Yes, please do fax the enrollment forms to my office. Thank you."

As Donna recited the fax number she noticed that Amy was listening intently to the contents of the call. She has a strange sense of boundaries, Donna thought for split second, before the voice on the phone drew her back to more immediate concerns.

"5pm today? That's not possible. It's election day. My work comes first today. Tomorrow though." Donna paused. "I understand. Yes, you've granted numerous extensions throughout this process. Midnight is very generous."

Donna closed her phone and turned back to Amy. "I apologize."

"Don't," Amy replied firmly. "In this business, we've got to squeeze in our lives wherever we can. Though if I heard you right it sounds like you're leaving the business. Josh has been known to drive a few colleagues out of politics. Law school?"

"No," Donna laughed, "not law school."

"Good," Amy laughed in turn. "We've got too many of them in Washington. What then?"

Donna couldn't peg this woman but she sensed a genuine curiosity. She decided to let her guard down.

"I actually haven't finished my undergraduate degree," Donna said evenly.

"Really," Amy replied, taking another swig of her beer. "That's ballsy. To play at this level without all the armor you can muster."

"I want to finish my degree, " Donna replied. "The only question is the timing. Josh..."

"Yeah," Amy cut her off. "Look, if you guys do win tonight somehow, I'm sure Josh will do what he can to take you along, you know, once he gets own situation secured. Do White House jobs go through Office of Personal Management? I don't actually know all the civil service rules, which west wing jobs are political appointments and would be outside of that process. I honestly don't know. But you know what Washington is like."

"I don't," Donna said.

"What do you mean?"

"I've never been to Washington. This is my first campaign. Josh took an incredible chance on me - not that I don't think I've repaid that leap of faith - but I owe him my loyalty."

"Donna, Washington is a shark tank," Amy said firmly. "Don't mistake allies for real friends."

"Josh isn't like that. The Bartlet campaign isn't like that."

"I like Governor Bartlet," Amy said, standing up from the table. "I've known Abbey Bartlet most of my life. But one good man - if he even wins - can't change the culture there. And frankly, I'm not sure I think he should. I'm not counting on a president or any set of politicians to anticipate my needs and advocate for them in my stead. I'm my own most effective advocate." Amy threw a couple of twenty dollar bills on the table before Donna could offer to pay her share.

"Get your degree, Donna," she said firmly, closing the topic. "Go into Washington as your own person."

2:40 pm

Mid-afternoon Donna found herself inside a cavernous office building that served at the election day phone bank for the Maine Democratic coordinated campaign, where hundreds of volunteers spent the day calling registered Democrats who hadn't yet voted, reminding them to get to the polls before 8pm and vote for the full party ticket. Running tallies showed the percentages of calls completed by district and precinct. Despite the massive effort, there was no way to call every voter. Priorities had to be set and readjusted as the day went on.

"Twenty minutes, Josh," Donna said into the phone. "The 3pm numbers will be ready and I'll add you to the conference call with executive director and the other campaign managers."

"What's your take on the E.D.?" Josh asked.

"If he's listening to Amy," Donna replied, "and she is talking to him right now, he's going to say that since Bartlet is going to lose anyway, they should place a majority of calls into the first district to help the Congressional and Senate candidates there who can win."

"Including Amy's candidate," Josh said.

"There's some self interest in the mix," Donna replied.

"Amy thinks we're going to lose?"

"Yeah."

Donna could sense Josh slumping back into his chair with that answer, a small part of him accepting Amy's verdict as settled fact.

"Josh," Donna said quietly. "I think Amy's wrong."

"You do?"

"I think she's wrong about a lot of things, and I think you should pull rank with the E.D. We're not going to lose. We're going to win and we're going to go to Washington and change things. You're not done yet."

"No," Josh said simply. Donna thought she could hear him smile. "I'm not done yet."