Exclusive 2/5
By Lacy
"Apparently, I'm Cinderella," Donna catches up to me as I come out of
Leo's office. As soon as she reaches my side our usual banter as we
walk and talk begins.
"Which makes me the Crown Prince," I respond.
"Get over it, Josh."
"How come I have to get over it and you get to glow and look all
radiant?"
"You think I'm radiant?"
"Yes. Answer the question."
"Well, because my ego can stand the occasional boost. Yours, on the
other hand, will get entirely out of control. It borders on
arrogant, Josh."
"I thought you liked my arrogance."
"When tempered with a healthy dose of humility, provided by me, your
arrogance can, at times, be considered charming."
"Crown Prince Charming," I say. "I like the sound of that."
"God give me strength."
A stack of newspapers sits on Donna's desk. I flip through each one,
still shocked to discover that we made the front page of every major
newspaper in the country.
"White House Supports Love Match," I quote from the Boston Herald.
"Secretary Steals Lyman's Heart," Donna reads from the Chicago Sun-
Times. "Secretary? I'm going to have to write a strongly worded
letter to the editor."
"President Urges Staffer to Follow Heart," I pick up the next paper.
"Josh, I thought this was going to get buried." She holds up another
newspaper.
I drop the paper in my hand on her desk and retreat to my office with
Donna at my heels. "So did I," I say.
"I never expected it to be taken so seriously," she says. "Now,
everyone really will know about us."
"I thought that was what you wanted."
"I wanted to not have to hide, Josh. I wanted us to be out in the
open, not necessarily a subject for breakfast table conversation. I
feel like we're still trying to keep up appearances."
"I know," I sigh. "I don't like being away from you at night."
Her blue eyes take a moment to scrutinize me. "You look tired," she
says, sympathetically.
"That happens when you don't get any sleep."
"Nightmares?" she asks.
"No," I say. "Empty arms." She is beaming now, even more radiantly
than before. "I missed you last night."
"I missed you, too," she says. The words pour forth from her mouth
as though her voice has turned to honey.
"And I haven't kissed you today, which is going to throw my whole day
off."
"I'll try not to let that happen."
"Do I have plans for lunch?" I ask.
"You have meetings until two," she responds. "Then you have half an
hour free."
"Can we get out of here?"
"For half an hour? By the time we actually get away from the
building that will only leave fifteen minutes. What can we do with
fifteen minutes?"
"Make out like irresponsible teenagers."
"Will we be officially off the clock?"
"I'll even dock your paycheck."
"Hey! I get a paid lunch hour and what I do with it is my business,
Joshua. If I want to spend it getting hot and heavy with my
boyfriend than I'm damn well gonna do it."
"Sing it, sister." I was too busy watching Donna light up with
indignation to notice that CJ had entered my office.
"CJ!" Donna blushes, embarrassed to be caught in the midst of her
tirade.
"Just how hot and heavy were you two planning to get?"
"That's for us to know and you to NEVER find out," Donna says.
"Just make sure no one else finds out," CJ reminds.
At this point Donna steals an opportunity to deflect CJ away from our
revealing conversation. "CJ, I really want to thank you for how
supportive you've been through all of this. You've been an amazing
friend."
"You're very welcome, Donna, but I feel the need to remind you that
it's not over yet. I don't think any of us expected for yesterday's
'meet the press' to be front page banner headlines in every major
newspaper in the country. I've just received word that CNN and MSNBC
are running polls to take the public's temperature on this issue."
"They are?" I ask.
"Yes, we should have a breakdown by the end of the day. I'm a little
worried about it, too. Some people will look for any excuse to
denigrate this Administration. And now that I'm talking, it occurs
to me that I did actually come to your office for a reason."
"What do you need, CJ?" I inquire.
"There are a few publicity issues that I would like to go over with
both of you."
"What's that?" Donna asks.
"First of all, we've decided to go with the term 'Significant Others'
rather than 'boyfriend and girlfriend'. The latter just sounds so
juvenile."
"That's the best you can come up with?" The term she has opted for
has a decidedly chilly ring to it. Mine and Donna's relationship is
anything but chilly.
"Well we kicked around the idea of officially calling Donna 'your
better half', but we thought it less than confidence inspiring for
the general public," CJ deadpans.
"You could just refer to me as her boy-toy," I goad.
"Yet another term that conveys an image we'd rather not have floating
around."
"Significant Other it is, then. For how long?"
"Until the nature of your relationship changes."
"Okay."
CJ glances down at the clipboard she carried into the office with
her. "All requests for interviews are being routed from the operator
to either Carol or Ginger, and there've been a lot. Most of them for
you, Donna."
"For me?" Donna's eyes widen in disbelief. "Why would anyone want
to interview me?"
"Because the public-at-large doesn't know you," I answer for CJ.
"They want to know about the woman who captured the Crown Prince
Charming."
"Oh, God. He hasn't started that has he?" CJ rolls her eyes as she
turns to ask Donna. "He's going to sound like a broken record."
"Don't worry, CJ. I'll fix him." Donna responds. With this, I know
that for the next few days Donna's going to invest a lot of time in
showing me who's boss. I'm strangely looking forward to it. "What
should I do about the requests?" Donna gets back to the subject.
"My advice is to choose one high-profile interviewer and give them an
exclusive. And I know just the one to choose." CJ tears a Post-it
note from her clipboard and hands it to Donna.
Donna looks down at the note, and her mouth begins to gape open and
closed. "Bristol Wallace?"
"Bristol's all over this Donna. She's also delicate and subtle.
She'll get to the heart of what everyone wants to know, without being
crude or inappropriate. She'll handle you right."
"She's also clever and manipulative," I remind. "Trust me, I know."
"They want to get a jump on this and interview you for Friday's
'HeadlineMakers'." CJ ignores me . "If you decide to do this, we
can set this up someplace in the West Wing, after hours, of course.
I'll be with you the whole time."
"I need to think about it." Donna's skin has lost some of rosy blush
from earlier. "And talk it over with Josh."
"That's fine," CJ says. "But do it fast, because I need to have your
answer by tomorrow morning."
"Thanks, CJ," I say as she retreats from my office.
"Thanks," echoes Donna.
TBC
****