* * * * * * * * * *

PART 2/5

We stopped to drop off our jackets and bags, and after fortifying ourselves with a deep breath, we headed over to Leo's office. Margaret wasn't at her desk. Leo must have given her the day off. Josh tapped on the open door frame and said, "Leo?"

We stepped into Leo's empty office and saw that the connecting door to the Oval Office was open. From where we stood, we could see the president and Leo sitting and talking. Leo was on the couch and the president was in the chair next to him.

Josh cleared his throat to get their attention. They both looked up at the same time. Leo looked exasperated, but the president practically beamed. "Josh! Donna! How are you today? And what brings you in to speak with old Grumpy here?" Both men walked into Leo's office.

We both mumbled a "Good morning, Mr. President." Then Josh continued, looking bashful and said, "Well, Mr. President, Donna and I wanted to talk to Leo about something."

Josh has the worst poker face in politics and though I wasn't looking at it, I'm sure his face was telegraphing that he'd had sex in the last 12 hours. I've seen that face before-back in the Mandy days-but prior to today, I had not been a co-conspirator. I had no doubt that the president had a pretty good idea of why we were there to see Leo.

"Would anybody mind if I joined your little conference?" the president asked, settling himself on the couch.

His questions was met by a chorus of "No, sir" coming from Leo, Josh and I. The Chief of Staff fell into his desk chair and motioned to the two chairs across from him for Josh and I.

Leo stared at us, waiting for one of us to say something. I was normally not afraid to speak in the presence of either of the older men in the room, but right then I was tongue-tied.

Josh cleared his throat, looked down at his hands, glanced over at me, then fixed his gaze on his boss. "Leo, Donna and I-we have, that is we wanted to.we have been.uh..."

"Oh for God's sake, Josh. I'm gettin' old over hear! And you're talking like Ainsley! What is it?" Leo was grumpy today. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.

Josh turned to me looking for support. After all, we were here at my suggestion. I glanced over my shoulder to see the president grinning like a Cheshire cat. I suddenly felt very strong. I reached over and took Josh's hand in mine. Leo raised his eyebrows a little and shot the president a look.

"Leo, what Josh was trying to say is that we've discovered that there is more to our relationship than we had previously been aware. We thought we should tell you that we intend to see each other outside of work. I mean, we'd like to see each other outside work, but thought that we should talk to you about it first. We have decided we would like to explore the possibilities of a more personal relationship. Actually, we feel pretty certain that this is a really important relationship for both of us." I paused to look at Josh who squeezed me hand and smiled back at me. " We want to assure you both that we do not want to harm this administration in any way. However, we would like to point out that we have been able to work well together for several years and we would like to be able to continue that work arrangement, so." I trail off. I had started out strong, but I feel as if I veered off on a tangent somewhere along the way.

Leo looked amused at our inability to get to the point and ask for his blessing on our relationship. The president was being unusually quiet. I was about to turn my head to look at him when he suddenly appeared behind Josh and I, dropping a hand on each of our shoulders.

"Leo, I think you've put these kids through enough pain for one day, don't you? May I?"

Leo nodded and waved his hand, urging the president to go ahead. "Please!"

"Josh, does this have anything to do with the conversation you and I had a few weeks ago?"

Josh ducked his head as a slight blush crept up his cheeks. "Yes, sir. It definitely does."

"So you two have talked about this and you're basically here to tell us that I was right? You do love each other?" the President asked.

I was still a little dumbstruck. I couldn't believe that it was that obvious to the president. Josh and I looked at each other and he squeezed my hand, then said, " Yes, sir. I love her with all my heart."

The president looked at me and I know I blushed, but I made a determined effort to not break the president's gaze. He inclined his head toward Josh and raised his eyebrows. "Donna-what about you? I'm assuming that you're not hear against your wishes?"

"No, sir, Mr. President. I'm here because I love Josh. I've loved Josh for a long time now."

The president nodded and walked around the desk to stand next to his Chief of Staff. "Leo, I believe you owe me some money."

Leo frowned, stood, and reached for his wallet before he stopped and faced us again. "When did you two actually start seeing each other? Has it been a few weeks?"

Josh and I were confused. Josh nodded and said, "It was the night of the movie-the day after you guys got back from Japan."

A smile crept across Leo's face as he put his wallet back in his pocket. "Mr. President, I beg to differ with you-I believe you owe me some money. That was in February-not March."

The president gave us a fake glare, then said, "Oh, fine. I suppose it's worth it in the name of love, huh?" The two older men clapped each other on the shoulder and laughed.

Josh stood up and pulled me with him. "I'm sorry-I think I'm a little slow this morning-"

"This morning?" Leo muttered under his breath.

"-but are we okay? I thought that you might be upset that we were going to see each other since Donna works for me."

"Josh," the president asked, "didn't we talk about that when you and I had our little chat?"

"Yes, sir. Had you mentioned that to Leo?"

"Not yet. Why don't you let us handle that and we'll let you know what kind of ideas we come up with. Meanwhile, it might not be a bad idea for you two to maintain a low profile. I'm not telling you to hide, but I also wouldn't recommend taking a bull horn out on to the mall to announce your relationship." The president was walking toward us and shooing us from Leo's office.

We both thanked Leo and the president for their time and walked out of Leo's office as the door closed behind us.

We stopped in the hallway outside and looked at each other. "That seemed much easier and calmer than I ever expected it to be. How about you?" Josh asked.

"I don't know. But the president surely wouldn't.would he?"

"Nah. We should be fine, I guess. Let's get some work done so we can get the heck outta here," Josh said, lightly placing his hand at the small of my back to propel me along.

* * * * * * * * * *

Several weeks went by after our chat with Leo and the president. Nothing further had been said about changing my job title or description. And as the president suggested, Josh and I had kept a low profile. Of course, that wasn't difficult since we were spending the majority of our waking hours working on the Family Wellness Act. Josh had been leading staffers from the legislative liaison office in negotiations with the conference chairman for weeks. What started as a $2 billion dollar bill became a $6 billion bill by the time all was said and done. And the important thing is that it was done and we were going to get it to a vote before the senate went home for a break. It was a bipartisan bill, so it was expected that we had to compromise on some issues, but overall, everyone was happy, or so we thought.

Josh was larger than life last Monday morning when he walked into the full staff meeting and announced, "We got it." I love seeing him when he's in his element like that. He is the master political operative: Superman in a Brooks Brothers suit, faster than speeding legislation, able to leap the Capitol dome in a single bound. Leo was really pleased with the end result of the bill. Now we just had to wait for the vote on Friday, which was supposed to be a mere formality.

* * * * * * * * * *

Josh was preparing to move on to other priorities while waiting for the Friday vote on the Family Wellness Act, so I was surprised when I was handed a phone message for Josh from Senator Stackhouse Monday afternoon. I asked Josh if he was supposed to meet with one of the senator's aides and Josh told me that he had chosen not to. The bill was closed and that was that. Senator Stackhouse had wanted to add funding for autism care and research, but he'd have to wait until the next time around.

As he turned to head back to his office, Josh asked, "Is that from his office?"

I said, "It's from him. It says, 'You're going to meet with me or there's not going to be a vote while I'm alive. Stackhouse.'"

Josh sighed, took the message and went to see Leo. Leo told him to go ahead and meet with the aging senator and tell him that we'd catch his cause next time around. Leo told Josh under no circumstances to give anything away.

When Josh came back from visiting Senator Stackhouse later Monday afternoon, I couldn't figure out why his overcoat was dirty on one side. Had he dragged his coat along the floor? I made a mental note to ask him about that some time.

TBC