As CJ poured herself coffee from the Sevres pot (Was it Sevres? She never kept it straight, and god forbid she ask the President), she studied the other occupants of the Oval Office. Toby met her eyes and shrugged slightly before returning his attention to his notes. Josh had rolled the folder he was holding into a cylinder and was now tapping it against his leg. He looked — she searched for the word — twitchy. Working hard to appear as if nothing was bothering him but one minute away from leaping to his feet and confessing to some misdeed. Depending on what he's done, this could be both interesting and entertaining. The President was busy at his desk, signing letters. Leo, who had called this meeting, was the only person missing.
The door to the colonnade swung open, and they all rose to their feet when Abbey walked in. She carried a coat and a briefcase, dropping them both on the chair beside her husband's desk.
The President looked at her over his glasses. "I thought you were headed off to Philadelphia today."
"I have a few minutes before I have to leave, and Leo asked me to stop in," she said, kissing him and straightening his tie. "Where is he?"
"Right here," Leo said, coming through the connecting door from his office and closing it behind him.
Abbey sat down in one of the armchairs as CJ sat on the couch beside Toby. Josh took a breath and let it out in a ragged gust. He ran a finger around the inside of his collar as if it had suddenly grown too tight.
"Leo, what's this about?" the President asked.
"Something came to my attention this morning, and I thought we should discuss it." Leo looked around the room. "Who, besides me, didn't talk to Sam last night?"
CJ raised her hand, and then realized only Toby had as well. "All three of you?" she asked faintly.
"So much for not overwhelming him," Toby sighed, rubbing his forehead.
Leo glared at them. "I find it absolutely amazing how much mayhem we can inflict on one person in a single night. Didn't we advise you not to bring Sam in, Mr. President?"
"And I decided I wanted to tell him how important he is to me and to this administration." The President pointed at Abbey. "In my own defense, I rescued him from a scolding by my wife."
"I didn't scold him! We had a perfectly pleasant conversation!" the First Lady protested.
Leo shook his head in disbelief. "Abbey, you know you intimidate Sam!"
"He's not alone. It's part of her charm," the President muttered.
Abbey glared at them both. "Well, if I got through to him then it worked, didn't it?"
"And did it?" Leo asked.
"I don't know. He was polite; he was attentive; he was..." She waved vaguely.
"Sam," CJ supplied softly and saw Toby glance at her.
Leo turned to his deputy. "Which brings us to Josh."
Josh's eyes darted to CJ and Toby, obviously seeking their support. "I said I wanted to talk to him. I've been trying since Friday!"
"So you went to his apartment last night?"
"Yeah, I was there when he got home, although I'd like to point out that I didn't know he'd been here until he told me."
"Which was when?" CJ asked.
Tugging at his collar again, Josh mumbled, "Right after he showed up."
"And you didn't back off?"
"He didn't mention the First Lady. And I've been trying to talk to him —"
"Since Friday," Toby finished, his voice cold. "Yeah, we get it. Did it never occurred to you that maybe, just maybe Sam had already had enough (with all due respect, sir, ma'am) well-intentioned advice for one night?"
"In the time I've known Sam, I've learned one thing. He needs to yell and rant and get things out of his system. That's why I went over there."
"And did he?" CJ shot back.
He studied his hands. "Not as much he should have," he admitted. "I should've camped out there on Friday."
"He's exhausted, Josh. Haven't you figured that out? He's worn out from trying."
Josh's head snapped up, his eyes hard and angry. "Since when are you the knower of all-things-Sam?" he demanded.
"Since he talked to me, since I listened!" she shot back. "Maybe you should try it."
"That's enough," Leo cut in.
"Leo, how did you find out?" the President asked. "No one but Charlie — and my wife apparently — knew Sam was coming in."
"This morning, my driver mentioned he picked up some overtime bringing Sam here after he dropped me off at the hotel last night. And then, when Josh came in looking guilty this morning, it didn't take much to put it together, and come up with the Three Musketeers."
"Better make that the Gang of Four," the President advised him. "Charlie took him down the car when we finished."
"Four of you," Leo repeated. "Do you think that was fair?"
"I'm the President. I don't have to be fair."
CJ looked around the room. "What do we do now?"
"You should call him," Toby said, turning to her.
Josh sat up straight. "No! No phone calls!"
"You finally talked to Sam so now we all leave him alone — is that it?" Toby asked.
"All of us have talked to him and told him what we want him to know, so I think this is the point we take a step back. This is Sam, for God's sake. We couldn't stop him from examining every angle of this if we tried."
"I told him that," Abbey said sadly, and the President gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. She covered his hand with her own.
"As much as the thought scares me, Josh may be right," Leo said slowly. "Let Sam go home and think for a while. It will give us a chance to plan — and let me emphasize the word 'plan' — what we should do next. Anyone disagree?" He looked at each of them in turn. "All right, let's get back to work. Josh, I need to see you for a minute."
CJ followed Toby out, surprised when he turned toward her office, jotting notes on the spiral-bound pad in his hand. As they walked into her office, he let her pass him, closing the door as she dropped into her desk chair.
"Can you believe that?" she demanded. "I know it wasn't intentional, but good lord, four of them!"
He ripped off two sheets of paper and held them out to her. "Here's what you say."
She looked from the papers to Toby. "What I say to whom?"
"Sam, when you call."
"I'm not calling Sam! Didn't you hear what Leo just said? I'm not calling Sam, you're not calling Sam, nobody is calling Sam!"
"Well, thank you for conjugating that for me, CJ. It makes everything so much clearer!" He glared at her. "Think about it. Do you really want Sam believing that we all got together and planned last night?"
Snatching the pages from him, CJ scanned them. "You wrote a statement?"
Toby looked uncomfortable. "It's not a statement; it's..." He sighed heavily. "They're suggestions."
"Sam will know the second I try to spin this."
"For god's sake, you're not spinning anything! They're just talking points. You were going to call him, weren't you?"
"Just to tell him to have a safe trip. I didn't think it was going to turn into damage control!"
"Well, it has," Toby said quietly. "Look, just think about it, will you? I'd do it, but he'd hang up as soon as he heard my voice."
"I'll think about it, but I'm not promising anything."
He walked to the door and stopped with his hand on the knob. "I need my deputy back, CJ. I want Sam here." Yanking open the door, he disappeared down the hall.
"So do I, Toby, so do I," she murmured. She sat for a minute, rereading what he had written. She smiled and nodded slightly before sliding the pages under her phone.