HERE TONIGHT
“Come in,” Zoey shouted, after all this was her room.
Donna stepped in, and they all looked at her. Zoey noticed that her eyes were somewhat puffy and slightly red although she tried to conceal it with make-up.
“You look really strange there, Sam,” Donna quipped, making Zoey spin around to catch sight of Sam. Whose mouth was literally open.
“Close your mouth, Sam,” Zoey admonished the young man and then turned back to Donna. “Hi, Donna.”
“Hi, Zoey. I really hate to disturb you but… I wanted to ask for a favor,” she stammered.
“But, of course, Donna,” Zoey said reassuringly, although slightly disappointed. She never thought Donna would use their friendship for such things.
“Thank you. I wouldn’t ask for it if it wasn’t for my little niece,” Donna said, blushing slightly.
“For your niece?” Zoey asked back.
“Yeah, could you sign this card for her? She is really a big fan of you,” Donna explained.
“A fan?” Zoey asked back while taking the card and the pen from Donna.
“Yeah. She is seven and just started school. She said your interview in August really made her first month in school better,” Donna said.
It was her first and last interview during the campaign. Her father had a very strong opinion about how the press should treat his daughters and usually didn’t allow them to take on interviews. Zoey was approached by a TV-Show for children to do a brief interview and it was just before school started. She was asked about her first school year and she admitted that she had a tough start. Obviously, Donna’s niece found this interview good while Zoey still had nightmares about it. This thought made her smile.
“But, of course, Donna,” she said, sat back and pulled the coffee table closer to the sofa to write the card. She considered what to write and then decided for something simple. ‘Hang on there, ….’
“What’s her name?” Zoey asked.
“Isabella,” Donna said promptly.
‘Hang on there, Isabella. Love, Zoey.’ After finishing, she gave Donna the card back and watched her touched, as she tucked it away carefully into the folder she was carrying around.
“Why aren’t you all downstairs?” Donna asked then curiously.
“We are tired and we won’t go down until someone comes up and makes us go,” Sam said.
“I won’t go down,” Toby stated. “Not unless Leo or Dr. Bartlet makes me,” he added then under his breath.
“What about Dad?” Zoey asked back, slumping back onto the sofa, assuming that Donna would stay now with them. She knew better than to make a fuss about seating arrangements. Either Josh would stand up or Donna would take place on the floor. It depended on a lot of things, like mood and how they solved the seating problem the last time. Zoey knew they had a knack for these things.
“No,” Toby said with a shake of his head. This statement made Zoey laugh out loud.
“You are not afraid of the future leader of the free world but his wife and Chief of Staff?” she asked, finding the thought absolutely entertaining.
“Well, Leo is my boss,” Toby said. “And Dr. Bartlet is a formidable adversary,” he added.
“You look at my mother as the enemy?” Zoey asked back, not exactly knowing whether to laugh or scold.
“I didn’t say enemy. And I like your mother,” Toby corrected. “But don’t tell her that,” he added then hastily. “It’s just that she is so damn protective of your father!”
“I see,” Zoey said with a nod.
“Really?” Toby asked back flabbergasted.
“You would like Daddy to live up to his full potential as a leader, as the future President of the United States of America, and Mom still looks at him as Jed Bartlet, her husband and the father of her children,” Zoey tried to formulate her thoughts.
Toby nodded and then looked at Josh with a wink.
“When did you get so smart, kiddo?” Josh asked her mockingly, nudging her gently in the ribs.
“I learned from the best,” Zoey quipped back.
“Yeah, glad to be of service,” Josh said with one of his trademark grins that conveyed to everyone that he was so sure of himself. Although Zoey knew that that was only one of his masks she still found it somewhat irritating. She wanted to strike back so bad, but nothing came to mind. At her best days she wasn’t up to par with Josh’s verbal skills so when she was tired she clearly had the disadvantage. Although she was learning fast. The most from Donna who always came to her rescue.
“Yeah, I’m sure Zoey meant the President-Elect the First Lady-in-Waiting, Josh,” Donna spoke up, turned and then wanted to leave the room.
“You don’t want to stay?” Zoey asked back unsurely.
“I should really go back to…” Donna wanted to say, but Zoey interrupted her.
“Donna, it’s like practically New Year. Why don’t you stay with us and then come down when we have to go,” Zoey offered.
“No, I wasn’t invited,” Donna said, casting a fleeting glance at Josh.
“Nonsense,” Zoey said in her best imitation of her mother, making Toby jump a bit and CJ chuckle. “You should come.”
“I would rather not,” Donna protested.
“Donna,” Josh said in an almost begging tone.
“No, Josh,” Donna said, shaking her head. “They are right, I’m your secretary.”
“And there goes my dream,” CJ whispered.
“What kind of dream?” Sam asked her.
“I thought when we are done with the White House I would ask Donna to become my partner at the Consulting Agency I wanted to start,” CJ explained.
“You mean as your assistant?” Donna asked back unsurely.
“No, Donna, as my partner. I figured if you and I are still in the White House eight years from now, then we weathered so much from these bisons,” CJ said, pointing at the men in the room, “that we could start a consulting agency. That experience would make us the best prepared, the most professional and the highest priced consultants for female politicians inside and outside of the Beltway.”
“Really?” Donna asked.
“Yes. Only if you don’t want to fight the establishment, I’m not sure you were really a good partner,” CJ said, contemplatively looking Donna up and down.
“CJ, you are aware of the fact that we are the establishment,” Josh said. “And the ‘we’ includes you and Donna too.”
“But what could I do?” Donna asked CJ, ignoring Josh’s remark.
“You could ask Daddy,” Zoey says.
“No, never.” Donna shook her head.
“Or Mom,” Zoey suggested.
“Not while I’m alive,” Donna said.
“Okay, seriously, people, you don’t have to be afraid of Mom. She is a nice person.”
“I’m not afraid of your mother,” Donna said. “I just don’t want to disappoint her,” she added then.
“But, Donna, they called you a secretary!” Sam exclaimed.
“And I’m a secretary,” Donna responded, a bitter undertone seeping into her voice. “And not a good one at that,” she added in a whisper.
“Honestly, Donna,” Josh spoke up, “sometimes you awake something in me that tells me to….”
“Beat sense into me?” Donna asked back hesitantly.
This statement earned her a glare from Josh, Zoey and CJ.
“Beat sense into you?” Josh asked back, his voice pitching a high note, and Zoey instantly knew that Josh was nervous and probably frightened.
“That’s something my father used to tell me when I was stubborn,” Donna admitted with a shrug of shoulders. “He never did though,” she added then hastily.
Toby and Sam both let out a relieved sigh at her words.
“I’m a lousy secretary, Josh, you should at least have the decency to admit it,” Donna pressed on.
“Yes, you are a lousy secretary,” Josh shouted, “but you are also a fantastic assistant,” he added then, sounding calmer. “I don’t care that you don’t bring me coffee and such as long as you do your job.”
“Then why are you asking for coffee every morning?” CJ asked.
“It’s part of the routine,” Josh confessed. “I like routine, makes me feel ordered and focused,” he added then with a blush, realizing that he just shared something personal with a bunch of people.
“Okay,” Donna said then, her usual perkiness returning. “What are we doing until Dr. Bartlet or Leo shows up?”
“We could just sit around like we did before you came in,” Josh suggested, although Zoey was sure he knew that not much chance of that existed with Donna in the room.
“Donna, please, please, spare us any trivia tonight,” Sam begged her. “I swear to God if I have to hear one of those lectures before the New Year I will lose it,” he admitted, making the other four laugh out loud.
“Okay, we could play a game,” Donna suggested then.
“A game?” Toby asked back incredulously.
“What kind of game and how much movement on my part does it require?” CJ asked.
“Not much,” Donna answered and then planted herself onto the ground, her back resting against Josh’s legs. “Mostly brain activity.”
“My brain is like dead,” Sam threw in.
“Sam, please, please, don’t joke around about your brain. I don’t want to hear about your brain unless it’s fully up to its capacity or maybe better,” Toby warned the younger man.
“What’s the game, Donna?” Zoey asked, ignoring both Toby and Sam.
“It’s called ‘Anywhere But Here’,” Donna imparted.
“Anywhere But Here?” CJ asked back unsurely.
“Pretty self-explanatory, but if you guys want the rules,” Zoey said, “I could tell you.”
“You know this game?” Josh asked Zoey.
“Yeah, you don’t?” Zoey asked back.
“I’m getting old,” Josh whined.
“No, you are not,” Donna cut him before it could have gotten serious. “You want to play?” she asked her boss then.
“Yeah, what are the rules?” Josh agreed.
“You have to state the place and you have to say with whom you want to go there,” Zoey explained hurriedly.
And that was when someone stormed into the room.
GO TO PART THREE