at the pleasure of the president (1/2) and even here, she’s operating on a two-party system. shannon/hardy/chastain, THE WEST WING AU
1.
“We need to do something about his image,” Jessica says. She stabs at her salad. There’s too much green onion and not enough bacon.
“Like what?” The way Hardy says it, it comes out as a grumble and like it’s outside his pay grade. It’s late but not that late, almost nine PM, but she’s just now eating her dinner. Hardy needs a good shave, but then he’s needed one for a couple days now. She guess the State of the Union serves as a pardon on that front -- that and the Violence Against Women Act stalled out on the floor, again.
“People think he’s creepy,” she says around a mouthful of arugula.
Hardy considers it, and her (the sprig of green hanging from her mouth she picks at indelicately with her fingers). “He kinda is.”
“That’s a bad thing.”
“Gimme some of that bacon,” he mutters and reaches into her salad. She swats at his hand.
“Those better be clean.”
He smiles as he chomps down on a piece of bacon. “Not really,” he says, and her face sours into a grimace. He looks at her confused and then chuckles. “Not, not my hands, I mean, it’s not really a bad thing. That he’s creepy. Your word. Might be my favorite thing about him, actually.”
“You aren’t the majority of the voting populace.”
He nods at her. “And you’re supposed to be writing a speech that’ll convince that voting populace to feel real good about our guy.”
Their guy. It’s a bad thing to admit, but she likes the way that rings in her head.
2.
Jessica met Mike after law school. She graduated and she didn’t get that firm job she thought was a slam dunk. So she did the obvious next step in a city like Washington DC: she went to work for the government.
Back then, he was just a Congressman, his first term, and he needed a legislative aide.
He’s been her boss for as long as she can remember.
In a way, she has built her entire professional life around him. Scratch that.
It’s never been just limited to the professional.
(She can remember the exact moment when she knew she loved him.
Tom complicated that thought. But then, Tom complicated most things.
Tom wasn’t brought on until well into the campaign. After Mike had named Buscemi as his running mate and after all that bad press about a farm bill he had voted down seven years ago resurfaced and he was booed at a talk in Topeka.)
3.
She met Tom in Tampa. He joined the campaign when they stopped in Tampa.
She knew enough about Tom Hardy before that meeting though, but then most people did. He had what people liked to call a reputation, and not necessarily a good one.
He was a loose cannon to employ, never quite clear what he would and would not say to a journalist or the American public. He’d been ousted from a high-ranking senator’s office after a huge gaffe involving the senator’s decidedly conservative stance on gay marriage and Hardy’s complete disagreement with said stance.
After he was canned he went into lobbying, where depending on who you asked he was god’s gift to special interests or the devil himself come to wreak havoc on the Hill.
After meeting him, Jessica thought that if it was possible he was a bit of both: angel and devil. Too much good tempered with a whole lot of bad.
and even here, she’s operating on a two-party system.
shannon/hardy/chastain, THE WEST WING AU
1.
“We need to do something about his image,” Jessica says. She stabs at her salad. There’s too much green onion and not enough bacon.
“Like what?” The way Hardy says it, it comes out as a grumble and like it’s outside his pay grade. It’s late but not that late, almost nine PM, but she’s just now eating her dinner. Hardy needs a good shave, but then he’s needed one for a couple days now. She guess the State of the Union serves as a pardon on that front -- that and the Violence Against Women Act stalled out on the floor, again.
“People think he’s creepy,” she says around a mouthful of arugula.
Hardy considers it, and her (the sprig of green hanging from her mouth she picks at indelicately with her fingers). “He kinda is.”
“That’s a bad thing.”
“Gimme some of that bacon,” he mutters and reaches into her salad. She swats at his hand.
“Those better be clean.”
He smiles as he chomps down on a piece of bacon. “Not really,” he says, and her face sours into a grimace. He looks at her confused and then chuckles. “Not, not my hands, I mean, it’s not really a bad thing. That he’s creepy. Your word. Might be my favorite thing about him, actually.”
“You aren’t the majority of the voting populace.”
He nods at her. “And you’re supposed to be writing a speech that’ll convince that voting populace to feel real good about our guy.”
Their guy. It’s a bad thing to admit, but she likes the way that rings in her head.
2.
Jessica met Mike after law school. She graduated and she didn’t get that firm job she thought was a slam dunk. So she did the obvious next step in a city like Washington DC: she went to work for the government.
Back then, he was just a Congressman, his first term, and he needed a legislative aide.
He’s been her boss for as long as she can remember.
In a way, she has built her entire professional life around him. Scratch that.
It’s never been just limited to the professional.
(She can remember the exact moment when she knew she loved him.
Tom complicated that thought. But then, Tom complicated most things.
Tom wasn’t brought on until well into the campaign. After Mike had named Buscemi as his running mate and after all that bad press about a farm bill he had voted down seven years ago resurfaced and he was booed at a talk in Topeka.)
3.
She met Tom in Tampa. He joined the campaign when they stopped in Tampa.
She knew enough about Tom Hardy before that meeting though, but then most people did. He had what people liked to call a reputation, and not necessarily a good one.
He was a loose cannon to employ, never quite clear what he would and would not say to a journalist or the American public. He’d been ousted from a high-ranking senator’s office after a huge gaffe involving the senator’s decidedly conservative stance on gay marriage and Hardy’s complete disagreement with said stance.
After he was canned he went into lobbying, where depending on who you asked he was god’s gift to special interests or the devil himself come to wreak havoc on the Hill.
After meeting him, Jessica thought that if it was possible he was a bit of both: angel and devil. Too much good tempered with a whole lot of bad.
C O N T ' D
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