�Probably. You start to catch on after a while,� I said.
�How long did it take you?� Ronna asked.
�About six months, but we were roommates at the time so we were around each other a lot. The average is about a year, though it�s been known to happen in as little as two minutes.�
�Who managed that?�
�Donna,� I said with a smile.
�Ah,� Ronna said, smiling as well. �Well, here you go,� she said, giving me the message slip. �You know what he means?�
I read it over and nodded. �Thanks, Ronna.�
�No problem, Mr. Seaborn,� Ronna called as I started heading down the hall. Upon hearing that I cringed and turned back. Not being �Mr. Seaborn� all the time was one of the good things about leaving the private sector. It had been high on the list of PROs on my PRO/CON list.
�It�s going to be a long term if you don�t call me Sam,� I said.
Ronna smiled. �Alright, Mr. Seab�Sam,� she said.
I went back to my temporary office and worked on vetting for another hour before finding Ronna and telling her that I was taking off for a little while. She wrote down my cell phone number, and my pager number as well, and then reminded me that I had to run the staff meeting at eight�another thing Josh had pawned off on me. If I hadn�t mostly forced him into taking a vacation I would have been a lot angrier at Josh for leaving me with so much work, but as it was I couldn�t really get mad at him since it had been my idea and my ultimatum�as well as Donna�s�that led to him booking a flight for two to somewhere tropical.
Josh was attempting to pack when I got to his place. When I knocked he yelled that the door was open, not caring that he had buzzed me into the building and invited me in without making sure it was me he was letting in. It was a very Josh habit of his that would have to be broken once Santos took office. Like CJ, Josh was going to have a Secret Service detail since the US had extensive military operations going on.
�Does toothpaste expire?� Josh asked as he hurried past me, coming out of his bedroom and heading for the couch where he had a large black suitcase waiting.
�What the hell?� I frowned.
The question was classic off-the-wall Josh, and I was pretty sure he�d asked me the same thing a couple of times before. That wasn�t what threw me. What had me standing in the middle of his entryway with what I�m sure was not a flattering look on my face was his outfit. Tan cargo shorts that were obviously purchased before the Santos campaign started because they were too big for his new starvation-diet waist-size, leather sandals that I made a mental note of so I could mock him for them later�it was November in DC and he was wearing leather Birkenstocks�and a flowery-print button-down shirt that I really hoped he hadn�t bought for his aborted trip to Tahiti with Amy Gardner.