"Ainsley? Is that you darling? I was hoping to catch you." Came the harried reply from other end of the line.

I am totally unprepared for that voice. "Mom? Why are you calling?" I ask her warily. Since I had taken this job my party has pretty much slammed every door in my face. Including that of my very much Republican parents.

"Don't take that tone with me! I just got you out of a very bad position with your father. He finally conceded defeat," she added smugly.

I can feel a spark of anger starting to burn in my stomach. "What do you mean 'bad position'? He told me in no uncertain terms to never speak to him again! That means I have no position with him. And by the way, he included you and all of our extensive extended family in that statement." I am trying very hard to keep a tight rein on the anger that is threatening to fly out of my control and I am still only hanging on by a fingernail. My mother's next words ended that anger as swiftly as blowing out a candle.

"He wants you to come home for Thanksgiving."

The words echoed in my mind. Come home. "What?" I finally choke out. No way, it's just a dream. My dad wants me home for a family oriented holiday. Unbelievable.

"Yes, that's what I said." Her mother said interrupting her musings impatiently. " I had to badger him into it but he agreed." Well, I muse wryly, no kisses and happy hugs for Ainsley. It was just going to be a gruffly spoken, 'Your mother made me. You know how she gets.' Well it was better than 'get the hell out of my house and don't come back.'

"For how long? Just a couple hours for turkey and stuffing or the usual four days? I have to clear it with my boss."

"The usual. But he doesn't want you in your old room. Since I made him invite you he's decided to punish you with the guest room and your Aunt Jane's lumpy pillows."

I almost groan out loud. The guest room had an old bed with an even older mattress and Aunt Jane's pillows were twenty-five years old. Punishment indeed. Well, at least I'll get some of Mom's turkey. "Can I bring a guest to face the firing squad with me?" And possibly pick up the pieces of my body that will be scattered on the floor when my family gets through with me, I add silently.

"Yes, of course. Bring whoever you like, but I've got to go. The chili's starting to burn."

"Okay, love you. Bye."

"See you in three weeks."

The only sound in my so-called office was the sound of the dial tone and the occasional noise from the pipe system. And then the hard thud of my head hitting my desk. I'm going home for Thanksgiving to face my father, my mother, two brothers and possible cousins about my life and what possessed me to take this job. And all of them are Republicans. For four days. What the hell have I gotten myself into?

Oh, well. I've got three weeks of freedom. Well it would be freedom if this office hadn't started to look like a dungeon. "Enough of that," I end up saying aloud shaking my head as if to clear it of family thoughts. Back to Sam's long winded memo. It actually was very eloquent. Too bad he was wrong about most of it. Will he care if I reverse his position? Maybe, maybe not. Who am I kidding? Of course he will. He'll probably want debate the points of the argument and I'll get another chance to look at his handsome face and kick his ass around his office for a good hour or two. Wait, 'his handsome face'? Where did that come from? Oh, well. It is a handsome face. And he's the kind of guy I would date. If he wasn't a Democrat.

***************

She reversed my position. She did a good summarization but she reversed my position. And she's leaning against a desk patiently waiting for me to come out of the office I had just entered and say something. Oh, I'll say something alright. This has to be on Leo's desk in under two hours and she reversed my position. Last time I checked 'summarize' did not mean 'reverse my position'. I realized I should be saying this to her and not in my head like an idiot.

I turn on my heel and walk out and stand there staring at her. She looks at me expectantly. She knew I would do this. She's actually very pretty when she's trying to bait me. Whoa, where did that come from? Oh, well. She just probably reminds me of Donna with her hair being the way it is tonight. And Donna baits Josh hourly. Who am I kidding? I don’t want to go out with Donna. I want to go out with Ainsley. But she's a Republican.

Back to business. "You reversed my position." And we continued on in this vein for a good hour. I think. I wasn't really paying that much attention to the words she was saying, but I was and am paying attention to the very pretty mouth they're coming from. I realized that somewhere in the middle of this I had gotten up and had taken a pot shot at her party's ethics. And she shot me down spectacularly. She really should debate with Josh someday. I would be interesting to see who won. I just caught the end of her tirade that had a bunch of numbers I didn't have a clue about but I'm going to take a chance that she's probably right. "Start from the beginning." I said, sitting down at my desk again. She is looking at me strangely. Did she think I am so egotistical that I won't back down if I'm wrong? At least I think I’m wrong. But I usually know.

"Can I have that donut?"

She's asking me for my donut? What's with her and food? Oh, well it's no big deal. The donut's stale anyway. "Take the donut, start from the beginning." I need to know what's going on. If I don't get this memo to Leo I'll be in deep shit. Using the excuse 'I was looking at her mouth' about being late would get me in even deeper shit. So I really need to know what's going on.

***************

He let me have his donut. It's kinda stale but it's food. Food that was his before it was mine. And those very good-looking lips would have been on it. Okay, I need to stop thinking about his looks. And I need to stop thinking about the fact that I'm infatuated (and possibly more) with a high-ranking Democrat.

I need to get back to work. I'm right and he's wrong. I just need to convince him. I rattle off the numbers again and voila. I've convinced him. That was fast. And now we're going to Mr. McGarry's office to present the memo. Why am I going to Mr. McGarry's office? It's Sam's memo, I just typed it. And I reversed his position. He couldn't seem to let that go.

Before I can even begin to process the surprising fact that a Senior Staff member is walking down a busy hall with me where any member of the press corps can see, we are in Mr. McGarry's office.

I stand a few steps behind Sam as he gives Mr. McGarry the memo and explains the 'independent study he has faith in.' Which means he has faith in me. I am trying my damnedest to ignore the thrill of pleasure that goes through me when he said that he had faith in me. But I don't really want to ignore it. I want to treasure it and get it more often. I can't seem to find a way to get that without dating him and he'd balk at being seen in public with me, the Republican. Plus the fact that I'd be the laughingstock of the West Wing because Sam tells Josh everything, one of the perks of being someone's best friend, and Josh wouldn't hesitate to tell the world about the Republican who made a fool of herself. So I'm basically screwed. Unless Sam wants to be seen with me in a date-like setting. And the chances of that are as slim as me becoming a Democrat. I've just come to the brilliant conclusion that I haven't got a snowball's chance in hell with Sam Seaborn as a boyfriend, lover, or whatever.

I suddenly remember that I need to get that time off. Mr. Tribbey would say no in less than a second but Mr. McGarry is his boss and he might say yes. He's one of the few people who's said more than 'so you're the Republican' to me. As I start to say something Sam's already dragging me out of Mr. McGarry's office and back to his. Who the hell does he think he is?

***************

Once we're safely back in my office I let go of the death grip I had on her arm. "You're probably wondering what the hell I was thinking." Without waiting for her tight-lipped nod, I jump right into the explanation. I really don't want her mad at me. "Leo is really busy. He's trying to get out of here because he has a dinner date with his daughter. And you don't want to have Leo mad at you for any reason for any amount of time. The mood around here drops to the basement when Leo's pissed and happy workers are good workers. Do you understand? And will you have dinner with me?"

'Will you have dinner with me?' Oh, man this is bad. She'll probably run to her friends and tell them that a Democrat asked her out. A Senior Staff member even. I'll be the laughingstock of the Republican party for years. This is very bad. I finish mentally beating myself up just in time to see, not the smirk I was expecting, but a brilliant smile that lights up her eyes. And not to mention her enthusiastic nod and the word 'yes'. She said yes? She said yes. Wow.

"I've just got to tell Toby I'm leaving and I'll meet you in the foyer. How do you feel about Irish pubs?"

"Okay, I'll meet you in the lobby. And a pub is fine. As long as they have edible food."

I smile and head to Toby's office. "Toby? I'm leaving now. See you tomorrow." Toby doesn't even look up as he nods his assent. I'm almost out the door when he calls me back.

"Sam, I almost forgot, remember you have the trip to Vegas about the international trade market in a week and a half. Four days there and then we're off for Thanksgiving. POTUS is going so that means that Josh, CJ, you and our resident Republican legal counsel, Ainsley Hayes are going. Most of the guests at the meeting are Republicans. Assistants aren't going except for Donna because we all know Josh would go to the opposite end of the country if Donna didn't keep him straight."

"Okay, Vegas can't be all that bad. At least there won't be strange people offering picture deals like L.A. That was slightly frightening. Oh, and just out of curiosity, how did you get out if it?"

"I pretended to be interested in the latin translation and history of the eagle all the way back to the dinosaurs."

"That's all you had to do? It's that easy?"

"For and hour and a half."

I just had to wince in sympathy. "Ouch. Well, I'll see you tomorrow." I beat a hasty exit because Toby would have made me do something if I had stayed longer and I had a beautiful woman waiting for me to take her to dinner. I'm just in time to see her look around, sigh, and turn to the exit.