Like A Bad Penny

by: Evelyn

“She yelled at me.”

“Get over it, Josh.”

“Donna, the woman yelled at me.”

“Josh, from what I hear, you questioned her loyalty to the United States.”

“Donna, the woman didn’t know who the Majority Leader is. I’m not convinced she knew how many states there are in the Union. Are you sure she’s a citizen?”

“First of all, you don’t have to be a citizen to work in the White House. And second of all, Sharon Bostwick did know who the Majority Leader is, she just got flustered because you were yelling at her. She has a master’s degree in Political Science from Georgetown and has worked as a researcher for the last fifteen years at the Library of Congress. Trust me, she can do the kind of research you’re going to need for the campaign.”

“I just...just didn’t have a good feeling about her,” Josh said, beginning to pout.

“Joshua,” Donna said in a low, seductive voice.

Josh head snapped up because he had just heard Donna Moss’ “you’re about to have mind-blowing sex” voice he’d grown to love in just a few short days.

“Yes, Donnatella?”

“I’m willing to work very, very late at night with you for weeks until you find someone you’re comfortable with,” Donna purred.

“Really?”

“Absolutely. I’ll stay until one, two, even three in the morning, if need be. But of course, unfortunately, I’ll be too tired to do anything else that might be interesting,” she said with a small smile, “but I understand your reluctance to jump at the first seemingly qualified candidate.”

“When can she start?” Josh asked eagerly.

Just then there was a knock at the door. Donna and Josh looked up and saw CJ standing there, shifting back and forth nervously.

“Got a minute?” CJ asked.

“Sure,” Josh said. “What’s up?”

“I’m going to tell it to you straight. Next week The National Enquirer is running a story that Donna is pregnant with your child,” CJ said bluntly.

Donna and Josh both stared at her, and finally Josh found his voice. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Do I look like I’m kidding, Joshua?” CJ answered.

“Who made up this crap?” Josh said, his voice starting to rise.

“Katie came to me this afternoon with the story. I spent the last hour tracking it down and I got copies of some of the photos that will run with the article,” CJ explained.

“What photos? To be honest, CJ, we didn’t leave the apartment the entire weekend,” Josh said, blushing. “Unless someone’s got a hidden camera in my place...” his voice drifted off.

CJ walked over to the desk and put down two photos. The first was a picture of Josh and Donna, eating in a restaurant, laughing and sharing a piece of pie. The second was a shot of Josh, with his arm around Donna, walking up the steps to his apartment. “Do you recognize these scenes?” CJ asked.

Josh looked them over and pursed his lips, clearly puzzled by what he was seeing.

“Well, the first was taken at O’Briens, you know that bar we sometimes go to in Georgetown. I’m trying to remember the last time we ate there. Yeah, it was about a week ago. We’d worked here all day, and then I suggested that we grab a bite to eat. We had a fast dinner and decided to share a slice of pecan pie. Then we headed over to my place to finish up the energy initiative report. I’d left some files we needed there. And the second picture is of us going into my place. I have my arm around Donna because she’d just stumbled over the chip in the second step, see there?” Josh pointed out the offending step. “But I didn’t see any photographer that night,” he said confused.

Josh glanced over at Donna, slumped in her chair, and saw silent tears running down her cheeks.

“I should have known something like this would happen,” she murmured. “That telephone call last week...”

He crossed immediately, pulled her to a stand, and put his arms around her. “Shhhh, it’s going to be ok. We’ll figure this out and kill the son of a bitch who’s behind it.”

“Isn’t it obvious who did this,” Donna said in a voice so soft Josh had to strain to hear it.

“No, who?” Josh asked.

“Amy Gardner,” Donna answered simply.

Chapters - 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Sequel - A Few Bumps in the Road

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