ACT 2
INT. OFFICE OF THE SENIOR ASSISTANT TO THE CHIEF OF STAFF
Josh walked into Margaret’s office after a grueling hour in the Sit Room. “What’d I miss?” he asked as he walked towards the door to his office carrying a large stack of papers.
“Did you do something you shouldn’t have?”
He stopped and his eyes widened. “That would be a safe bet.”
“Lou, Bram, Otto and Amy are in your office.”
“Ohh…”
“They claim you want them there.”
He half-smirked. “That’s a bit of a stretch, don’t you think?”
“We’ve talked about you scheduling your own meetings.”
“Have we?” he asked innocently.
“Several times.”
“And what did we decide about that?”
“That you’d refrain from doing it.”
“Are you sure we didn’t decide that I’m the boss and can therefore schedule anything I damn well please?”
“Positive.”
Josh sighed. “I don’t really have time to argue with you.”
“Because you have two meetings scheduled right now and you’re late for both?”
“I do?”
“The one I scheduled and…” she trailed off and gestured to him.
“Right.” He rubbed his hand over his face. “Margaret, we missed senior staff this morning so I could see the president off, the press hates us, there was a volcano explosion two days ago, we don’t have a vice-president,
Margaret looked scolded and nodded slightly. “I’ll push your next meeting back another ten minutes.”
“Thank you.”
She held up a stack of messages and he took them before walking into his office.
CUT TO
INT. OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF STAFF - CONTINUOUS
“This has to be short. I’ve broken one of Margaret’s rules,” he said without looking up as he walked inside.
“The speaker called the vote,” Lou said from her spot on the couch.
Josh looked up at her as walked around to his desk. “When?”
“About an hour ago.”
“No,” he said sitting down. “For when?”
“
Josh nodded. “We need Lester…”
“He’s announcing it from
“Good.” Good, that was just what they needed. A win. A big, big win. “Otto, start working on something for the president to say once the vote passes. We’re thrilled; Vice-President Baker’s an excellent choice… you know, whatever Lou says.”
“We’re not actually sure it’s going to pass,” Bram said.
“It’s going to pass,” Lou said.
Josh looked at Bram and then Lou. “Do I need to be worried about this?”
Lou shook her head. “No. Four people have switched votes.”
“Four people so far,” Bram said.
Josh looked back to Bram. “What’s going on?”
“I’ve been counting votes on the Hill this morning,” he said.
“And four people have switched votes?”
“Actually five, but I talked one back,” Bram said proudly.
“Does Sam know about the four?”
Bram nodded. “Yes. He’s talking to them.”
“Ok,” Josh said, putting his elbows on his desk and leaning forward. “If you get to twenty, let me know.” He looked at Amy. “What’s going on with the education bill?”
Amy cleared her throat. “I’m meeting at one with Congressman Richards.”
“How many votes does he carry?”
“Sam thinks six. Apparently he wants $42 million dollars for a highway repairs bill. Can I offer him support of that for those votes?”
“You’re not going to get them without incentive?”
“Sam doesn’t think so.”
Josh leaned back in his chair. “$42 million?”
“That’s what Sam says.”
“Yeah,” Josh said nodding. “He can have $42 million, but only for all six votes.”
She nodded.
“What else?”
“722 went to sub-committee yesterday,” Amy said.
“What’s 722?” asked Bram.
“Medicaid and breastfeeding,” Lou said. “It’s not leaving sub-committee.”
“This bill is going to lead to malnutrition and already poor mothers who can’t work because they have to breastfeed every three hours.”
“Can’t they use the pump thing?” Bram asked. Amy shot him a look.
“It’s a ridiculous bill that’s never getting out of sub-committee,” Josh said, looking pointedly at Amy. She started to speak and he shook his head. “What else?”
No one said anything.
“Ok. Bram, get back to the Hill. Lou, if you can make some time to get over there this afternoon…”
“I’m on it.”
“I can go,” Otto said from his seat.
Josh looked over at him for a second before cracking a smile and looking at Amy. “If we need you over there later?”
“Depends on how long my meeting with Richard’s lasts,” Amy said with a pissed off look and a defiant tone.
“I can go,” Otto said again.
Josh looked back at Otto. “I need someone intimidating.”
“I’m not intimidating?”
“No,” Lou and Josh said at the same time.
“I can be intimidating.”
“No you can’t,” Lou chuckled.
“Whereas Amy and Lou push right past intimidating and into frightening,” Josh said with a grin.
“Nice,” Amy said with a leer.
“You took it as a compliment,” he said without looking at her.
“I took it as a compliment,” Lou said shrugging.
Josh leaned back in his chair. “Ok everyone, that’s it.”
One by one they piled out of his office, leaving him alone for a glorious five seconds before Donna walked in with a take-out bag.
“Hey,” he said, standing up and leaning over his desk to give her a quick kiss. “What’s up?”
Donna smiled at him. “I brought lunch.”
He looked at the P&J Deli bag in her hand and then up at her sheepishly. “I can’t. I’m late for a meeting.”
“Because you scheduled one yourself and Margaret double booked you?”
“Tattle tale,” he yelled through the door.
Donna’s smile widened. “I’m your other
“You are?”
“I am.”
“Oh.” He sat back down. “What do you need?”
She held up the bag. “Lunch.” She sat it on his desk and pulled a chair up.
“But…”
“I scheduled you twenty minutes for lunch at eleven.”
He looked at his watch. “It’s almost twelve.”
“It’s not my fault you’re running late.”
He was quiet for a second before softly replying, “Donna, I’m really…”
Donna shook her head and cut him off. “You didn’t have breakfast. You don’t have twenty minutes for lunch? You have to eat eventually. You are human.”
He held up a stack of messages. “I’ve got…”
Instead of replying, she looked unimpressed at the messages in his hand.
“And…” he picked up the briefing pages from the Sit Room. “I have to read this and report to the president.”
“You spent the last hour in the Sit Room learning everything in that thing.”
“I…”
She stood her ground. “You’re wasting time.”
He watched her for several seconds, then propped his elbows on his desk and held his head in his hands. “What’d you bring?” he asked in a resigned voice.
Having won, Donna smiled and sat down and started pulling things out of the bag. He watched as she cut a sandwich in half and put each half on a plate, then took a salad and divided it between the plates as well. The pretence was over; they’d gone from stealing food off each other’s plates to outright sharing.
“The speaker called the vote,” he said as he picked up the
Donna took a bite of her salad. “I heard.
“Yeah,” he mumbled around a bite of sandwich.
“You’ve got someone on the Hill?”
He didn’t answer and she cleared her throat. He looked at her. “Yeah, Bram,” he said, going back to the briefing.
“Are you worried?”
“Not really.”
Donna took a few bites of her half of the sandwich. She looked up and saw Josh leaned back, the briefing on his lap littered with lettuce from his sandwich. “The American Red Cross is having problems finding enough shelter for evacuees,” she said after swallowing.
“Hmm…”
“Josh?”
He looked up. “Sorry, what?”
“I said the American Red Cross is having problems finding enough shelter for evacuees.”
“Don’t they have tents?”
“Yeah, but it’s mid March. It’s still cold there this time of year. Tents aren’t enough; certainly not for anything remotely long term.”
“Right.”
He looked back down at the briefing and Donna stared at him for a few seconds before stabbing harshly at a bit of salad. The room went silent again.
It was another few minutes before she tried to engage him in conversation again. “Congresswoman Payne called me today.”
He glanced up at her. “About the VP?”
“No, she wants to team up with Mrs. Santos on a program to get computers into inner city elementary schools.”
“Oh,” he said, looking back at the briefing. “Sounds good.”
“I thought we might be able to work it in with the education bill.”
“Yeah…”
“I don’t know all the details yet, but it’s not legislation, so it shouldn’t interfere. Just another way of showing the country that education is our top priority.”
Josh took another bite of his sandwich and pulled a highlighter out of his top desk drawer. “Three roadside bombings last month in
Donna watched him with annoyance on her face. “Was anyone injured?” she asked.
He flipped another page and highlighted something else.
“Was anyone injured?” she asked again, louder.
His head snapped up. “What?” She shook her head and stood up. “What?” he asked again.
“Never mind,” she said, wrapping her sandwich up in the deli wrap.
“Where are you going?” he asked as she walked to the door. “I thought we were having lunch.”
“So did I,” she said, walking out and closing the door behind her.
“Donna…” he called after her. Shit.
CUT TO
INT. ROOSEVELT ROOM
Amy walked into the Roosevelt Room with Sam’s files. She’d spent the last hour reading through them; Sam was certainly thorough. She looked at the congressman and smiled. “Congressman Richards, how are you today?”
The congressman stood up and shook Amy’s hand before sitting back down at the head of the table. “I thought I was meeting with Sam Seaborn today.”
She sat in the seat diagonal from him. “Sam’s been stuck in
The congressman nodded. “You guys certainly got the press on something else quickly.”
“Confirming a vice-president is big news.”
“That pushed the president’s admission to the back page.”
“Maybe not that far,” she said with a sly grin.
“It was going to drop soon anyway. No one evacuates two states based on one man’s opinion. I think Ainsley Hayes took the brunt of it this morning.”
“I agree.” She paused and looked at him. “Congressman, Sam told me you have some concerns with the education bill.”
“I do, and I’m not the only one.”
“Higher pay for teachers, smaller classrooms, funding specifically set aside for arts classes so they can’t be pushed out to save money, funding for gifted and remedial classes, training for teacher’s aids, middle and high school technology classes, elementary breakfast programs, less of a focus on standardized testing, after school tutoring programs… it’s the most comprehensive education plan to have ever gone to congress.”
“I agree.”
“Then what are your problems with it?”
“Most of what you just said. Why are we determining how school systems are spending their money? Aren’t they the best ones to judge that?”
Amy sighed. “Congressman, when school systems run low on money, they take it out of music and art classes first. Next go gifted, remedial, and computer classes. We can’t aim to educate the 60% percent of students who fall into the middle of the road category. This bill is ensuring money for those classes. There’s still plenty of choice built into the bill for individual school systems and individual schools.”
The congressman acquiesced, nodding his head slightly. “You haven’t addressed the fact that many schools are using a dress code, which is unconstitutional.”
“That’s open to interpretation.”
“That’s my interpretation.”
Amy nodded. “That’s actually my interpretation as well. All the more reason not to put it into the bill. It’s already in the constitution.”
“You’ve got nothing in it for school security, student safety, violence…”
“Would adding something like that make you happier with it? Happy enough to garner your support?”
The congressman smiled. “To be happy enough to support it, you’d have to get rid of the longer school year.”
Amy’s eyes widened. “That’s the main point of the bill, Congressman.”
“Exactly.”
CUT TO
BLACKSTONE SUBDIVISION,
The president stood next to Governor Baldwin in the center of an abandoned and partially ruined subdivision. They were in the seared zone, but although he’d been assured that they were safe, they were wearing special clothing and shoes. He looked around the ash-ridden streets as the press snapped shots of him and the destruction.
“How many confirmed casualties?” he asked the governor quietly.
“About a hundred and fifty. But some areas aren’t yet safe to enter.”
“What about destruction?” Sam asked the governor.
“Two hundred fourteen homes, one school, about forty businesses. No count on vehicles.”
“Is that statewide,” Lester asked.
The governor nodded.
“Do you have an estimate for FEMA?” Sam asked.
“Twenty-four million,” Governor Baldwin replied, “But that’s very rough until we get into the direct blast zone.”
“Governor,” the president asked quietly. “There’s some speculation, some… questions… concerning what we could have prevented had we evacuated.”
The governor looked at the president for several seconds. “You were told of the possibility a few hours before the eruption?”
“Nine.”
“It’s hard to say. Nine hours isn’t much time to evacuate when the path of destruction is so large. More than thirty deaths were from inhalation of ash. Most of those people were out of the immediate danger zones and wouldn’t have evacuated anyway. Approximately forty deaths were from the fairly severe earthquake that preceded the eruption. Parts of three major highways were destroyed by the earthquake, so had we evacuated, that number might have been higher.”
The president paused before nodding. “But the others…”
“Mr. President, I’m not going to lie to you. If you’d called me with the information you’d been given I would’ve announced it; given people the choice. I think that’s important.” He stopped and the president closed his eyes and nodded. “But sir, I wouldn’t have called for a mandatory evacuation; there wasn’t enough evidence.”