Manchester, 1998
"Come on, Abbey!"
Jed sat on the bed hunched forward, impatiently waiting for his wife to finish preparing herself for the evening. He was used to the wait, of course, but it never got any easier. She emerged from the bathroom wearing a short black spaghetti strap dress and black stiletto heels. Her hair was haphazardly held off her neck with a clip and she held a tube of mascara in her hand.
"How's this for my very first meeting with your incredibly fabulous new campaign staffers?"
"You're not gonna need the makeup tonight, honey."
"Why?" She asked.
"Because if you wear that dress none of them are gonna be able to lift their eyes from your chest to your face! Put on a sweater, Marilyn."
Abbey rolled her eyes and disappeared back into the bathroom.
"They're not all men, are they?" She called out to him.
"No, but there's a very good chance CJ will rethink her sexual orientation if she sees you in that."
"Go into my closet and grab a black button-down sweater for me, would you?"
He stood up, walked over to her rather large closet and did as he was told. When he had retrieved the sweater, he brought to the bathroom and handed it to her.
"Thank you."
He leaned against the doorframe and watched as she slipped the sweater on and fastened the first few buttons, from the bottom up. She turned back to the mirror and reached back to take the clip out of her hair. Her long dark tresses fell over her shoulders and framed her face. She wiped off the excess eyeliner that had gathered under her eyes and turned to observe her left and right profiles. Then she rotated to face him and placed her hands on her hips.
"Well?"
"Beautiful," Jed said genuinely before changing his tone. "Can we go now?"
"What's the rush?"
"Leo's got them all waiting downstairs!"
"Oh, right," Abbey said. "Okay, I'm almost ready."
"What more could you possibly have to do, Abigail?"
"This."
She threw her arms around his neck and pushed him up against the door, kissing him passionately. When their lips finally broke apart, he struggled to catch his breath, but he wasn't about to complain.
"Worth the wait?" Abbey whispered.
He captured her lips once more and then, instantly regretting the action, pulled away slightly.
"We can't do this now. You see what you started?"
"Just my way of getting you to keep this meeting short. The shorter the meeting, the sooner the…"
She kissed his jawline, then moved to his ear down to his neck. With his hands on her hips, he reluctantly pushed her back, extricating himself from her.
"All right, we'll keep it short and sweet."
"An hour, tops?" Abbey said.
"An hour, tops."
"Okay, let's go."
They walked out of the bedroom hand-in-hand but stopped when they reached the apex of the staircase.
"What?" Jed asked.
"What are their names again?"
"Leo McGarry…"
She rolled her eyes.
"Shut up."
"CJ Cregg, Sam Seaborn, Toby Ziegler, and Josh Lyman."
Her eyes widened.
"What did you say?"
"What?"
"Did you say Josh Lyman?" Abbey questioned in a panic.
"Yeah. What about him?" Jed responded.
"Uh…do you remember, about ten years ago, when I had that stint teaching at Harvard?"
Jed nodded slowly, the realization washing over him.
"He was the kid who…"
"Yeah."
"Wow."
"I don't think he's ever forgiven me for…" Abbey hesitated.
"It was ten years ago, Abbey."
"Would you have forgotten if you missed the dean's list?"
They both knew the answer.
May, 1988
Three days after graduation, Josh Lyman had returned home to Connecticut for the summer, taking his roomate Chris with him. Elated as they were following their commencement, they could focus on nothing besides receiving their grades for the last semester. Chris called his mother every day and asked if the transcript had arrived yet, and Josh would run out to the mailbox every morning on the same mission. Finally, nearly a week later, Josh found his coveted transcript in the mailbox. He ran back into the house and ripped it open while Chris stood beside him just as anxious as he was.
"A, A, A, B, B, A…" Josh recited.
"What?" Chris asked when he paused. "What is it!"
"Damnit!"
"What!"
Josh slammed his transcript down onto the counter in the kitchen and curled his fingers into a fist.
"Bartlet gave me a D."
"You're kidding," Chris said, flatly.
"See for yourself."
He slid the document down the counter until it was in front of Chris, who stared at it in awe.
"Didn't you, like, save her life or something?"
"Sat with her in the hospital for three hours, rode in the ambulance," Josh replied.
"And she still gave you a D?"
"Apparently! Damnit! Yale is gonna see this and change they're minds."
"They're not gonna change their minds, Josh," Chris assured him. "It's one D. They're gonna see the rest of your grades and think this one's just a fluke or something. Don't worry about it."
"I can't believe she would do this to me," Josh muttered.
"Who?"
"Dr. Bartlet, who do you think! I'm gonna miss the dean's list again!"
"I hate to ask this but…did you deserve the D?" Chris asked.
"That's not the point!"
"What is the point?"
"I sat with her in the hospital for three hours! I rode in the ambulance!"
"Then I'm sure she felt really badly about giving you that D."
"This…" He held up the transcript and waved it around. "This is why I don't trust women. I'm not gonna forget this, Chris. This is the kind of thing that stays with you."
1998
"I'm sure he's forgotten all about that," Jed said.
Abbey gripped his hand tightly as they descended the staircase slowly. When they reached the living room, all of its occupants instantly stood up to greet them. Leo walked over and kissed Abbey on the cheek and she smiled radiantly.
"Guys, this is my wife, Abbey. Abbey, this is CJ Cregg."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Bartlet."
Leo mouthed the word 'Doctor Bartlet' to her and she amended her sentence.
"Dr. Bartlet."
Abbey laughed.
"Thank you, CJ."
Jed held his arm out in Toby's direction.
"This is Toby Ziegler."
She shook his hand firmly.
"Hi, Toby."
"Dr. Bartlet."
"This here is Sam Seaborn."
Sam smiled his signature grin and shook her hand.
"Thrilled to meet you, ma'am."
"Likewise!"
"And this, of course, is Josh Lyman," Jed said, with only a bit of apprehension in his house.
Abbey smiled confidently and held out her hand to him.
"Nice to see you again, Josh."
"You too, Dr. Bartlet," Josh replied, shaking the hand she had offered to him.
Jed nudged his wife and grinned triumphantly, thinking he had been right after all. Abbey shrugged her shoulders, unconvinced. Suddenly, Josh smiled mischievously and shook his finger at her.
"But don't think I've forgotten that D."
THE END.