While the news went on to other issues, the people in the West Wing began
to get ready to go home. Sam anxiously waited for this to occur, hoping to
get Caelan out of the room before she and Mallory could conclude their
previous conversation. However, Caelan chose that night to be fairly
social, talking casually with Josh and Joey. He joined the group, laughing
nervously at the jokes, and praying to get out of there.

"Well, I'm beat," Josh said. "I think I'm going to go get a drink and then
go home and sleep."

Joey began signing, and Kenny translated. "Sounds like a good idea. You
interested in some company?"

"Sure," Josh said.

"I think that sounds like a great idea, too," Caelan said, turning to Sam.
"Whaddya say, Sam? Should we join these people in their outing?"

"Sure," Sam said quickly, but inwardly unconvinced.

"And why doesn't Mallory come too?" Caelan asked politely, gesturing to
Mallory who was standing quietly on the edge of the group.

"Well, I hate to impose," she said.

"Come on, it wouldn't be imposing," Caelan insisted.

"Well, okay," Mallory agreed, and Sam's stomach churned uneasily.

"Then it's settled," Josh said. "Let's go."

As they were leaving the room, Leo walked in. Mallory greeted him warmly.

"I heard that you were in here," Leo said, kissing his daughter's cheek.

"Yeah, I just came to say hi. Now we're all going out for drink," Mallory
explained.

"Oh, okay," Leo said. "Have fun."

"Okay, Dad, thanks," Mallory said, and then followed the other's out the
door. Before Sam could leave, Leo pulled him aside. When he was sure
Mallory was out of earshot, he said, "Are you and Caelan Reed… well, you and
Caelan Reed?"

"I would say-" Sam began.

"Does Mallory know anything about Caelan Reed?" Leo asked.

"Well-"

"Because if my daughter comes home with a broken heart because of you and
Caelan Reed, I swear, I will have you fired, and I may even have her fired,"
Leo threatened.

"Technically, Caelan doesn't work for you."

"I have many connections."

"Right."

"So are we clear?" Leo asked.

Thoroughly distressed by the interrogation, Sam said, "Oh yes, very clear.
No hurt feelings."

"There you go," Leo said, patting Sam on the shoulder and walking out of
the room.

Sam took a deep breath, trying to remain calm. With a shake of his head,
he whispered, "This is going to be a long night."

********************

Back in her dorm room, Zoey sat awkwardly on her unmade bed. Something
felt distinctly different inside of her, and she couldn't explain it. It
was something deeper than that, even though her flu-like symptoms were
obviously reeking havoc on her body. With a sigh, she flopped back on her
pillow, thinking.

These past few months with Charlie had been some of the best times in her
life. She remember in high school when she had dated and how it had been so
different. It'd been fun to go out with guys, and she enjoyed having them
say nice things to her and buy her meals and to kiss her. But it wasn't
like that with Charlie. It was something so much more meaningful than
anything else.

She'd felt the connection nearly from the beginning, which is why she
continued to pursue the relationship to level after level. So when they had
reached the level of complete intimacy a month ago, it had felt one hundred
percent natural to Zoey.

That and school and her family had filled Zoey's life. She was more than
content, she was thoroughly enjoying every day she lived. Which is why the
new feeling inside of her scared her so much. It nagged at her enough until
she was determined to discover the source of it.

There was a gentle voice inside of her that told her to go to her desk
drawer. Inside lay the pregnancy test she had bought after the first night
with Charlie. Although she never had regrets, she did panic, thinking that
all the protection failed. Eventually she had talked herself out of it, but
for some reason, she couldn't rid herself of the notion now. Taking the
test in her hand, she went to the bathroom.

***********

While the behavior at the table continued to get more disorderly, Sam
excused himself to go to the bathroom. This left nobody between Mallory and
Caelan, and the two women struck up a conversation.

"So how do you know Sam?" Caelan asked, casually.

"My dad's his boss," Mallory said.

"Which one would that be?"

Mallory laughed. "Leo McGarry."

"Ohhh, right," Caelan said.

"What about you?" Mallory asked. "How did you meet Sam?"

"Well… it was through our jobs. We worked together in the aftermath of the
assassination of the Russian President. Then it just sort of evolved from
there," Caelan explained.

"Oh, so you two are pretty good friends then?"

"Yeah," Caelan said, smiling. "You could say that."

Mallory looked slightly perplexed at the implications of Caelan's tone of
voice. "What do you mean?" she questioned, hesitantly.

"Sam and I have been dating for about two and a half months."

Mallory stared blankly at her. "Excuse me?"

"Sam and I have been dating," Caelan repeated.

"You and Sam… Seaborn have been dating?"

"Yeah."

Unfortunately for Sam, he chose to return at that exact moment. When he
sat down, Mallory angrily said, "I've been talking to Caelan. She says that
you two have been dating. And that seems kind of funny to me, since last I
heard, there was 'something' between us."

Sam's voice stopped working.

"Sam, what is she talking about?" Caelan asked, sounding vaguely
suspicious.

His heart leapt into his throat, and his voice cracked as he spoke.
"There's really a simple explanation."

Both Caelan and Mallory were looking at him. "Well," Mallory demanded.
"We're waiting to hear it."

TBC