imnotrobin | and so from time to time he opened his doors to those who wished an audience

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ainsley

and so from time to time he opened his doors to those who wished an audience

Sam spends much of his time actually drafting speeches on behalf of the president, especially considering there's a re-election to consider, but every once in a while he starts to go cross-eyed and it's time for a break. He doesn't really mean break in the sense of "temporary closing of eyes and/or inhaling of food in the White House" but, rather, means break in the sense of actually getting to see his girlfriend face to face and sleep in a real bed.

Today is one of those days.

Sam is up to his neck in spin control and he thinks the cure for what ails him is a nice little trip to the hotel. The last few times he's tried, he hasn't gotten through, but Sam thinks that's because he genuinely was just trying to avoid work and didn't actually need the break. This time, though, he's determined to make it work and he opens his office door and steps through several times with eyes closed. He runs into a very startled intern on turn three but on turn four, he steps into the hallway in front of the suite that he sometimes, occasionally, not-often-enough visits with Ainsley in tow.

"Obviously the door is a plot device from an opera," Sam says, not checking to see if Ainsley is here yet or not. Normally they time this pretty well but he wonders, just a little, if he shouldn't have warned her before coming through so she could make her way here.

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Ainsley doesn't really ever consider the hotel as something she accesses by luck, so much as she feels like there's a timing to it. There's a reason or a rhyme or a rhetoric that she doesn't exactly understand, but she wants to. So today, when she ends up at the Nexus as she leaves work, she suspects it's not just random. She checks in with the front desk and gets her key to her room, leaving a message that if Sam comes around, he should head on up.

After actually having established that he's in the hotel and it's not just a hallucination induced by lack of sleep, he goes to the front desk to see if Ainsley's checked in or not. To his delight, she has, and he heads on up to her room and knocks lightly at the door.

"I really hope you are the Ainsley Hayes and not the unlikely circumstance of someone who has your name but not your amazing wit and svelte figure."

Ainsley laughs from just behind the door, leaning on it for a moment and drawing out the pause to make Sam squirm just a little. "And how many other Ainsley Hayes have you been cavorting with, Samuel?" she asks, but draws open the door to greet him with a big grin.

"Just the one," he says, voice light and teasing. "And she is singular and irreplaceable. How long have you been here? Long enough to get some champagne and start relaxing?"

He hopes so. It's been an insane grind for the last several months and he's looking forward to the break.

Ainsley checks her watch, giving a considerate sound as she replies with, "Two hours?" Not enough to get the champagne flowing, but enough to get out of her work clothes and into something more casual. "Are we staying in or finding a door to someplace else?" she asks, because that will make her decision for her as to whether or not she keeps her shoes on.

"Hmm. I think we stay in tonight," Sam says, ever hopeful that this means that Ainsley is in the same mood he's in, "And then if we're here a few more days, maybe head through one of the doors? I could stand to go skiing, if we could find a door that lets us do that. It's been a while since I've been able to get out to Tahoe and if we could find some alternate universe version...well. That would be a pleasant escape from reality for a little while."

"I've never skiied before in my life," Ainsley feels inclined to warn Sam, seeing as that could end up in a complete disaster. "I'm very good at looking cozy in furs while sipping epic amounts of hot cocoa, though," she says, stepping back to invite Sam into the room, her way of saying that she's up for his plan. "Maybe you could ski and I'll sit there adding marshmallows upon marshmallows to my drink?"

"I could be persuaded into that as long as you do it in fuzzy boots and a Burberry scarf," Sam teases lightly.

"We should buy a place out there in Tahoe. Just for us. I could ski, if I wanted, but mostly we would just have an escape."

"Buy me some and I could be persuaded to wear them," is her coy reply, seeing as she doesn't think she'd ever protest to spending more time with Sam. Settling on the bed, Ainsley pats her lap to coax Sam to come down and join her. "I think property ownership together is a little bit of a leap from dating, Sam," she notes, lecturing him only mildly. "Maybe we should meet each other's parents before that?"

"I don't think meeting the parents is out of the question," Sam says, settling on the bed next to her and reaching for her. "I have been told that parents adore me. I bet I could make your parents think I'm the best thing since sliced bread in spite of my liberal problem."

"My parents are dyed in the wool Republicans, Sam," she patiently reminds him, even as she moves to curl up in his arms, grinning as she thinks of the meeting and wondering which of them are the wolves in this scenario. "Either they're going to chew you up and spit you out or you're going to get so passionate that they recommend I find someone 'more appropriate'," she notes, making the air quotes.

"Now, now. I'm fantastic when it comes to meeting the parents. I have never had any complaints." Admittedly, Sam has never met a set of parents he cares as much about impressing but that's beside the point. He'd had the unique and difficult challenge of trying to date Leo's daughter and he thinks if he could survive such a trial by fire, he can survive Ainsley's parents.

And, yet, since he cares so much about what they think of him (and whether or not they'll allow him to ask their daughter to marry him), he thinks it's a hell of a lot more frightening than taking Leo McGarry's daughter out.

She's hiding her smile behind her hand at this point, awfully amused at the idea of Sam striving so hard and with such determination to impress her parents. "It's okay. I may send your parents screaming. How do they feel about stubborn, opinionated, clearly always right woman in their son's life?" she asks, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she leans forward to pry her socks off.

"They'd probably ask what took me so long," Sam says dryly. "I prefer my women stubborn, opinionated and willing to fight to the death. It's something I basically require, at this point, and having met someone who so perfectly embodies all of that, I can't imagine being with anyone else."

Sam is, above all, a wordsmith and he would be remiss if he did not lavish praise where it was due.

Ainsley grins as she stretches out on the bed, feeling just as nervous as ever. "You realize that I locked myself in Leo McGarry's office, made a fool of myself in front of the President, and have embarrassed myself, numerous times, in situations that I, Ainsley Hayes, could not even predict," she drawls.

"I'll probably throw up all over your parents' shoes when I say it's nice to meet them."

"You won't," Sam assures her. "And if you do, I'm certain they won't hold it against you. I can imagine they're going to find it as charming as I do, which says something about their taste in these matters."

One thing he isn't nervous about at all is the fact that things are serious enough to discuss meeting the parents with some sort of inevitability. Sam cannot be anything but serious where Ainsley is concerned.

She gives Sam a wary look because while it might not be as bad as the throwing up, she has the feeling that there's probably some verbal acrobatics she could end up tripping in and it's just not going to be a good thing. "And if I do mess it all up? Are they the kind of people that do second chances?"

"If it's someone that their son loves more than life itself," Sam says. The smile he gives her is more than a little sappy but he can't help it. Not with Ainsley.

"It's going to be fine."

Ainsley sits up slowly and stares at Sam with a broad grin, tipping her head to the side. "Are we going to end up sitting around in a hotel room tonight, Sam?" she wonders, twirling a lock of her hair. "Not that I'd mind, but as always, and ever, I'm starving."

"Do you want to go out to dinner or order in? I kind of fancy the idea of going on a proper date and taking our time but it's up to you. I don't know what kind of day you've had today."

Sometimes time doesn't pass the same way here as it does back in DC and the days don't match up the same way. He doesn't know when Ainsley's from, this time, but it doesn't matter. Not in this place.

"I don't mind if you're willing to give me a few seconds to freshen up, maybe change." She's started to bring a few things with her and one of them is a tight little orange number that she wouldn't mind putting on. "If you're willing to be patient, I can be ready in fifteen and then we'll go out wherever you like," she vows, with a warm smile on her face.

"Fifteen minutes is perfectly fine," Sam assures her. "Because I know you and you can work magic in just a short amount of time." Ainsley is one of the most beautiful women he's ever seen - especially when she has a few moments to herself to really gild the lily.

"You're lucky my hair's done, otherwise we'd be getting room service before we went out for dinner," Ainsley says, stepping into the bathroom with her things so she can run the water and get herself stripped bare, leaving the door just open a tiny nudge.

"What kind of food are you in the mood for?" she calls back, stepping into the shower once her shower-cap is fixed on.

"Personally, I could go for steak but I'm open to suggestions," Sam calls out. He's always been fairly adventurous when it comes to dining and DC has only contributed to that, with the wide variety of restaurants that surround the city. He's found that letting a lady choose more often than not ends up in a better night overall - especially when the lady in question is Ainsley Hayes.

"What are you in the mood for?"

"Steak and potatoes are practically music to my ears, especially if we're talking double-baked potatoes," Ainsley promises as she starts to work on getting dressed, reaching for her good date underwear and bra because she has the feeling that she might need them. With those in hand, she returns to the shower, doing a quick wash and scrub before she towels off, dressing quickly and affixing earrings in and doing a little comb-through before adjusting her dress.

She grabs her clutch and digs through her shoes before deciding on flats, thinking Sam can deal with the height difference. "Ready?"

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