The Walk and Talk
CUT TO: INT. OUTER OVAL OFFICE - DAY Josh and Sam are leaving the Oval Office. They pass Mrs. Landingham.
JOSH So what’s the range of what we’re talking about?
MRS. LANDINGHAM Congratulations, Josh.
JOSH Thanks, Mrs. Landingham.
SAM What’s she congratulating you on?
JOSH I don’t know.
They walk out to the HALLWAY.
SAM What’s the range?
JOSH Yes.
SAM Votes are expensive. O’Bannon’s going to want the farm subsidies revisited, Katzenmoyer’s gonna go back to the federal tax exempt metro link. We’re talking about unions, defense contracts, possibly agency appointments and my point is that the clock’s running, and we’re no closer to answering the question.
JOSH Which question?
SAM How we get five votes without giving away everything in the store.
A woman passes by.
WOMAN Congratulations, Josh.
JOSH Thanks.
SAM What the hell’s going on…?
JOSH We do it by giving away nothing in the store.
SAM We can’t…
JOSH I say nothing.
SAM What’re you saying?
JOSH L.B.J. never would’ve taken this kind of crap from Democrats in Congress. He’d have said, ‘You’re voting my way, in exchange for which, it is possible that I might remember your name.’ [stops walking]
Pal, we need to win. And I mean win. We need to take a curtain call and a victory lap. And that’s how we get momentum. We get it by being tough. We give away nothing. That’s what I’m taking to Leo.
SAM And Chris Wick?
JOSH Chris Wick, I own his ass.
They walk into JOSH’S BULLPEN AREA to cheering and shouts of ‘Congratulations’.
Donna walks up.
JOSH I sense I’m being mocked.
DONNA Congratulations, Josh.
JOSH What did I do?
DONNA You won our award for best gift valued over twenty-five dollars on the financial disclosure report.
JOSH Really?
DONNA Yeah.
JOSH What won it for me?
DONNA The 1189 dollar Viennatelli silk smoking jacket from Miss Sarah Wissinger.
JOSH Ah, yes.
DONNA You’re also the runner up, by the way, with the 345 dollar antique scrimshaw cigarette holder, also from Miss Sarah Wissinger.
JOSH Well, Sarah was very fond of me.
DONNA I’d imagine with that smoking jacket and the cigarette holder, you were quite the dandy.
JOSH All right, this was fun, but Sam and I are busy making critical decisions, and I’m sure you have a lot of typing to do. So I’ll talk to you later.
DONNA Bye. [walks off]
Sam and Josh keep going, right past Josh’s office.
JOSH I’ll take care of Chris Wick.
SAM Where are you going?
JOSH [stops and looks at Sam] Where are you going?
SAM I was following you.
JOSH I was following you. [pause] All right, don’t tell anyone this happened, okay?
