Election Night '98, 10:45 pm

Bartlet for America Headquarters

Josh navigated his rental car into an open parking slot at the nearly deserted headquarters in downtown Manchester. Donna sat beside him, singing along to the oldies station on the car radio, still on a high from their time at the victory party. Not that campaign victory was yet assured – polls weren't even closed yet on the west coast – but Josh's gesture at the party, his promise, felt like a victory to her.

"Cal-i-for-nia dreaming," she sang out, until Josh turned the key and the radio went cold. "Josh!"

"What? We're here."

"You were doing harmony."

Josh laughed. "I've got to get up to Leo's office. The Oregon lawyers are calling in."

"There was only one more chorus. You're killing my buzz."

"Losing Oregon will kill everyone's buzz. The polls aren't supposed to close if voters are still in line."

"I know, Josh."

"Well, we need our lawyers to keep Republican precinct officials honest. Our guys are volunteers. They gotta know we're paying attention or they'll slip off to their own victory parties before the job is done."

"Sometimes it's no fun to be the good guys," Donna replied, getting out of the car.

Josh walked to the building entrance and held the door open. "I'll make it up to you," he said with a smirk. "You still owe me a dance."

"You keep dangling this promise," Donna joked as she approached the door. "How do I even know you can dance?"

"I can dance," he said, capturing Donna's eyes with a seriousness of purpose and dropping all hints of teasing from his tone. Donna held his gaze for a long moment, wavering in the threshold of the open door.

Without breaking eye contact, Josh placed his other hand around her waist and pulled her close while letting the door swing shut. "California dreaming," he sang softly, gathering her in a tight embrace, with the slightest of movements to suggest a dance. Donna wrapped her arms around his back and drew him even closer. As she tilted her head in anticipation of his kiss, a sudden flood of light from an approaching car made them both uncomfortably aware of their surroundings.

Josh dropped his arms and stepped back. "I gotta get upstairs," he mumbled.

Donna watched him move towards the front door. "I'll be there in a minute," she called. "I forgot something in the car."

Donna walked purposefully to the parking lot, opened the car door and reached inside the glove box. She pulled out the re-admission papers from the University of Wisconsin. In the faint light of the parking lot, she gave them one last look. Wisconsin is my old life, she declared to herself and ripped the papers in half.

Twenty minutes later Donna and Margaret huddled around a television at Margaret's desk watching the next round of returns. Washington state and California had fallen easily into the Bartlet/Hoynes column, but Oregon and several mid-western states were still too close to call.

"So what's DC like," Donna asked, as CNN took a commercial break.

"It's heaven compared to Manchester," Margaret replied. "If I wasn't so damn loyal to Leo I never would have spent eight months here. At least Josh took you on the road some time."

"Tell me again when you started working for Leo?"

"Twelve years next spring. My aunt Lorraine started as his executive assistant when he was at Labor and I learned the ropes from her."

"And your mom too, right?"

"Yeah, I come from a long line. Mom didn't work for Leo, but she was a federal executive assistant for forty years. Four cabinet level posts, some sub-cabinet. Cabinet members come and go, policies change, but we're the real backbone of the government. We know where the bodies are buried. Mom retired GS-15." Margaret beamed with pride on the last pronouncement.

"GS-15?" Donna asked.

"Highest rank in the civil service system. I'm only GS-8. But it won't matter for us in the White House. We'll be political appointees."

"Right," Donna said, although she only had a vague notion of Margaret's train of thought. She hoped to head off a more detailed account of federal employment rules in favor of more immediately relevant topics. "Are the hours as long as they are now?" Donna asked. "I mean, do you have time to meet interesting men? Go on dates."

"It wasn't that bad at Labor," Margaret replied. "But the White House will be a different story. Oh, where's the remote," Margaret continued, interrupting herself. Looks like they're about to call Pennsylvania."

Donna turned up the volume on CNN as the news anchors continued to chatter.

"I met one really interesting guy at Labor," Margaret continued. "Lawyer. Great hair. Played the cello. But we had to call it off. Leo instituted a strict no fraternization policy."

"That's terrible," Donna replied.

"It wasn't that bad. We only had a few dates. All potential, you know? – Damn, back to commercial," Margaret lowered the TV volume again. "And it wasn't Leo's fault." Margaret lowered her voice to a whisper. "There was a sex scandal."

"Leo?!" Donna exclaimed.

"No, not Leo. He's married to his career," Margaret replied. "But keep your voice down. This never hit the press. One of Leo's deputies, a holdover from the previous Secretary, was being blackmailed by a mistress. Said she would go public if he didn't convince Leo to reverse some rulemaking on mine safety."

"The mistress owned a mine?"

"Her husband did. Anyway, Leo got the guy to resign before it became a big thing – you know, issue a statement saying that he needed to spend more time with his family." Margaret used air quotes when she said the word family. "But Leo was spooked. Didn't want any hint of scandal on his watch. He'll be worse in the White House. Probably make Josh take a vow of celibacy."

Donna was still puzzling through the kinks in Margaret's story. "But how did splitting up you and the lawyer stop a scandal?"

"I don't really know," Margaret admitted, her eyes still on the TV screen. "Pennsylvania for Bartlet!" Margaret exclaimed as the news anchor called the state.

Leo and Josh emerged victorious from the inner office. "How about that, ladies!" Leo beamed, giving Margaret a fatherly hug. "Why don't you two head over the victory party," he continued. "We only need either Ohio or Florida now and they've got to run the table. I'm starting to feel good."

"Josh?" Donna asked, trying to catch his eye. "Is that OK with you? I can stay."

"No, Leo's right. You should go," he answered. "We'll be over soon."

Margaret grabbed her coat and took Donna by the arm. "Come on, before they change they're minds."

With a quick look back at Josh, Donna followed Margaret downstairs. "Did the story not make sense before," Margaret chattered as they left. "I don't know if I told it right. Did I say that the husband knew about the affair…"

Half an hour later, Donna was back in the hotel ballroom for the Bartlet / Hoynes victory party, surrounding by an increasingly drunk set of party-goers. As Donna scanned the room for Josh's arrival, she was feeling increasingly sober.

An exceedingly sober Toby tapped Donna on the shoulder. "Do you know the young woman Hoynes is taking to over there?" he asked.

"Melanie from finance?" she replied.

"No, next to her. Sleeveless red dress. Tipsier."

"Never seen her before."

"I need to find Sam. Can you keep an eye on them for me?"

"Spy?"

"Yeah, spy."

"What am I looking for?"

"Something that progresses beyond flirting and banter to inappropriate touching in a public place filled with news cameras broadcasting live to every corner of the free world," Toby said, with more than a little exasperation.

"OK…," Donna said.

"And then you should, you know, break it up. Spill a drink on her or something. Then find me. This man, God help us, is going to be the next Vice President of the United States."

Donna took a step closer to take up her strange new duties on this exceedingly strange day. It felt like five days. The campaign felt like a lifetime. And it wasn't over yet.

A hush fell over the ballroom as C.J. strode the podium at the front of the stage.

"Ladies and gentlemen," she began, "we've asked the band to take a break while we bring up the volume on the large television screens you see to your right and left. We expect the networks to call Ohio in the next few minutes."

C.J. was smiling, Donna noticed. Someone in the press must have given her advance warning. From the corner of her eye, Donna saw Hoynes break away from the young woman in red and slip backstage. This was it. And Josh wasn't here.

A roar went up from the crowd as the map of Ohio appeared on the television monitors with a blue check mark. "CNN is now ready to call the state of Ohio and its twenty-one electoral votes for Governor Jed Bartlet and Senator John Hoynes. This makes it a mathematical impossibility for the Republicans to retain the presidency. Josiah Bartlet, CNN projects, has been elected the next President of the United States."

The next few minutes were a joyous blur as Donna hugged everyone in arms reach. Balloons and confetti dropped from the ceiling as the band began a raucous cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow". Margaret appeared and pulled Donna near the front of the stage where a group of campaign aids and assistants danced together and sang along to every word.

Finally, Donna caught sight of Josh on the far side of the ballroom, by himself, holding back from the celebration. Donna couldn't read his expression. She made her way to him through the throngs and touched him lightly on the arm.

"Congratulations," he said quietly.

"I didn't do anything Josh. You – you did a remarkable thing. You should be up there celebrating."

"This is going to be the hardest thing I've ever done," he said. "I don't want to screw it up."

"You won't Josh," she said without hesitation. "This is what we've been working for. This is the Governor's time."

"The president-elect. That's what he is now. The president-elect. It's his time."

Donna pulled Josh into a hug but he stiffened and held back.

"Look, Donna. About before," he began.

"Don't Josh. It was nothing."

"We should talk about it."

"We don't have to," Donna replied. "We're going to be working together, in the White House, making a difference. That's the only thing that matters."

Josh relaxed. "I can't do it without you."

"Then it's a good thing you don't have to," Donna smiled. "Go find Sam and Toby," she said. "It's your night."

Donna watched as Josh waded through the crowd towards the stage as the President-Elect took the podium. The ballroom grew silent. "My fellow Americans," he began. "Today begins a new era of hope and progress, of peace and prosperity, of compassion and justice for all our citizens." That's what matters, Donna thought. That's the promise we have to make real.