By Karen T
© January 2002
Disclaimer: Yeah, the characters still aren't mine. Oh, wait. Jenn is. Whee!
Notes: And here is the fourth story in the Jennverse series. When I first began working on this series, I foresaw writing 14 stories that revolved around the character of Jenn Erickson. However, RL stuff and an extremely short attention span meant that this fic ended up being the last Jennverse story to be written. Not what I'd initially intended at all, but I think the ending of this fic ends the series on a rather nice note. :) Thanks so much for reading!
To no one's surprise, the post-Full Circle tete-a-tete between Jenn, Jed, Leo, and the senior staff never came to fruition. After having her meltdown in Sam's office, Jenn learned that a funny thing called mental exhaustion tends to set in after one releases many months' worth of repressed sorrow and frustration. She vaguely recalled Leo escorting her back to her room and then making some harried phone calls after placing her on the bed and pulling the covers over her. She also remembered that he stayed and sat beside the bed until her puffy eyes became too tired to remain open.
When she awoke the following morning to bright sunlight spilling into the room and the sound of birds chirping, she squinted her eyes and made a face. A thousand tiny hammers were clamoring away in her head and her face felt like she'd taken a loofa sponge to it and had scrubbed it raw. She tried to sit up and considered her attempt a success when she only had to grab the nightstand once to steady herself. Leo was no where to be seen, but he'd left a note on the nightstand telling her that he'd gone to take a shower and find a chiropractor to straighten his spine since he'd fallen asleep in a very uncharitable chair. Jenn smiled at the mention of his needing a chiropractor, but the smile soon faltered as all of the previous day's events flooded her mind. There was Toby sending her to her room to 'pretty' herself up for Full Circle, Sam telling her she would do fine, Matt Durkin flinging accusations at her, her flinging accusations back, Leo telling her to calm down in Sam's office, and her admitting how she'd wanted her mother to die. Jenn buried her head in her hands and groaned. Had she really thought coming to Washington, D.C. was a good idea?
At the bottom of the note, Leo had scribbled down a short sentence about wanting to resurrect last night's aborted meeting around 10:30, which was when Jed and Abbey would return from church. Jenn looked down at the watch around her left wrist and groaned again when she saw it was already almost ten. She'd have to shower in a hurry if she wanted to make it to the meeting on time. While she wouldn't have minded being late -- or missing it altogether -- her mother had taught her that it was important to tie up loose ends, and Jenn knew the previous day had left a throng of loose ends in its wake.
At 10:25, Jenn raced through White House corridors, all the while trying to appear as if she wasn't in a hurry. Her damp hair hung straight down her back and she was wearing a button-down, pink linen shirt in conjunction with the same pair of faded jeans she'd worn the night she'd met the senior staff for the first time three and a half days ago. She was so preoccupied with not arriving at the Oval Office late that she wasn't sure how much time had passed before she realized that someone was calling her name. She turned around and saw a girl running towards her. "Hi," the girl greeted brightly as she screeched to a halt in front of Jenn. Jenn raised an eyebrow and tried not to appear too surprised. "Um, hi." "Gosh, I'm so glad I bumped into you here," the girl gushed. "I was hoping that I would, but I wasn't too sure because I figured you'd probably be busy and impossible to track down, but then I also thought that--"
"I'm sorry," Jenn interrupted as she checked the time on her watch, "I don't mean to be rude, but do I know you?"
The girl blushed and chuckled. "God, I'm such a dork. I don't know why I thought you'd remember me since I didn't remember you until all of this went down." She held out her hand and stated, "I'm Zoey Bartlet...your sister."
Jenn stared at the proffered hand and felt her knees almost buckle. "Oh my God," she gasped as they shook hands.
"Yeah," Zoey said with a smile, "you've got to say that, like, fifty times, and then the shock of it all will fade away."
Jenn closed her eyes and took a moment to collect her thoughts before launching into the apology she had been fine-tuning in her head. "Okay, I was going to say this to some other people first, but since you're here now, I'm gonna start with you. Zoey, I'm really sorry about how I handled myself on the show yesterday. I know I embarrassed you and your family when I went off on my diatribe and I know that there's nothing I can really say to make it up to you, but I just really want you to know that I'm very, very sorry."
They stared at each other for a second before Zoey asked, "Are you done?"
"Uh, yeah."
"Good, because that means I can now tell you that your apology is rejected."
"What?"
"Jenn, I'm not going to accept your apology because you have nothing to apologize for. Look, I don't know what the political ramifications are for what happened on that show yesterday. All I do know is that I'm glad you said what you said. That Matt guy totally deserved it! My roommate and I were booing and throwing things at the TV until you talked back to him. He was a total jerk."
"Yeah, he was," Jenn agreed with disdain. "And to think I spent an hour burning myself with a curling iron for him."
"See, for that alone he should get sent to Singapore so he can be caned."
Zoey's comment was so ridiculous that both girls dissolved into giggles. When Jenn recovered, she looked up at her 'new' sister, who was a few inches taller than she was, and asked, "You here to see your dad?"
"You mean our dad, right?"
Jenn smiled sheepishly and muttered, "Yeah."
Zoey wanted to say more, wanted to try and convince Jenn that their sharing of a father was not something she should feel ashamed about, but knew that the words wouldn't mean much coming out of her mouth. "I'll probably see him at some point today, but I actually came here to my boyfriend."
"Boyfriend, huh?" Jenn's eyes brightened as she grinned mischievously at Zoey. She remembered a time when boys and the prospect of being asked out by one had dominated her thoughts. It had felt like a torturous rite of passage at the time, but now she yearned to go back to those simpler days. "Your boyfriend works in the White House? That's cool. Any chance I might have met him?"
Zoey fixed her with a look of astonishment. "You didn't follow politics very closely when you were in California, did you?"
"Not particularly. Why?"
"No reason. It's just refreshing to know that people aren't as hung up on this relationship as I think they are. My boyfriend's Charlie."
"Charlie..." Jenn pondered this new information and tried to match the name to the various faces she'd encountered during the past few days. "Wait. Charlie as in..."
"The guy who follows our dad around," Zoey finished. "Yeah, that's my guy."
"How long have you two been going out?"
"Almost two years."
"Wow. That's...impressive."
"It's been a struggle at times because we don't get to see each other as often as we'd like. Sometimes it really seems like he works on the other side of the world. But I'm glad we've stuck together. He's a great guy. His birthday's next week and that's why I'm here today. I'm going to surprise him with lunch."
"But you just said his birthday's next week."
"And that's when he would expect to see me, so it wouldn't be a surprise then."
"Ah, gotcha."
"Where are you off to?"
Recollecting that she was supposed to be in a meeting, Jenn winced. "I'm actually late for a meeting I'm supposed to be having with the senior staff."
"Oh, well, don't let me hold you up. I'm just going to go pop in and say hi to my mom and then head over to see Charlie. We should have lunch sometime and get to know each other some more."
"Isn't that something I should say as the older sister?" Jenn asked, half teasing.
"Then say it," Zoey challenged with an arched eyebrow. The two women smiled at one another as they both understood that Zoey's dare came from a place of sincerity and potential friendship. "See ya around, Jenn."
"Yeah, I'll see ya."
The smile was still lingering on her face when Jenn reached the Oval Office's outer room. With a phone receiver pressed to his left ear, Charlie looked up and raised an index finger to inform her that he'd be right with her.
"Yes, René, that's correct...Thanks for double-checking...Okay, you, too. Bye." Charlie hung up the phone and rose to his feet to face Jenn. "That was the President's chef making sure he got the President's lunch orders right for the upcoming week," he explained solemnly.
"He orders a week's worth of lunches at a time?" Jenn appeared amused by this new insight into her father's habits.
"No, actually, I do. That way if I get busy, the President still gets his lunch."
"Ah. Smart move."
"Yeah. Are you here for the meeting?"
Jenn glance apprehensively at the closed door leading to the Oval Office and replied with an unsteady voice, "Yeah. Are they in there now?"
"Actually, no. The President got called away for an emergency. He and Leo are aiming to hold the meeting at 11 instead."
"Oh. Okay." Jenn exhaled and slumped forward in relief.
"You're welcome to wait here, or I could call your room when they get back, if you'd prefer that."
As she weighed her options, an idea struck her. "Charlie, if the President's currently in a meeting here in the White House, then that means both he and the First Lady are back from church, right?"
"Yeah." Reading Jenn's mind, he offered, "Would you like me to see if she's available?"
"Could you, please?"
"Sure. Hang on." Charlie reached for his phone and dialed a few numbers. There was a moment of silence as he waited for someone to answer the ring on the other end of the line. "Hi, Lilly, it's me, Charlie. How are you?...Well, that's great. I'm glad things turned out so well. Listen, I was wondering, does Mrs. Bartlet happen to have some availability in her schedule for right now?...Yes, it is...Oh, great. I'll send her right over. Thanks." He replaced the receiver and announced, "They're waiting for you."
"Thanks, Charlie." Jenn turned to leave but then changed her mind as she stared at him with a playful smile on her lips.
"Do you need something else?" he asked.
"You're dating Zoey," she declared, her smile growing bigger.
"Uh, yeah, I am. And..." he prompted.
"And nothing. I just think that's cool. She's lucky to have you in her life."
"Actually, I think I'm the lucky one."
"Hmm, good answer. If the President and Leo get back from their meeting early, tell them that I'm, uh..."
"I'll tell them they'll just have to wait."
It was the exact answer Jenn had wanted to hear. "You're a good man, Charlie Young, you know that?"
"Well, someone's gotta be." He watched Jenn wave good-bye and leave the room before resuming his seat and shaking his head. Those Bartlet women. Sometimes they truly befuddled him.
A woman, who Jenn assumed was Lilly, led her into the First Couple's parlor and asked her to wait there for the First Lady. It was the first time Jenn had returned to that particular room since her initial night in town. She didn't have fond memories of that night and now found that being back in the room was causing her limbs to shake. She was in the process of deciding whether she should sit down somewhere when Abbey emerged from the bedroom, her head tilted to the left as she finished putting on a pair of earrings.
"Jenn," she declared when she saw the young woman standing uncomfortably in the middle of the room, "it's good to see you again. I was wondering when we were going to have this little meeting."
"I'm sorry. It should have occurred sooner."
Abbey stared incredulously at Jenn before taking a seat on the couch and crossing her legs. "Word of advice? I wouldn't be so eager to apologize for things around here, if I were you. Once people catch on to your penchant for doing that, they'll eat you alive."
Jenn shifted the weight of her body from her right foot to her left, uncertain of how to respond. "Um, okay."
"So, how are you doing? You got beat up pretty good yesterday."
At the brief mention of her disastrous television debut, Jenn grimaced and sighed. "Yeah, I guess I did."
"Everyone -- including my husband -- should have done a better job protecting you. There's no reason you should have needed to defend yourself the way you did."
"But they didn't know that was going to happen. I mean, they put together this list and they--"
"Oh, they knew it was going to happen," Abbey interjected. "Or they at least had a feeling it might happen. That's why you were sent to the show with Sam instead of Toby."
Jenn's eyes grew large. Even though she had uttered the exact same accusation a day and a half earlier, she hadn't been entirely sure at the time that there was any credence behind her words.
"But you knew that already, didn't you?" Abbey asked after studying the stunned expression on Jenn's face.
"Well, I..."
"Yeah, they screwed you over pretty bad," Abbey stated matter-of-factly as she looked down at her chest and picked some lint off of her sweater.
"I don't know if--" Jenn attempted to say in Jed, Leo, and the senior staff's defense before being cut off by Abbey, who wasn't done with her rant yet.
"Once you've spent enough time around here, Jenn, you'll realize that the men in this outfit have a tendency to screw over the women. Oh, they don't mean to, of course. They always mean well, but that doesn't stop them from hanging you out to dry faster than you can say Gloria Steinem." Abbey paused for a breath, her lips pursed into a tight smile that lacked warmth. "But what can you do, right? The only option you're left with is to ride out the wave and hope for the best while suppressing the urge to pitch one of them over the nearest cliff." She then laughed sardonically. "And, as you can tell, I obviously have some residual anger of my own to deal with."
Jenn recollected only the tiniest slivers of the time she'd spent with the Bartlets in New Hampshire all those years ago. The Jed she remembered from then was much like the Jed of now: always trying to please all the women in his life even though he often failed. Zoey was the precocious five-year-old who was forever on the go and caked in dirt. Ellie, the Bartlet daughter closest to her in age, was more reserved and could often be found by her mother's side. Elizabeth was already in her teens by the time Jenn met her, so she always seemed to be aloof and disinterested in what the younger girls were doing.
Despite only being able to paint the most abstract portraits of those days long past, Jenn found that she had the most concrete memories of Abbey. She remembered her as a woman who greeted her with a smile and told her that their home was now hers as well, but who also held her at arm's length. What resonated the most in Jenn's mind was how frightened she'd been of Abbey, almost as if she had understood, at her young age, how Abbey viewed her as a threat to both herself and the family she had built.
And now, as she stood in the parlor, not sure what to make of the evident disparity between Abbey's cool and collected appearance and the harsh opinions she was espousing, all of Jenn's former feelings of fear came back to her. Dressed in a simple black sweater and pressed, tan chinos, Abbey looked every bit the part of a compliant and wallflower-ish First Lady. But the hardened expression on her face and the biting words flying out of her mouth divulged a woman who could bring a country to its knees if that was her desire.
Abbey could tell she was being examined, so she cocked an eyebrow and said, "You never did tell me how you're doing. My husband treating you well?"
"Yes, he been very...um..."
"He's been an ass. You can say it. I don't mind."
"Actually, I was going to say he's been very kind to me."
"Oh. Well, that's just because you're young and sweet. But that's okay. You'll grow out of it."
"All right." A low chuckle burst forth from Jenn's chest before she was able to suppress it.
"You're not taking me seriously," Abbey accused with a frown.
"No, I...I really don't think it's possible for me to take you any more seriously than I am right now."
"Mm-hmm." The frown didn't budge on Abbey's face.
Jenn exhaled slowly and shifted the weight of her body once more. "Your comments actually provide a, uh, nice segue -- kind of -- to what I came here to talk to you about."
"Oh?"
"Ye-yeah." Jenn licked her lips and tried to gather the nerve to say what was on her mind. "As you might already know, I...haven't exactly decided whether or not I'm going to stay in town. The President and Uncle Leo keep telling me that the only person who can make that decision is me. And while I know they're right about that, I also know that, every time you see me, I'm a constant reminder of a time in your life you'd probably rather just forget. So, I'm...I'm gonna let you have a say in whether I should stay. If you tell me that my being around would cause you too much pain, then I'll just tell everyone that I've made up my mind to go back to California. No one will ever know we had this conversation."
In spite of her foul mood and how much she wanted to revel in it, Abbey found herself covering her face with her hands as she started laughing. "Jenn, I have absolutely no idea how to respond to that, so I'm just not going to."
Jenn, who'd been gazing at the First Lady in earnest, grew perplexed. "I'm sorry?"
"What exactly were you hoping I'd say, Jenn?" Abbey asked in a kind voice as her icy exterior melted away. "Were you hoping I'd give you some sort of definitive answer, thereby making your decision for you? That's not going to happen. As much as I'd hate to agree with my addle-brained husband right now, he's right. The choice to stay or leave is yours and yours alone." When she saw Jenn's face fall in disgrace, she lightheartedly added, "Good try, though."
Jenn looked down at the floor and shook her head in chagrin. "You saw through that ploy pretty fast."
"I'm a mother of three girls. Trust me when I say there isn't much I can't see through."
"I meant what I said about causing you pain, though. I don't want to do that. We've both been through so much that I..."
"Jenn, I'm not going to lie. Seeing you does hurt me, but not for the reasons you think. When I look at you, I'm reminded of how stupid I was. Instead of fighting to save the love I had for my husband, I ran when the times got tough and stuck my head in the sand like an ostrich with a pea-sized brain. He wanted us to get counseling, but I couldn't get past the fact that the love of my life didn't always involve violins playing in the background and cherubs frolicking in the sky. So don't worry about me and whatever crazy pains I may experience. I'll get over it."
"But what about you and the President? It's obvious the two of you aren't... That you're both kind of..."
"We're pissed at each other," Abbey supplied, nodding. "I appreciate your attempt to describe our relationship in more delicate terms, but Jed and I pissed at each other and there's really no nice way of putting that. Although, I'm sure that if you ask him, he'd say he isn't mad at me, and that's true because he doesn't really have any right to be mad at me. So, I guess that just leaves me being mad at him." Abbey stopped talking in order to allow her mind to catch up with her mouth, and then chuckled wryly at herself. "Look, I've been mad at Jed and I'm still mad at him, but my anger has nothing to do with your unexpected arrival. Jed and I, we have this habit of openly fighting whenever we're upset with each other. We'll rant and rave, tear each other down, and throw out accusations about how one person is preventing the other from discussing why we're arguing. And then, after weeks of sniping, one of us will say something that won't be an insult and that'll lead to us making up without having resolved anything. We've been doing that for years, Jenn. When you showed up here, I was still mad at him for deciding to run for reelection without consulting me first. I suppose you could say you were just the straw that broke the camel's back. I'm tired of fighting with him and then realizing, months later, that nothing has changed. So, I'm going to stay pissed at him for a little while longer, and then I'm going to make him -- whether he wants to or not -- deal with some of the problems in our relationship. All of that, however, has no bearing whatsoever on whether you should stay. Unless, of course, the sound of the President whimpering disturbs you."
Jenn laughed and tucked her hair behind her ears. "We women have to be pretty resilient, huh?"
"Like you wouldn't believe." Abbey hesitated for a second before quietly saying, "I never met your mom, but as one mother speaking for another, I'm pretty sure she would've been real proud of how you handled yourself yesterday. I want you to know that. You did good out there."
Jenn's hand flew up to cover her mouth, which had fallen open, as she felt tears of gratitude spring to her eyes. Waving her hands in front of her moist eyes, she cried, "God, I'm sorry. I told myself I wasn't going to cry when I came up here, but I swear, I must have opened some floodgates or something last night."
Abbey smiled and looked upon the young woman in front of her as if she was her own daughter. "Hey, there's never any shame in crying."
After taking a moment to compose herself, Jenn mumbled, "I should, uh...I should go. I've got a meeting to get to."
"Okay. I'm glad you came to see me."
"Me, too."
As Jenn turned to leave, she heard Abbey say, "You know, if you decide to stick around, I wouldn't mind us having more of these chats."
Before she was able to take any proactive preventive measures, the tears were back in her eyes. Jenn smiled and replied, "Me, neither." Even though she had shared several kind words with Sam, Charlie, and Zoey, she knew, then and there, that she would never forget this moment with Abbey. "I'd better go before I start bawling."
"Okay. I'll talk to you later."
The fact Abbey's last remark was a statement rather than a question did not allude Jenn. "Yes, we will."
"Well, that could have a gone a lot worse," Jed declared as he pushed open a door and passed through the threshold into a walkway.
"Yes, sir, I'd say we got lucky," Leo replied, following closely behind the President.
"Yeah, I don't think luck has much to do with it." Jed paused to say hello to several aides who passed him in the hall. "So, Leo, what do you think about what we were discussing before?"
"Before, sir?" Leo asked, obviously stalling.
"You know what I'm talking about. Now out with it. I wanna know what you think."
"I think the decision's not up to me."
"Well, thank you for that lesson on protocol, but I'm not asking you to make a decision; I'm asking you for your opinion on the decision I want to make."
"Mr. President, I think you're a very wise man who'll make the best decision possible."
"You're skirting the issue on purpose, aren't you?"
"Under the circumstances, sir, I felt that was the wisest path to take."
"Wimp."
"Not very presidential to engage in name calling, sir."
"Oh, bite me, Leo." Jed waved hello to Charlie, who stood upon the President's arrival into the room, and breezed into his office announcing, "And thus begins another week of murder and mayhem."
"Good morning, Mr. President," the senior staff greeted in unison as they rose to their feet.
"Is everything all right, sir?" Josh asked with a look of worry.
"Yeah, I suppose so. They've decided to wait until tomorrow to kill each other," Jed replied glibly.
"The peace accord held then?"
"Yes. For another day, at least. Although I must say, that accord we brokered is like trying to hold back the banks of a flooded river with spitballs and sticks."
"We're doing the best we can, sir," Sam stated soberly.
"I know," Jed sighed. "That's what's most disheartening about all this." He moved behind his desk and flipped through the messages Charlie had left for him before looking back up to address the senior staff. "And speaking of murder and mayhem, it seemed like the briefing went pretty well this morning, C.J."
"Yes, sir. The press was... uncharacteristically restrained."
"Thank God for small favors," Jed muttered under his breath as he rolled his eyes. "Listen, everyone, Jenn's going to be joining us soon, and I want all of you to take it easy on her. She had a rough night yesterday."
"Of course, sir."
"And there's something I'd like to discuss before she gets here." He shot a quick look at Leo in order to gauge his reaction, but Leo deftly shifted his gaze to his feet before Jed had a chance to lock eyes with him. Wimp. "I'm thinking about hiring a new member for this administration and I'd like to hear your thoughts on this."
"Anyone we know, sir?" C.J. asked, her interest noticeably piqued.
"Uh, yes, actually. I'd like to bring on Jenn." Everyone's smiles and pleasant expressions faded as Leo cringed and awaited the onslaught of criticism he was sure would be coming. Jed, however, appeared not to notice his staff's darkened faces and continued on with his announcement. "I think she'd make an excellent Deputy Director of Speechwriting."
Josh leaned to his right and whispered into Sam's ear, "Do we have a Director of Speechwriting that I don't know about?"
"Mr. President, may I speak freely?" Toby asked in a strained voice.
"Yes, of course. Please do."
"With all due respect, sir...are you out of your mind?"
Jed raised his eyebrows in surprise, but remained unperturbed. "No, Toby, I can assure you that my mind is all still there. But you, clearly, don't seem to think hiring Jenn would be such a good idea. Care to elaborate?"
"Sir, it'd be complicated enough if you wanted to hire one of your other daughters, but with Jenn, everything becomes fifty times worse. I'm sorry to have to be the one to burst your bubble, but hiring Jenn is a ludicrous idea."
"So you think it's a ludicrous idea for me to augment my staff with an intelligent and talented individual? I know this suggestion seems like it's coming out of nowhere. Why bring on someone new when we're doing just fine the way we are now? Well, I don't think we are doing fine anymore. We're gearing up for reelection and there are a lot of people who would like to do nothing more than scuttle my bid for another term. And with some many things going on, other things are falling through cracks...mainly because you, Sam and Toby, are overloaded. Sam, when we brought you on board, you were only supposed to be our main speechwriter. Toby would craft the message and you would give the words flight. But, in the past couple years, you've developed into so much more than that. You're fielding meetings now and you've taken on issues the rest of us would have overlooked in our haste. But while you've been doing all that, we've still expected you to do everything you did before, and that's unfair. If we hire Jenn, she could help lighten the writing load as well as take over supervision of the other writers."
"Mr. President," Toby growled, his exasperation growing apparent, "I have no objections to you wanting to bring in another body because I do think you're right about that: we can use the help. But Jenn?! Aside from the fact she has no prior experience with speechwriting or politics, she's younger than three-quarters of the writing team, senior and junior staffs combined. I highly doubt many of them are going to like the idea of being bossed around by a kid."
"Watch your tone, Toby," Jed warned. "I may have said you could speak freely, but don't push it. Look, I know Jenn's young, but seeing as how I'm standing in a room full of overachievers who, I'm sure, are all personally well acquainted with the 'you're too young' argument, I'm not going to waste my breath disagreeing with that point. And as far as her inexperience goes, the improvements she made to the teacher union speech did more than an adequate job convincing me that she can handle this position. If she could do all of that in a matter of minutes, then just imagine what she could accomplish if we gave her an adequate amount of time."
"But what about the press, sir?" Toby continued quarrelling. "The minute they hear you want to bring her on staff, there'll be a feeding frenzy. They'll accuse you of nepotism."
Knowing his Communication Director's words were true, Jed attempted to deflect the question by playfully asking, "Toby, has it occurred to you that the more you keep arguing with me about this, the more convinced I become that I should hire Jenn?"
Both Josh and Sam grimaced as Toby's face clouded over. "Sir, it might just behoove you to take me seriously."
"Oh, Toby, if you only knew how hard I'm trying not to take you seriously."
"Fine," Toby responded stiffly. "If you don't want to listen to me, then hopefully you'll listen to C.J. Ask her what she thinks the press's reaction will be if we announce Jenn's employment here."
"All right then. C.J., tell me, what do you think the odds will be that the press will accuse me of favoritism if we hire Jenn?"
C.J. appeared pensive as she took off her glasses. "Ballpark figure, sir?"
"That's fine."
"Well, then, I'd have to say there's a...100% chance they'll accuse you of favoritism."
Toby smirked triumphantly as Jed stared at C.J. in astonishment. "So you believe they'll definitely jump all over this?"
"Yes, sir," C.J. confirmed flatly. "And that's not a guess. I'm positive that's how they'll react." Jed opened his mouth to protest, but was cut off by C.J. asking, "But...may I speak freely as well, sir?"
"Oh, sure, why not," Jed huffed as he sat behind his desk. "There used to be a time when this office was viewed as a place of reverence, but apparently that's all gone out the window now."
"Mr. President, I can guarantee you that the press will cry nepotism if we bring Jenn on board," C.J. stated decisively, "but...who cares?" Toby's smile vanished and was replaced with a scowl as he glared at his friend. Choosing to ignore him, C.J. plowed onward. "Why should we care what the press -- or anyone else -- will think? The truth of the matter is that if Jenn gets a job bagging groceries in Enid, Oklahoma, the press will say she wouldn't have been able to land that job without the President's help. So I say, to hell with it all. People are automatically going to doubt Jenn and her abilities until she proves them otherwise, so why shouldn't we give her the chance to do that? If it turns out she can't handle the job and its responsibilities, then we'll let her go. This is the way hirings and firings occur all over the country, so why should we be any different?"
Jed grinned at his Press Secretary with pride. "When did you become our voice of reason?"
"When we so badly needed one," she responded seriously.
Toby appeared ready to argue some more when Charlie poked his head into the room and announced, "Excuse me, sir. Jenn's here. Should I show her in?"
Jed conducted a quick scan of his staff before landing on Leo, who smiled and nodded his head. "Yeah, Charlie, let's bring her in."
Jenn stepped past Charlie and into the Oval Office feeling as if she was seven again and was about to enter the Principal's Office after slugging Tommy Freedman for calling her mother crazy. Six pairs of eyes immediately swung in her direction, which almost caused her to shriek in alarm. She offered a lopsided smile and a small wave as a gesture of welcome. "Hi, everyone," she said with a shaky voice.
Josh watched this timid version of Jenn tiptoe into the room and was shocked. It was almost as if an entirely different person had returned from the TV studio. What had happened to the girl with the untrusting eyes and the sharp tongue that accompanied her invisible armor?
Jed smiled a little too brightly and rushed to Jenn's side a little too quickly to pull off the nonchalant demeanor he'd been aiming for. "Hey. It may have taken us a few tries, but it looks like we're finally going to get this meeting off the ground. Why don't you have a seat?"
Jenn took a step forward, but then hesitated. "Um, before this meeting begins, I'd just like to say that I'm, uh, really sorry about my behavior on Full Circle. I know all of you spent a lot of time and energy putting together that list and preparing me for my appearance only to have me let you down when I lost my temper, so I'm really sorry about all that. I know I was supposed to keep my cool, but I just... I'm sorry." She started biting on a fingernail and dropped her head in shame. "And I guess I'll be making a public apology to Matt soon, too."
Surprised and yet also pleased by the unexpected act of contrition, the senior staff members exchanged silent glances before C.J. stepped forward, a section of the current Washington Post in her hand. "Someone's going to being making an apology, Jenn, but that someone isn't going to be you."
"Excuse me?"
"You should read this," C.J. told her as she held out the newspaper.
Jenn accepted the newspaper with a look of puzzlement and began reading an editorial essay entitled 'Shameless' that had been circled in red pen. Her eyes grew larger and larger as the writer skewered Matt Durkin, the show's directors, and the show's producers for scraping the bottom of the morality barrel when they decided they would try to bring down a President by attacking his unsuspecting daughter. Her eyes widened even more when she looked back up to the byline to see who the author was. "Rhinehart. Isn't he a Republican?"
"Yeah, he is," Josh said. "More specifically, he's the Republican Senior Senator from South Carolina."
"And he's been on my case since my first day in office," Jed added. "He's accused me of being soft on everything under the sky."
"Then why would he write this letter?" Jenn asked in confusion.
"Because there are still some decent men left in this world who know it's wrong to get a man by going through his family."
"So what? This letter makes everything okay? We're all in the clear now?" Jenn appeared to still be in shock.
"Not entirely," C.J. replied. "We still have a bit of ground to cover, but this letter definitely helped move public opinion back in our direction. Plus, I know from several of my sources that we can expect similar letters to appear in numerous newspapers across the country tomorrow. While unintentional, that little outburst of yours on Full Circle has sparked quite a reaction...one that's in our favor."
"And as icing on the cake, I think our esteemed Mr. Durkin will soon find himself out of a job," Sam declared, not even attempting to hide his pleased smile as his eyes twinkled vindictively. "He's going to learn the unpleasant lesson that advertisers don't tend to back a host whose own viewers now vilify him."
"So that's it then? Nothing's going to blow up in our faces? The world's not going to stop spinning? Wow," Jenn muttered, amazed by this unexpected turn in events. "And to think I was convinced I'd messed up."
"Oh, you did," Toby asserted harshly as he rubbed his forehead.
Jenn gazed at the man who seemed to have developed a natural disdain towards her and smiled. "Thank you, Toby. You're, as always, your usual mind-bogglingly supportive self."
At her slaughter of the English language, Toby shot a pained look to Jed and Leo and griped, "Mr. President..."
Taking note of the exchange, Jenn asked, "Am I missing something?"
Jed took a deep breath and then proclaimed, "Jenn, I'd like to make you an offer."
"Okay. Of what?"
"Of employment. How would you feel about coming to work here as our Deputy Director of Speechwriting?"
While Jed hadn't known what his daughter's reaction would be, he was entirely caught off-guard when he saw her smile fall into a frown. "What?" she demanded as her sunny disposition bristled.
Now well aware of how quickly Jenn's moods could shift, Jed glanced at his staff and requested, "May I have a moment alone with Jenn, please?"
Leo and the senior staff obligingly retreated from the Oval Office, grateful that they weren't currently in the President's shoes. Once left alone with his daughter, Jed moved over to one of the couches and motioned for Jenn to join him there. "You know, I never got a chance to ask you, are you okay?"
Jenn resisted the urge to roll her eyes at her father's inexplicable propensity to ask her that question. "I'm fine," she insisted as she sat beside him on the couch. She turned to inspect Jed's face and took a few seconds to try and read his expression. "You didn't need to offer me a job in order to get me to stay," she finally said in a low voice.
"I know."
"Then what are you doing?" She hadn't meant to ask the question so sharply, but Jed had already flinched from the harshness in her tone, so it was too late to take the question back. "I mean, I appreciate the offer, but...it's a ridiculous idea. I don't know anything about politics and... Deputy Director of Speechwriting? I've never written a speech in my life. I wouldn't even know how to begin."
Jed lifted his head at her last lament and shot up to his feet so abruptly that Jenn unconsciously flinched at the sudden movement. "I think there's something you should read," he informed her as he strode to his desk and opened a few folders before locating the document he wanted. "Here. It's the speech I'm planning to give in New York on Tuesday."
Jenn placed the section of the Sunday Post she'd been holding on to the empty seat cushion to her left and accepted the pieces of paper Jed held out to her. She glanced down at the lines of black words that filled the first page without actually reading any of them. "What does this--" she tried to protest before being interrupted by Jed.
"Just read it," he persisted, growing impatient.
Sighing loudly, she began reading the document and almost immediately recognized its familiarity. "I can't believe he kept my changes," she whispered in disbelief. The beginnings of a pleased smile played on her lips.
"Toby kept your changes because they were good," Jed said to her as he sat back down beside her. "He told me as much."
Having an idea on where he was going with his thought process, Jenn decided to stop the madness before Jed went any further with his argument. "I didn't write this speech, though. Sam did."
"Yes, Sam did write it," Jed conceded, "but you're the one who gave it life. That speech is why I think you need to be a part of this administration. Now, Toby and Sam, they excel at this stuff, and while you're not quite at their level yet, I think you're pretty high up there. And I'm not just saying that because I'm your father."
Jenn laughed and looked back down at the paper in her hands. "This is the final draft?" she asked.
"Well, I'll probably ad-lib a couple paragraphs when I deliver the speech because I know how that drives Toby and Sam crazy, but yeah, that's the final copy. No more changes are going to be made to it."
"Amazing," she muttered. As much as she wished Toby's acceptance of her revisions didn't affect her one way or the other, Jenn couldn't help feeling honored. Jed smiled broadly as he gazed at his daughter's enraptured face. His plan was working. But then she suddenly snapped out of her reverie and shook her head. "Okay, this is nice and all, but it doesn't change anything. You still can't hire me. It's still a bad idea."
Jed groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Did I ever tell you that I'm planning on running for reelection?"
Confused as to what bearing his reelection plans had on their current conversation, Jenn mumbled in annoyance, "Yeah, I guess I assumed as much."
"Well, good. Then let me tell you a story." Anyone familiar with the President would have immediately known that those seven words were his or her cue to make a mad dash for the door. But Jenn, who still lacked this wisdom, sat back and waited somewhat patiently for Jed to begin preaching. "When a man runs for public office, he's only as good as the people standing behind him. This is especially true when you're running to be the next President of the United States. When I made my first bid for this job, I got lucky because I had Leo behind me and he was able to rally together a great group of people who believed in me and my ideals."
When Jed paused to take a breath, Jenn asserted, "While that's great, I don't see--"
"Hang on. I'm not done yet. When one runs for re-election, things are usually easier because people don't tend to like change. So, unless you've managed to screw over the majority of your voters, you're more likely to get elected into an office when you're running as the incumbent than as the challenger. That's all great news for me except for the fact that I'm now known as the President who has MS and an illegitimate daughter. And while neither of those two issues bothers me, they do bring me back to square one, which is being a man who's dependent on the people standing behind him. Now, I'm proud of the people behind me and I'm honored that they still want me to be the person standing in front of them. But I currently see an opportunity for me to make that group stronger, and I don't want to let that opportunity pass me by. Believe it or not, you, Jenn, can be a wonderful asset to us. So, you want to know why I've made you this job offer? It's because I'm a selfish old man who really wants stick around here for another four years."
Jenn covered her mouth with her hands as she was momentarily rendered speechless. Eve though Jed's slightly verbose speech had moved her tremendously, she still remained ambiguous as to whether she should accept the job offer. "I don't know..."
"C'mon, Jenn," Jed cajoled. "I think we both know this is a great opportunity. And there'll be no strings attached. If working here doesn't turn out the way you thought it would, then you can leave. No hard feelings. Of course, this also means that I'm going to reserve the right to fire you if you get on my nerves."
Jenn chuckled but failed at erasing the uneasiness from her face. "But what about the others? Won't they feel like I'm crashing the party?"
"Not at all. I've already asked them for their opinions, and they were all very enthusiastic about having you work here."
"Really?" Jenn contested with a raised an eyebrow.
"I swear," Jed replied solemnly.
"And if I were to accept this offer, who would I be working under? I don't think I've met the Director of Speechwriting yet."
"Yeah, that's cause we don't have one. They're all just titles, Jenn. You'd mainly be supervised by Toby."
"Oh, great," Jenn mumbled under her breath.
After allowing a decent amount of 'thinking time' to pass, Jed asked, "So...what do you say?"
Jenn hesitated and looked off into the distance. It felt almost like déjà vu for it had only been a few short days ago that she had found herself making a similar life-altering decision. "Well...I guess I'd be crazy if I didn't say that...I'd be honored to join your team, Mr. President."
Jed's face lit up. Bringing his head close to hers, he asked, "I don't suppose there's any chance you'll start calling me dad any time soon, is there?"
"Tell you what, if you work on not asking me if I'm okay every time you see me, then I'll work on calling you dad. Deal?"
"Deal."
Just as Jenn was about to reach out and initiate her first hug with Jed, he suddenly lurched upwards and shouted, "Charlie!"
The door soon opened. "Mr. President?" Charlie asked.
"Tell everyone they can come back in."
"Yes, sir."
As Leo and the senior staff filed back into the room, Jed declared, "All right, everyone, I only have one more announcement to make before I'm going to send you all home to get some rest. Which means no working for the rest of the day, Leo." He paused long enough for people to turn towards his Chief of Staff and smile. "Okay, I'd like to introduce you all to our new Deputy Director of Speechwriting."
Leo, who, while appearing neutral, had actually been praying that Jenn would take the job, breathed a gigantic sigh of relief and rushed towards her with outstretched arms. As C.J. watched Leo and Jenn embrace, she felt tears springing to her eyes.
"Why, Claudia Jean, are those tears I see in your eyes?" Toby teased as he moved over to her side.
"Oh, shut up," she muttered as she blinked her eyes and sniffled.
"I had no idea you were such a softie."
"Give me a break, Toby." She watched Sam join Leo and Jenn and took notice of how happy the three of them looked. "I know we make flubs around here all the time, but...when you see things like that, you can't help but feel proud to be working here and to have played a part in doing something...right."
"Well, it's nice to know this administration has its priorities in order," Toby replied sarcastically.
"Toby," C.J. cautioned.
"What?" But as Toby stared at the group that had formed on top of the Presidential Seal on the carpet -- a group that now included everyone but C.J. and himself -- he had to agree with her: something did feel right about what had just transpired in the Oval Office.
-the end-