The Moment
Glynnis
-A little after 7:30 p.m.
"I'd like a Fresca and a grilled cheese sandwich with wheat bread and
sharp cheddar cheese, cut diagonally. Also, alongside, very much, I
would like a pickle spear and a cup of chicken-noodle soup as well.
And… Ooh! … Is that cobbler?" The blonde finally paused for breath
and the waitress simply nodded at her wearily. Outside the rain grew
heavier on the sidewalks. People scurried by the window of the diner,
umbrellas blowing inside out. The waitress took the order
without comment and walked it to the counter.
From the next table a redhead shook her head in amazement. She
looked up and saw that the blonde had seen her look and shrugged. "I
just don't know where you think you're gonna put it all," she finally
offered by way of explanation. The blonde smiled slightly, as though
she was accustomed to comments on her appetite. She returned her gaze
to the papers she was reading. Occasionally she would
highlight several lines of text.
Other than the waitress, the cook and two men at the counter the two
ladies were the only customers. The ferocious weather was the kind
that causes people to either head for home or stay at the office…
unless they've already stopped in a diner or bar. Then the weather
was just ferocious enough to keep them there for a bit longer than
they might have stayed otherwise.
The redhead was grading papers. The blonde was reviewing legal
briefs, searching for precedents. The two women were strangers who
had no idea that they might have anything in common.
Reaching the end of the stack of papers the redhead looked up again
to see the blonde enthusiastically wolfing down her sandwich and
ordering additional food for takeout. The blonde stopped in mid-chew
as she noticed the other woman's eyes on her. She finished chewing
and asked, "Is there something that I may do for you?"
The redhead apologized, "Sorry. You look familiar. And… well, I
am… amazed at your enthusiasm for food."
The blonde said, "The cafeteria where I work is not bad, but they
only do grilled cheese with... American… cheese… and, it's just not
the same."
The redhead said, "By not the same… you mean grilled cheddar and
chicken noodle reminds you of home?"
The blonde smiled broadly, displaying stunning dimples. "My daddy
made it like this… I guess with the rain and all… Well, I guess
sometimes we all need a bit of 'comfort food.'" She looked out the
window at the storm. "I do miss my dad."
The redhead looked down at her watch, a small grimace apparent as she
said, "I guess none of us spends the time with our parents that we
should." She wrote something on one of the papers.
The blonde swallowed a spoonful of soup and asked, "What is comfort
food to you?"
The redhead stopped and thought, "Tomato soup and tuna salad and
potato chips."
The blonde asked, "Did your dad make that for you when you were
little?"
The redhead grimaced, "My dad … didn't spend much time in the
kitchen." Off the expression of the blonde the redhead held up a
hand, palm out to halt whatever awkward words might come next. She
said, "Every now and then he'll come over and let me make something
for him … when he's not too busy. More often we meet for a bite
together at a place like this. I'm waiting for him now. He's always
late getting away from work, but that's my dad."
The blonde bit down on the pickle, savoring it. "Mmmm. I once read
that we decide on our ideal man from the first relationships we have,
those with our fathers and brothers, and also those we hear about in
fairy tales... and spend the rest of our lives looking for a man who
matches that ideal. I find few notions more repellant."
The heavy rain continued to thrum the pavement. Both women looked
out into the night.
The redhead smiled a slow grin. "Which part? The shortage of knights
in shining armor or that you're expected to fall for a guy 'just like
dad?'"
The blonde chuckled as she finished off the pickle. "Actually the
notion that all my happiness is to hinge upon an ideal I set at the
age of three."
The redhead snorted with laughter. "I've grown past the idea of a
man being the answer to my problems." The blonde suddenly looked
awkward. The redhead burst out laughing, "Not that I'm propositioning
you!"
The blonde laughed in relief and embarrassment. "I'm sorry."
The redhead shrugged. "Don't be. You don't know anything about me…
or my ex-husband… or the other knights in dull armor that I've known…"
The blonde asked, "Only dull armor?"
The redhead sat back and looked thoughtful. "Well, there's one
shining exception… not that he's perfect. No man is perfect. No.
He's not perfect by any means. But he's pretty tempting… just
sometimes a bit TOO much like dad."
The blonde pushed away her empty plate. "I guess I've seen my share
of dull armor, shiny armor, beat up armor... I mean… I work now
with some very intelligent and impassioned men, men of integrity. But
even these men… well, some are so passionate about their ideals that
they fall into darkness in themselves. Some are so insistent that
they push themselves and everyone else until they make people crazy to
give into them. Some are so busy holding their mission and the people
around them together that they let their personal lives fall
apart. Some push themselves to the bottle. Some completely lose
themselves."
The redhead noted, "Sounds like you're in politics."
The blonde nodded and continued. "The shiny armor guys are few and
far between. I actually am fortunate enough to work with three
such men."
The redhead said, "Three? In D.C.? Unheard of!"
The blonde smiled and said, "I know. One… I don't really see
very often. He's so busy and there's so much demand on him, but he
really cares about people … The second has been like another father to
me. He's made sure I feel welcome and… he even forgave me some unkind
things I wrote… I find I can say just anything to him. And… then
there's… well there's one other. We're… friends… though sometimes I
wonder…" She blushed just enough to make the redhead smile knowingly.
The redhead noted, "The exciting one… the one that makes you
blush… does he know you're attracted to him?"
The blonde's eyes opened wide in astonishment. "What?! Oh. Oh, oh
no! No. No. NO. He… in no way would he ever consider it
possible that he might, in any way, elicit any response from me other
than that of professional courtesy and that of friendship sometimes,
perhaps. Most often we disagree. We were introduced to disagree. We
disagree so completely that people would tune in to watch it happen!
We disagree on… almost everything."
The redhead laughed out loud. "Sounds like you like disagreeing with
this man…"
The blonde only blushed in reply and ducked her head.
The redhead smiled fondly in memory. "I like to argue with my
knight, too. He's most fun when jousting. And he's very sexy. I
swear the blue of his eyes deepens when he gets on a tangent."
The blonde nodded, lost in thought. Then she shook her head and
asked, "This tempting knight… are you involved with him?"
The redhead shook her head. "No. Like I said, he can be a bit too
much like my dad. And I saw how that turned out for my mom!
Too complicated. I chose my career, teaching, to avoid the
complications of the political scene. The man I'm dating is an
athlete, very uncomplicated. How could I possibly date someone who is
completely defined by work in politics?"
The blonde smiled slightly and mused, "Playing it safe?"
The redhead nodded. "Yeah. I'm probably a safe fool. It's not like
I've given him any reason to wait around for me to stop
dating uncomplicated guys. And it's not like he has any trouble
attracting the ladies… Every now and then I have to stop myself from
giving in and calling him. Every now and then the itch gets to me…"
The blonde raised an eyebrow and sat back a bit. "The itch?"
The redhead said, "The itch. Someone very wise once pointed out to me
that I had an itch for this man… this infuriating, genius of a
man." She looked out at the rain, gushing over the pavement.
The blonde took a sip of Fresca. "You know, sometimes being
comfortable isn't all it's cracked up to be. I placed myself into
the most uncomfortable environment I could imagine facing, despite
the advice of my friends and family and all my own natural misgivings,
and it's really turned out more wonderful than I could have ever
dreamed. You admit you're staying away from this knight in shining
armor because you crave him. Sounds like you've set yourself on the
path to a regret."
The redhead met the blonde's gaze evenly, pensive. "You may be right.
But if what I hear is true and if I know Sam he's halfway down a wrong
path, too! I'm still mad at him, anyway. He didn't call after
something happened which he… should have explained. So, when I saw
him again I made sure he knew I had moved on. He was trying to
avoid me that night, but I went right for him… like the proverbial
moth to the flame. And he looked so good… I let him know where I
stood. And he still looked so good… And now I hear that he's getting
close with someone… You may be right. It may be the time to hop
paths… time to seize the moment…"
The blonde's takeout order arrived at the table in a white paper bag.
The rain slowed.
The blonde smiled, gathered her papers, tightened the belt of her
trench coat and left a tip on the table. She said by way of
leave-taking, "Well, good luck. Here's hoping you find a
happy ending."
The redhead chuckled wryly and went back to her grading.
--------------------------
-A little after 8:30 p.m.
Ainsley walked into Sam's office and set the white paper bag on his
desk. He and Leo looked up from the notes they were reviewing. Leo
said, "Hi, Ainsley. What's in the bag?" Josh stood and stretched
and walked over to open the bag and peer inside. Donna set down her
notepad and yawned.
Ainsley replied, "Some dinner for you all from a diner down the
street. I figured you'd still be at it and took a chance that you
might need this. I had to have some food and thought you might
like some, too." She set down her briefcase and unbelted her trench
coat.
Leo's head jerked up. "Dinner? What time is it? Oh, no! I'm an
hour late! I was supposed to meet Mallory!" He stood and left
the room quickly.
Ainsley said, "Oh well, I'll eat Leo's… Who's Mallory?" She
unwrapped and took a bite of Leo's sandwich.
Josh raised an eyebrow and smiled as he pulled a sandwich from the
bag. He asked, "Sam?" Donna took the sandwich from Josh and lightly
punched him in the arm.
Sam scowled slightly at Josh and said, "Mallory is Leo's daughter."
He looked slightly at a loss for words and then changed the subject.
"And thank you for dinner. That was very thoughtful."
Donna seconded Sam's thank you and grabbed a napkin.
Josh smirked and said, "And sometimes she's almost dated Sam… except
when he was accidentally propositioning her mother. Or when he
accidentally told her about his friend the prostitute… Or when…"
Ainsley interrupted, "You told Leo's wife about your prostitute
friend? Was this before or after you propositioned her?" She looked
at Sam expectantly and then said to Donna, "And you are welcome for
the food. I just thought it was only fair since you shared your
Chinese food with me last week." She smiled brightly and said, "And I
am a very thoughtful person. Along with being charming and bright and
delightful and having come up with precedents to support some of the
arguments you've been trying to put together tonight." She took
another bite of Leo's sandwich.
Sam said evenly, "No. I told Mallory about Laurie, thank you. And
the other… I had NO idea she was Leo's wife…" He took out a sandwich
and began to unwrap it with undue concentration. He glanced to the
side and saw Ainsley looking at him fixedly. "And I didn't know who I
was speaking to when I mentioned Laurie, either. I thought she was
his daughter's teacher, not his daughter. When they said Leo's
daughter's class I thought she was a student in the class, not the
teacher." Ainsley continued looking at him. He asked, "Which of my
arguments are you going to be helpful with and which are you going to
turn into the debate from Hell?"
Ainsley sat in the chair Leo had vacated. "Leo's daughter is a
teacher? And sometimes you date her?" Her tone was slightly tight.
She pulled papers out of her briefcase and handed them to Sam,
pointing to the highlighted areas of text. He began to read
while absentmindedly eating a grilled cheddar cheese sandwich.
Josh took a bite of a sandwich. "Mmmm. Pastrami. Thank
you, Ainsley."
Ainsley smiled at him and said, "And I brought Donna some fries. I
know how you two like to steal each other's food, so I'm sure you'll
want to start on them." He reached in the bag and took the fries.
Donna snatched it away from him.
Sam swallowed and said, "I don't date Mallory. She dates a
hockey player."
Josh said, "Well there was your almost-date… and not long ago you saw
her at the Kennedy Center, and said she looked really good."
Donna ate several fries and looked back and forth from Sam to Ainsley.
Sam pointed at some text and asked Ainsley. "Do you think this covers
all exceptions?" She nodded and then flipped the page and pointed to
some other text. He nodded, "With that, too, I'll give you that one."
He looked at Josh and cleared his throat, oddly ill at ease; "I don't
date Mallory. We never really dated. I mean, one date, but other
than that… We talked about dating, but nothing ever happened. We
argued some. She accused me of being like Leo. I nailed the birthday
greeting assignment and that was that." He had a
slightly self-righteous look to him at this point.
Josh picked up another of the papers Ainsley had reviewed and began to
read. "Oh, this is good. We can use this." He wolfed down a
fry. "You forgot about the kiss? I don't think so, my friend. And
you said she looked very good at the symphony thing."
Sam read another of Ainsley's highlights and said, "Oh. This is not
good. No, way! I can't believe you're trying this!" She just
looked at him, a strange half-smile on her face. He looked at her as
though waiting for her to say something and then looked back to Josh.
"She only kissed me because she was grateful for what I'd written
about Leo. She's dating a hockey player, though what they could
possibly find to talk about I can't begin to guess." He gulped a bite
of sandwich and then nearly choked on it as he read something Ainsley
had highlighted. "Ainsley! Do you really expect us to back something
Ann Stark is pushing around the Hill?!"
She looked at him, stood and pulled a container out of the bag.
"Cobbler," she said in answer to their unspoken question. She
searched the bag until she found a spoon and a napkin and then picked
up her coat and briefcase. She moved to the door and said, "I'm going
to go downstairs and pull some more files I think might be pertinent
and will bring more arguments to you as I find them." She started to
leave and then turned back and said, "And maybe Mallory is just
uncomfortable with the idea of getting involved with someone who
is completely defined by work in politics."
Sam sat down, dumbfounded. He said, "Well, where did that come from?
She barely says a word except to tell me I'm completely defined by
work in politics?" He tried to return his attention to their work,
but was mostly unsuccessful.
Outside the rain started back up again.
After a while he stood, then turned to Josh and said, "Did it seem
like Ainsley hardly said anything at all?"
Josh replied, "Huh? I don't really know her as well as you do.
You spend lots of time with her."
Sam looked at Josh and said, "Well, not really LOTS of time. I mean,I
consult her for… legal assistance… sometimes."
Josh looked at him and absently muttered, "Legal assistance?
Aren't you a lawyer, Sam?" The briefs he was reading absorbed his
attention.
Sam nodded, "Yes. And a good one." He paced over to the window
and looked out.
Donna interjected, "I thought she said hardly anything at all."
The other two looked at her.
At that moment Leo walked in. Mallory was with him.
--------------------------
-A little after 10 p.m.
Donna walked down the last steps and across the hallway to Ainsley's
office, a.k.a. the 'steam pipe trunk distribution room.' She took a
seat across the desk from where Ainsley sat, immersed in legal books
and files. When Donna sat without saying anything for a few minutes,
Ainsley finally met her gaze and said, "Hi."
"Hi," replied Donna. She looked distressed.
Ainsley smiled and said, "Leo came back, didn't he?"
Donna nodded.
Ainsley's smile grew fragile. "Mallory came with him?"
Donna nodded in surprise and asked, "And when did you
install surveillance cameras in Sam's office?"
Ainsley smiled more and said, "That's not necessary. You see… I'd say
she's here because she got some good advice from a stranger she met at
the diner. Someone who she told about a knight in shining armor whose
main fault was being a bit too much like her dad. Someone who works
in politics. Someone who she thinks is very sexy when he disagrees
with her." Ainsley leaned forward and spoke more quietly. "I'd say
she's here because the stranger noted that if she was CRAVING the man
she spoke of then PLAYING IT SAFE by NOT getting involved with him was
a sure step on a PATH TO REGRET. The stranger even urged her to
SEIZE THE MOMENT." Her smile had crossed to the brink of tears. She
sat back and shook her head quickly back and forth.
Donna breathed out, "Oh, boy."
--------------------------
-A little after 10 p.m.
Mallory stood in the doorway to Sam's office while Leo went to get
some things from his own office. Josh mumbled, "I need to go check on
something," and quickly left, saying "Hey, Mal" as he exited. Mallory
smiled at him and walked into the room.
Sam said, "Mallory! Uh… have a seat? I'm… really surprised to see
you here."
She cocked her head at him. "Samuel Seaborn. Something's changed…"
His eyes grew wide. "What?"
She looked at him more closely. "I liked your hair better shorter.
Odd how with it longer you look somehow more conservative. Going
to the right these days?"
Sam fidgeted and replied, "Aren't the conservatives usually the
ones urging shorter haircuts?"
Mallory smiled and said, "I really wouldn't know, Sam. I don't know
that many conservatives. And I doubt we'll find many around here to
poll on the subject…" She grinned.
Sam looked nervously at the doorway and said, "Oh. You never
know who'll wander in…" He looked slightly pale as he considered the
possibility of finding himself alone with Mallory and Ainsley.
Mallory noticed. "You look pale, Skipper. You okay?"
He nodded. "I'm fine. Just trying to prepare arguments for a
couple of pieces of legislation coming up for vote." He glanced again
at the doorway.
Mallory followed his gaze and said, "Sam, you look like you're
scared your girlfriend is going to walk in on us." She looked at him
evenly and directly, as though his reaction mattered to her.
He jumped slightly and said, "Girlfriend? No! I'm not seeing
anyone." He blushed as he realized that he'd stumbled right into an
area of discussion he wasn't certain he wanted discussed… if for no
other reason than that he didn't come out terribly well in it at
the moment. He pushed other possible reasons from his thoughts.
Mallory was amused. She looked at Sam. He turned away and fussed
with some papers to avoid her gaze. She had pity and looked around
the office instead of at him. Her eyes stopped on the white bag
and she looked suddenly stunned. She asked, "Did you guys do carry
out? I smell French fries…"
Sam nodded and answered, "Yeah. A friend, Ainsley, brought that in
for us…" He smiled slightly.
Mallory chewed on her lip for a second. "Blonde and perky? Eats like
there's no tomorrow? Southern accent?" Sam nodded and watched Mallory
closely. She slowly said, "Wait… Ainsley… Hayes… Didn't she wipe
the floor with you on Capital Beat?"
Sam protested, "She did not wipe the floor with me. It was a
simple mistake. I know my geography. I just misspoke…"
Mallory continued, "And she wrote a couple of op-ed pieces about my
dad… 'The second forgave unkind things I wrote'… 'People would tune
in to watch us disagree!' Oh… my… goodness…"
Sam looked confused and apprehensive. "Mallory?"
Mallory looked up at him and smiled. Then she began to laugh.
This did nothing to make Sam feel more at ease.
Mallory stood up and walked over to Sam. She put her arms around his
neck and said, "Do you look for women to disagree with or does it
just happen to you, Sam?" She continued to chuckle.
Sam neither pulled her closer nor pushed her away. "I guess it
just happens, Mallory. Why do you ask?"
She looked him straight in the eye and continued to chuckle… until
she leaned in and began to kiss him. She started out softly, but gave
in to the itch and deepened the kiss considerably.
"Oh, for God's sake!" Leo said as he walked in and saw them.
He walked back out.
Sam jumped. Mallory pulled away slowly and said, "I'd heard you
were getting friendly with someone and actually worried a little bit
about it, Sam. But if I know anything about you it's that you
couldn't possibly set aside your politics just because someone is
blonde and perky. So, think about who and what you want. Let me know
what you decide." She giggled again. "If you call and ask me out, I
just might say yes."
Sam said, "Aren't you dating someone?" He looked surprised and
confused. "And why are you laughing?"
Mallory nodded, "I was just playing it safe… It's nothing serious.
He's a little too agreeable." She smiled broadly and stepped away
from him. She backed out of the office and left with her dad.
Sam leaned back against the desk and exhaled loudly. He stared out
the door after her. He began to puzzle through all she'd said.
--------------------------
11:23 p.m.
"You didn't mention that you met Mallory at the diner tonight."
Ainsley looked up slowly, heart thudding loudly inside her head, and
replied, "No. We didn't exchange names. I wasn't sure…" She looked
wary.
Sam indicated a request for permission to enter and Ainsley signaled
him to do so. He sat across the desk from her. "She saw the bag you
brought us and put things together. It's probably for the best that
she didn't realize who you were when the two of you were face to face.
She mentioned something about a couple of op-eds you did about Leo…"
Ainsley blushed.
Sam continued, "I'd forgotten."
Ainsley spoke low, "I haven't. They are, I regret, prime examples of
misuse of the media in the interest of partisan politics. Leo won't
even let me bring them up long enough to apologize. He seems to have
forgiven me, though I have as yet to forgive myself. In part I find
it hard to forgive myself for stupidly abusing such a good man and in
part I find it hard to forgive myself for allowing my words to be so
naively manipulated in the interest of others."
Sam shifted in his seat. "I'm not trying to attack you. Sounds like
you learned from the experience…"
"Sam! Don't you kill me with kindness, too! That's not like you!"
She said as she leaned toward him.
Sam smiled slightly. "I guess it's only like me to disagree with
you."
Ainsley blushed more deeply at this than he'd ever seen anyone blush
in his life. He leaned forward and put a comforting hand over her
hand on the desk. She put her other hand to her mouth and choked out,
"Just what did she tell you?"
Sam's smile broadened. "Nothing at all." He looked very pleased with
himself.
Ainsley sat back and looked at him. Her eyes narrowed. "She came to
your office after not speaking to you for months and said nothing?"
"She said she didn't like my hair cut," he offered. He
smiled playfully.
Confusion flitted over her face. To gather her wits she looked up at
his hair. Softly she said, "I think it looks nice."
"She said it looked conservative, like I was leaning to the right."
He watched her reaction closely.
She looked down, unable to meet his gaze. "This woman doesn't really
know you all that well, does she?" she asked with a slight smile.
He looked down and frowned slightly. "She does and she doesn't. You
were right about her worrying about my commitment to politics. Then
tonight she urged me to decide who I want… and if I like, to date her…
The thing? I didn't know there was a choice to be made…"
Ainsley looked up in alarm as Sam stood and came around her desk. She
asked, "What are you doing?"
He hesitated slightly and said, "What else have you got on the tax
proposal?" He leaned against the edge of her desk.
Ainsley looked down and then handed him a law book and some sheets of
polling data. He looked it over and groaned. Ainsley watched his
expression change. Then, abruptly, he set the book and the papers
down. He looked Ainsley in the eye. "People would tune in to watch
us disagree?"
She chuckled self-consciously and smiled, "Many people would tune in
to watch me kick your ass... and have…"
Sam closed his eyes and shook his head; "You did not kick my ass. You
merely displayed your lack of need for breath between phrases and got
lucky on a rare slip from me."
"Rare slip, Kyrgyzstany missile boy?" she giggled.
His eyes widened and he replied, "See, now that's so wrong of you to
say when I was about to say something nice to you."
"You were about to say something nice to me?" She looked at him with
feigned innocence and surprise.
"But the moment is gone." He shook his head, expression sad.
"Sam, if the moment wasn't strong enough to withstand the pressure of
being reminded you told a New York Times reporter that there are
nuclear weapons amidst the many sheep and shepherds of a nomadic
culture, then I'm really not sure the moment was all that impressive
to begin with…" Ainsley smiled at him sweetly.
"Actually, it was impressive. And it was nice. But I think it's
gone, nonetheless…" Again, he shook his head mournfully, obviously
teasing.
"Sam! I'm losing interest in the moment." Ainsley looked at him with
mock anger.
He smiled slightly, looked her in the eye and intoned, "We spend so
much time demonizing the other side, treating our opponents as if they
were strangers with which we share nothing in common that we've lost
sight perhaps of the greater truths. There's a lot more that unites
Americans than divides them." His smile became warmer and sweeter as
he looked at her.
Ainsley tilted her head and asked, "Isn't that from the speech the
President gave at the Bipartisan Breakfast?"
"It is." His dimples became more apparent.
She looked puzzled and said; "Well… that is… very nice. You wrote
it?"
Sam reached for her hand and pulled it to his lips, lightly kissed it
and kept it in his grasp. "And you inspired it."
Softly Ainsley breathed, "What?"
Sam stood and walked back around to the other side of the desk.
"Tonight when Mallory was talking to me she said she'd heard I was
becoming close with someone I work with here. And she said that
worried her. But then she somehow realized the person she'd heard
about was you and she thought it was impossible. In fact, she
laughed… a lot. She said she knew I could never set aside my
political beliefs… regardless of how blonde and perky you are."
Ainsley said, "Oh?" She fought to keep her expression neutral.
Sam said, "The thing is… she was wrong to find it funny." He looked
sweet and serious now as he met Ainsley's gaze. "See… I realized that
she just saw you as a… well, a Republican sex kitten!"
Ainsley winced.
He continued quickly, "And it doesn't take the genius of a President
to see that that is not the case. Ainsley, I guess what I wanted to
say is that I do like you, a lot. Your political beliefs make me want
to scream. I can't begin to fathom your capacity for food. You drive
me crazy with your opposition to almost everything I represent… But
you make me better. You challenge me to understand my beliefs on a
deeper level than I have ever reached before. You drive me to seek
the greater truths and to embrace them with a passion I've lacked
until now. Despite all that divides us, even more… well, unites us."
He looked at her seriously. "And that is the moment…"
Ainsley whispered, "Impressive moment…. And nice…"
He replied, "I'm gonna go now so the moment can just kind of hang
there in its impressive niceness, ok?"
She nodded and smiled. "Good night, Sam."
He backed out slowly, "Good night, Ainsley."
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