Chapter Text
Joshua Lyman sat down at his desk and buried his face in his hands. He knew he was in the right, and the campaign couldn’t hire her. A week ago she was lambasting the Congressman at every opportunity. Those quotes were still out there, in articles in the Times and the Post, on the internet. Some of them had been brought up on the Sunday talk shows as they debated whether Matt Santos had the gravitas and experience for the Presidency. And that was yesterday. And today she wanted to be his deputy?
And he knew, had she pushed him, if she’d shown a hint that she missed him half as much as he missed her, that he’d have found a way, found some place for her. Instead he’d had to watch her walk away - again - her head proud and erect. She’d shown him that she didn’t need him at all.
Maybe, aside from giving her that job eight years ago, she never had.
He sat there like that for a minute or so. It was time he really didn’t have to spend thinking about things that would never be. A sudden knock on the door startled him from his self-pity. He ran his hands through hair and tried to focus. “Yeah?” he announced in the direction of the sound.
The doorknob turned, and Charlie Young poked his head inside. “Hey.”
“Charlie!” There was genuine excitement in his voice. He had felt a kinship since the day he interviewed the young man for the job as the President’s bodyman, but hadn’t really seen him since leaving to run Matt Santos’s campaign. Josh missed him, like he missed many of his friends in the White House. He rose from his seat to give him a hug. “What the hell are you doing here? Come for a job? Name it, and it’s yours!”
“Whoa, whoa!” Charlie replied after the two separated. “I’m honored, I really am. But I can’t abandon CJ or the President right now.”
Josh’s face darkened with a flash of self-loathing. “Yeah,” he said quietly, moving back to his chair and inviting Charlie to take a seat “So, how can I help?”
Charlie sat. He started to speak, but paused, looking closely at his friend. “Are you okay, man? You’re looking… I don’t know. Defeated. I know you’re nine points down, but you got time.”
“It’s not…” Josh said as he slumped back. “Donna was here, asking for a job. I had to… I couldn’t.”
“Well, that was remarkably stupid. Even for you.”
“Charlie, they were replaying soundbites of her criticizing my candidate on Capitol Beat yesterday,” he complained. “Vinick’s team is probably going to include those quotes in their attack ads. How the hell do I put her on my staff? How could I put her in charge of people who have been with us for months, who believe in Matt Santos, when she was pushing Bingo Bob a week ago? I can’t do it!”
Charlie was silent for a moment, considering the argument. “All right, I’ll concede the optics may be bad. But you know she’s talented and you need all the people you can trust right now.”
Josh looked down, recalling his words to her - I've got an airplane hangar out there filled with five hundred strangers looking to me for direction; I've got a candidate who doesn't trust any of them, and frankly neither do I. “Yeah. I know she’s talented.”
His friend stared at him. “You don’t trust her.” It wasn’t a question. “You’ve known this woman forever. She took care of you after you were shot. You flew to Germany when she was hurt. You know you can-”
Josh interrupted him, his voice raised more with hurt than anger. “She left me! To work for Bingo Bob!” His hands clenched a manilla folder in front of him, and he looked like he wanted to rip it in half in frustration. His breathing was heavy for half a minute before he relaxed his grip. “I’m sorry, man. I wish I could have brought her on board. If Bailey hadn’t put her in front of the cameras, I probably could have. As it is, it’s probably better if CJ finds something for her. You guys need help too.”
Charlie saw the pain and regret on his face.
“Not that she needs it - or, I guess, would ever want it at this point - but I’d give my highest recommendation. Have her take over for Toby with the briefings.” He slid the folder across the desk. “She’s good. She can do it.”
Opening the folder, Charlie saw a series of quotes. Devastating attacks on Santos and Hoynes. Deft handling and deflection of criticism of Russell. Robust and articulate defense of policy proposals. “Yeah.”
“I really do apologize, Charlie,” he said. “You came here for something and had to listen to me whine. Seriously, what can I do for you?”
“Well, it’s about me and Zoey…”
“You trying to win her back?” Josh asked, perking up a bit. “Good for you. You know I’ve always been Team Charlie.”
“No, no… well, I was. We actually got back together a couple months ago.” Charlie explained. “The thing is… I was going to tell you at the convention… I asked her to marry me.”
Josh’s eyes shot up. “Really?”
“Yeah,” said Charlie, “and she agreed.”
Josh burst out of his chair, coming around to shake Charlie’s hand. “Wow! Congratulations, man! It couldn’t happen to two better kids. Have you set a date?”
“We’ve been going back and forth on that. The President wants us to have a Christmas wedding at the White House. We’d been happy doing it next summer after things have calmed down.” Charlie looked pensive as he spoke. “And I’d like you to be my best man.”
Josh blinked. “I’m sorry?”
Charlie repeated himself. “I’m asking you to be my best man. You hired me. You introduced us. You were there for me the night… you’ve been like a big brother to us both. We’d be honored if you would stand up for us.”
“I’m… I’m speechless.” Josh stammered.
“Well, there’s a first,” Charlie said. “But you’ll do it?”
“So long as you two can wait until after Election Day, I’d be honored.”
“Deal,” his friend said, rising from his chair. “I gotta get back to the White House. We’re short-staffed as it is since Calley bailed and I don’t want to leave CJ too long.”
“Tell her I said hi,” Josh said. “And give my love to Zoey and pass on my congratulations..”
“I’ll be sure to,” Charlie assured him, and left the office.
Josh sat at his desk smiling at the thought of those two, after everything they’d been through, getting back together and now, engaged. He felt a slight pang that he didn’t know they’d reconciled; the last he remembered was her throwing Charlie a graduation party. Or was it her birthday, with the Penn and Teller fiasco with the burning flag trick. Those two had been in love pretty much from the moment they met. He thought of that meeting - “I should call you Zoey?” “If I can call you Charlie.” - and decided he would pull every string he could to give them the best wedding ever.
And if those two could, was there a chance for him and Donna?
But when he thought of the disappointed way she had looked at him when he’d turned her down, and how she had just walked out and left, he realized that was too much to hope for.
He’d wasted enough time on frivolity and daydreaming. He reached over the desk for the folder of quotes and returned it to his drawer, and turned his attention to one of a dozen strategy memos he needed to read.
-----
Twenty minutes later Charlie was back at his desk, preparing some background on a jobs bill for CJ. Without looking up, he spoke, “I like that you want to watch me work, but you are terribly distracting.”
Zoey smiled. “I distract you?”
“Definitely,” he said, standing up and crossing over to her. “You always have.”
Zoey closed the door behind her and wrapped her arms around her fiancé, giving him a lingering kiss. “So?”
“So?”
“So how’d it go? You went to see Josh, right?”
Charlie nodded, “Yeah, he said so long as we wait until after the election, he’d be happy to.”
“Good,” Zoey said, pulling slightly back from their embrace to look at him. “It wouldn’t be the same without him.”
“Just so long as you don’t invite him on the honeymoon,” Charlie laughed.
Zoey’s lip quirked up a bit, “Well, depending on where we end up going, it might be fun to have Josh and Donna around during the day. Well, part of the day, anyway. Maybe for a late lunch.” She pursed her lips in mock contemplation. “Okay, now that I think about it, once those two together it’s going to take a national emergency and the jaws of life to get them out of bed.”
“Zo’,” Charlie’s face grew solemn as he spoke, “I know you’re invested, but I’m starting to think that is never going to happen.”
“What did he do now?”
“She interviewed for a job with the Santos campaign,” Charlie said.
“Josh turned her down?” Zoey was incredulous.
“Yeah,” he replied simply.
“He’s an idiot!” she exclaimed. She released Charlie and turned to grab the doorknob.
“Zoey,” Charlie admonished her.
“No, Charlie, this has gone on all year, and I’ve had enough,” Zoey’s frustration boiled over. “I’m going over there and pulling his head out of his ass so I can smack some sense into him.”
“You can’t do that.”
“Why?” she asked, challenge in her voice. “Why the hell shouldn’t I? Why aren’t you more upset? You know they love each other, right?”
Charlie nodded. “Yeah.”
“Then let’s do something!”
“We can’t,” Charlie disagreed. When Zoey started to protest, he continued. “One, while he may be an idiot, the reasons Josh gave for not hiring her made sense; her comments against Santos were still being quoted yesterday on the talk shows. And two, if you go over there, Josh is stubborn enough to ruin his own happiness just to prove you wrong.”
She frowned. “He’s such a jackass.”
“Yes,” he agreed. “But you didn’t see him. It broke his heart not to be able to hire her. He even told me to ask CJ to make her Press Secretary.”
“Well, that settles it, then. If we can’t lock the two of them in a room, we’re just going to have to go over their heads. It’s time to bring in the big guns.”
Charlie stared at her in disbelief. “You’re not saying?”
“Damn right,” she replied. “I’m taking this to my parents.”