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"Mrs. Santos, thank you for seeing me on such short notice."
"Nonsense, Donna, anytime." The future First Lady ushered her into the well-appointed room. "Actually, stopping by like this, you've raised my hopes that you've come to a quick decision."
"I have." Donna looked well-pleased by what she was about to say. "Ma'am, I would be honored to be your Chief of Staff."
Palpable relief spread across Helen's face. "Oh, that's terrific. Absolutely terrific. With you on board, I think I can move from terrified to… mildly unsettled by all of this. When can you start?"
"That's the thing, Ma'am-"
"Donna," Helen interrupted her and with one hand motioned for Donna to sit down. "I understand about the position, but please tell me you can call me Helen, at the very least when we're in private. All this Ma'am nonsense is going to go to my head. Soon I'll start expecting people to wait on me hand and foot."
Thinking of the vast White House domestic staff, Donna smiled. Helen was in for a few surprises. But surprises she was going to help her with. "Okay… Helen."
"Thank you. You were saying, before I so rudely interrupted you in a manner not befitting a Ma'am." Humor danced across Helen's face.
Donna chuckled, before turning serious. "The thing is that I'm leaving tonight."
Helen's brow quirked upwards at that. "Leaving?"
"Just for a week."
"Business trip? Don't tell me my husband or that ornery Chief of Staff of his got wind of me trying to steal you away, and now they’re trying to throw a wrench in it?" Helen asked in a mostly teasing tone.
"Not exactly; it's not really business… related."
"Oh, nothing's wrong, I hope?"
"No, nothing like that," Donna reassured her quickly.
"Then pleasure, a vacation?"
Donna nodded in the affirmative, but she did it a bit uneasily. The time was here. From the way Helen was questioning her, it was inevitable. She was going away with Josh and there was no way around people finding that out. Honesty was her only option. It wasn’t that she wanted to lie, and it weren't as if she didn't want people to know, but talking about it was all very new.
"Good for you." Helen clapped her hands together in excitement. "You deserve a break. It's a great idea before we actually get into the White House. Where are you going?"
At that question, Donna paused and felt her face flush as she was once again reminded that she forgot to ask. The future First Lady would have to start with the tough questions first. This was embarrassing. "Um… I don't actually know."
"You don't know?" Helen sounded the words slowly and with a smirk.
"That's pretty much the situation."
"Seriously?"
Donna swallowed nervously and pasted a smile on her face. Why didn't she ask? Oh, right, because she didn't really care where they were going. She was leaving with Josh and that's all that mattered. Her smile turned genuine… and happy. With new confidence she just shrugged and nodded. "Seriously."
"When do you leave?"
Donna glanced down at her watch and a small wave of time-crunch panic hit her. She had to get out of there, if she wanted to stay on schedule. The schedule she'd made in the thirty seconds after hanging up with Josh. With her unparalleled organization and efficiency it had only taken twenty minutes to farm out her duties and leave a message for Lou. "The flight leaves in three and a half hours."
"You leave in three and a half hours and you don't know where you're going?" Helen's eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
"Yes."
"How does something like that happen?"
"That… is an excellent question," Donna agreed, trying not to laugh out loud at herself.
"Are you packed?"
"In my head, yes, but have I actually put the necessary items into a suitcase? No."
"How do you pack if you don't know where you're going?" Helen asked, trying to figure out what the heck was going on.
"Well, what I do know is that I've been promised somewhere warm with beaches and fruity rum umbrella drinks."
"Ooooookay," Helen said slowly.
Donna took in the way she'd befuddled her future boss. "You're rethinking wanting to hire me, aren't you?"
At that, both women laughed.
"Of course not. I'm just curious how someone could be going on vacation in three and a half hours and have no idea of the destination."
"Josh didn't tell me."
"Josh is sending you someplace and won't tell you the destination?"
Donna took a deep, fortifying breath. This was it. The first person she was going to tell. Why was she so nervous? She shouldn't be this nervous. "More like Josh is taking me someplace and I was too overwhelmed to get all the details… for instance, where we're going."
It took a second for that to register and then understanding flashed across Helen's eyes. "Oh… oh." The understanding was followed quickly by surprise. "You and Josh?"
"Yes." Donna said the simple word with resolution. She found she really actually liked the question, when she could offer that answer. It sent a warm tingling sensation curling around her heart.
"You and Josh are going on vacation together?"
"Uh-huh."
"You and the man I just referred to as ornery?"
"So it would seem, Ma- Helen."
"Sorry about that." Helen cringed slightly.
"Please, who are you talking to?" Donna waved her hand, dismissing her apology.
"That's true. Would it surprise you if I told you that actually I find myself not all that surprised?"
That got Donna's attention. "Really?"
Helen shrugged. "You two have a thing."
"A thing?"
"I picked up on it in the last few weeks of the campaign, as soon as I started traveling full time. Surely, you must know you two have a thing."
"Well, I guess I know that. I know that we have a thing, obviously, or I wouldn't be winging away with him to a mystery destination. I just didn't know anyone else knew."
"It's pretty obvious."
"Great." Donna instantly blushed several dusky shades deeper than her normal color.
"So… going on a romantic beach vacation with Josh? How long have you two… known each other?"
"Not quite nine years." The answer didn't require any calculations on Donna's part.
"That's a long time."
"It is," Donna agreed, before adding with a sigh, "You have no idea."
Helen watched her a moment, before her curiosity overcame her better manners. "How long…"
"How long?" Donna asked when Helen trailed off.
"It's none of my business; if my invasive personal questions become too much, feel free to tell me to go Ma'am myself." At that, Donna chuckled. "How long have you two been… vacationing together?"
"This would be our first vacation. But I catch your drift," Donna added with a chuckle. "Things began to change between us during the last few weeks of the campaign. It hasn't been long."
"Wow," Helen replied with a smirk.
"What?" Donna asked with a self-conscious smile.
"You and Josh Lyman?"
"You said that you weren't surprised."
"I'm not, really. But still. It's Josh Lyman. You and Josh Lyman." She was shaking her head.
"You don't like him," Donna replied with a deep sigh.
"It's not that. Oh, in the beginning, I admit it was hard; he was the guy who convinced my husband to run, he uprooted our lives, but he's the reason we're here. And I have enormous respect for him. It's just… you've known him for nine years and you're just now… vacationing?"
"You're thinking we're pathetic, aren't you?"
"No, I'm actually thinking it sounds like a juicy story and I want to hear it," Helen cocked an eyebrow at her conspiratorially. "From the beginning."
Donna felt a wide smile spreading across her face, in spite of herself. "That can probably be arranged. But actually, can I rain check that for when I get back, because if I don't get going I won't have time to pack and I'll have to spend the whole trip without clothes."
"I don't know, doesn't sound like a bad way to spend a romantic getaway to me."
"Helen!" Donna turned beet red this time.
"Go, go. I'll look forward to the story when you get back."
Donna gathered her coat back into her arms and stood. "Thank you. And I'm really looking forward to working with you; thank you for this amazing opportunity. If you have time while I’m gone you might want to start thinking about what's important to you. Jot down a list of causes or issues that are close to your heart. Health care, education, reproductive issues, literacy, poverty… world peace." Donna smiled as she said the last one, thinking that she sounded like a contestant in a beauty pageant. She shook it off and continued passionately, "It will eventually give us an idea about how we might begin shaping your agenda as First Lady. The West Wing is going to hit education out of the gate, it's going to be their best chance to get something done; perhaps we should think about what we can do to champion the President-elect's plan. As the mother of two school-age children you could be a very convincing advocate of what he wants to do. Actually, you might be exactly what's needed to sell it to the country."
Helen felt the pressure that had been sitting on her shoulders for the last week, lessen slightly. In Donna, she knew she'd made the right choice. "Sounds good… and Donna-"
"Yes?"
"Have a Mai Tai for me."
"Will do." Donna grinned as she waved goodbye to her new boss and friend.
***
"So, I have news," Helen announced as she set a bag of food on her husband's desk.
"What's that?"
"I hired a Chief of Staff."
"You did?" Matt finally glanced up from the report he was reading. "I thought you were going to talk to Goodwin and Mrs. Bartlet and get some advice before you made any moves."
"Not necessary; I knew exactly who I wanted."
Matt watched her curiously. She'd been somewhat reticent when it came to accepting her future duties, so this sort of a proactive move came as something of a surprise. "Where did you find this mystery person?"
Helen smiled sweetly at him. "Your staff."
At that, Matt laughed. "So you didn't so much find the candidate as steal him or her."
"Her," Helen replied in a very self-satisfied manner as she unpacked the food.
"Well?" Matt looked at her expectantly.
"Oh, you want to know who I'm hiring?" Helen asked innocently.
"Stealing. And yes, that would be helpful, at least so I can take her off the payroll."
Helen crossed her arms over her chest and looked him straight in the eye. "Donna Moss."
Matt stared at her in stunned silence a moment before crying, "Thief!"
Helen laughed gleefully, feeling very pleased at his reaction.
"You can't have Donna."
"Why not?"
"Because we need her. She's terrific."
"I know. You've told me that; it's partly why I hired her."
He grabbed his wife around her waist and pulled her onto his lap. She looked down at him with a serene smile, but her eyes danced excitedly. He relented, "She's a really great choice."
"I know, and she's still in the administration…" Helen wrapped one arm around his neck as she sat across him sideways in the large desk chair. "She'll just be promoting my agenda instead of yours."
"Your agenda?"
"Yes, isn't it exciting? She thinks I should chart a middle course between activist and Goodwill Ambassador."
"I see; maybe she's going to be too good." He eyed her skeptically.
Helen whapped him on the shoulder. "What does that mean?"
"It means…just… don't forget that our agendas should not be at cross points."
"She thinks that I might be your best shot at selling your education plan to the country and that championing it should be the first item on my agenda."
Matt watched her a moment. In the first year, he hadn't expected to get any help from her with his agenda. He figured it would take her that long to adjust, but if she wanted to be involved in that fight, that was more than fine by him. "Okay, I rescind my statement. She's not too good. She's just right. I would love if you were to help with the education plan. That would mean a lot, actually," he told her sincerely, before shaking his head. "But I'm glad Josh is gone; he's been so uptight with the transition that news we were losing Donna probably would have sent him over the edge."
"Actually…"
"What?"
"Speaking of… don't you think that under the present circumstances, it’s best that she won't be working in the West Wing?"
"What present circumstances?" The President-elect crinkled his brow as he looked side-ways at his wife.
"You know," Helen prodded.
"I know that Russia and China are gearing up for war halfway around the world, I know that I need a Vice President and about 100 other high-level positions to be filled by… oh… next week, but I don't know about present circumstances."
"The circumstances that have Donna on a plane right now, flying to parts unknown with your Chief of Staff."
"What?" Matt's eyes popped wide and he shifted his weight so that he could look at Helen.
"Yeah." Helen nodded
"They left… together?"
"You did know he was gone?"
"Yes, yes, he's gone on vacation for a week. I know. But I didn't know…" Matt trailed off.
"That he wasn't alone? That he was actually taking one of your staffers on a romantic beach getaway."
"Josh and Donna?" Matt asked incredulously. "Together?"
"Apparently."
"When did this happen? Have they been together all this time and hiding it?"
"I've been promised the whole story when they get back."
"Oh… okay, but you're gonna have to promise to spare me those details."
"Okay," Helen said cheerily, knowing that his curiosity would eventually get the better of him.
Matt was shaking his head, still processing the facts. "She lied to my face."
"Who?"
"Donna. Yesterday, she stood right in this room and said that she had no idea when I asked her if Josh was seeing anyone."
"You asked her that?" Helen fairly shrieked.
"Yes."
"Why would you do that?"
"I can't ask one of my staffers a question?"
"You just sat here and waxed on about the important things you have to worry about; meanwhile you've been calling in your staffers asking about your Chief of Staff's love life?" Helen was trying hard not to giggle.
"Well, when you say it like that…"
"Yeah?"
"It sounds inappropriate and tawdry."
Helen snorted and leaned against her husband. With one hand she stroked the back of his neck. "Why did you do such an inappropriate and tawdry thing?"
"I was… worried about him. And I was right. He was stretched to the breaking point."
"So you called in Donna?"
"Sure, who else was I supposed to ask? I thought maybe…"
"You thought?"
"I thought maybe there was something going on there and…" He brightened up suddenly. "Apparently I was right. Maybe it wasn't so inappropriate and tawdry after all."
"Nope, still inappropriate. And tawdry. Since when did you become so astute about these things?"
"I'm astute about a lot of things." Helen just smirked at him, so he explained, "It's the way he looks at her."
"Yeah?"
"It reminds me the way I look at you."
"President-elect Matthew Santos, you are one smooth talker."
"Well, I didn't get here on account of my look-"
He tried to tease, but was silenced by a kiss from the First Lady… elect.