Invisible String

C.2: one single thread of gold tied me to you

Madison let out a short breathy chuckle. Before taking a moment to think about what she was going to say next.

"I know you know that I've applied for the senior advisor position, but I don't want you pulling strings," Madison spoke, as Jed nodded letting her finish whatever it was that she wanted to say, "I can't have that. I want everyone else to know that I'm good enough, because I know that I am."

"Madison," Jed cut her off, in the way that only a loving father knew how. Something that she'd only experienced from him.

"I can't have you interfering. I know I'm good," she repeated herself, "but I need show that to everyone else. I have next to no American political experience, and I'm aware of that. But at the U.N.," she swallowed the lump in her throat as she mentioned her former employer "I worked on things that'll change the world."

The President nodded, letting her know that she was going to be save from his interference, unless it was truly needed. Both the President and Leo were more than aware that they needed someone like her on their staff, someone to remind them of the international political ramifications of the decisions that had to be made within these hallowed walls. Someone who could see the entire chess board, from all the perspectives. And that person just so happened to be Madison. They would be fools to let her walk out the door without a job offer and they knew it. Madison's name carried much more weight that she realised and that prestige wasn't because of her family name but entirely due to her own hard work.

*~*~*~*

Once Madison was finally able to walk away from the President, she looked around the room, trying to see if anyone else she barely knew was free for her to buddy up with for the rest of the night.

Josh and a short haired woman, caught her attention. It wasn't hard for them to do so as they were animatedly arguing over something, both of them were clearly struggling to keep their voices down, not wanting to attract too much attention.

Madison watched them for a second longer as she mulled over her options while taking another small sip from her glass.

Without much thought, she made her way over to the arguing pair. Josh was increasingly more frustrated and it was becoming more obvious to those around them.

"Hi," Madison stopped, as both heads shot towards her, not expecting anyone to disrupt them. Once Josh realised that it was Madison, his frustration towards the argument melted away a little bit and it was clear to see that on his face, "I'm so sorry to interrupt," she lied, "but I can I borrow Josh for just a quick second. I'm sure that the argument is important but ..." she trailed off.

"No, no." Josh repeated, "It's more than alright." He said to Madison before turning to the partner in his argument, "Mandy, we'll continue this at a much later date." Placing the emphasis on the last three words before following Madison, not giving Mandy a second to answer, or to argue.

The pair walked in silence as they made their way across the room.

"Thanks for that," Josh gestured with his head to Mandy, who had now found someone else to bother and that was Toby.

"It's okay," Madison shrugged, "You just seemed like you needed saving and looked like you were going to have some sort of stress related health problem and I wouldn't be able to give back that money you so graciously loaned me," Josh laughed at this, as Madison continued speaking, "if you did have some sort of health problem and die as a result, I wouldn't be able to pay the money back. And being haunted by a ghost is not that high on my bucket list."

"But being tased by the Secret Service is?" Josh asked, referring to her previously admission to Donna.

"I'd start like a civil war or something, so clearly it is. But it'd only be a war fought on principle and nothing else. No love for me." She admitted, "And does your lovely assistant tell you everything?"

"Only the important things."

Madison glanced over Josh's shoulder, seeing that Mandy was now knee deep in an argument with Toby.

"You should be safe from ..." Madison trailed off, not remembering the other woman's name.

"Mandy." He offered.

"I do have to ask; what was that about?" Madison questioned.

"Nothing you need to worry about."

Madison rolled her eyes, "What a matter of national security?" she asked incredulously.

Josh didn't reply.

Madison shook her head once more.

"I'll see you around, I guess." She turned to leave.

"Let's have dinner. Later in the week." Josh offered, causing her to stop.

Madison winced, she let out another breathy laugh, as she paused for a second thinking about what it is she wanted to say next. She had to pick her words carefully.

"No, sorry," She spoke, she didn't need to offer an explanation but the mannerly side of her overtook, "the truth is; I had a great time. But we can't, I'm not looking for anything, serious or fun. I just can't."

Josh didn't say anything, he just nodded as he watched Madison leave. Walk out of his life once again, he was unable to do anything or so he thought.

*~*~*~*

A/N: So hopefully you enjoyed this second chapter. 

Okay so only one more chapter (which will probably be a shorter one that this one) left till we actually get into the show. And it'll be episode four and there'll probably be a mix of show content and chapters like this. 

But this serotonin train is still going strong and hopefully it'll stay here and be present when I head back into uni in the next few weeks while working almost full time hours as a student. 

Also I'll probably come back in the next few days and fix any mistakes because y'know you can never see them until much later!