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REGARDING JOSH (part 4) Four days later.... Toby looked disgustedly at the television in his office where Peter Lillienfield was pontificating about why he was urging his colleagues to vote against the gun bill the President had sent them......" is reacting in a personal not professional manner, and while we all sympathize with him and his staff".....Sam leaned on the door frame and knew immediately from the scowl on Toby’s face that he was listening to the press conference. He was about to commiserate with Toby when the sound of yelling and breaking glass grabbed his attention. "That was Josh!" cried Sam as he sprinted down the hall. CJ was in her office rereading the sex education report that had been tabled earlier when she heard Josh yell, "You unctuous son of a bitch, you’ve never been shot!" It took her a split second to recognize his voice; there was real anger in that voice, not the measured tones that had come to mark the new Josh. She reached the doorway that connected their offices just as the picture tube of Josh’s television imploded under the force of those two golf balls he had been kneading in his left hand for so long. Shifting her attention to Josh, she saw him leaning on the corner of his desk. His shoulders were shaking, and his gaze was fixed on his shoes. She took a couple of quick steps toward him and gently laid her hand on his arm. When he lifted his head to acknowledge her presence, she was astounded to see a grin on his face. "God, that felt good!" he said. CJ laughed and threw her arms around him. "What happened?" demanded Sam barging through the door. CJ answered, "Josh just hurled two golf balls through Senator Lillienfield." Toby, Donna, Charlie and the President had all converged on Josh’s office at the sound of the breaking glass. "I’m sorry about the tv, sir," said Josh mildly looking at the President. "Don’t worry about it, Josh," he replied. "As a matter of fact, I’ll have maintenance put a new set in here everyday, and you can work your way through Congress if it makes you feel better." An infectious smile dimpled the corners of Josh’s mouth, "Thank you, sir." "Josh?" CJ asked. "What?" "What adjective did you use to describe Lillienfield before you nailed him?" "Unctuous. It means..." "...marked by a smug and false earnestness," finished Toby. "Well, if the shoe fits..." laughed CJ. "We’ve missed your SAT-busting vocabulary, Josh." "Mr. President?" Josh asked turning back to look at him. "Hm?" "Could I have the rest of the day off?" "Sure, Josh. What do you need?" "I need to see Leo." The President nodded his head, squeezed Josh’s shoulder, and headed back to the Oval Office. Josh shrugged his shoulders into his jacket and slipped an arm around Donna and led her to her desk to check on his schedule. She informed him that there was nothing really pressing and that she’d take care of everything. He thanked her with a quick peck on the cheek and headed out the door. Sam caught up with him at the double doors. "Josh?" "’Sup, Sam?" "Are you okay?" he asked looking hard at his friend. "I don’t really know, Sam," was the reply. "I don’t suppose any of us will ever be quite the same again, and we all have demons to exorcise; but we’re all in it together, and I’m taking it on faith that it will all be okay. The End
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