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MY GUESTBOOK
Also good points. Picking what speeches to work on and crafting the message that the public and Congress received without the constant worry of essentially inconsequential addresses would almost be a dream come true.
�The Council�s office traditionally reports to the Chief of Staff, but, as you�ve pointed out a great many times before, I�m not a real lawyer, so I�ll need a Deputy who actually has a background in practising law.�
�Who do you have in the Council�s office?� I asked. This offer was sounding more and more appealing; not that I planned on letting Josh know that.
�I�m still shopping for Chief, but I�ve got two Deputy Chiefs lined up as well as a handful of Associate Councils. I think I might hire a Third Deputy Chief, but, again, you take this and you can make decisions like that.�
Something was starting to sound funny to me. �Why three DC�s?�
Josh smirked. �The two we�ve got now are Republicans,� he said. �Joe Quincy�the guy who outted Hoynes�and our old friend Ainsley Hayes.�
This got my attention. Ainsley and I had kept in touch after I left, but time, distance, and lifestyles did what they tend to do and, other than an e-mail did what they tend to do, and other than e-mail ever so often we didn�t speak anymore. �How�d you get her on board?� I asked. �Last I heard she couldn�t wait to start working at the Hoover Institute.�
�She went to CJ to see if she could smooth the way with me. Santos is really into bipartisanship and jumped at the chance,� Josh said. �She likes Santos a lot. His ideals�some of them, at least�are close to her own a lot closer than Bartlet�s ever were.� Josh frowned. �Her working for the White House isn�t going to be a negative on your mental list, is it?�
It�s creepy how well we know each other. �Why would it?� I asked
�Because there was something there, between you two, and then you left and now you�re engaged,� Josh said. At least he had the decency not to say the �again� that I knew he wanted to add to that statement.
�Ainsley knows I�m engaged. We e-mail each other when big things happen in our lives,� I said. It sounded vaguely pathetic when I said it out loud, but it was the most effective form of communication. �I don�t know, however, what Sara would think about me working with Ainsley again.�
�Sara being your fianc�,� Josh said.
I nodded.