Chapter 8
Sam tapped on his doorframe and he looked up from the latest polling numbers he was reviewing. They’d taken a huge lead after the debate; there was little else to worry about as far as the election was concerned. “Hey, how was
Sam shrugged and walked further into Josh’s office. “Warm.”
“Did you tell the guy to stop campaigning for the dead guy?”
“I told him. He said no.”
Josh laughed. The whole idea was preposterous. “He said no?”
Sam looked down at his hands. “Then I told him if he won, I’d run in the special election.”
Josh’s laughing stopped. “What?”
“It was an accident.”
“You accidentally told someone you’d run for congress?”
Sam looked up at him and spoke quietly but firmly. “Yes.”
Josh rubbed a hand over his face and through his hair, mumbling, “You have the strangest accidents.” He stopped and looked at Sam. “Is he gonna win?”
“A democrat in
Josh paused, looking at him, then nodded. "Ok.” He looked at his watch and noticing it was after eight, he stood up and started putting things in his back pack.
“Hey. I haven’t eaten all day. You want to go grab some dinner?” Sam asked him.
“Can’t. I’m meeting Donna at my place to help her study for a test between batters.”
“Between batters?”
They walked out of the office together and headed through the lobby. “It’s the playoffs. Admittedly, I’m not going to be much help.”
Sam laughed at him. “How is she?”
“Good. She wanted me to tell you she got Wolfe and Erickson today.”
They passed through building security and headed out towards the gate. “Erickson?” Sam asked, surprised.
Josh nodded proudly. “Yes.”
“That’s great. I mean, wow, that’s really great. Erickson?”
Josh shrugged and smirked. “She’s amazing, what can I say?”
Sam chuckled at him. “She is amazing. How are things…you know, between the two of you?”
“Remember a few weeks ago, I asked you that hypothetical question?”
“About you having a thing for Donna?”
“It was hypothetical!”
“Sure it was.”
“Ok, it wasn’t. I’m gonna talk to her before we leave for
“Yeah? What about Mandy?”
“I ended it.”
“When?”
“When she was here on Tuesday.”
“So, you and Donna?”
“I think she’s the one, Sam. I really do.”
“She’s the one, Sam.”
Sam slapped him on the back with a big grin on his face. “I didn’t know you guys were…”
Josh cut him off. “We’re not. Not yet. I just need to get through re-election and then I’m pulling out all the stops.”
“All the stops, huh?” Sam asked with raised eyebrows.
“Yes. I’m not exactly sure what all the stops are, but I’m guessing flowers, candles and declarations will be involved.”
“Good. Just don’t wait too long. She’s a beautiful woman. She’s likely to get a better offer and…” he trailed off and Josh stopped walking. “Oh God, I’m sorry.”
Josh looked at him and then away but didn’t say anything.
“I’m really sorry Josh. I didn’t mean… I didn’t...”
“It’s ok,” he said quietly, still focusing on the gate near the entrance.
“No it’s not. That was incredibly insensitive of me and I’m…”
Josh cut him off again. “It’s fine,” he said tight lipped. “It was just a joke.” He looked back at Sam and tried unsuccessfully to smile.
“Josh…”
“That’s not going to happen this time. She wouldn’t do that. She’s… she’s not going to do that.”
“I know,” Sam said quietly.
“She’s not.”
“I know.”
He looked at Sam and they stood there awkwardly. Finally, he said, “I gotta go.”
Sam tried to thing of something else to say, but finally nodded. “Ok. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
***********
“Sam was extremely impressed that you got Erickson today,” he said during a commercial as they ate Chinese take out on the floor in front of his couch.
She looked up from the Family Law book on the coffee table in front of her. “Really?”
Josh nodded. “He’s a bastard. He hates us.”
“Hmm…” she said, looking back down at the book. “He wasn’t hard to convince.”
“Well, you’re a very convincing person,” he said as he smiled, watching her flip a page in the book and then write something on a purple index card.
“What do you have there?”
“Index cards.”
“Why do you have index cards?”
“So I can convince you of my point.”
“You think pink and purple index cards will convince me of something?”
“I’ll be doing the convincing.”
“But you’ll be using pink and purple index cards to do it.”
“Shut up and let me get to the convincing.”
“Well, let’s hope I can be a convincing tomorrow with Tandy and Skinner.”
“Tandy?” he asked with large eyes and a squeaky voice.
“Yes.” She flipped another page and highlighted something in the book.
“Congressman Tandy?”
“And Congressman Skinner,” she said, writing something else down. The game came back on then and she pushed her book aside and grabbed an egg roll. “You’re guy’s 0 for 2 tonight. Is he gonna make a come back?”
He stared at her for a few seconds before looking up at the television. He didn’t know why her meeting with Amy's ex-boyfriend bothered him, but he wasn’t going to let it ruin their evening. “You’re one to talk,” he said, climbing up onto the couch. “Your guy hit soft to second and caused a double play.”
She tilted her head back and looked up at him with a big smile. “At least my guy’s making contact with the ball.”
He smiled back and she bit her bottom lip shyly. It was getting harder and harder not to kiss her, especially when she did things like that, but he was determined to wait three more weeks until the election was over so he could focus on her. “Little good it’s doing us.”
He grabbed her index cards then and quizzed her between batters until the Mets had finished losing to the Reds. When the game was over, he quizzed her some more until they were both yawning. “It’s one. You’re gonna be too tired to take your test.”
She yawned again, covering her mouth with her hand. “You’re gonna be too tired to run the country.”
He smirked at her. “Yes, but I have a small amount of help when it comes to that.”
She shook her head and stood up to gather her things, pausing when her eye caught a picture on top of his entertainment center. “How are they?”
He looked up at her from the couch and saw her looking at a picture of his parents. Slowly, he stood up and walked over to her. “Mom’s good,” he said quietly.
The room went silent and she turned and looked at him. “And your dad?” she asked as if she already knew the answer.
Josh took a deep breath. “He died during the first campaign.”
She smiled softly and tilted her head to one side slightly. “The cancer?”
“Indirectly,” he said quietly. “He developed a blood clot from the radiation.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, wrapping her hand around his and squeezing gently, then letting go.
He smiled and closed his eyes at the feel of her hand in his. “Thanks.”
Another minute of silence filled the room before she spoke again. “But your mom’s good, you said?”
He broke out of his reverie then and grinned at her. “Yeah. She lives in
“Really?” Donna asked with a big grin on her face.
He nodded and grinned back at her. “Yeah. She came out and stayed the summer I…” he trailed off and the room went quiet once again. “She came out to stay with me one summer and liked it here, decided to sell the house in
She looked back at the picture and stared at it. “I was worried about you,” she finally whispered.
He could feel his heart beating faster. “You were?” he asked in a gravely voice.
“I was… studying for finals. I…” she paused and looked down at her hands, fiddling with the bracelet on her wrist. “I went to a church and sat there. I didn’t know what else to do.” She looked at him then and tried to smile. “I sent a card too. You probably got thousands.”
He chuckled. “About ten thousand, actually.”
“Ten thousand?” she asked surprised.
He nodded almost proudly. “The secret service screened them, but my mom read every one that got through.”
“Josh?”
“Yeah?”
“This one sounds like it’s from someone you know.”
“Who?”
“Someone named Donnatella.”
“What?”
“Donnatella Moss. The return address is
“Donna, you knew her as Donna. Can I …”
“Donna from the campaign? That was sweet of her.”
“She read every one? How sweet is that? Your mother is absolutely adorable, Josh,” she said with a sweet smile. He had to hold himself back from telling her she was adorable too.
He took her book bag and walked her to her car then, handing it to her and feeling his breath catch when their fingers mingled together as she took it from him. “I’ll call you when we get back from
She gave him a huge smile and nodded, a blush on her cheeks. “Do good.”
**********
*****He was sitting, propped up against the wall, holding his stomach and waiting for an ambulance to come. She stood over him. “You’re going to be ok, Josh. You’re going to be fine.” She said it over and over and he believed her. He could hear the ambulance then and she smiled at him and squeezed his hand, “Don’t leave me,” he whispered, and he could feel blood gathering in his mouth. She kneeled down next to him and cupped his face in her hands as the sirens got louder. “I have to,” she whispered. “I don’t want to, but you took her away from him. Now he’s taking me from you.” He grabbed her hand with his bloody one, crimson red against creamy white. “Don’t go,” he begged her, holding on as tight as he could. The sirens were so loud then. “I have to, Josh. I have to.” She stood up then, her hand sliding easily from his, and turned and walked towards John Tandy, waiting for her on the other side of the fence.*****
He woke up panting and gasping for air, white knuckles tightly clutching the pillow that had been covering his face. After several seconds, he started telling himself to take deep breaths; that was always the hardest part. He could hear his heart literally pounding in his chest, could feel sweat on his back and face, but he couldn’t see yet. Focusing always took the longest. He started blinking slowly until the dresser in front of his bed came into focus and his body stopped shaking enough so he could get up and get a glass of water. He walked slowly into the bathroom and filled a glass with lukewarm water, taking a drink and looking at himself in the mirror. “Don’t start this, damn it. Just don’t.”