ACT FOUR
INT., JOSH & DONNA'S APT., EVENING
They'd taken the rare opportunity of them both being home early to go out to a nice dinner. The conversation had been comfortable, but it was clear there was a giant elephant in the room. They had just mutually, yet silently, agreed to discuss it later.
At home, cuddled together on the sofa with the radio playing softly in the background, Donna finally broached the subject. "The President came to visit Mrs. Santos this afternoon."
"I know," Josh replied. He pulled away from Donna so he could look into her eyes, but kept hold of her hand. "Did she tell you why?"
Donna nodded. "I presume that's why you cancelled lunch yesterday?"
"Yeah," Josh answered. "What do you think?"
"Of what?"
"I guess I'm asking if you think she'll agree to go." Despite his reassurances to Matt, Josh actually had no idea what Helen would do.
"She was pretty upset this afternoon," Donna allowed. "But I think it was a pissed-off upset. He said something to her that really made her mad. Maybe it was the way he asked her, I'm not sure, but in the end, I think she'll agree to go. Because it is important and if she asks me, that's what I'll tell her. I know she's pretty caught up in this being the kids' first week back to school and all, but there are times when we have to put our personal lives aside for the good of the country and this is one of those times."
Josh looked down at their entwined hands, running his thumb over Donna's soft skin.
"What are you thinking?" She asked softly. His first question had been about the political because it was safe. She knew what he really wanted to talk about because she wanted to talk about it too.
"I'm thinking the President asked and it doesn't matter what I think," Josh looked up and met Donna's blue eyes. "But I'm scared to death. The idea of you going over there and something happening scares me to death. I don't care how stable Arnie Vinick claims the damn country is. But I also know we can't live our lives being scared that something crazy is going to happen."
Donna reached out with her free hand and brushed Josh's cheek. "It'll be okay. It's a four day goodwill tour. Besides, the President asked, what are we going to do? Say no?"
Josh pulled Donna to him and kissed her deeply. "I love you."
"I love you, too."
CUT TO:
INT., WHITE HOUSE RESIDENCE, LATE EVENING
"I take Peter's cough seriously," Matt said, sitting down opposite Helen in the living room. The evening had been tense enough that he'd sequestered himself in his private study after dinner until it was bedtime for the kids.
"You couldn't even take an hour off to talk with Jeff Perez when he was up for their physicals," Helen pointed out, putting her magazine down.
"That doesn't mean I don't notice Peter's clearing his throat all the time," Matt said. "I really need you to do this, Helen. I know it seems cheesy. Like who won't notice the Secretary of State's along?
It's an easy explanation. You've never gone abroad before, you got a phone call from Jeff, you decided you needed to see the situation for yourself and to make sure everything went well, we sent Arnie with you for support and we've decided to add a couple of extra stops on his trip after you're finished so it doesn't look like he's just holding your hand. Does it stand up to the greatest scrutiny? No, I accept that, but it's the best we could come up with on short notice before riots in front of our embassy in Qumar start leading newscasts around the world next week."
"Matt, stop selling it. I'll go. I don't appreciate the timing, but I accept there's nothing you can do about it. You have to promise me that you'll keep an eye on Peter while I'm gone. I really am worried
about his cough." There was more to her reluctance than just the kids, but since she couldn't explain it to herself, she didn't even try to explain it to Matt.
"I promise. I'll see if Ronna will stay with them Friday while I'm in
"You owe me one."
CUT TO:
INT., JOSH'S OFFICE, WEDNESDAY MORNING
"Good morning." Josh entered his office from the Oval and greeted the assembled staff. "Lou, Lester, Otto, this is a magnificent draft you left on my desk. I'm glad to see the concept of a deadline was finally able to jump-start your mojo."
Otto managed an exhausted smile at the praise from the Chief of Staff.
"Except we're going to have to toss it," Josh announced.
"WHAT?" Otto and Lester looked mutinous, but Lou just looked resigned, as though she knew something like this was coming. Otto couldn't keep himself from blurting out his frustration: "I was here all night writing that draft."
"And you'll be here all night tonight writing a new one on a brand-new topic. Which I am about to explain the details of to you," Josh said. He ran down the specifics of what was going on with Qumar, the Secretary of State's impending visit to Amiir and the purpose of the First Lady's presence. "Questions?"
"What's out of bounds with regards to discussing the Qumaris?" Lou asked.
"Keep it relatively civil. Don't directly accuse them of anything and don't bring up Abdul Shareef," Josh replied.
"Is the
Josh nodded. "It's a chance we're going to take."
"Annabeth was going to offer the settlement to the defendant's law firm at the
"No," Josh shook his head. "Tell her to go ahead as planned. Anything else? Okay. Lester, coordinate the press message regarding the First Lady's trip with Annabeth. We've got a day and a half to get this together, guys."
CUT TO:
INT., ABA CONFERENCE, FRIDAY LATE AFTERNOON
"Tell me again how Josh got out of this thing?" Lou asked.
"He's home minding the store," Sam replied, distractedly. He was standing next to Annabeth, his eyes scanning the crowd for Lauren. "There she is."
"There who is?" Lou couldn't get her mind off Otto's hurriedly written speech. Granted, she thought he did his best work under tight deadlines, but this was a major policy speech that had come out of
nowhere and hadn't gotten the review and vetting she thought it should have.
"We'll be back in a few minutes," Sam said as he and Ainsley moved towards Lauren and the two men she was standing with.
"Hi!" Sam greeted his fiancée warmly despite how rocky things were getting at home. Lauren was convinced
"Hi." She returned his smile, surprised to see him here. He hadn't said anything about accompanying the President to this event, which he knew she was coming to.
"Lauren, this is Ainsley Hayes. She's the White House Counsel," Sam introduced the two women.
"This is Peter Farmington and Jonathan Marks," Lauren gestured to the two men with her. "Peter, Jonathan, this is my fiancé, Sam Seaborn and Ainsley Hayes."
"It's a pleasure," Ainsley said, shaking hands with the two men and smiling at Lauren. "I've heard a lot about you from Sam. Since I've got you here, I wanted to go ahead and give you this." Ainsley pulled
a thick envelope out of her briefcase and handed it to Lauren.
"I'm sorry, what's this?" Lauren looked from Ainsley to Sam.
"That's the reworked settlement agreement for the EPA lawsuit," Ainsley answered.
"Perhaps we could take care of this back in
"We're both going to be pretty busy with some other issues, as you'll hear soon enough," Ainsley smiled. "I'd just as soon get the inconsequential stuff my plate and since we were all here, why not mix a little business with convention?"
Lauren held the paperwork, looking mortified. "Reworked settlement?"
"Did you really think we were going to accept what you brought over last week?" Ainsley asked with a chuckle. "Come on. You've seen the deposition from the EPA manager. You were asking for way too much considering the facts on the table."
"Lauren?" Jonathan Marks looked Lauren.
"You signed off on the agreement last week, sir," Lauren replied, her demeanor giving Sam a clue for the first time that one of these men might be her boss.
"I think you'll find the reworked agreement to be generous, but we're not giving away the store," Ainsley said. "If you'll excuse me, I need to take care of some other business."
Lauren watched as Ainsley walked away and then grabbed Sam by the arm and excused them as well. She led him to a quiet corner.
"I can't believe you sprang that on me in front of my boss. It made me look like an idiot. You couldn't have given me some kind of warning?" Lauren was visibly upset.
"First of all, I didn't give it to you, Ainsley did. Second of all, when you say warning, do you mean like when you called and let me know you were bringing the thing over to begin with?" Sam answered. "I'm sorry you think everything I do is wrong, Lauren, I really do, but this was work we had to get out of the way. I hope you understand that after the President's speech tonight."
CUT TO:
INT., MS. JACKSON'S CLASSROOM, SAME TIME
"I was really hoping one of Peter's parents could actually be here. Mrs. Santos told me earlier this week she was very concerned about this," Ms. Jackson said, gesturing for Josh to take a seat.
"I'm sorry. Mrs. Santos is on her way out of the country for four days and the President is in
The teacher nodded. "Peter's been in my class for only a week, but in that week, I've noticed some disturbing behavior. I've already discussed my concerns about his cough with Mrs. Santos and she assured me it was something she had been in contact with his pediatrician about. Unfortunately, he's also been randomly kicking at things, which I could overlook until he kicked a classmate late this afternoon. He told me it was something he was unable to control. If I hadn't observed similar behavior all week, I would be prone to disbelieving him, but it really does seem to be a random tic."
"I'm sorry, Peter kicked a classmate?" Josh repeated.
"Actually he kicked his desk, a classmate who was walking up the aisle caught part a glancing blow and Peter was immediately apologetic," the teacher explained.
"What sort of punishment is there?" Josh asked, visions of zero tolerance policies running through his head.
"The principal and I discussed this and we believe that it was an unintentional act, Mr. Lyman. There will be no punishment at this time. If his behavior continues, however…"
"Yes, ma'am," Josh interrupted. "I'll make sure that both the President and Mrs. Santos understand the severity of what's going on."
"We're not talking about expelling him, Mr. Lyman," the teacher said with a laugh. "But we think Peter should, at the very least, be talking to someone. He's gone through a lot of changes in the past nine months, and while he seems to be well adjusted, you can never tell what children are sometimes hiding. Plus, childhood tics like the kicking and his cough can have other causes. I think it's best for Mrs. Santos to call me as soon as she can."
Josh rubbed his temples, not relishing the conversation that awaited him when the President returned from
CUT TO:
INT., DIPLOMATIC FLIGHT WHISKEY TANGO 29
"Here's a copy of your schedule, ma'am," Annabeth sat down opposite Helen. The First Lady was staring out the window watching the clouds go by.
"Hmm?"
"Your itinerary for the trip," Annabeth said, proffering one of the three folders in her hands.
"Is that the schedule?" Donna asked, joining them from the rear of the plane. "The State Department guy said he gave them to you."
"Here you go," Annabeth said.
The three women walked through the daily, getting to day two before Annabeth and Donna exchanged glances. They'd lost the First Lady's attention.
"Ma'am?" Donna, who was sitting next to her, touched her arm gently. "Is something bothering you?"
"I don't really want to be on this trip," Helen admitted. "I'm worried about the kids."
"It's only for four days. You left them for longer than that during the campaign," Annabeth said.
"I know, but they just started back to school…"
"With all due respect, ma'am," Donna interrupted. "That's the same reason you didn't want to go to
Helen sighed, staring out the window. "That was really it, at first. Until Matt started trying to convince me to go and he brought up terrorist bombings and making phone calls." She turned to look at the other two women. "Have either of you ever known anyone who's gotten one of those phone calls?"
"I didn't get a call, but I'll never forget what it was like when Toby told me Josh had been shot," Donna said.
"When Matt and I were first married, I was spending the day with a mutual friend of ours. Her husband was in Matt's squadron. They'd just had a new baby. And there was an accident. I'll never forget what it was like when the notification team showed up on her doorstep. That beautiful baby girl who would grow up never knowing her daddy," Helen said, her gaze again wandering out the window of the government jet. "It was a long time before I could stay home by myself when Matt went off on drill weekends, and when the kids were born there was a whole adjustment period… Of course I want to help if I can, I just… I never thought about it being me going off somewhere. I mean, what if something happens? Matt's a great father, but can he really take care of two kids by himself?"
"You can't think of it like that," Donna said, remembering the conversation she had earlier in the week with Josh. "You can't live your life thinking something bad is going to happen."
Helen blushed. "I'm not living my life that way. Just this trip and I'm sure once we land, I'll be fine."
Annabeth reached out and squeezed Helen's hand. "Ma'am, I talked with Secretary Vinick before the flight. Amiir is a nice, stable country. Dr. Perez is meeting us in the first village. Everything will go according to that schedule. There's really nothing to worry about. You'll see."
"I'm just overreacting, aren't I?"
"You've been worried about Peter, and with back-to-school and the way this got sprung on you, it's natural," Donna reassured her.
"I was pretty short with Matt before we left, and I really shouldn't have been."
"You can make it up to him when you get back," Annabeth said.
"Buy him a souvenir," said Donna.
"Maybe some kind of native idol for when you get home and make-up?" Annabeth suggested with a wink, causing the three women to break up with laughter before they got down to the business of going over the trip's itinerary.
FADE TO BLACK