ACT 4
INT. MIRROR POINT
"Have you seen this?" Sam held up the front page of USA Today as Josh emerged from the bedroom.
"Santos Strongarms Republican at Brunch," Josh tilted his head and read aloud. "So Lester's briefing didn't do the trick?"
"The article does point out that the President is strong and athletic, but you have to turn to page 14 for that."
"It'll blow over, Sam. Besides, your plan for the impromptu press conference is genius." Josh poured two cups of coffee. "Where's Lauren?"
Sam lowered the paper. "I think she went for a morning jog."
"Did you guys have a good time on the water yesterday?" Josh added a packet of Equal to one cup.
"We did," Sam replied. "How was the clambake?"
"Murakami's going to be a problem, but I think I got Chapman." He picked up the two coffee mugs.
"That's something," Sam replied in a surprised tone. "Did Donna enjoy herself?"
"You should see her work the room," Josh said with a gleam in his eye. "She's like me only...sweeter."
"Much sweeter." Sam grinned. "Hey, where are you going?"
He stopped before entering the bedroom. "Did you think this coffee was for you?"
"Of course not." Sam's disappointed look betrayed his answer.
Josh disappeared into the bedroom, and Sam read the article a second time.
CUT TO:
EXT. WHITE HOUSE RESIDENCE
Just as Sam had planned, a gaggle of press surrounded the First Family as they walked toward the Residence after
"Mr. President," a reporter yelled. "Do you have a comment about yesterday's incident with Senator Rudolph?"
"As my Press Secretary stated yesterday afternoon, I'm sorry for the accident, and it was exactly that, *an accident.*" He squeezed Helen's hand.
"Does the Senator harbor any ill will toward you?" a reporter asked from the back.
"I think the only thing Senator Rudolph is upset about is that I actually caught the pass." The President chuckled.
"Will this incident cause an even bigger partisan rift?"
"No, it won't. In fact, I look forward to working with Senator Rudolph and the other members of the Senate on passing the energy bill later this week."
"Have you spoken with him today?"
"I'm actually going to pay him a visit this afternoon,"
When they got out of earshot, Helen leaned toward her husband. "You were great."
As soon as he stepped inside, an aide was waiting for him. "Mr. President, you're needed in the Situation Room."
He kissed his wife on the forehead and released her hand. "I'll meet you upstairs."
CUT TO:
INT. CAR – ROUTE 33,
Donna turned off the car radio after hearing the President's remarks on the broken arm incident. "He did good."
"I'm glad Sam thought of it."
"He's certainly done more than his share of work this weekend," Donna said. "I've never seen Sam like this."
"Like what?"
"So...wound up." She looked at her lap and took a deep breath. "The other day when I asked you if he'd set a wedding date...Lauren asked me to snoop around."
Josh sighed. "This is starting to feel like an episode of The Facts of Life."
Undeterred by his comment, Donna proceeded. "It felt awkward then, because I didn't really know what to make of Lauren's request. And it feels even more awkward now that I've seen the two of them together."
"Then why'd you do it?" He kept his focus on the highway.
"I felt sorry for her." Donna shrugged. "She doesn't have anyone to talk to about this stuff, and Sam's been consumed with work lately. I figured if I had a chance to help her, I would."
"Is that why you invited them to the
"Yeah."
"Lauren seems like a pretty self-sufficient, intelligent woman to me," he said. "And according to Sam, she was actually more excited about moving to DC than he was."
"Things changed."
"Of course things changed." He glanced at her. "They moved to a city where Sam has a past, and Lauren hadn't even visited. They also started new jobs. It's gonna take them a while to adjust."
"You have to admit it's been a more difficult transition for Lauren than for Sam."
"I wouldn't know." Josh shrugged. "I don't spend much time with Lauren, so I have no idea how hard it is for her. Sam and I are guys. We don't talk about relationship stuff. It's a little too Oprah for us."
Donna lowered her head and smiled.
"Inviting them to spend the weekend with us is one thing, but spying for my friend's fiancée is going a little too far."
"He's my friend, too, Josh," she stated. "Which made this even more difficult."
"You always have the best intentions, Donna, but sometimes you just have to stop and let things shake out on their own." Josh grabbed her hand. "Like the time you tried setting up the two old people that live in our building."
She rolled her eyes. "Not this again."
"You had their entire Sunday morning planned – from donuts to coffee to Cole Porter in the background," he said. "Look how that turned out."
"How was I supposed to know that they were brother and sister?"
Josh couldn't help grinning even though he was trying to make a point. It was stories like this that made him even more enchanted with her.
"I've learned my lesson. I'm not getting in the middle of anyone's relationship anymore." She squeezed his hand. "Besides, what expertise do I have? It's not like *we're* engaged."
Josh whipped his head around and gulped.
"What I meant was..." Her cheeks turned pink. "I just meant that I'm not, you know, equipped to handle the issues of couples who are going to get married. Or not going to get married as the case may be."
Josh's dimples grew deeper as he listened to Donna try to find a way out of this.
"Because I've never been engaged," she continued. "I wouldn't even begin to know what it feels like to be in that position. Except, of course, for my time with Tim. I realize we weren't engaged, but I quit school to support him, which is another in a long list of reasons why I really have no business getting in the middle of anyone else's relationship. We all know how that turned out." She paused for a breath. "And thank God it *did* turn out that way because I never would've gone to
"Are you finished?" He smirked.
"I think so." With that soliloquy, she hoped to have gotten Josh's mind off the topic of marriage.
"If you *were* engaged, do you think that would make you an expert in the ways of love?"
Donna cocked one eyebrow. "You certainly intimated that I was an expert in the ways of love earlier today when I was doing that thing where..."
"Yes! Yes, in *that* you are an expert," he interrupted before Donna verbalized exactly what she did to him. He'd rather not have to drive with a painful erection. "But in trying to find solutions to other people's relationship problems, not so much."
"True," she sighed.
They were silent for a moment as Josh gathered his thoughts. "Would you ever want to, you know, be engaged?"
She raised her eyebrows. "Engaged to be married?"
"No, engaged for a day of bocce ball."
"I never really thought about it." She shrugged. "If the right guy came along, I might entertain the possibility."
"*If*?"
"You wouldn't expect me to settle for some local gomer now, would you?" She teased.
"The right guy *has* come along, Donna!" he yelled. "*I'm* the right guy."
The air between them suddenly changed. Donna sat ramrod straight and stared at the dashboard. Josh clenched his jaw and gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. Neither knew if
making a joke was in order or if they should take a stab at being serious.
Donna was the first to react. She decided she'd be serious first, and end it with some levity.
"Yes, you are." She put a hand on his arm and smiled.
"That was for the bocce ball thing?"
"Yeah."
He looked at her, a dimple slowly forming on his cheek. "You had me going for a second."
She smiled, then kissed the dimple. "I know."
Josh tapped his thumb against the steering wheel. "So you wouldn't be completely opposed to the idea of possibly one day being engaged to me?"
Donna rubbed her hand down the back of his head, smoothing down a few unruly curls. "I would not be opposed to such an idea."
He turned to her and grinned. "Good to know."
CUT TO:
INT. SITUATION ROOM
The President walked into the Sit Room with a sinking feeling. There hadn't been much change in
He took his seat at the head of the table. "Good afternoon."
"Good afternoon, Mr. President." While everyone else sat down, the Secretary of Defense remained standing. "We just received word from Major General Frank Hopkins, who's been stationed at Manas Air Base in
The President raised his eyebrows. "They've begun retreating?"
"Yes, sir." The Secretary rarely cracked a smile, but there were traces of one tugging at the corners of his mouth. He quickly returned to military mode. "According to Major General Hopkins, our ground troops reported that the Russian Army moved ten miles from Astana into Kuprinka."
A map came up on the screen at the far end of the room. The Secretary pointed to it as he spoke. "They held ground here for five hours until word came that the Chinese Army pulled back as well."
"Does this appear to be a truce?"
"We're uncertain at this time, sir," General Pollack chimed in. "We have aircraft from the 396th Air Expeditionary Wing conducting fly-overs as we speak."
"What about our guys on the ground?"
"We're still stationed in the buffer zone, but the Second and Third Infantry Divisions have moved closer to Kuprinka to keep an eye on the Russians and Peredovik to watch the Chinese."
The President leaned back. "How did this come about?"
"Just as you hoped, sir, our troops were able to roll back the Russian and Chinese forces with a little diplomatic posturing," the Secretary of Defense replied.
"I'm happy to hear it."
"Sir, let me state for the record that while this is certainly good news, by no means does it signal an end to the conflict," General Pollack stated. "Our troops need to remain in position until we are 100% confident that the two armies have retreated to their own soil."
"I'm far too aware of that, General." The President nodded. "Let's get President Lian on the phone, then we'll call Chigorin. I'm ready to put an end to this mess and bring our guys home as soon as possible."
"Yes, sir."
CUT TO:
INT. CAR, ROUTE 50
Josh's cell phone rang just as they crossed over the
"I'm calling with some good news for a change," the President said.
"The Senator's arm isn't really broken?" Josh joked.
"No. No, his arm is definitely broken,"
"Oh?" Josh asked. "Then what's the good news?"
"The Russians and Chinese have begun retreating."
He pictured the President grinning.
"That's great news, sir." Josh glanced at Donna, who looked eager to hear what they were talking about. "Who flinched first?"
"The Russians."
"You called it," Josh said. "Have you talked to Chigorin yet?"
"I have. I also spoke with President Lian. Looks like they're both willing to back away, but it's one baby step at a time,"
"We'll take what we can get." Josh smiled. "This will be all over the news tomorrow, sir. The football incident will be a distant memory."
The President sighed. "I hope you're right."
"Do you need me to come in?" Josh asked with raised brows. He really didn't want to spend his Sunday afternoon at work.
"No. We'll catch up first thing tomorrow morning."
"Sounds good." Josh let out a breath. "Have a good evening, sir."
He hung up and told Donna the news.
"Nice way to end the weekend," she replied with a smile.
CUT TO:
INT. CAR, WASHINGTON, D.C. and INT. CAR, ROUTE 50
Sam read a text message from Joey, while Lauren returned a phone call to her father. Once he had the numbers in his hands, he thought, he could concentrate more on his fiancée. Things were better between them, but Sam knew he had to really step it up in the relationship department.
As Lauren hung up her phone, Sam's rang. He noticed Josh's number.
"Miss us already?"
"I just got off the phone with the President," Josh said, ignoring Sam's joke. "Good news: the Chinese and Russians have begun retreating in
"That's great news," Sam lowered the mouthpiece and told Lauren. "Are you going in?"
"No."
"Really?" Sam asked. "This may change your mind. I just got a text message from Joey. She's meeting me in 20 minutes with the polling report on the lowest numbers."
"I don't have a problem with the numbers, Sam," Josh said. "In fact, I'm actually *happy* with them."
"You're really not going in?" A sense of wonder crept into Sam's voice.
Josh looked at Donna, who was busy scrolling through photos on her digital camera. She laughed out loud at one of them.
"No," Josh said, still looking at his girlfriend. "I'm really not."
Donna looked up at him and smiled. If he had any doubt about not going to the office on a Sunday evening, they were dismissed in that moment. His days of working "for work's sake" were over.
"Then I guess I'll see you tomorrow," Sam responded.
"Yeah."
They hung up, and Josh pressed a little harder on the gas pedal.
INT. DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF'S OFFICE
Before he even sat down behind his desk, Sam wrote a To Do list:
1. Order flowers for Lauren.
2. Book couples massage at Piaf.
3. Call Toby.
Sam put the pen down and stared at the list. He turned on a lamp, then sat in his desk chair. He glanced at the list again and let out a long sigh. Finally, Sam picked up a red pen and drew a line
through the third task.
Tapping his fingers against the polished wood, he made a decision. He pulled his cell phone off of his belt loop and dialed a familiar number.
It rang four times before anyone answered.
"Hello?"
"Toby?" He let out a long breath, then a small smile crossed his face. "It's Sam."
FADE TO BLACK