Disclaimer: Not mine. Song's not mine either. Don't sue, I have no money.
Author's Note: 8th in my POV series. This one's CJ.
Archive: Sure, just tell me.
Feedback: Makes me very, very happy.
Spoilers: In the Shadow of Two Gunmen
Welcome to the planet
Welcome to existence
I rush into Triton-Day, still barely awake. Isabel called this morning, saying there was some emergency. We do PR for the entertainment industry for heaven's sake, what kind of 'emergency' could there possibly be?
Everyone's here
Everybody's watching you now
Everybody waits for you now
This is ridiculous, they're upset because he dropped on some magazine's most powerful list?
"It was a bad movie Isabel!"
What, fired, how can I be fired? Oh man, I can't believe this!
What happens next
I sit in a cab pissed at the entire world. They wake me up, make me rush into work, bother me with some idiot problem, fire me, and now I just broke my glasses. Can this day possibly get any worse?
I dare you to move
I walk into my backyard carrying my box of stuff when a voice catches me off guard.
"CJ?"
I squint, trying to make out the person, "Toby?"
I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
And I step into the pool. Because of course, the world is out to get me today. I struggle to get out, ignoring Toby's remarks. I have him turn around, but frustration wins out and I just don't care anymore. Besides, I am now thoroughly confused. I haven't seen Toby in two years, what's he doing here?
I dare you to move
A job, Toby Ziegler, Mr. I-can't-win-an-election-to-save-my-life is offering me a job? Oh irony of ironies. I consider telling him he's insane, especially when he won't look at me when he tells me the candidate's a good man. But then he does and I see the conviction in his eyes. Oh, what the hell. It's not like I have a whole lot to lose at this point, right?
I dare you to move
Like today never happened
Today never happened before
I invite him into the house so that we can talk about it and he keeps me from falling into the pool again. This day cannot get any stranger.
Welcome to the fallout
Welcome to resistance
I leave Toby in the living room while I go upstairs to change. I have no idea what to do. Am I insane for even considering taking this job? I've never done a national campaign before, the candidate's never even heard of me, and probably the only person I'll even know is Toby, and we haven't exactly been on the best of terms the past few years. Which leads me to my next quandary, what's Toby even doing here? After our last blowout he'd made it pretty clear that he wasn't interested in ever seeing me again, and now he's here offering me a job? But I do need one, and I miss politics. Not to mention this is a great opportunity. Okay, I'll talk to him at least.
The tension is here
Between who you are and you could be
Between how it is and how it should be
"Hey", I smile, returning to the living room, "do you want something to drink?"
"No, I'm fine", he replies, looking up from the couch.
Awkward silence grows between us. It's been a long time. "So, who else is on the team so far?", I ask, sitting on a chair across from him.
"Some guy named Joshua Lyman, McGarry knows his father or something. He'd be his deputy. Lyman's bringing with him some lawyer from New York, he'd be my deputy."
"And I'd handle the press?", I ask.
He nods, looking me in the eye, "yeah, and I'd be in charge of communications".
Maybe redemption has stories to tell
Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell
I take a deep breath, attempting to calm the roaring thoughts in my head. It doesn't work. Oh, well, "okay".
He looks at me, "okay?"
I nod, "yeah, when do I need to be in New Hampshire?" I can't help but grin at the relieved smile that spreads across his face.
Where can you run to escape from yourself?
After discussing my travel plans, Toby leaves. We still haven't spoken a word about the past, but then I don't really expect to, it's not how we work. We live in the present, work towards the future and ignore the past. Most of the time, anyway. He reaches the door and turns, "so I'll see you in two days, right?", he asks.
I nod, "yeah".
Where you gonna go?
Once he leaves, I go upstairs to pack. I have a lot to do in the two days to get ready for this. I ask myself one more time if I'm crazy for doing this, decide it doesn't matter, and call my mom to tell her I'm moving to New Hampshire for awhile.
Where you gonna go?
While on the plane, I try to calm my breathing. I'm about to enter a whole new ball game and I honestly don't know if I'm ready. I guess I'm about to find out, I think, as the pilot announces we're going to start our descent.
Salvation is here
Upon arriving at campaign headquarters, I take a deep breath as I prepare to open the door. I smile to myself and enter. It's graduation day.
Finis
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