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“Hey Donna, this is my friend Grant from law school,” Will introduced the tall, blonde man beside him.
She turned on her practiced smile and held out her hand for him. “Hi. Donna Moss,” she said. “Do you live here in New Hampshire?”
Grant’s smile widened at that and, in spite of herself, Donna found it to be very charming. “No, actually,” answered as he shook her outstretched hand.
“I’m trying to recruit him,” Will interjected. “Or I did recruit him, should I say?” He added, looking at his friend expectantly.
The blonde man gave Donna a penetrating sort of look before turning to Will. “I wasn’t totally convinced, but I think I’ve changed my mind.”
Will either hadn’t noticed or wasn’t bothered by the look Grant had given her, because he was beaming, slapping his friend on the shoulder and welcoming him.
“So, Donna Moss,” Grant turned back to her. “What do you do on the campaign?”
“Oh, I’m responsible for media targeting for the Northeast and Pacific Northwest,” she told him. It was strange to say anything besides ‘Senior Assistant to the Deputy Chief of Staff’. She felt a slight pang in her chest, but there was also quite a bit of elation at her new title.
That elation grew when Will jumped in. “She’s being incredibly modest,” he told Grant. “Donna is the heartbeat of this campaign and she certainly does more than just media targeting. We literally couldn’t do this without her.”
She knew her cheeks were burning at the praise from Will. Grant raised his eyebrows and looked between the pair of them before smiling again. “Wow! Will must think very highly of you—I’ve not known him to hand out idle praise.”
“Because I don’t,” Will agreed. “Donna’s quite the catch,” he added. She knew he meant for the campaign, but she swore she saw something flicker in Grant’s eyes at the words.
“So it would seem,” he winked at her. She certainly couldn’t miss that.
“Uh,” she started, a bit flustered now. “What has Will brought you in to work on, Grant?”
“Legal consulting, I think?” he replied, giving a sideways look at his friend.
“And some speech writing,” Will nodded. “He’s never worked on a campaign, but Grant was known in law school for his novel takes on the law. I figured we could put some of the creativity to work in several places.”
She’d just opened her mouth to respond when she heard her name from across the room and turned to see where it’d come from. “Donna! I need you!” one of the interns called again, sounding a bit panicked.
She turned back to the two men in front of her. “Duty calls,” she smirked, before addressing the taller man. “Grant, welcome aboard. We’re happy to have you.”
“Donna, right?” Will’s friend who she’d been introduced to a few days ago sat down directly across from her. “Do you mind if I join you?”
She was sitting at a table alone in the hotel restaurant. She often ate with Will, but if he was too busy, she was perfectly content to have her meal while reading about potential ad-buys, as she had planned to tonight. “Uh, no, of course not,” she indicated the seat across from her. “The waitress said she’d be right back to take my order—”
“Grant,” he pointed at himself, perhaps assuming she hadn't remembered, but it was her job for many years to make sure at any number of functions Josh Lyman to remember the names of spouses (or mistresses) of every member of Congress. Remembering names and faces was something she had gotten very good at.
“Yes, Will’s friend from law school with the novel legal theories. I remember,” she smiled before returning to the menu in front of her
“I’m flattered to have made an impression.” He flashed her that same charming smile and she could feel the tiniest bit of warmth in her cheeks. Her phone rang then and it startled her a bit, which, given her years of answering phones, was surprising.
“I’m sorry,” she told Grant before flipping open the cell phone. Greeting her, Sam’s friendly voice came through the receiver immediately. “Hey Sam.”
“So, how’s the Russell Campaign? I’ve been trying to follow it,” he asked.
“It’s, uh,” she paused for a second and glanced at the man sitting at the table in front of her. “It’s good. Different from before, but that’s what’s good about it.” She hadn’t meant it to be a dig at Sam, but as soon as she said it, she wondered if he was going to take it that way.
“I know what you mean. We both know from experience, sometimes you just need to start over,” he answered instead and she was reminded of how much she missed him.
“Yeah, we do,” she smiled, just as the waitress approached.
“What can I get you folks tonight?” she asked in a cheery voice.
“I’ll have the burger, medium rare,” Grant answered first.
“Is that Will? Tell him I said, ‘Hello.’” Sam spoke in her ear.
“It’s not–” she cut herself off to glance down at the menu again, suddenly forgetting what she’d decided to order. “Uh, I’ll have the Chicken Caesar Salad,” she told the waitress hurriedly.
“Thank you,” Grand said to the waitress as she left.
“Why does Will sound different?” Sam chirped in her ear again.
“What?” She asked, feeling discombobulated suddenly. “It’s not Will.”
“Oh, who is it?”
“Sam, can I call you back later?”
“Are you on a date? Did I interrupt a date? I’m sor—”
“No, it’s—” she interjected. “I’ll call you back later, okay?”
“Yeah, okay,” Sam agreed. “Have fun!” Even through the phone, she could tell he had a smirk on his face.
Donna rolled her eyes as she snapped the phone shut. “Sorry—my friend, Sam. He’s in California.”
“No problem,” he said, taking a sip of water. After a moment, he asked, “So, is Sam a friend-friend or, uh, a boyfriend?” He immediately started to laugh at himself. “I’m sorry, that was incredibly lame,” he admitted, looking slightly embarrassed.
“You said it so I don’t have to,” she chuckled. “Sam is a friend-friend. We worked together at the White House and on the two Bartlet Campaigns.”
Grant raised his eyebrows, looking impressed. “So, you’ve worked on at least three Presidential campaigns and at the White House? I can see why Will speaks so highly of you.”
“I think the prestige of it might soon fade once you see what campaign life is really like,” she smirked. “Sitting down like this, having a real meal, is quite the luxury.”
He gave her that penetrating look again and Donna felt something flutter in her chest. “Well, if it’s a rare occasion, I’m honored you let me join you,” he said with a grin.
“Josh Lyman,” he answered the phone abruptly without looking at the caller ID. He’d hardly call it late, but he was the only one left in their makeshift office.
“Hey man,” Sam said through the speaker. “How’s it going?”
Josh let out a heavy sigh. “Well, I’ve got a candidate who won’t listen to me and a staff—I use that word loosely—who are in way over their heads. I’m basically holding things together with Scotch tape.”
“Sounds like us back in ’98,” Sam chucked, knowingly.
“At least in ’98 I had—” He cut himself off, before letting his head drop into his hand. Josh stared down at the mess of papers in front of him, feeling his chest tighten at the sentence he didn’t dare finish. After a several silent moments, he was pulled from his revery by Sam called his name.
“Are you still there?”
“Yeah, I’m here,” he breathed, dragging his hand down his face roughly.
“Have you talk to her?” Clearly Sam didn’t need him to articulate his thoughts and knew exactly where is mind had gone.
Josh swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. “For a minute or two yesterday.”
“You called her?” Sam asked, clearly surprised.
“No, uh—we just ran into each other,” he sighed into the phone.
“Oh. Well, Will is keeping her busy.”
Josh’s head snapped up at that. “You talked to her?” He didn’t intend for the question to come out quite as accusatory as it did.
Sam didn’t answer right away and Josh was wondering if he was deciding how to respond. Eventually, he said, “She’s my friend too, y’know?”
“No, I know. I… uh, I mean, how is she?” Once again Sam was quiet. “Sam?”
“Yeah?”
“How is—”
“Shewasonadate.” He spoke so quickly it didn't sound like separate words. He wasn’t sure, but Josh thought he’d heard the word ‘date’.
“What was that?”
Sam sighed. “Uh, I think she was on a date.”
Josh felt the air leave his lungs. It wasn’t bad enough they were on opposing campaigns, but now she’d also found some gomer? “I… uh, a date?” Another thought occurred to him then. “I swear to God, if you say it was with Will—”
“I wasn’t Will,” Sam rushed to clarify.
“How do you know?”
“I called her, uh, during it. I heard him.”
Breathing threw his nose, Josh tried to settle the bile that was rising up from his stomach. “Well, uh, good for her.”
“Really?” And Josh didn’t need to see his face to know the look of disbelief Sam was giving him.
“Sure, new job, new boy…friend, a whole new life. It’s what she wanted, I guess,” he choked.
“Josh, I don’t think that’s—”
“It’s fine, Sam.”
“I shouldn’t have said anything,” Sam lamented.
“No, no. It’s uh… better this way. Y’know? I mean, uh…”
“I think you should call her.”
Josh made a nondescript noise in his throat. “Even if I wanted to, she wouldn’t answer.”
“You don’t really believe that,” Sam said.
While still trying to stifle the lump in his throat, he summoned an air of confidence when he next spoke. “Of course I do. She made it clear that I’ve been holding her back… from several opportunities, it would seem.”
“Josh—”
“I gotta go, Sam. I’ll talk to you later.” And without waiting for a response, Josh ended the call and let his head fall onto the table with a loud thump.
Sitting on Air Force Two, Donna found herself surrounded by some of the younger staffers, who were peppering her with questions again about working in the White House.
“You’re quite popular,” a different voice cut through the chatter and Donna looked up to see Grant standing in the aisle, grinning at her.
“We’re trying to get her to tell us what it’s like in the White House,” Sarah, one of the interns, explained.
“I don’t know why you still bother—you know she doesn’t talk about it,” Darren, the Director of Youth Outreach, announced from the row of seats behind her.
“You’ve got State Secrets, Donna?” Grant grinned.
She rolled her eyes. “I’ve told you all plenty. It’s not that exciting,” she told the group, trying to hide some of her exasperation and also attempting to ignore the knot that formed in her stomach every time they brought it up.
“We’ll get it out of you one day,” the intern next to her said before he stood up and moved further back to the plane. The others quickly followed, leaving Donna little else to do but look up at Grant, who was watching her curiously.
“Now that your fan club has disbursed, may I sit?”
“By all means,” she waved at the now empty seat beside her.
Sitting down, he wasted no time in broaching the subject himself. “Will has told me a bit about his short time in the White House and he didn’t make it sound nearly as banal as you seem to.”
She swallowed and looked out the window, suddenly feeling like she wasn’t in control of herself. “It was just a job,” she said, not looking at him.
“I knew you were impressive, but you must’ve had an amazing career to see the White House as a ‘just a job’.”
When she didn’t respond, she wondered if he would just leave. She hated to admit how lonely she was on this campaign and the last couple of days had been nice talking to someone besides Will or people so much younger than her. Despite that, she didn’t want any more reasons to think about the White House, more specifically the Deputy Chief of Staff—or former, as he now was.
She’d gone over the potential timeline in her head countless times since hearing about his flight to Texas to recruit a Dark Horse and knew he couldn’t have stayed more than two days at the White House after she quit. She had spent too many nights wondering what that meant, but also knew that if she let it, it’d drive her completely mad. Instead, she put up an emotional wall, and while it had a few cracks after their recent encounters, it was still intact, despite the interns unknowing persistence at trying to knock it down.
“Hey, are you alright?”
She swallowed the lump in her throat and turned, giving him a weak smile. “I’m fine.”
“I didn’t mean to upset you,” he replied, placing his hand on top of hers and looking nervous for the first time since she’d met him.
“You didn’t,” she said, giving him a more genuine smile this time. The knot in her stomach loosened slightly as her grinned back at her, not pulling his hand away.
Clutching his ticket in his hand, he groaned at the line for TSA that seemed to be growing by the second. Adjusting his backpack more securely on his shoulder, Josh set off towards security checkpoint of the Manchester airport. The Santos campaign didn’t have anything remotely resembling an advance team yet, but he had a few contacts he needed to make in South Carolina and he wanted to do it sooner rather than later. He was making a mental list of all the things he needed to do with his 24 hours outside of New Hampshire when a familiar laugh drew his attention.
Searching the area, it didn’t take too long for his eyes to find her. She was standing near the ticket counter, one hand holding a ticket, the other intertwined with the person standing next to her. Josh felt his stomach drop into his chest as he watched the man—taller than her by several inches and conventionally handsome—leaned in to kiss her chastely.
“I’m going to miss my flight,” he heard her scold him, though she still had a grin on her face.
“Alright,” he replied, before pulling her into a hug.
She laughed again as they parted. “I really have to go. I’ll be back tomorrow.”
“Call me when you land?”
“I will," she promised as she started moving away, dragging her bag behind her. Josh realized she was moving in his direction. About half way there, she yelled over her shoulder, “Don’t let the camping fall apart without me!”
Josh watched as the man laughed and waved to her again. He was clearly transfixed watching the scene play out, because he suddenly felt a hard shove in the center of his back. Turning he was face-to-face with an older man, who was conspicuously glaring at him. “Are you gonna stand there all day, pal? Let’s go!”
He turned back and realized there was now sizable gap between him and the closest person in front of him. Once again adjusting his bag, he shuffled forward, but in doing so, he lost sight of Donna in the crowd. He craned his neck to try to see her, but resigned defeat when the man behind him looked ready to commit murder should Josh continue to hold up the line. He was already an anxious flyer, but after the rom-com scene he’d just witnessed, he felt sure he wasn’t going to make it through this flight without at least one barf bag.
Donna sat down with a huff as she finally found her gate. For a state as small as New Hampshire, the airport was packed—making her appreciate Air Force Two all the more. Not being at her gate well before boarding started had always made her quite anxious, and although she did finally make it, she was finding it hard to calm herself down. Just as her heart rate was begun to slow, she looked up to see a familiar face moving into the same seating area. Her heart immediately started thundering again as she watched him take a seat a couple rows over, not noticing her. She didn’t know if she was hurt or relieved by that.
She wanted to believe this was some sort of cosmic punishment, but at this point in the primary, it made sense that both campaigns would be sending people to South Carolina. He looked tired and she instantly wondered if he was still taking his medication, but shook the thought away. That wasn’t her responsibility anymore she reminded herself scornfully.
“This seat taken?” came a slurring voice with a southern accent to her right. Not waiting for an answer, a man slid into the seat next her.
She turned to look at him as the alcohol on his breath hit her. “Oh…” she started, noticing the several empty seats around them that he could have taken.
“You going home?” He asked, but again, instead of letting her answer, he continued. “I just know a gorgeous girl like you is a Southern Belle. Were you from, sweetheart?” Between the overwhelming smell of cheap vodka and the sickeningly sweet tone of his voice, Donna felt nauseous.
“Uh, excuse me,” she told him, reaching for her bag and moving to get up from the chair. However, before she could anywhere, the man had thrown his arm tightly around her shoulders and leaned in close.
“C’mon, li’l lady,” he slurred in a deepening drawl, his breath on hot her cheek. “Let’s get to know each other.” It took everything in her not to shutter from his proximity.
“Please, let go of me,” she told him firmly and a bit louder than usual, hoping it would get her point across while she tried to extricate herself from his grip.
Suddenly a voice she’d know anywhere cut-in and she hated the sense of relief that flooded through her.
Josh grit his teeth as he watched the guy paw at Donna. “There you are, babe,” he said loudly, making sure the people around them noticed when he approached. “I have seats over there for us.”
His interruption had the desired effect of distracting the man enough so that she was able to stand up, out of his reach. Josh held out his hand to her, hoping she'd continue to play along. He saw a flash of reluctance cross her face before she took it. Reaching for her bag, he slung it over his shoulder and together they moved away from the drunkard. Josh took a second to look behind him, and shot the guy a nasty look as he and Donna took seats on the far side of the terminal.
“Are you alright?” He asked, once they were settled.
“I’m fine,” she answered, taking her bag from him, purposely not looking at him. “Thanks.”
Her tone was stilted and Josh couldn’t help but feel his hackles rise at that. “No problem,” he responded, unable to keep the snark out of his own tone. Turning away from him slightly, Donna opened her phone, and started texting furiously, her fingers moving rapidly over the keys. He didn’t know what came over him, but before he could stop himself, he blurted out, “Your boyfriend seems kind of clingy.”
Looking from her phone to him, her eyes narrowed. “What’re you—”
“I saw you guys when I was in the security line. Seems kind of clingy,” Josh shrugged. He didn’t know why he was poking at this. It was sure to just infuriate her.
“He’s not my boyfriend,” she snapped.
“Looked pretty boyfriendy to me,” he murmured, looking away from her harsh stare.
She made a derisive noise. “Because you know how I act with a boyfriend,” she countered. “Not that it’s any of your business, but he’s Will’s friend from law school—he works on the campaign.”
Something about that stung him deeply, spurring on his anger. “Not exactly running a tight ship over there if he’s letting staffer’s hook-up.” He nearly choked on the last word.
Donna scoffed loudly at that. “Are you joking? You and Mandy had screaming matches every other week on the ’98 campaign! How can you even—”
“Mandy was a consu—”
“Oh, give me a break, Josh!" she cut him off harshly. "I don’t even know why you care—it doesn’t affect you anymore! You no longer have to worry if I’m not around to answer your phone or summarize bills because I have the audacity to want some semblance of a social life!” Her voice as acid and every word burned inside him.
He whipped around to look at her again, feeling the heat rise in his face as his anger spilled over. “Yeah, because that’s all I cared about!” he spat back at her, letting his own voice turn venomous. Waving his arm to punctuate his point, he continued. “For eight years, it was nothing but phone messages and memos! Glad you’ve made it clear how you saw it!”
Josh watched as her expression grew angrier, but her eyes got glassy with unshed tears. She opened her mouth to speak, but apparently decided against it. Instead, she grabbed her bag and moved to sit several seats away from him. He watched her glance across the terminal to the guy who’d been giving her trouble earlier. Josh followed her gaze and was glad to see the man had seemingly passed out.
Looking to her again, he noticed her sitting up straighter, clearly knowing he was watching her and attempting to look unfazed. Setting his jaw, he forced himself to pull his eyes away. He sat there lamenting both her anger and his own. Sam had been right. She’d found someone—she really had moved on from him in every way possible and he felt sick again. So lost in his own thoughts, he jumped when the boarding announcement came loudly over the speaker.
Almost immediately the terminal exploded with movement as people lined up to board. As he lined up with the rest of the passengers, he couldn’t help but be aware of her presence three people ahead of him. He know it was going to be a very long flight.
Twenty-four hours in South Carolina had been exhausting, but Will seemed pleased with the updates she had given him. As she exited the gate, she saw that Grant was waiting for her and she couldn’t mistake the dread that accompanied seeing him. She wanted to blame Josh—claim that he had tainted it with his questions and badgering, but she knew that wasn’t it. Perhaps it was Josh’s fault, but not in that way. She smiled weakly as she reached him, letting him kiss her gently.
As they parted, she noticed Josh out of the corner of her eye, watching them stone-faced. She felt a pang of guilt, but stifled it quickly. She had nothing to feel guilty for—well, at least not towards Josh.
“How was your flight?” Grant asked brightly.
She forced herself to look at him. “Oh, it was fine.” She couldn’t keep her voice from sounding off and it did not go unnoticed.
“You okay?” He asked, taking her carry-on bag from her as they headed toward the airport parking structure.
“Just tired,” she she answered with a shrug.
He smiled at her and slung his arm casually over her shoulder. “You can sleep in the car. I don’t mind.”
Once they were driving down the highway toward campaign headquarters, she knew she couldn’t put it off any longer. “Hey, Grant?”
“Yeah?”
“I want us to be friends,” she started, rather lamely.
He looked over at her with a curious smile, before turning back to the road. “Aren’t we already friends?”
Donna swallowed, trying to build up her courage. She knew it was the right thing. It wasn’t fair to string him along and the longer it went on, the harder it would get. Donna had put everything aside to join this campaign and she intended to do well. A messy break-up was not part of that. Grant was sweet and kind, but she knew she would never love him. Not when, despite her best efforts to get it back, she had long ago given her heart to someone else. She took a deep breath in. “Of course we are. But,” she paused for a moment, “I mean, just friends.”
Donna watched him from the corner of her eye, trying to gauge his reaction from the side, beneath his sunglasses. “Oh,” he said, finally. “Just friends. I, uh—”
“I’m sorry—”
He turned to look at her again. “It’s okay,” he told her with an understanding smile. “We’re here to do a job, right? It’s okay if we just focus on that.”
“Really?”
He let out a gentle chuckle. “Of course. And,” it was his turn to pause now. “If I’m being honest, Will may have warned me I was barking up the wrong tree.”
Stunned, she couldn’t respond immediately. “He did? Uh, wha—what did he say?”
“Don’t worry, he didn’t divulge any secrets,” Grant assured her, clearly picking up on her trepidation. “He just said I would have my work cut out for me because, as far as he knew, you were hung up on someone else.”
After a moment, Donna laughed out loud at that, because she really didn’t know how else to respond. She wanted to be embarrassed—and she eventually would be—but right now, she just felt like some of the weight she had been carrying since joining this campaign had lifted. She couldn’t say what it was, but at least the perpetual dull ache deep in her chest seemed to lessen just slightly.
She didn’t know how this primary was going to go or what would happen after the convention. She mostly tried not to think about it, but when she did, she couldn’t help but think that maybe things would be different then. Josh’s face swam into her mind and Donna let herself wonder if maybe this wouldn’t always be a tragedy.