“Alright, here we go,” Jed announced as he entered the sitting room with Leo. “What time is it?” He glanced around to his Personal Aide.

Charlie replied, “Nine o’clock, Sir.”

“We’ll see you inside,” Leo muttered, taking a step back.

“Thank you everyone, “Jed called, grinning.

Everyone left, but as CJ moved to go, Jed called out, “CJ.” He turned to look at her and she walked over.

“Yes Sir.”

“I’ve been meaning to tell you. You’ve done really well this week with the open mike thing.”

“Thank you.”

“It didn’t turn out too bad,” he acknowledged as he put on his glasses.

“No Sir. It didn’t turn out too bad at all. In fact the whole country’s talking about whether Ritchie’s smart enough to be President. And you didn’t take a hit because it was an accident.”

Jed turned to look at her as if he could see her brain ticking over.

“It occurs to me, even your choice of language was interesting. A 22-caliber mind in a 57-magnum world. That’s unusual for you. A gun metaphor.” She paused. “Toby mentioned to me that when each interview was over all the interviewers wanted to talk to you about was Ritchie, but you took a pass each time until Philadelphia.”

Jed looked at her over his glasses.

“Mr. President. Is it possible you saw the green light was on?” She smiled faintly as everything finally fell into place.

Jed removed his glasses and looked at her. His lips turned upwards slightly, but he didn’t say a word. He continued to appraise her as the Press Conference was announced.

CJ smiled as he walked away. “That was old school.”

Jed turned at the door to look at her briefly.

“Go knock ‘em dead,” she called.

He strode down the hall to the waiting reporters leaving her smiling with pride behind him.

Leo waited as the President removed his glasses and waited for the cameras to go red. The speech and the Press Conference had gone well and the President seemed happy for once.

Finally, Jed stepped away from the podium and Leo approached him.

“Well Done Mr. President.”

Jed grinned at him. “Did I knock ‘em dead?”

“Knock ‘em dead?” Leo asked, a little surprised by his choice of phrase. “You’ve been spending too much time with Zoey lately.” Leo chuckled.

“CJ, actually,” Jed said simply, his voice cutting through Leo like a knife.

There was something in the way Jed acknowledged CJ’s influence on him that shook Leo to the core. “Mr. President?” he asked, hoping he was reading more into it than there actually was.

“I need to see Toby.” Jed walked off leaving Leo staring after him.

Leo’s eyes followed him, not entirely sure what he had just been told. Leo shook his head and headed back to the West Wing. He wasn’t really surprised to find the halls still full of people. Nobody ever seemed to go home anymore.

The light on CJ’s office filtered into the hallway and he decided to knock and check in on her.

CJ looked up from her desk and grinned at him. Leaning back, she pushed her laptop away and gave him her full attention.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

“You okay?” Leo asked, positioning himself in her doorway.

CJ nodded. “The speech went well. The President hit the mark. And he fielded their questions well, I thought.”

“Yeah,” was all Leo could manage as he took in her silly grin and something in her face, which was partially masked by her desk lamp.

Silence filled the room for a few seconds, as neither knew what to say.

“So Toby’s dealing with the thing?” Leo asked after a moment or two.

“Yeah, he is.” She nodded and her smile radiated once more.

“Okay.” Leo smiled at her briefly, before turning and heading back to his office.

Something played on his mind. There had been things over the last few years, little things that he had shaken off as unimportant, coincidences, but now the two of them tonight. His mind went into overdrive as he waved Margaret off and closed his office door.

CJ and the President were certainly closer. And that wasn’t such a bad thing. Jed needed friends and counsel and CJ was good at both of them. It was just the new language they spoke, the one that involved looks alone, that worried him. He didn’t think it was possible; he didn’t want to consider that the President was cheating on Abbey but as he sat at his desk all the small things came together.

Leo removed his glasses and closed his eyes. His fingers massaged away the headache that was threatening, as his thoughts drifted back to when CJ joined the campaign.

When Toby had first brought CJ aboard, everyone had been a little in awe of her. It had something to do with the fact she would be yelling at them one minute and in the next breath smoothing down their problems. And, the fact she was six feet tall and stunning.

The first weekend Jed had invited the staff to his house, Leo had had the opportunity to observe CJ. He and Jed had been sitting on the porch, watching as the others got to know each other. He could still remember Jed’s playful tone as he compared CJ to a movie star. Which of course had nothing to do with her long legs.

A few months later, before it looked as though Jed might win, they had spent another night discussing the staff. He still couldn’t remember their names but Leo knew he was talking about CJ. The long legged blonde couldn’t really be anyone else.

Also the fact that Leo had the same thoughts. They had been joking around and in a moment’s silence Jed had announced how often he fantasized about CJ. There hadn’t been any specifics but by the blush across his friend’s face, Leo knew that it was definitely a steamy dream. Leo had chided him about it, making sure that particular piece of information would stay between the two of them.

Of course in those early days the two of them would openly discuss how attractive she was, both in looks and spirit and there was never any doubt they wanted her on the team. It was only as the stakes went up that those sorts of conversations stopped.

It was only now, as he sat in his office, that Leo wondered if Jed still had those feelings. Whether in fact, he had ever acted on them.

There had also been times over the course of the last five years when Leo had caught the President staring at CJ. Apart from Abbey, he had never caught him look at another woman with that degree of lust. He was also pretty sure the night of Abbey’s Birthday party on the balcony Jed was appraising CJ’s bare back.

Of course CJ with little on, was hard to ignore. Leo, often found himself staring at her. There had even been times when he had considered throwing his cap over the wall but those moments usually disappeared in the cold light of day. She had practically every man in Washington chasing her, and she wasn’t about to settle for an old warhorse like him, or for that matter Jed.

But the nagging doubts wouldn’t disappear that easily.

There was one specific occasion that came to mind. The night of the Leadership Breakfast he had bumped into CJ leaving the residence. It had seemed innocent enough on the surface, the President meeting with his Press Secretary in private, but Leo had sensed something that night in the air. There was an underlying tension as if there was unfinished business. Jed had seemed slightly annoyed to be disturbed, and if anything a little dishevelled, but apart from that, there was nothing Leo could put his finger on.

Of course by his very nature, Leo was curious and not to mention protective, especially where the President was concerned. But that night he had been distracted by his meeting in the Oval Office and had shrugged it off, instead talking about Toby.

His most vivid memory was of the night he told CJ about the President’s MS. It was strange in itself that he was the one telling her especially when Jed had told the guys himself. But Jed had asked him to do it, so he had. Of course when it came to handling women, Jed always liked to leave it to Leo. In all the years they had known each other, Jed had gotten enormous pleasure from it. How his friend had ever gotten Abbey to date him, let alone marry him was a mystery. Leo didn’t even want to contemplate that Jed was anything but faithful to her.

When he had gone to see Jed afterwards, he had been concerned and more than a little fearful of what CJ had said. Leo had reassured him CJ was dealing with it, that there was someone to get her through it. The last thing the administration needed at that point was the President worrying about his staff; he needed to keep his head in the game. And Leo had been confident in the fact, that if anyone could handle the news, it would be CJ.

There was also CJ’s reaction to it the news. For the most part it had been expected. The focus on the politics, her anger bubbling at the surface and the tears tucked away for later. Her eyes had been the only indicator of how confused she was. When she had gotten up to leave, Leo had wanted to reach out and hold her, but he couldn’t, hoping instead that she would go to Toby.

The unusual part was her reaction to Abbey’s name. She had been startled and he had seen a flash of pain across her face, briefly, before it vanished.

Of course CJ and Abbey were friends, it could have been concern but looking back and considering Jed’s relationship with CJ now, he had to wonder if there was something going on back then.

For days afterwards the President had avoided CJ, well actually he had avoided most of his Senior Staff, instead using Leo as a go between. But if Leo remembered corrected that was only for a few days, with CJ it went on for over a week, not speaking to her or meeting her.

It didn’t mean much at the time, but with so many other things, on reflection everything added up. And there was also the Press Conference where he thought he saw Jed glance at her briefly before he announced he was going to win. There had been so much going on that night, and Leo had been focusing on keeping Toby on the team, but it was a brief moment as everything went to suspended animation, and Jed stuffed his hands into his pocket and glanced off to his left. Leo may have been wrong, he was probably staring off into space, but the seeds of doubt were planted.

Of course then came Haiti and they all lost CJ for a while. Leo had never thought she would mis-speak but she had and everything changed. Leo yelled at her, and the President refused her access. The spin boys had blamed it on her tiredness, but in light of what he thought he’d witnessed earlier could it have been because of her growing attraction to the President.

Leo had gone into the Oval Office after that fateful briefing, all fired up to tell him about CJ's little mistake and Jed had been just as angry. Then two weeks later, Leo had gone into the Oval Office and told him quietly that CJ wanted to resign. Jed’s response then was to let her walk, but Leo had talked him down. It was what he did; put himself in the firing line.

Later, in Manchester, Jed had asked, "How's everyone doing?" and Leo had brushed it off with a “fine.” Nobody was fine, but they were getting on with things. Except of course, CJ, and Jed must have suspected that, for the next thing he asked was, "CJ?"

Leo had stared at him, he hoped with his face neutral. He had suspected then that the enquiry was more than professional. Or maybe the eleven years of friendship had made Jed that easy to read. Leo had shot him a look in warning and the President had merely nodded and turned back to gaze out at his farm, "I'm running and I'm going to win," he had said confidently.

Something had obviously happened that weekend because there had been a conversation in the barn, and after that there was no more talk of CJ leaving and Jed was apologizing to his staff. Leo had also caught them in the barn that evening. Jed had been holding her against his chest as she cried, unabridged.

He hadn’t said anything, because it could have been innocent, the President comforting a friend at the end of a stressful few weeks. But there was something in the moment that raised Leo’s suspicions. He had glared at Jed’s dismissal, knowing that there would be an explanation later, maybe not the truth but something to quell his fears.

Looking bad, there never was an explanation.

Leo’s musings lead him to the trip to India.

The original plan had been for the senior staff to accompany the President on the short trip. The campaign and the increasing tension with the legislative branch of Government had put pay to that. It had been Leo’s suggestion that CJ still go. The press were going to be there, and she was the only one not tied up in meetings. Of course there was also the fact CJ was a calming influence in the face of an impending storm.

When they had returned, both had seemed happier and more relaxed. Jed had even gone to the effort of building bridges with his staff. That in itself, Leo pondered, should have made him wonder what happened. He put it down to a successful trip at the time.

He hadn’t even thought to ask what, if any, gift CJ received. Somehow he didn’t see CJ as a chess player.

Abbey’s Birthday party had been an ordeal for all involved, Leo knew. But that night CJ had looked damn hot, her bare back sending shivers through many a man. And Jed had been watching her, as he had himself. Leo’s eyes had followed her as she crossed the portico, and he had wanted to dance with her then. That aside, his focus had been on Abbey, and her impending hearings.

CJ had suggestion that he be the one to speak to Abbey hadn’t come as a surprise to Leo. Everyone seemed to think his special relationship with her helped in times like that, it didn’t. He pissed her off as much as anyone else. And as it turned out they both ended up having to speak to Abbey.

Jed was a chicken when it came to seeing his wife emotional. He and Leo had been friends for years, they understood each other even when their wives couldn't and the fact that Jed was struggling over the speech told Leo he wasn‘t dealing very well with Abbey‘s crisis that night.

Of course, he was probably wrong. Everything added up to something going on, but it could also be totally innocent. CJ had always been a good friend to everyone and there was really no reason to think that had changed. Except Leo now had nagging doubts that wouldn’t go away.

**********************************

Leo shook his head. It was all in his imagination, he was sure. Lack of sleep was making him read things that weren’t there. Groaning, he returned to the neatly stacked files on his desk. He began to toss them around as he looked for the one he needed. Suddenly it occurred to him where he might have left it.

Leo walked over to the Mural Room and was searching for his folder when he saw CJ enter through the French doors to Charlie’s office.

She was staring at the carpet, her hands tightly gripped by her sides. The happy go lucky smile from earlier had disappeared and her face was now fixed into a stony wall.

Something had obviously transpired on the portico for her sudden change in mood. The professional facade had been firmly restored.

Leo wondered who had been the one to shattered her mood, debating whether he should intervene and sort the situation. He hated to see her like that, especially when it was down to the boys and their idiotic ways. How any of them ever found a girlfriend, he’d never know.

He was still standing in the doorway when he spotted Jed slip into the Oval Office. Leo watched as he leaned against the desk and let out a breath. After a few seconds Jed pulled himself together and sat back at the desk.

Leo rubbed his forehead and thought back on the day’s events. He couldn’t come up with anything that would cause the President and the Press Secretary to have a fight. In fact for once, everything had gone smoothly, and even the President’s gaffe had turned out in their favor.

His concern re-emerged and he creased his forehead in consternation. He hoped there wasn’t anything brewing. He didn’t want CJ resigning again, especially not at this stage in the game, and he certainly didn’t want the President’s mind on anything but the campaign.

Leo’s thoughts briefly returned to his earlier musings. Maybe, he had been right, maybe there was something underlying between them. He inwardly groaned at the prospect. He hoped he was wrong. The last thing he wanted for Jed, CJ or Abbey was a scandal.

He shook his head, of course he was wrong, CJ and the President had probably argued about something benign as friends do, and tomorrow everything would be back to normal. That was it, he was sure, but from now on, he was going to be a better friend to both of them.

Leo tucked the folder under his arm and headed back to his office.

The End