ACT 2
INT. JOSH AND DONNA’S APARTMENT
10:00PM
Donna stretched her neck and hesitated at the door. She didn’t want to have the conversation she was about to have, but the Secret Service was standing there, so she knew he was home. She smiled uneasily at the agent and opened the door. She couldn’t put it off forever.
Josh was sitting on the couch in a pair of well-worn jeans and a navy blue sweater, drinking a beer and reading something on his laptop. On a typical night, the sight of him like that would’ve been a turn-on, but this night wasn’t going to end like that; she was sure of it.
“Hi,” she said quietly, unbuttoning her trench coat and hanging it up on the coat rack in the corner.
He looked up at her and without smiling, looked back down at his computer. “I’ve been trying to call you all night.”
“Yeah,” she breathed out. “I had my phone off.”
He stopped typing but didn’t look up. “Meeting?” he asked as though he knew that wasn’t the case, but hoped he was wrong.
“No.” Silence filled the room and she took a deep breath. “I was with Colin.”
CUT TO INT. SAM AND LAUREN’S APARTMENT
Sam tossed his keys down on the table by the door as Lauren started peeling off her coat. He walked up behind her and helped her, then hung both their coats in the closet and circled her waist with his arms. “How about that movie?” he asked softly into her ear.
Lauren disentangled herself from him and took a few steps, picking the mail up off the coffee table and flipping through it. “Maybe you should call the office; make sure you don’t have to go back in.”
“I don’t,” he said, walking to where she stood. “And I don’t have to be in until ten tomorrow because of Josh’s mood.”
Her hand stopped, holding the mail still. “Josh’s mood?” she asked with a quirk of her lips.
“It’s not good,” he said with a grin.
“Ahh…”
“So we could go to bed early, sleep in late…” he trailed off suggestively.
“Almost like a weekend,” she said with the slightest attitude as she went back to perusing the mail.
He closed his eyes briefly and walked towards the stereo. Maybe music would help. “You’re going to
Lauren shook her head. “Tomorrow night. There’s a brunch Sunday morning.”
“I’ll talk to Josh,” he said as he turned on the stereo and looked for a CD to put in. “See if I can…”
“Don’t bother,” she said, cutting him of. “We both know the answer.”
He paused with a CD in his hand and took a deep breath before turning to face her. “I know you’re not happy with me right now, but I’m trying here and it would really help if you’d recognize that.”
CUT TO INT. JOSH AND DONNA’S APARTMENT
Josh stood up slowly and faced Donna. “You went to see Colin without telling me about it?”
She stared him down for a few seconds before replying defensively. “I knew what you’d say.”
“You knew what I’d say…” he repeated slowly.
“Yes,” she said unapologetically. “You would’ve told me not to go. But I needed to go.”
“I don’t care what I would’ve told you! You don’t lie about it!” Josh shouted.
“I didn’t lie,” Donna insisted.
“Don’t get political on me. You didn’t tell me, you didn’t discuss it with me, you turned your phone off so I wouldn’t find out! That’s a lie!”
“You’re being ridiculous about all of this!” she yelled back. “I was supposed to tell you I was meeting Colin so your passive-aggressive jealousy could rear its ugly head? Pardon me if I wasn’t interested in that! I’ve got bigger things on my mind right now!”
“Jealous? We’re back to that?” he asked, throwing his hands in the air. “I’m not jealous of Colin Ayres! How many times do I have to say it? That’s not what this is about.”
“What is this about then Josh? I got off work, I met an old acquaintance for a drink, I came home. End of story.”
“You know damn well what this is about! I’m trying to protect you.”
“That’s not your job!” she half-shouted.
“It is!” he yelled before taking a breath, running his hands over his face. “It is, damn it,” he seethed quietly. “That’s what this is; that’s what this means,” he said, gesturing between them. “You get to take care of me, and damn it, I get to take care of you! If you want to meet Colin Ayres, you tell me and I go with you!”
“No; I tell you and you tell me not to go, just like you’ve been doing for the last week! I’ve been telling you that going to this exhibit is something I need to do and you’ve been telling me not to do it.”
“No. You’ve been telling me you’re fine. Just like you told me two weeks ago when you got back from Amiir.”
“This is different.”
“This isn’t at all different,” he insisted. “And what if the exhibit had pictures of Rosslyn and I told you it was something I needed to do? What would you say?”
Tears stung her eyes and she looked quickly away.
“That’s what I thought.”
Donna closed her eyes and concentrated on her breathing. “If you felt that you needed to see them, I’d hate it,” she said quietly. “But I’d support your decision.”
Josh dropped onto the couch and buried his head in his hands. “You don’t have anything to prove to anyone, Donna.”
“That’s not what this is.”
Josh looked up. “Yes it is. If it weren’t, if you just needed to see them, you’d ask him for a copy of them.”
She shook her head. “No, I need to…”
“Why?” he asked, standing again. “Why do you need to see them in public with the press there and everyone waiting to see you break down? Why do you have to put yourself through that?”
“That won’t happen,” she replied stubbornly. “I can handle this.” She’d handled the conversation with Colin; she could handle this.
“Donna,” he screeched. “You shouldn’t have to!”
CUT TO INT. SAM AND LAUREN’S APARTMENT
“What… I’m supposed to be impressed that after almost a year of living here, you’re finally trying to make this work?” Lauren answered, putting the mail down on the coffee table near the leather couch.
“That’s not fair.”
“And how exactly is being a half hour late for dinner trying, anyway? I suppose I should be happy that you weren’t two hours late like usual?”
“Lauren,” he said sighing deeply. “You know my…”
“Job is important,” she finished for him. “Yes I do. How could I forget? You’ve been telling me that since the day we moved here. But we’re important too.” She paused. “Or at least we used to be.”
“Don’t,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m doing my best.”
“I know that,” she said quietly. “That’s why I’m still here. But you keep telling me it’s going to get better, and I want to know when that’s going to be. Another year, another four, another seven…”
“I know it’s frustrating for you, but...”
“No,” she said sternly. “You missing dinner twice a week would be frustrating. You getting called into work in the middle of the night twice a month would be frustrating. You having to work three Saturdays a month would be frustrating. But you miss dinner five times a week, you work until after midnight four times a week, you work every Saturday and every Sunday, and when you’re here, you’re tied to your damn palm pilot… that’s beyond frustrating!”
CUT TO INT. HAWK AND DOVE
Lou reached into the bowl in the middle of the table, taking a small handful of peanuts and putting them down in front of her. She picked one up and started peeling away the shell as she looked over at the boys. Bram was leaned over a pool table taking a shot while Lester smirked and made comments she couldn’t hear. Otto stood next to Lester, whom she thought he might idolize, but unlike the other two, wasn’t holding a stick.
“Do you think we’d be capitalizing too much if we sent the president to meet some of the soldiers when they come home next month?” she asked Annabeth, who sat across from her nursing a margarita.
Annabeth considered the question before answering. “He hasn’t been to
“So... if we send him to meet the troops, it’ll look like he’s meeting them there because he’s afraid to go overseas?” Lou asked doubtfully.
Annabeth took a sip of the green concoction and wiped salt off her lip. “The president’s been in the armed forces; he’s not going to appear afraid.”
“Then...”
“He might look like he can’t be bothered with going overseas.”
“He can’t. He’s busy.”
“While that’s true,” Annabeth said with a snicker. “Is that something you want to advertise to the men and women who’ve been risking their lives at his request?”
“Bartlet’s request.”
“The president’s request,” Otto said, throwing himself into the booth next to Annabeth. “It doesn’t matter who the president was at the time.”
Annabeth nodded at him; he must’ve learned that from Josh. “How’s the game going?”
“They don’t let me play,” Otto mumbled.
“So,” Lou said, tipping her head back and taking a swig of her beer. “Because he hasn’t been overseas, he’s not allowed to address the returning soldiers?”
“What are we talking about?” Otto asked, picking up random bottles of beer looking for one with liquid left in it. “I thought we weren’t talking about work tonight.”
“Lou’s questioning whether or not to send the president to meet with returning troops next month,” Annabeth said as she slid closer to the wall to give Otto more room.
“We’re not even sure that’s going to happen yet, right?”
“Assuming that it is,” Lou said.
“We’re assuming that
“That is a big assumption,” Annabeth agreed.
“I’m not saying he gives a two hour speech on his view of foreign policy,” Lou said, ignoring their comment. “I’m saying he shakes a few hands, thanks the soldiers on behalf of the country for their hard work.”
“The sound bite at the end of the night is still a soldier holding his toddler on his hip and hugging his crying wife,” Otto said, taking Lou’s beer from her hand and draining it.
Lou glared at him. “Shouldn’t you be asking the grownups if you can play their game?”
Otto smiled and turned to Annabeth. “That means I had a good point.”
“What does?”
“When she picks on me for being young. It means I did something good and she doesn’t want to acknowledge it.”
“Shut up,” Lou said.
Annabeth looked at Lou and then back at Otto with an amused smile. “What does that mean?”
Otto shrugged and grinned, looking back at Bram and Lester. “That just means she wants me to shut up.”
“Yes, please,” Lou said just as her pager went off. She reached into her pocket and pulled it out. It was the White House. “Shit,” she mumbled standing up and reaching for her phone.
She dialed her phone and looked over at the pool table as it rang. Lester was pulling his pager out his pocket and saying something as he looked at the display. He and Bram put their sticks down and started back towards the table. “So much for getting drunk,” Lou mumbled.
CUT TO INT. SAM AND LAUREN’S APARTMENT
“I told you this would be tough. From the very beginning I told you this would be tough.”
“You didn’t tell me you’d change into someone I hardly recognize. You didn’t tell me that when you were here, you’d be on your computer or your cell phone or reading through legislation at the dinner table. You didn’t tell me you’d be this distant or that you’d avoid the topic of the wedding at all costs, or that you wouldn’t even notice how unhappy I am.”
“I know you’re unhappy,” he spit out. “I see it every time you look at me.”
Lauren took a calming breath. “Sam, maybe this isn’t …”
“We can make this work,” he said quickly, not letting her finish her thought.
Lauren closed her eyes and let the room fall silent. “Do you even want to?” she asked quietly a moment later.
“Of course I do,” he replied softly.
“Really?” she asked almost hopefully. “Because it doesn’t seem to bother you; that we’re not doing well. You’re so consumed with your work that… it doesn’t seem important to you.”
Sam walked up to her and took her hand in his. “Then that’s a mistake on my part, because it is important to me. You are important to me,” he said even though he could think of dozens of times he’d put work in front of her by choice and even more times that he himself questioned her importance in his life.
“Am I important enough…” she closed her eyes and shook her head, then looked at him again. “Are we important enough to you? Important enough to leave this place and go back home?”
His eyes widened. “What?”
“You can’t put us first here, Sam. You can’t put the two of us above your work. Let’s go back to LA; back to Sunday mornings in bed and Saturdays out on the boat. Back to black and white movies and jobs that came a distant second.”
Sam shook his head. “That’s crazy, Lauren.”
“It’s not crazy. It’s the answer.”
“No it’s not,” he said, shaking his head. “I love my job.”
“You loved your job there too,” she argued back.
“You can’t…” He stopped talking and started pacing the room between the coffee table and the couch, pausing and looking up at her. “You can’t just spring this on me. Just ask me to…”
“I can,” she said, cutting him off. “I can ask that. Just like you did. You came home one night and asked me to come here. You asked me to do that for you and now I’m asking you to do this for us.”
Sam stared at her, searching for something to say, for some sign that she didn’t mean it. He looked down at the floor while the silence stretched.
And then his cell phone started ringing.
CUT TO INT. JOSH AND DONNA’S APARTMENT
“I’m telling you I need to do this,” Donna said. “And I’m asking you to support me.”
Josh laughed harshly. “You can’t think I’m going to go to a gallery where strangers will be walking around with champagne and making small talk while looking at pictures on the wall of you dying as some sort of entertainment! Tell me you don’t think that.”
His words stung and she shivered involuntarily. “I didn’t ask you to go with me,” she said defensively a moment later.
“Well that’s good,” he said loudly. “Because I’m not going to.” Josh’s pager vibrated on the coffee table near the door just as the cell phone next to it started ringing. “Shit.”
Donna looked at the table and then at Josh. “Answer it.”
He stared at her for a second before walking over and picking up his cell phone. “Yeah,” he answered while picking up his pager and looking at the display.
Donna watched him listening to whoever was on the other end. He sighed and asked when, and she turned around and looked down at her hands. They were shaking again.
“Yeah,” he said into the phone. “I’ll be right there.”
She turned back and watched as he closed the phone and sat it back down. Then he looked back at her.
“I…”
“Go,” she said quietly. “We’ve been having this conversation for a week. I’m done with it.”
He watched her for another moment before taking his jacket from the coat rack and putting it on. Without a word, he picked up his keys, his pager, and his cell phone, then opened the door. He turned back at the last second and looked at her. “Please don’t go to this. Don’t do this to yourself, Donna. If not for you then for me,” he pleaded before turning and leaving.