A Family Thing Jane Harper RATING: PG-13 SYNOPSIS: Aint nothing but a family thang. ARCHIVE: Be my guest, but let me know. DISCLAIMER: Not mine, absolutely not mine, but at this moment Id like to kiss Aaron Sorkins toes. Post ep for "Bartlet for America." "Hi, you must be Leo." He nodded. "Yeah. I probably look like ten miles of bad road." She smiled. "Im not surprised. How you feeling?" "Shaky." "I bet." He shook his head. "No, you dont understand... what snapped me out of it, the guy I work for, my best friend, he collapsed, they called me..." He looked over at her face. "Okay I should start at the beginning. I work..." He took a deep breath and looked around the coffee shop, then dropped his voice. "I work for Governor Bartlet." "Oh, on the campaign?" "Yeah." He looked at her again, examining her carefully as if he were checking for cracks in the veneer. "Whats wrong?" she asked. "I just..." He sighed. "Im a little paranoid is all. I dont want anybody to hear me." She smiled. "A paranoid drunk. Imagine my surprise." "Shhh!" He waved a finger. "Would you feel better if we went someplace not quite so public?" Yeah, he thought, lets go up to my room, there are two big bottles of 60-year-old Scotch empty on the coffee table and another half dozen little ones by the bar... "Actually, yeah I would. And honest to God, Im not trying to Thirteenth-Step you." She laughed and he was reminded of ice in an empty glass. "Youve got that backwards anyway, youre the one whos shaky, *Im* supposed to Thirteenth-Step *you*." He smiled. "Yeah well right now Ill do just about anything to keep from..." She nodded. "I know. Your room probably looks like the morning after a stag party. Lets go get it cleaned up." He stood, put a twenty down on the table and waited for her to slide out of the booth and precede him to the door. Pointing toward the elevators, he steered her in the right direction. When they got upstairs she looked around. "You werent alone." "Not when I started." She nodded and picked up the empties, rinsing them out and putting them carefully in the plastic laundry bag she got from the closet. Then she went over to the phone and dialed the desk. "Hi, this is room 403. Id like for you to remove all the alcohol from my minibar, and instruct the cleaning crew not to replenish it. Thanks." She tied the plastic bag full of bottles up neatly and placed it by the door. "Why dont you call room service and have them send up a pot of coffee? Its going to be a long night." He nodded and reached for the phone. * * * * * There were two empty pots of coffee on the table. His tie was loose and the first two buttons of his shirt were open, his shoes were in two different corners of the room. He was pacing. "I swore Id never do this again," he said, fist clenched against his forehead. "We all do that, Leo. And most of us break the oath. Come on now, work the steps." "Resentment. Its always resentment. I resented my dad for blowing his head off. I resented my mother for driving him to it. I resented my sisters because I had to take care of them. I resent my wife..." She nodded and smiled. "Aint nothin but a family thang." He sighed. "Who am I kidding? This isnt about psychobabble. I drank because I wanted to drink, because Im a lousy drunk and thats what I do." "Its not a moral issue, remember? Cut yourself some slack here. You stopped. You stopped before you wound up in the hospital, or behind the wheel of a car, or in the morgue... Get up, clean up, move on." "Beverly, I cant do ninety meetings in ninety days. Were within spitting distance of the election. Im gonna be working 22 hours a day." He looked pleadingly at her. "Okay. You can do ninety phone calls in ninety days though. Ill give you my number." * * * * * "Leo?" "Abbey, how is he?" "Screw that, hes fine, how are *you*?" Silence. "Leo, you looked like ten miles of bad road. What in the name of..." Oh God, no. You didnt. "Tell me you didnt." "Yeah, I did." "Why???" "Im an alcoholic, Abbey. I dont need a reason." She sighed. "You okay? You got somebody there?" "Yeah." She could imagine hearing him nod sadly. "You want me to call Jenny?" "Oh good God no, Abbey. Shed..." He made a noise; she couldnt tell if it was a sob or a cough. "Is he really okay?" "Yeah, hes just a little under the weather. Been working too hard. Not at all like him, eh?" He laughed. "Not at all like any of us." "Its gonna be a rough couple of days, my friend. Were there when you need us." * * * * * The sun was coming up over the Arch when they walked out of the hotel and caught a cab. She said something to the driver, all he made out was "Church." In a few minutes they pulled into a parking lot. He got out and paid the cabbie and held the door for her. She smiled. "Chivalry isnt dead, I see." "My mama raised me good," he answered with a smile. They went into the community room, and she sat down. He waved at the coffee urn on the table in the back. "No, my kidneys are taking on a roasted hue already." He laughed and went to pour himself a cup, and brought two donuts back with him. "How is it," he asked, "that somehow its not a meeting without a donut?" "Sugar," she said. "Alcohol metabolizes as sugar." "Huh?" He looked over at her. "It does?" She nodded. "You a doctor?" She shook her head. "Biochemist." The group leader brought them to order, and the meeting began... "Okay, anybody here for the first time?" the leader asked. Leo raised his hand. As they were leaving, several people came up to him and offered him phone numbers. "Call if you need us." He smiled and pocketed them. * * * * * Beverly Murcheson, the envelope said. Very formal. She opened it carefully. A pair of smaller envelopes fell out. She picked up the larger one and opened it. President-Elect and Mrs. Josiah Bartlet request the pleasure of your company... There was a note inside. Thank you, it read, in his tiny hand. Wouldnt be here without you. Leo
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