Chapter One
The Convention had kept her mind occupied for a while, but now that Santos and Leo are running, she has nothing to think about except the things she wishes she could forget. So, she's sitting on the steps, concentrating too hard on the smoke rings she blows and trying to forget the men suffocating above her. She looks around. The mall around her is empty, save a few drunken men trying to find their cars. Her cell phone rings, interrupting her silence. "CJ Cregg."
She knows it's him before he speaks. "Toby." He clears his throat, a bad sign. "CJ, I need to talk to you." She sighs. Leave it to Toby to call her and say he wants to talk and then stop talking. "So talk, Toby." She can hear him rubbing his hand over his forehead, another bad sign that shows his frustration, but, dammit, he interrupted her peace and she's not in the mood to take his crap right now. "CJ, my place, ten mintues." He hangs up before she can reply, and CJ has a sudden urge to hurl her cellphone down the steps. She takes a drag off her cigarette before dropping it into her bottle of water, takes one last look at Honest Abe, and heads off to find her car.
He's impressed that someone who looks as good as CJ does is so smart. After the meeting, he walks up to CJ, who is talking with the candidate, Jim. She smiles at Toby and he finds himself smiling back despite his best efforts not to. "We haven't been properly introduced. I'm CJ Cregg." She extends her hand and Toby tries to remember his name. "Umm...Toby Zeigler." She nods and turns back to her conversation, oblivious to the fact that Toby's standing beside her trying to get her to look at him again.
It's obvious from the look in CJ's eyes that she thinks Jim is a total moron, a fact that Toby likes because he thinks that everyone he has ever worked for is a total moron. Their numbers are low, and despite everyone's best efforts, it looks like they're going to lose. There are three weeks left before elections and, unless CJ is a magician, her joining the campaign this late won't do any good. She seems hopeful and patient, helping Jim come up with answers to all of the questions that are going to come up at his press conference. Jim is a moron, but Toby is starting to think that maybe, just maybe, CJ can help the candidate sound a little more intelligent just by helping him come up with answers. They may just win after all.