Intellectual Foreplay

Trish


Sam, Ainsley, Josh, Oliver and some other staffers were seated around
a small conference table, just off the bullpen.

"Why are we doing this again?" Josh whined, wiping his hand across
his forehead in an effort to soothe his headache.

"Because," boomed Oliver, "we need to make sure that this education
reform bill you are so adamant doesn't violate the Constitution. You
remember the Constitution, don't you Mr. Lyman? I do seem to
remember that there is a year long course on it in law school and you
went to law school, right?"

"You know, " Josh began slowly, striving for some measure of control,
"this isn't about *my* education. It's about your ability to do your
job, Mr. White House Counsel."

"If you would simply write a law that made sense, and maybe checked
with someone first before making these ludicrous promises, we might
not be having this problem," Oliver rejoined.

"Hey," Sam interjected, "I drafted this."

"I wouldn't be so proud of that, if I were you, Seaborne," Oliver
sneered. Rising from his chair, he offered, "I'm going to get some
more coffee. Anyone want anything while I'm up?" Although his words
were generous, the look on the husky lawyer's face warned anyone
against actually requesting anything.

Slightly offended, Sam tried to defend the idea, "It's democratic.
We're requiring all school districts across the country to spend
equal amounts of money on each child, no matter where they live.
It's more fair than the regressive system of funding education with
property taxes, where the wealthy get all the benefits and the poor
districts who really need the money get screwed."

"It may be a noble idea, Sam, but it won't work. You can't improve
the problem simply by throwing more money at it and you certainly
won't accomplish anything by taking money away from the programs that
do work." Ainsley explained.

"How can you sit there and tell me that spending the exact same
amount of money on educating every single child in this nation is a
bad idea?" Sam asked, incredulous that she could disparage the whole
idea.

"Land values for one. The cost of living for another and the whole
idea that equal means identical is ridiculous. If it costs more to
build a building in New York City than it does in Arkansas, then the
exact amount of money being spent on the actual education of the
child will be vastly different," Ainsley asserted.

Shaking his head, Josh interjected, "Isn't this where you two
started?"

"What?" the two combatants, asked at the same time.

"You know, Capital Beat, Kirkwood, Oregon - - oh right, California,"
Josh couldn't resist the dig at his best friend. "Ringing any bells?"

Ainsley and Sam looked at each other and smiled. People thought they
hated each other after that first auspicious meeting, but they
didn't. Sam had been embarrassed; he wasn't often wrong and
certainly not on national television. Even before she came to work
at the White House, his dreams had been filled with vague thoughts of
the beautiful blonde Republican. For her part, Ainsley wasn't mean
spirited. She hadn't been trying to humiliate anybody, but Sam had
been smug and Mark Godfrey's comments about not overreaching because
"Sam usually wiped the floor with whoever was sitting in her seat"
had brought out her old competitiveness fueled by her resentment of
anybody who thought that simply because she was blonde she must be
stupid. As she got to know the Deputy Communications Director
better, Ainsley was pleasantly surprised to find out that he really
was an genuinely nice guy. Those dimples didn't hurt either.

Responding to his friend's teasing, Sam offered, "We're past that
now."

"Yes, we are," Ainsley echoed. "We have, together, we have, if you
will permit me," she looked at Sam for permission to continue. He
nodded and she did, "Together, we have move to a . . . a new phase in
. . . ah . . . our . . . "

As she hesitated Ainsley turned to Sam for help and he completed her
sentence, "relationship. In our relationship," he stated more
bolding looking at Ainsley and smiling.

Trying to suppress a grin and not get knocked over by all the sexual
tension in the room, Josh played devil's advocate, "I wasn't aware
that you two had a *relationship*."

Sam immediately shut him down, "Yes we do. We have an intellectual
relationship. An intellectually stimulating relationship." Sam
affirmed.

Just then Oliver bounded back into the room, "Alright what progress
have you people made since I've been gone?"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A few days later Sam entered his office and sat down to put the
finishing touches on some remarks the President would be making later
that night. Opening his lap top, he found a sealed card in between
the monitor and the keyboard. It was addressed in distinctive
feminine handwriting with his name on the outside.

Tearing it open, Sam extracted the simple cream colored card from the
envelope. There was a plain gold border surround the words, "Ours is
an intellectually stimulating relationship . . . "

Smiling Sam opened the card and read the rest of the message, "Come
let me blow your mind!" the card was unsigned.

As he regained his composure after nearly falling out of his seat, he
willed the blush he could feel hotly across his skin to subside, Toby
walked into his office. "Do you have the draft yet, Sam?"

Getting no response, Toby tried again, "Sam. Sam? Are you alright?"

Giving his head a mental shake and trying unsuccessfully to wipe a
stupid grin off his face, Sam closed the card, arose from his chair
and distractedly responded to Toby, "Not yet."

"I need it in the next hour," Toby admonished.

"You'll get it," Sam promised brushing past his boss on his way out
of his office, "But right now I got gotta see a lady about some
intellectual exercises!"

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