It was nearly five o'clock before the President and
Leo could both free up a wide enough block of time to
meet with Sam and Josh. By the time Josh sat down in the Oval Office his
thoughts were going in a million different directions.
After talking with Sam, Josh had tried countless times
to reach Donna by every number he had to no avail.
Sam sensed his friend's unease and placed a reassuring
hand on Lyman's shoulder just as Bartlet and McGarry
entered the room. "This was the right thing to do,
Josh."
"It better be," Josh replied quietly.
"Alright," Jed began grimly as he sat in a chair
opposite Sam. "What's the big crisis?"
Seaborn looked from Bartlet to McGarry and back again
before replying. "Lillienfield."
Bartlet sighed and leaned back in the chair. "What's
he done now?"
Leo however had picked up on something else and he
leaned forward looking squarely at his deputy chief of
staff. "Josh, what have you two done this time?"
Sam saw Josh hesitate. "You're going to have to tell
them about Donna."
Bartlet frowned. "Is Donna alright?"
Lyman shook his head as he met the President's gaze.
"She quit."
"What does Donna's quitting have to do with
Lillienfield?" Leo asked trying to piece things
together.
Sam sighed. "For lack of a better term he's
blackmailing her."
Bartlet stood and leaned against the back of his
chair. "What does he have over her?" he asked with
concern.
Josh shook his head angrily. "He has nothing over her,
Sir! He's using her to get to me and Leo."
McGarry frowned. "Josh, take a breath and start at the
beginning."
Josh stood and walked over to Bartlet's desk. "That
would take us back to New Year's and the computer
hacker."
*********
As soon as Donna checked into her hotel room she felt
silly. She dropped her suitcase at the foot of the
bed and looked around the badly decorated room. How
could she have allowed Halloway to mess with her mind?
How could she have let things get so out of control?
Donna sighed as she sat down on the bed. Leo, Josh,
and Sam had fought Lillienfield before and won....so
why hadn't she trusted them enough to stay and fight?
Because you were scared, Donna admitted to herself
with a shake of her head, scared of losing Josh,
losing her job, losing herself.
With renewed determination Donna reached for the
phone. She had a lot to apologize to Josh for....Donna
just hoped that he'd understand her actions.
end of part 10 TBC