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MY GUESTBOOK
�Good. Now, I�m going to need a rapid-fire staff briefing before we get back to the office,� I said as our food arrived.
Donna went to work on her part of the non-Sisterhood-sanctioned plan while I trudged back to the OEOB. I had about ten five-minute meetings between one and one-oh-five, a pace that I was no longer accustomed to. Fortunately I didn�t have to do much in those meetings�half were introductions to key staff and the other half were people who want to be key staff�and by one-thirty I was rushing to the White House to meet with CJ about Kazakhstan because Josh decided that I might be able to do, and I quote, �the diplomacy thing� better than he had been.
The West Wing is constantly changing and there was no reason for me to think that nothing would change in the four years, almost to the day, since I left, but even armed with that knowledge walking into the halls I had spent so many hours in was like walking into a parallel world.
Charlie was in my old office. Will was in Toby�s. Carol had spread out to CJ�s old office. Margaret, who had always reminded me of Cindy-Lou Who, was sporting a chic new haircut and had a stuffed lamb and many pictures of the baby around her area.
The biggest change, however, was Leo�s office�CJ�s office.
CJ was in a meeting but Margaret let me into her office to wait. I smiled at Gail�though I knew the fish in the bowl was at least three generations beyond the Gail that Danny had given her�and I examined the pictures that decorated the room for a few minutes before taking a seat on the couch to wait for CJ who, in Margaret�s words, �would be along any minute�.
I was waiting for about ten minutes when I heard signs of life outside the door. �Margaret, what do I have next?� CJ asked, her voice carrying through the partially open door.
�President-Elect Santos� Deputy Chief of Staff is waiting in your office for a briefing on Kazakhstan,� Margaret replied. I smiled. She wasn�t giving anything away.
�President-Elect Santos doesn�t have a Deputy CoS,� CJ said.
�He does now,� Margaret said cryptically.
�Just what I need today. A meeting with an over-idealistic politico who wants to change the world and then lead everyone in a couple of verses of �Kum By Ya�,� CJ groaned before pushing the door opened and coming into her office, her eyes glued to a file. �Hello, I�m CJ Cregg.�
�We�ve met, and I�ve never felt the urge to sing �Kum By Ya� in my life,� I said dryly.