"MARGARET!"

"For gosh sakes, Leo, I'm right here." Margaret sighed. Ten-thirty in the
morning and already she needed some aspirin. Ginger wasn't in yet and Toby
was on the warpath because of it.

"Sorry." Leo cleared his throat. "Have you seen Ginger?"

"No, for the forty-second consecutive time, Leo, I have not seen Ginger."
Margaret snapped through gritted teeth. "To be honest, I'm a little worried
about her."

"Well, if she comes in, warn her that Toby's in a foul mood, then send her
his way."

"Whatever." Margaret went back to typing the memo she had been typing before
she'd been interrupted.

**

Ainsley was slowly working her way through a mountain of paperwork that
Lionel Tribbey had left her before heading for the Hill. Normally, it would
have annoyed her, but for some reason, she was okay with it today.

"Hey, Ainsley?" Sam poked his head in the door. "A bunch of us are having
lunch in today to talk about the state dinner. Wanna join us?"

Ainsley stared at him for a moment. "You came all the way down here to ask me
that? Why didn't you just call me?"

"Well, I was going to call you, but I'd rather do it in person."

"Do what in person?"

Sam took a deep breath. "Ask you to be my date for the state dinner."

"I don't know, Sam." Ainsley sighed.

"There'll be Republicans." Sam said.

"I'm not sure--"

"You get to dress up. Don't women like to dress up?" he asked, looking at her
innocently.

"I dress up every day, Sam." Ainsley said impatiently. "It's called going to
work."

"Everyone's gonna be there."

"Who's everyone?"

"The First Family, the past two First Families, one of which was a Republican
First Family in case I didn't mention it; Leo, Josh, I think Donna,
Margaret... that is, if Leo doesn't lose his nerve... CJ and Danny, Carol,
Toby if he can find a date, Zoey and Charlie.. though Zoey would be
considered in the First Family category..."

"Sam! Sam, stop!" Ainsley kneeded her forehead with her hand. "You're giving
me a headache."

"There'll be free food." Sam pulled out his trump card. "All the shrimp and
fancy stuff you can eat."

"Really?" Ainsley asked.

Sam crossed over to sit in front of her, on the desk. He leaned forward until
their faces were mere inches apart. "And you can go back for seconds and
thirds."

Ainsley smiled, knowing she had been beaten.

Sam smirked, knowing he had been the one to beat her.

"All right, Sam, I'll go with you."

"Good." Sam replied. "Leo's asking Margaret. Josh is asking Donna. Charlie is
asking Zoey, obviously. CJ and Danny are going together. I think Toby was
thinking about asking Ginger if she ever gets in."

"Ginger's not in yet?" Ainsley asked. "I called her like two hours ago. She
said she was on her way. But then again, if she couldn't sneak out of
there--" she froze, realizing that she had spoken aloud.

"Sneak out?" Sam asked. "What is she, twelve years old?"

Ainsley remained silent for a minute. "Sam, could I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"It's purely hypothetical."

"When is it not?"

"Okay, this... acquaitance of mine, she's a Democrat. And she recently made
friends with a Republican co-worker. She sometimes carpools with her to
work."

"Is this about gas emissions or something?" the clueless Sam asked. "Well, my
friend.. one day when it was her turn to drive, she got to *her* friend's
house early. She heard something that she thought seemed like a dangerous
situation, but she wasn't sure. This was a few weeks ago. Anyway, last week,
she got there early again and went in. She found some guy passed out on the
couch and her friend was in the bathroom, applying some pretty heavy cover-up
to her face."

"Heavy make-up, huh?" Sam asked. "This isn't you, is it?"

"Hypothetical, Sam." Ainsley reminded him.

"Cut the crap, Ainsley. Do I know this friend of a friend?"

Ainsley paused. "No. You don't know any of my friends, Sam. They're all
Republican. Well, except for the co-workers I consider friends, like you and
Lionel."

"You consider Lionel Tribbey a friend?" All thoughts of their conversation
flew out of Sam's head at this unexpected development.

"We went out for drinks one night. He's really a great person to just hang
out with." Ainsley replied.

"Okay, well now I've heard everything." Sam said as the phone rang.

"Ainsley Hayes." Ainsley answered the phone. "Yes, he's right here... no, I--
For God's sake, Toby, I'm not deaf, you know! Okay, I'll tell him." she hung
up the phone. "Toby wants you. Now." Sam paled.

"I'll do your eulogy." she promised.

"Thanks." Sam practically ran out of the office.

**

TBC

Past Tense Rising - 3

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