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Jane Harper RATING: R for language SYNOPSIS: The morning after the night before. Occurs several weeks after "Tentative Duet". ARCHIVE: Help yourself. HTML version available on request. DISCLAIMER: This world belongs to Aaron Sorkin; I am merely a textual poacher.
Pt. 4 The following Tuesday morning, saw Abbey Bartlet off to an AIDS conference in Nairobi. Wednesday morning, Sarah called the Office of the Vice President and accepted his kind offer. "Good," Hoynes said. "Just let me know when, and I'll have a couple of people go over to your office and move whatever you want to bring with you." He hesitated, then added, "It will be a personal and a professional pleasure to have you on board." Then she called Sally to say she wouldn't be in, set the alarm, and went back to sleep. Two hours later, the alarm clock rang. Two hours and five minutes later, the phone rang. "Hello?" "Sarah, have you completely lost your mind?" "Well, good morning to you too, Sam. How has your day been so far?" "You know damn well how my day has been so far. Listen, my friend, I've fairly recently been snookered like this myself, so believe me when I say that it isn't fun." "But Sam, now that I know he might try to play me, I can be watching out for it! This job is just too juicy to pass up. I went to school for ten years for this." "You think you'll be feeling better-" he asked, coughing, "-in time for lunch?" Sarah laughed. "I suspect so, why?" "I'll be there at... eleven-thirty." He hung up. "It's been so nice chatting with you," she said into the dead phone. At exactly eleven-thirty Sarah's doorbell rang. When she opened the door, Sam strode in resolutely, followed by Toby, who had a large bag of bagels. He put the bag down on the kitchen counter. "Before you ask," he called back at her, "the bagels are kosher parve and I have lox and schmear. Where are your dairy knives?" "Top drawer between the sinks and the 'fridge." "Ah, blue. How original." "It's wonderful to see you again, too, Toby. Why don't you take your coat off and sit down." "I think I will," he replied, setting three plates and three knives down on the little table. He took his coat off and threw it over the chair, then brought the food in from the kitchen. "I'm going to tell you something, but if either one of you ever breathes a word of it" - he waved one of the knives at both Sarah and Sam - "I'll call the _Enquirer_ and tell them that Sam is your love child with Peter Lillienfield." Sarah heard Sam stifle a laugh, but Toby continued anyway. "Evidently somebody started a rumor a few months ago that I wanted to date you. At the time I recall thinking that might not have been a bad idea. Now, though, I'm very glad I didn't, because the last thing I need right now is to be caught in a pissing contest between John Hoynes and Leo McGarry! Sarah, this isn't about the President and the Vice President. It's personal, between Hoynes and Leo, but neither of them will ever admit it." He slapped a thick piece of lox on half a bagel. "Sam," Sarah suggested, "eat something. A stiff wind would blow you away." "See?" Toby went on. "You even _sound_ like his mother!" He waved one finger in the air until he could swallow the bite he was chewing. "That's not true, Toby. That can't be true. Those two men have to trust each other-" She stopped. *What we see here/ what we say here/ when we leave here/ let it stay here.* Sam reached for the schmear. "You're kidding, right? Leo doesn't trust Hoynes any farther than he could slow-pitch him." *If you only knew.* "There aren't many people that Leo trusts very much. I guess now I'll never make that short list." "Sarah, you _did_. That's the problem," Toby said. "He _does_ trust you, and he's scared shitless that he's wrong." "Not to bring up a sore subject," Sam added, wiping the schmear from the corner of his mouth, "but even Mallory has noticed how lousy he's felt and acted since you guys fought. I said she should come over here and tell you that herself." "Much as I'd like to delve into your love life, though, Sarah, that's not the subject at hand." Toby sighed. "You're stuck between two guys with their tape measures out, and no matter which way you turn-" "Got it," Sarah said. "Are you saying that I shouldn't trust either of them?" "Absolutely not," Sam responded. Toby dabbed at his beard with a napkin, folded it carefully, and put it down on the table. "Sarah, I would trust Leo with my life. He believed in me when nobody else did. And for the better part of a year, the sitting Vice President was The Other Candidate, doing his best to see that our guy - Leo's guy - was an also-ran. And I haven't seen anything since Inauguration Day to convince me that he's suddenly become a cheerleader for the President." "Well, it's too late now. I've given my word. I took the job." "So un-take it," Sam shot back. "At least think about it." Toby reached for his coat. "We've gotta go, we have a meeting on the Hill. Promise me you'll think about what we've said." "OK." Sarah handed him the camel's hair topcoat, but didn't let go when he reached for it. Instead she grabbed his hand, and he stopped in mid-rise; she reached up and kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks. Maybe things would have been better if they'd worked out differently." "Don't believe it. Leo McGarry is ten times the man I'll ever be." He stood up and put his coat on. "Hey," Sam complained, "what about me?" "I've already got Mallory pissed off at me over her father, I don't need her bent out of shape over her fella too." She beckoned to him anyway, and he leaned over to get a kiss on the cheek. "Seeya, Mom," he said. "Don't stay out too late." Sam nudged Toby in the ribs as they walked away. "You know, Mom always did like you best... " * * * * *
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