Scene 1

(CJ and JOSH have just spent the morning on the phone, trying to get their supreme court nominee to actually accept the nomination. They have just succeeded when the burst out of JOSH'S office where DONNA is.)

C.J.: It's done!

DONNA: Who did it?

C.J.: We did it!

JOSH: I did it! C.J. was on the phone with her fingers crossed.

C.J.: All you did was just one phone call.

JOSH: It was a series of phone calls, which I masterminded, while I'm not one to be selfish about credit, I think it is important to know that it is done, and I DID IT! (turns to DONNA, who is now at her desk.) Donna, call Toby. Call Sam. Call Leo. Call the president. Tell them I'm on my way over.

C.J.: Congratulations!

JOSH: Nothing to the press.

C.J.: Yes.

(JOSH calls to C.J., who has started to walk away.)

JOSH Claudia Jean?

C.J. Yeah?

JOSH: We did it!

C.J.: Yeah!

(They briefly hug, before C.J. takes off in one direction, and JOSH heads off in another.  DONNA quickly follows him.)

DONNA: Wait!

JOSH: What?

DONNA: Don't you want to know about the banging in your office?

JOSH: Banging in my office?

DONNA: They've been at it all morning.

JOSH: Banging?

DONNA: Yeah.

JOSH: I don't know what you're talking about.

DONNA: Josh, there's a loud banging or thumping coming from the floor above your office.

JOSH: I didn't notice.

DONNA: How could you not notice?

JOSH: Because I didn't, Donna. I've been on the phone for the last hour trying to seal the deal to fill a seat on the Supreme Court.

DONNA: It was a pretty loud banging, Josh.

JOSH: You got to understand I'm talking about the United States Supreme Court right?

DONNA: Yes.

JOSH: Okay.

(They arrive at SAM'S office and he comes out to celebrate with JOSH. TOBY pops out of his office soon after.)

SAM: Who da man?

TOBY: You da man!

SAM and JOSH: We da men! 

(SAM and JOSH bump chests and high-five with TOBY, while DONNA looks on in disgust.  They all walk towards the Oval Office.)

DONNA: This is just gross.

JOSH: Wait there for me.

(SAM smiles at DONNA and touches her side as he follows JOSH and TOBY into the office.)

Scene 2

(JOSH has just finished the meeting with BARTLET, LEO, TOBY, SAM and C.J. and is in the hallway outside the Communications Offices when DONNA comes up to him.)

DONNA: It's a maintenance crew.

JOSH: The banging?

DONNA: They're working upstairs.

(The head towards their Offices.)

JOSH: Peyton Cabot Harrison III.

DONNA: Yes.

JOSH: Peyton Cabot Harrison III. He sounds like he should be a Supreme Court justice.

DONNA: It's a good name.

JOSH: Phillips Exeter, Princeton, Rhodes scholar, Harvard Law Review, for which he was, oh yeah, the editor. Did I mention that he was dean of Harvard Law School? Did I mention that his father was attorney general to Eisenhower?

DONNA: Peyton Cabot Harrison III.

JOSH: That's right.

DONNA: Jewish fellow?

JOSH: You're not gonna ruin this moment for me, Donna.

DONNA: I'm sharing this moment with you.

JOSH: This is a big day for us.

DONNA: You're da men.

(They arrive at JOSH'S office where he sits down behind his desk and she perches on the guest chair across from him.)

JOSH: You know what we're finally gonna have?

DONNA: A waspy old man in the Supreme Court?

JOSH: A smooth confirmation process.

DONNA: You think?

JOSH: It's gonna sail.

DONNA: I hope so.

JOSH: It's gonna sail, Donna.

DONNA: There's many a slip twixt the tongue and the wrist, Josh.

JOSH: Yes. Well, your fortune cookie wisdom notwithstanding, it's gonna sail.

DONNA: Please don't get your hopes up.

JOSH: Why shouldn't I get my hopes up?

DONNA: Because when it doesn't work out, you end up drunk in my apartment in the middle of the night and yell at my roommate's cats.

JOSH: Smooth sailing, Donna.

DONNA: Cautious optimism, Josh.

JOSH: Nothing bad is gonna happen this week.

DONNA: Exercise cautious optimism.

JOSH: Look, there is no reason..

(Suddenly a chunk of the ceiling comes crashing down on to his desk, narrowly missing him.  JOSH brushes off his shirt in shock.)

JOSH: Well...okay.

Scene 3

(A maintenance man is working on the ceiling while JOSH and DONNA stand watch.)

JOSH: That was inches from my head.

DONNA: Josh.

JOSH: Inches.

DONNA: It was not inches.

JOSH: It was inches. A little bit this way, a little bit that way, bam! Massive head wound.

DONNA: You're fine.

JOSH: Yeah, but there for the grace of God, you know what I'm saying?

DONNA: Yes.

JOSH: I really think if big chunks of ceiling are gonna fall on anyone... I don't know...

(DONNA looks over at him suspiciously when he pauses.)

DONNA: What?

JOSH: It should be you.

DONNA: Ugh. I knew you were gonna say that.

JOSH: From now on, before I come in in the morning, I want you to test my office.

(While JOSH is smirking at DONNA, MANDY pops her head in his office doorway.)

MANDY: Josh?

DONNA: Staff in ten minutes.

(DONNA leaves while MANDY enters.)

JOSH: You see this? (He gestures to his desk)

MANDY: Yeah.

JOSH: Inches from my head.

MANDY: Why is Peter Lillienfield holding a press conference?

JOSH: Who cares? 

MANDY: I do. Why is Lillienfield holding a press conference?

JOSH: I don't know. (He starts looking through the papers on this desk.)

MANDY: Is he unhappy about something?

JOSH He's always unhappy about something. (yells) Donna! Where's my east Asia memo?!

DONNA: (from the outer office) Right here!

MANDY: It starts in two minutes.

JOSH: What starts in two minutes?

MANDY: Lillienfield's press conference.

JOSH: (he heads towards his door, yealling) It's okay, Donna. I'll just come and get it myself!

DONNA: (still from outer office) Keep your pants on, Joshua, I'm on my way!

MANDY: Josh?

JOSH: Mandy.

MANDY: I'm just saying that we don't need any surprises today.

JOSH: We're not gonna have any surprises today.

MANDY: I'm putting on a show. I don't want to get upstaged.

JOSH: You're not gonna get upstaged.

(MANDY leaves, and DONNA enters with papers held in front of her at arms length.)

DONNA: Here.

JOSH: Thank you.

DONNA: You're welcome.

JOSH: (He watches her walk away, then says) You should be nice to me. I could be dead you know.

DONNA: (turns back with a smirk) I don't have that kind of luck.

(DONNA leaves, JOSH stands looking after her with a bemused look.)

Scene 4

(JOSH and DONNA enter the doors, walking through the hallways towards their offices.)

DONNA: How does Lillienfield get his information?

JOSH: Ah, he's got a half government oversight committee. These are the people who literally decide if we get heat and electricity in the White House.

DONNA: So they have access to background information?

JOSH: Yeah. 

(JOSH has stopped to get himself coffee, DONNA watches and takes a deep breath.)

DONNA: Josh?

JOSH: Yeah?

DONNA: You shouldn't feel uncomfortable about interviewing me.

JOSH: I met you. I talked to you. I hired you. (He turns to face her) You know anybody around here who uses drugs? 

DONNA: Yeah.

JOSH: You want to tell me who they are?

DONNA: No.

JOSH: Good for you. Consider yourself interviewed.

(He smiles at her and they start walking again.)

DONNA: You're a good boy, Josh.

JOSH: Donna, I've seen your records.

DONNA: I know.

JOSH: You need to learn that "no parking" means no parking.

DONNA: The thing is sometimes I can't find a space.

JOSH: Go to work.

(DONNA goes to her desk while he enters his office.)

Close window to return home.

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