It’ll be all round the building by tomorrow. And the Post will have it by the end of the day. I can see the headlines. Jed says he sees problems as equations. I see them as banner headlines. ‘White House Chief of Staff to separate’. Add it to the list – drunk, junkie, workaholic who put his marriage before his job. Guilty on all counts. Just lock me up and throw away the key now. Jed’s gonna be pissed. He likes Jen. Mal’s gonna be worse. Women stick together. And she knows what Jen went through. I’m surprised she still talks to me. I’ll tell everyone at staff tomorrow. No point in trying to hide the obvious. ************ ***Two weeks later… I was right. Jed was angry. With me. Mal’s calmed down, but she’s had a two-week head start on Jed. ‘Fix this’. Like it’s that simple. I’ll tell everyone at staff tomorrow. I can’t believe they don’t already know. I can’t believe Margaret didn’t tell anyone. Cos I know Jenny called her. I should start being nicer to her. Jed apologised. I wanted to reassure him that it was just temporary, that we’re gonna work things out. But Jen’s not returning my calls, and now Mal’s bought some stuff from the house over for me, I’m pretty sure I’m not welcome there. Jen must’ve got the flowers I sent. But she hasn’t called and Mal didn’t mention them. *********** My daughter asked Sam out. Using my opera tickets as bait. Did she really think I was gonna make it that easy for her. Still, I’m not sure I deserved being yelled at. Or being called a Machiavellian jerk. As always, Jed came to my rescue. And we made up. And Sam didn’t get to go to the ballet. Which was kinda what I was aiming for in the first place. ************* Danny knows something’s up. Either someone at the Watergate or someone on the staff told him I’ve taken a room. And he’s not stupid. Time was I could take a guy out to a bar and over a drink or two explain things. But now I can’t go to a bar without risking a headline. And going with Danny would just make things worse. CJ already comes in for enough grief over her close relationship with certain members of the Press Corps. I don’t want to make things worse for him. ******* The driver’s got the radio on. He’s new. The others know I don’t like to listen to music on the way home. Neil Diamond. Jen likes him. I should call her. Just to see how she’s doing. Maybe. It’s been a month now and I’m not sure she won’t have thrown out everything of mine Mal or I haven’t moved into my apartment. And when I asked Mal how her mom was doing, she was evasive. Like there’s something I shouldn’t know. I’ll ask Ron Butterfield to try and find out. Discreetly. Maybe. What is this? Neil Diamond hour? ************ ‘Jenny? It’s Leo. How are you? I’m sorry, it’s late. Did I wake you?’ To be continued… Home Send me feedback on this fic Return to the X-Files Fic Index Return to the West Wing Fic Index