Like A Bad Penny

by: Evelyn

“Hi, Mom,” Donna said in a subdued voice.

“Hey Baby Girl, how are you?” Carolyn Moss said, her mom-radar on high alert from the tone of her daughter’s voice.

“Not so good,” Donna admitted.

“What happened since we talked yesterday? How was your first day on the job?” Carolyn wanted to know.

“The job’s wonderful, but I’m afraid it’s going to be short-lived,” Donna said with a catch in her voice. The tears started to fall, and she struggled to gain control.

“What in God’s name happened, Donnatella?” Carolyn demanded.

“Well, your clients are going to get an eyeful when they read next week’s National Enquirer,” Donna said hesitantly. Carolyn Moss owned a small beauty parlor in Madison. Her customers regularly read the rag. In fact, if she were honest about it, Carolyn frequently scanned it while standing in line at the supermarket.

“What are you talking about?”

“There’s going to be a story about the love child I’m having with Josh, conceived, apparently, in the Oval Office. And if that’s not bad enough, the House Government Oversight Committee is planning on holding hearings on whether taxpayer dollars helped finance this great affair that Josh and I have supposedly been conducting for the last four years. I think I was probably right last week when I came home. I should have just stayed there and ...and,” Donna burst into tears.

“Donnatella,” her mother said sharply. “Get hold of yourself. You’ve got to think clearly and you can’t do that if you’re crying.”

Donna fought to get herself under control. She took several deep breaths and was wiping the tears off her face when Josh and CJ walked back into the office. Josh took one look at his fiancee and went to hold her. CJ murmured that she’d be back shortly, and left the office.

Josh took the phone from Donna and said, “Mrs. Moss, it’s Josh.”

“Is Donnatella still crying?” Carolyn wanted to know.

“No, she’s stopped,” Josh said softly, holding her in his arms, the phone cradled against his ear.

“OK, then. You have one of those speaker phones, Josh?”

“Sure. Give me a second,” and Josh pushed the button and sat down in his desk chair. Donna sat across from him, arms crossed across her chest, holding onto herself tightly as if to contain her emotions inside.

“You there, Mrs. Moss?” Josh asked.

“Yes,” replied Carolyn, her voice filling the room. “I’m assuming that woman,” Carolyn paused, and then asked, “ what was her name?” she asked.

“Amy Gardner?” he said, embarrassed.

“Yeah, her. I’m assuming that Amy Gardner is behind all this, right?”

“That’s what we think, but how do you know that?” Josh asked.

“Oh, please. You don’t have to be head of the FBI to see a woman who hates to lose written all over this little set-up. I hear these kinds of stories every week from my customers. You just play on a more public stage, Josh,” Carolyn impatiently explained.

“I’m going to speak to Leo in the morning, Mrs. Moss. He’s gone for the night, but we’ll bring the full force of the White House to squash any hearings. CJ will put a spin on this story at the next press briefing. Sam will bring suit in federal court to try and stop the Enquirer from printing the story,” Josh ticked off the strategy that he and CJ had started to devise as they came back from Leo’s office.

“Whoa cowboy. Bringing all that ammunition to the fight will only result in a lot of collateral damage. It’s absolutely what Amy wants. Lots of publicity that focuses on you and Donna, none of it good,” Carolyn said firmly. “Give me a second to think.” After a few moments of silence, Carolyn spoke up. “Got it. OK, here’s what we’re going to do. That bitch isn’t going to know what hit her.”

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

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