Unfinished Fic: Pivot’s Questions
I was going through some old files I hadn't looked through in well over a year and stumbled across this. This was one of my earliest fics and the first I ever abandoned. I haven't worked on it since June 2006. I'll never go back to it now, of course, but what I did manage to write down was interesting enough, that I thought I'd share. (P.S. Old fic deserves one of my oldest icons. I'm totally going retro here.)
Pivot’s Questions
It was like a weird, real life version of Sesame Street’s “One of These Things Is Not Like The Others.” The four women in the office were all blond and professionally attired, but one just didn’t seem to fit. It wasn’t because the woman with green glitter from her daughter’s school project still stuck on her cuff was the First Lady. And it wasn’t because the woman behind the desk was about five months pregnant or that the pixie in the corner was the only one without a wedding ring. If you guessed the woman in the neat pageboy because the other three had long hair pulled back into buns, you’d only get half credit. (Right answer, wrong reason.) Though if you noted that she was the only one who looked pulled together despite the late hour, you’d be closer.
Yes, Trish Mannard did not fit. She was definitely “doing her own thing.” Fortunately, the other three had dealt with worse that an overly ambitious media director.
Even though it was her office that they were sitting in, Donna really didn’t need to be there, but there were many things that the First Lady would not do without her. Dealing with Trish was just one of them. When Donna and Josh had returned from Hawaii before the Inauguration, Helen had grabbed her by the shoulders and pleaded “Never leave me again!” And Donna hadn’t. The President owed both the sanity of his wife and of his Chief of Staff these past three years to Donnatella Moss Lyman.
But while the rest of the White House worried what it would mean for the Administration if the Lymans decided to stay home with the baby, Trish saw it as an opportunity for advancement, which could be why she was so determined to nail every detail of this interview down cold.
“She’s going to ask you Pivot’s Questions.”
“Excuse me?”
“Ten questions that originally came from a French television series hosted by Bernard Pivot,” Donna, always the fountain of information, supplied.
“Who does she think she is? James Lipton?” Helen demanded.
“We’ll need to go over your answers to make sure you don’t say anything that could possibly be used against you. Now, first question: What’s you’re favorite word?”
“Bliss,” the First Lady immediately responded.
“No. That’s the wrong answer.”
“How can that be a wrong answer?! It’s my answer!”
“It makes you sound hedonistic. The Republicans will go crazy with that answer!”
“Hedonistic is a good word. Sounds like what it is,” mused Annabeth.
“What is your favorite word?” Donna asked her.
"Plethora."
************************
“Door was open,” he grinned.
“Josh, do you always barge into you wife’s office without warning? How would you feel if Donna did that to you?”
“Why do you think I keep doing it? I’m hoping she’ll try to even the score! Especially with the Undersecretary of the Treasury keeps on dropping in unannounced. She’ll charm him and I’ll ignore him and all will be well.”
**************
“Donna always knew that I was lying about my favorite word.”
“Josh, what is you favorite word?” asked Annabeth.
“Donnatella.”
“You’re just saying that because your wife is here,” grumbled Trish.
“I’m not actually. There was a time when wild horses couldn’t have dragged that from me.”
Pivot’s Questions
It was like a weird, real life version of Sesame Street’s “One of These Things Is Not Like The Others.” The four women in the office were all blond and professionally attired, but one just didn’t seem to fit. It wasn’t because the woman with green glitter from her daughter’s school project still stuck on her cuff was the First Lady. And it wasn’t because the woman behind the desk was about five months pregnant or that the pixie in the corner was the only one without a wedding ring. If you guessed the woman in the neat pageboy because the other three had long hair pulled back into buns, you’d only get half credit. (Right answer, wrong reason.) Though if you noted that she was the only one who looked pulled together despite the late hour, you’d be closer.
Yes, Trish Mannard did not fit. She was definitely “doing her own thing.” Fortunately, the other three had dealt with worse that an overly ambitious media director.
Even though it was her office that they were sitting in, Donna really didn’t need to be there, but there were many things that the First Lady would not do without her. Dealing with Trish was just one of them. When Donna and Josh had returned from Hawaii before the Inauguration, Helen had grabbed her by the shoulders and pleaded “Never leave me again!” And Donna hadn’t. The President owed both the sanity of his wife and of his Chief of Staff these past three years to Donnatella Moss Lyman.
But while the rest of the White House worried what it would mean for the Administration if the Lymans decided to stay home with the baby, Trish saw it as an opportunity for advancement, which could be why she was so determined to nail every detail of this interview down cold.
“She’s going to ask you Pivot’s Questions.”
“Excuse me?”
“Ten questions that originally came from a French television series hosted by Bernard Pivot,” Donna, always the fountain of information, supplied.
“Who does she think she is? James Lipton?” Helen demanded.
“We’ll need to go over your answers to make sure you don’t say anything that could possibly be used against you. Now, first question: What’s you’re favorite word?”
“Bliss,” the First Lady immediately responded.
“No. That’s the wrong answer.”
“How can that be a wrong answer?! It’s my answer!”
“It makes you sound hedonistic. The Republicans will go crazy with that answer!”
“Hedonistic is a good word. Sounds like what it is,” mused Annabeth.
“What is your favorite word?” Donna asked her.
"Plethora."
************************
“Door was open,” he grinned.
“Josh, do you always barge into you wife’s office without warning? How would you feel if Donna did that to you?”
“Why do you think I keep doing it? I’m hoping she’ll try to even the score! Especially with the Undersecretary of the Treasury keeps on dropping in unannounced. She’ll charm him and I’ll ignore him and all will be well.”
**************
“Donna always knew that I was lying about my favorite word.”
“Josh, what is you favorite word?” asked Annabeth.
“Donnatella.”
“You’re just saying that because your wife is here,” grumbled Trish.
“I’m not actually. There was a time when wild horses couldn’t have dragged that from me.”