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MY GUESTBOOK
�I didn�t know I was even up for the job. I�m hardly qualified.�
�Donna, you�re the only person on the list,� Helen said with a gentle smile. �Though apparently my husband has been horribly remiss in expressing that to you, which leads me to believe that he hasn�t told anyone else where they�re going to be working in January. Believe me I�ll make sure that is taken care of first thing in the morning.�
I was, quite honestly, struck dumb.
�Of course, Helen continued, �I guess I�m going to need a Chief of Staff. And I think you�d be perfect.�
My heart was pounding and my head was spinning. The President-Elect and First Lady In Waiting both wanted me on their staff.
Helen smiled softly. �It�s good to know that I�m not the only one whose life has been turned inside out tonight,� she said before standing up. �You should get some sleep. We�re flying to DC in the morning,� she said in a motherly tone before heading for the ballroom door to go back to her suite.
I shook myself from my shock long enough to give a few final orders before going to the elevators to go up to my room. The elevator was thankfully empty and I got to my floor without running into anyone who worked to try to drag me into a party or something. I fumbled with my key card for a minute before getting it to work and I immediately shed my jacket and kicked my shoes in the general direction of the closet. I case a longing look at the bed but refused to give in to the allure of the pillows and blankets until I was sure that Josh would be alright. To distract myself from Josh, my debilitation exhaustion, and my emotional turmoil, I started tidying up my room.
When I had gotten back to my room earlier I had been giddy but cautious. Other than the exchange in the bathroom Josh and I hadn�t talked about what it meant that we had slept together. The unspoken after the election hung over me, and once again I found myself waiting for the Bartlet Administration to come to an end�a feeling I was sure would never be victim to again after quitting my job in the West Wing. That thought depressed me, took away the happy feeling I had had and all that was left was awkwardness and uncertainty.
Before we had slept together there was certainty; I knew that we would get together, the only question was when. Now, though, we had come together and Pandora�s Box had opened and all the evil questions and doubts and fears came flying out. And, sure, like Pandora, I found hope at the bottom of the Box, but with all the other crap it was hard to see the hope.
I finished cleaning up and then curled up at one end of the love seat with the book I�d been carrying around since the beginning without having the chance to even glance at it since I stuffed it into the bottom of my suitcase when I packed for the campaign trail.
Four chapters later I was pulled from my book by a knock at the door.