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[3rd person pov]

It is late in the evening. Josh enters the Deputy Chief of Staff's office, leans against the door frame, folds his arms. He attempts to retain an aura of sobriety, but is unable to prevent his excited energy from bubbling to the surface.

“Sam, I need a best man. And I went through a list of potential candidates and it came down to you and Tony Bennett. And since Tony Bennett is unavailable in June, it’ll have to be you.” There is no response; disappointingly his deputy remains immersed in a briefing memo, unmoved by this request. Having planned this opener for quite some portion of the day, Sam's response lacks the reaction Josh was hoping for. He tries again, in more simplistic terms. “Sam? You’ll be my best man, right?”

Sam looks up, not fully comprehending. “I’m sorry? Your best man for what?”

Josh grins, amused. He pushes his shirt sleeves up his arms, preparing himself for the overwhelmed and delighted response when Sam finally grasps the idea behind the conversation. “The wedding. Y’know, the best man: the guy who organises the stripper for the bachelor party, stands next to the groom on the big day, gives a speech about every embarrassing thing the groom’s done since college… Ring a bell?”

“I… I’m not following. Wedding?”

Josh chalks his confusion up to long hours and a recent lack of sleep. He explains slowly and simply, as if speaking to someone with an IQ a good deal lower than that which Sam purports to have. “You know when you asked what I got up to over the weekend and I told you I got engaged? Remember? Well, traditionally, engagements are followed by a wedding.”

The surprise is both immediate and immense. “You were being serious?”

It’s still not quite the response Josh is hoping for, but at least Sam is taking part in the conversation now. “Well, yeah. I mean, I know we’ve only been seeing each other a few months, but what with our history and everything it’s not that sudden.”

Sam retains the feeling that he has missed out on some key piece of information. He mulls it over internally for a few seconds. It continues to make no sense. “I’m going to ask you this question and, well, I don’t want to appear obtuse or anything, but… who are you marrying?”

Josh comes to the conclusion that his deputy is joking, albeit he doesn’t understand why. “What, like I get a choice or something?” He forces a laugh, but there is no response, no clarity. Confused, he offers: “I’ll be marrying my fiancé. The woman I, y’know, love and all that.”

Sam wonders how best to phrase his next sentence, but realises that there is no way of asking that won’t be awkward. “Yeah, about that. Just remind me of her name again.”

“Sam, you’re kidding me on this, aren’t you?”

He’d love to be able to say yes, but that would get him nowhere, except an attempt at a subtle round of twenty questions and continued confusion. “Surprisingly, not so much, no.”

Josh moves against the door frame, shifting awkwardly. “Really? Because, well, I know we didn’t go around announcing it or anything, but I thought it was obvious. I mean, glaringly obvious.”

“Again, not so much.”

Josh smiles to himself, lost in thoughts that Sam can’t even begin to understand.

“Josh?” It’s late, and he lacks the patience to wait until the wedding for the answer to be revealed.

His boss pulls himself out of his reverie. His smirk widens, amused and proud. “Donna. I’m marrying Donna.”

There is a moment of surprised silence, although in retrospect Sam feels he should have known the answer. “Donna? Really? Wow. I mean, wow. You two finally got it together.” He considers this, involuntarily grinning as the pieces of the puzzle fall into place. “I mean, I probably should have guessed. But wow.”

Josh returns the grin. “Yeah.” There is a pause. “You’re sure it wasn’t obvious?”

“Well, to those who didn’t work with you both for years it might be, but, well, you seem to be acting pretty much like you always did. Except, y’know, different because, well, you’ve changed, but the vibes are still there,” Sam explains awkwardly and somewhat sheepishly.

“Huh.” Josh is amused.

“But, I gotta say, it was obvious back then. To most of us. Just not you.”

“In my defence, I knew back then.” Sam looks at him questioningly, challenging this thought. “Eventually. After, y’know, a few… years. Besides, it’s probably for the best that nothing happened when she worked for me.”

There is a moment of silence. “I’m guessing this also explains the fact that we liaise far more with the First Lady’s staff than we ever did in the past,” Sam queries eventually, one eyebrow raised.

“It helps us all if we maintain good relationships within the administration,” Josh comments slyly. There is a pause as Josh recalls the original reason for the conversation. “So, about that best man thing? You in?”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Sam stands up, navigates around his desk, and hugs Josh. “Congratulations, Josh. I mean, I’m not entirely sure what she’s thinking agreeing to this, but you’re a very lucky guy.”

“Thanks man. I’m going to overlook the first half of that comment, but believe me when I tell you I know how lucky I am.” There is a brief silence. “So, I’m gonna get going. You wanna go for a drink?”

“Sure, this can wait until morning,” Sam replies, grabbing his coat and brief case. “Just one thing,” he comments as they walk towards Josh’s office.

“Anything.”

“Stripper at the White House Chief of Staff’s Bachelor party?”

“Not a good idea?” Josh asks, mock serious.

“I was thinking I might go pass it by the First Lady’s Chief of Staff.”

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end

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