Forming Bonds With Tiny Dancers
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| Tales from the Campaign Trail: Forming Bonds With Tiny Dancers |
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| CJ Cregg leans back in her seat and sighs. The Bartlet for America campaign bus is on its way to Illinois, and it's midnight in the middle of nowhere. She's too wired to sleep; thinking about all that needs to be accomplished before the Illinois primary is enough to keep anyone busy, and CJ is no exception. | |||||||||||||||||
| She looks at Toby, who's sitting in the seat next to her. His head is back and his eyes are closed, but she knows he's not asleep. Toby never sleeps with headphones on. She smiles a little at the sight of him with his headphones attachet to the stereo in his lap. She'd teased him at the start of the campaign because everony else has personal CD players but him; now she knows just how practical it is to carry your own stereo. The campaign staffers gather in Toby's room after a long day of work to relax together and listen to music. And, of course, Toby's the only one with music to drown out just jow tone-deaf he is when he sings in the shower. but, CJ will never point that fact out to any of her co-workers, because that would only lead to questions of how she knows that Toby sings in the shower, and she'd rather not go there with any of her newfound friends. | |||||||||||||||||
| CJ thinks for a moment about Toby and his musical taste. You wouldn't take him to be an Elton John fan just by looking at him, but he is. She knows he knows all the words to Elton John's songs, and that he once paid five hundred dollars for tickets when Elton John went to Madison Square Garden. Toby is a complex man. | |||||||||||||||||
| Leaning closer to her best friend, CJ can hear the opening notes of her and Toby's favorite Elton John song, "Tiny Dancer." She turns the volume down and pulls out the headphones so she can listen as well, which causes Toby to groan and come out of his semi-conscious state. "Why'd you do that?! Now the entire bus will hate you for waking them up!" CJ laughs lightly, because no one woke up until Toby forgot to whisper. "They won't hate me; they'll hate you for shouting!" Even though she remembered to whisper, half of the bus starts telling at Toby. | |||||||||||||||||
| Joshua Lyman walks back from the front of the bus, looking like he just spent the night on a roller coaster at Six Flags. His hair is standing on end, and his clothes have seen better days. "Is that 'Tiny Dancer?' I love this song!" Josh takes the seat in front of Toby just as Sam Seaborn walks up from the back of the bus. "Elton John! I love this song!" | |||||||||||||||||
| Sam sits next to Josh, who leans over the back of the seat and turns up the music. Sam doesn't seem to understand that music is meant to be listened to, because he turns to Josh. "Do you remember the first time you heard this song?" Josh nods. "I was on a date with this really hot girl. It was our first date, and we ended up dating for almost a year." Sam nods. "I was bowling. My father, my mother, and I all went out one night, and this song came on. I bowled a perfect game." | |||||||||||||||||
| Josh and Sam turn to CJ. "CJ, do you remember the first time you hear this song?" CJ thinks for a minute before answering Sam's question. "I remember the first time it meant something to me. I was dancing with my best friend. It was the night before he married someone else." Josh nods and turns to look at Toby. "Toby? What's your story?" Toby scratches his beard as he thinks of the best way to answer the question without giving away too much information. | |||||||||||||||||
| "The first time this song meant something to me, I was dancing with the love of my life. Then I went and made the biggest mistake of my life." CJ thanks God that Sam and Josh are clueles. They're concentrating on the words of the song and don't notice the one tear streaming down her face, nor do the notice when Toby takes her hand in his and gives hers a comforting squeeze. | |||||||||||||||||
| Josh looks out the windown and clears his throat before asking the question that's been on his mind all night. "We can do this, guys, right? We can win this thing?" Sam says yes immediately, but Josh looks at Toby and waits for his answer. "If the Governor gets his act together, we can. We'll be just fine." Toby squeezes CJ's hand once more before adding, "All of us." | |||||||||||||||||
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