Characters belong to Aaron Sorkin, John Wells Productions, Warner Bros., & NBC. The title's from an REM song. Standard disclaimers apply. Please send feedback.
How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us
Violet & Cinnamon
March 1998
Los Angeles
"Have a good day."
Josh nodded half-heartedly at the stewardess, and disembarked from the plane. He shouldered his duffel bag and made his way through the crowded airport, barely raising his eyes from the floor. He walked past Donna without looking up.
She reached out and touched his arm. "Josh."
He flinched, then turned and saw her. "Hey. What are you doing here?"
"Leo mentioned you were getting in today. I thought I'd save you the hassle of dealing with a rental car." Donna held up her keys. "Do you have baggage to claim?"
"No, just this. Hang on. Didn't you sell your car a month ago?"
"I borrowed Sam's, and I'm parked illegally, so let's get going." She inclined her head toward the exit.
Josh shook his head and started to follow her. "You parked Sam's car illegally?"
"I couldn't afford to park in the garage."
"For half an hour? That's only like three bucks."
"Well, I wanted gum. You should pay me more." Donna pushed the door open for him.
"I'm still back on Sam letting you drive his car in the first place."
She rolled her eyes and kept walking. "Move on, Josh."
He frowned to himself. "Yeah."
* * *
Donna glanced over her shoulder and quickly walked into campaign headquarters, past the ringing phones and the toiling staffers.
"Excuse me." Her words went ignored, so she tried again. "Excuse me."
When she still didn't elicit a response, Donna carefully climbed atop the closest desk. "Excuse me!" She waited for the room to get quiet. "Thank you. Now, as you know, Josh will be coming back to work today. In fact, he's out in the parking lot as we speak, so I need to make this brief. I'm sure you're all concerned, but he doesn't want to talk about his father or the funeral, so please, if you could respect his wishes, he would appreciate it. Okay?"
"Donna?"
Looking around the room, Donna caught C.J.'s eye. "Yeah?"
"You're wearing a skirt."
"Oh. Right."
Sam extended a hand and helped Donna from the desk. "Where are my keys?"
"Here are your keys, and here is a parking ticket."
"Donna!"
"I'll take the money out of her paycheck," Josh said, coming up behind them.
"Hey, buddy." Sam turned and pulled Josh into a big hug.
Josh blinked. "What'd I miss?"
"Some good numbers." C.J. handed Josh a computer print-out and a cup of coffee. "I'm meeting with Suisun, Ellis, and Prokupek in half an hour."
"Do we have their money?"
"We'll find out." C.J. sipped her coffee. "Suisun and Prokupek shouldn't take much convincing, but Ellis likes to play hardball."
"You can handle Ellis." Josh glanced at the print-out and handed it back to C.J. "I saw Luke in the parking lot. He was leaning against a tree, smoking. You've got a real bad boy there, C.J."
She slipped on her jacket and headed for the door. "If I'm not back in time for my meeting--"
"Send a search party?"
C.J. turned around and smiled at him. "Go in my place."
* * *
"If we just--"
"It's a company town, Toby."
"But if we just, for appearance's sake--"
"It's a company town, and it's a liberal town." Leo folded his hands on his desk. "These people want to like us. They want to vote for us, and what's equally important is they want to give us their money. We just have to hold out our arms. This is the crowd we're playing to."
Toby paced around Leo's office. "It's not the whole state. And California sure as hell isn't the whole country. If we spend too long ankling to Hollywood, it's going to be thrown in our face. It's going to hurt us in the South; it's going to hurt us in the Midwest."
"And how do you think we're going to afford to campaign in the Midwest?" Leo inquired. "I don't like it any more than you do, but we need these people. It's not too late for them to give their millions of dollars to the other--"
"Hoynes is over," Toby said quietly. "I'm thinking about after August."
"Sometimes, you know, you think a little too far ahead."
The silence that followed was broken as Josh opened the door and stuck his head into the office. "Hey."
"Josh," Leo hailed him. "Welcome back."
"Yeah. What's going on?"
"We're arguing."
Josh looked back and forth between Toby and Leo. "I'm stunned."
"I didn't just fall off the apple cart," Toby said. "I know that we need these people. I'm saying I think we've got those people on our side already. We have enough room to save a little face with the vast majority of people in the country, who think Hollywood millionaires are the worst kind of sleaze."
"Right. Because thinking Hollywood is sleazy is a real leap of--"
"Don't a lot of those people think that mainly because they like the Second Amendment better than the First?" Josh interjected.
Toby shrugged. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm just gonna go back to my office and start polishing Ted Marcus's boots now, if that's okay with everyone."
"Three billion dollar boots," Leo called, as Toby left. He regarded Josh with concern. "You doing all right?"
"Fine. My mother sends her love. So how's the Governor?"
"He's good. His head's in the game."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. Listen. We're going to need to hire someone for ads."
"I thought Jake and Danica were--"
"Jake and Danica are good people, but they're overwhelmed. To take it to the next level, we need someone who's more of a strategist than a producer." Leo checked his watch and stood. "So we're doing that. I have to get out to the question-and-answer at UCLA. You want to ride along?"
"I should stay and get caught up. I haven't been in my office since... I haven't been in my office here. Do I have an office here?"
"Second door across the hall." Leo crossed the room, patted Josh on the shoulder once, and walked out.
* * *
"When did you turn into the leader of the pack?"
"I'm a brooder, you know. That's what I do. I brood." Luke took a heavy drag from his cigarette, then threw it onto the grass and ground it with the toe of his shoe. "Why'd you call?"
C.J. wrapped her arms around herself. "I don't get a hello?"
Luke studied her face. "Why'd you call?"
"I'm going to sell the house."
"What?"
"Are you surprised?"
Luke stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Yeah. No. I don't -- Claudia, what are you doing?"
"I'm working on a campaign, Luke."
"That's not what I meant."
"It's my life right now. I'm going to be traveling around the country for the next eight months."
"And you can't have something holding you back?" Luke pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and fiddled with the plastic strip.
"So now you're Cliché Man."
"Claudia--"
"We've had this conversation, to date, approximately fifty-seven times."
"Are you sure? I thought it was fifty-six."
C.J. shivered against the wind and brushed her hair from her face. "I know you were a math major, but I'm pretty sure it was fifty-seven."
"Why are you selling the house, Claudia?"
"I already told you, Luke. And stop saying my name."
Luke sighed. "What do you want?"
"There are, like, fifteen boxes of your stuff in the basement. The house is going on the market at the end of the month."
"I'll take care of it."
"And I'll need the key back."
Luke scoffed and shook his head. "You'll need the key back." Suddenly, he looked at her. "Why are you selling the house?"
"Because I'm working on a national campaign, and when this thing is over, I'm moving to Washington!" C.J. exhaled slowly and chuckled softly. "Well, you get a couple of points for that one."
He smiled. "I knew I could make you say it sooner or later."
C.J.'s expression turned serious. "I want this."
"I know you do."
"Do you?"
Luke nodded.
"Okay." C.J. looked at her watch. "I have to go back inside."
Luke nodded again, and lit up another cigarette as he watched C.J. cross the parking lot and walk away.
* * *
"It's raw fish," Josh declared loudly, as he took a seat at the table. "Fish that has not been cooked. Fish that could still be swimming around under its own power."
Sam sat down facing him. "Okay, first of all, it's not alive. Second of all, it is not just raw fish. It's all in the presentation. And it's actually quite delicious."
"It's yuppie food," Josh countered. He lowered his voice when he noticed people staring at him. "We're not grizzly bears. We've got technology. We don't have to make a meal out of whatever we scoop up from the mud."
"I'm having sashimi. You have the tempura, it's fried." Sam skimmed the menu quickly. "Since you're a scared little girl."
"I just don't feel the need to prove myself by eating things that haven't been introduced to fire. Call me picky."
Sam chuckled and gave the waiter their order. "Seriously, Josh. How are you?"
"Really tired of answering that question," Josh said honestly. "I'm okay. I want to work."
"Okay. I'm writing a thing for the PTA convention tonight."
"Education. Hmm. Our first priority is to put education first."
"You know what would be nice?"
"What?"
"If that sentence had made any sense. Also, if you'd stop being a little girl and at least try a California roll."
"What is this?" Josh asked suspiciously. "Why do you keep trying to make me put horrible, slimy things in my mouth?"
"I really didn't nseed that image burned into my brain. Ten o'clock."
"The PTA thing is that late?"
"No, it's at seven. I mean ten o'clock over there."
He flicked his eyes in the direction Sam indicated. A dark-haired woman was sitting alone at a corner table, sipping a drink. Her eyes twinkled with amusement.
"She keeps looking over this way," Sam said.
"You think?" Josh found himself staring at the woman. He tried to force his attention back to the table.
"Either she's looking at you or she's looking at me."
Josh turned for a better view. "Oh, she's definitely looking at me."
"Are you sure?"
The woman met Josh's gaze and gave him a small wave. "I'm sure."
He stood up and straightened his tie, then strode jauntily across the room. She set her drink down as he approached. "Hello."
"Hi," Josh said. "You're eating alone."
She gestured at the empty table. "That would be the case."
"I happened to notice, because I can't think of any good reason why someone as attractive as you are would be having lunch alone."
"Do you practice that line a lot?"
"In front of the mirror almost every night," Josh deadpanned.
The woman chuckled and held out her hand. "I'm Mandy Hampton, and I'm eating alone because no one else in my office likes sushi."
"I'm Josh Lyman, and they have my sympathies." He shook her hand gently. "It's nice to meet you, Mandy. Can I join you?"
"You're welcome."
He took the chair opposite her. "So where do you work, that everyone has such good taste?"
"Norton/Bester." She looked expectant.
"That means absolutely nothing to me."
"Publicity. You're new in town." Josh nodded, and Mandy looked thoughtful. "You don't look like an actor..."
"I'm hurt," he said with a grin.
"And you're too goofy to be an accountant. Writer?"
"Politician. I'm with the Bartlet campaign."
"I should have guessed that. You've got that world-weary look." She smiled. "But you're cuter than most of the politicians I know."
"Well, we can't all look like Kennedys."
"So, you think you guys have a shot this year?"
"We're going to win," Josh said firmly.
"Really."
"Yes. You ought to come down and see some of the work we're doing."
On the other side of the room, Sam watched them, chuckling to himself. He took a bite of his seafood, and beamed in appreciation.
* * *
A small crowd had gathered outside the Bartlet headquarters when the candidate stepped out of the car. He waved warmly to the crowd, and spoke through his smile. "Honestly. The level of debate in this country--"
"We're raising it," Leo said calmly.
"Leo, a twenty-two-year-old business major asked me about my underwear."
"And you handled it very gracefully."
"It doesn't bother you that we're being taken so lightly two weeks before the primary?" Jed asked, as they stepped inside.
"Nope." Leo accepted a stack of phone messages from Margaret, flipping through them rapidly. "You were asked one question about your underwear. You were asked six questions about education, three about the economy, two about equal rights, one about censorship, and an astounding two about foreign policy. We're not being taken lightly, and we showed that we don't take ourselves too seriously."
"Still. We're running for the White House, not the fashion club."
"You'd never win in that tie," a voice said behind them. Both men turned. Abbey walked toward them with a smile. "I told you. Stripes are better than dots."
"I'll change right away." Jed pulled her into his arms for a quick kiss. "I thought you were up in San Francisco."
"I took the shuttle down, just for the afternoon. You're looking good up there, you know."
He touched her hair. "You're looking good right here. How far behind schedule are we, Leo?"
"Not too bad today. If you hadn't spent ten minutes talking to those kids outside the Civic Center--"
"Those were bright kids who needed moral guidance. I inspired confidence in them. Abbey, don't you think that's worth ten minutes of my precious time?"
"Probably."
"Maybe if any of them had been old enough to vote," Leo said. "We're back about a half an hour. C.J. needs you to drop in on her meeting before three. You've got that walk-and-talk with the Times, quick photos, then you're meeting with Harry Walsh on the way to that school with the adult literacy program. That takes us up to the PTA speech."
"Somewhere in there, does he have time to call his granddaughter?" Abbey asked.
"It cannot be her birthday again," Jed said adamantly.
"It's the same day every year."
"You see that, Leo? The time just goes. And you'd rather have me talking about my shorts than discussing the issues with our nation's real future--"
Leo raised his eyebrows at Abbey. "Get him away from me, would you?"
She nodded as she took his arm. "I'll have him back in five minutes."
"Margaret!" Leo hollered to the general chaos of the room.
She appeared suddenly beside him. "Yes?"
He jumped. "Are you going to make a habit of sneaking up on me?"
"I wasn't--"
"Whatever. Call Walsh's office and tell them we're running forty-five minutes behind. Actually, better make it an hour. Then call Ted Marcus and confirm tomorrow night again. We've got to talk to the Governor about the endorsement over lunch, get his people on the phone." Leo paused.
"Anything else?"
"Yes. Yes, call my wife."
* * *
"What do you think?" Josh asked, grinning as he rolled up his sleeves.
Sam glanced in the rear-view mirror and changed lanes. "She's cute."
"She's more than cute, Sam. She's smart, she's spunky, and she's absolutely gorgeous." Josh leaned back against the seat. "Mandy. Mandy Hampton."
"I don't like her name."
"What? Sam, how can you not like her name? It rolls off the tongue like... like... something that rolls. Venus should have been so lucky as to be named Mandy."
Sam glanced in the mirror again to make sure Mandy's car was still following them. "Somehow, I don't think 'The Birth of Mandy' would have been all that popular."
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