Abbey Relays Coded Intimacy All-Clear via Charlie
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Abbey delivers a coded medical all-clear message to Charlie, indicating she and the President can resume intimacy after 14 weeks.
Charlie, initially confused, realizes the message is for the President and rushes to deliver it.
President Bartlet bursts in, eager to act on Abbey's message, but is reminded of his duties by Mrs. Landingham.
Abbey and Bartlet discuss logistics for their intimate moment, balancing personal desires with presidential responsibilities.
Abbey teases Bartlet about his eagerness and the time constraints, leading to a brief, interrupted kiss before she leaves.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Bewildered confusion laced with professional poise
Sits behind desk, stands to greet Abbey warmly, grabs pen and notepad to record her bizarre 'vitals' message with visible confusion, questions phrasing earnestly, then bolts urgently to deliver it, sparking Bartlet's entrance.
- • Precisely relay Abbey's cryptic message without error
- • Avoid disrupting the President's critical advisor meeting
- • First Lady's instructions demand immediate, unquestioning action
- • Medical jargon applies literally to the recipient unless clarified
Amused playfulness veiling affectionate control
Enters from portico purposefully, dictates playful coded vitals to Charlie signaling intimacy resumption, sits casually on desk chatting with Landingham, leads excited Bartlet into Oval for flirty banter on locations and time constraints, reins him with work reminders, teases with kiss before dashing out.
- • Convey all-clear for intimacy via clever code to evade eavesdroppers
- • Balance Bartlet's urges against plutonium crisis and her 6 PM flight
- • Duty must temper passion, but stolen moments sustain them
- • Coded discretion protects private needs in public spaces
Calm professionalism tinged with gentle amusement
Enters Outer Oval cordially greeting Abbey, offers assistance politely, greets Bartlet warmly but probes his tension, follows toward Oval suggesting to notify McGarry and advisors, shut out by slammed door with wry observation on his state.
- • Facilitate smooth transition from meeting by alerting key staff
- • Gauge and address President's evident tension
- • Presidential needs override protocol but require discreet support
- • Routine inquiries maintain operational flow amid personal moments
eager
enters hurriedly excited by Charlie's message, greets Mrs. Landingham then dismisses her abruptly, follows Abbey into Oval Office, expresses frustration over 14-week abstinence and seeks immediate intimacy, banters about locations including curtains and residence bedroom, grabs and kisses Abbey after agreeing to work first
- • initiate intimacy with Abbey as soon as possible
Neutral (off-screen)
Absent but named by Abbey as her schedule coordinator for carving out intimacy slot before Cochran's Mills.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Bartlet urgently queries if Oval Office curtains close, eyeing them desperately as hasty privacy barricade for immediate intimacy, symbolizing futile grasp for seclusion amid Oval's exposure; Abbey nixes the idea, heightening comedic frustration of duty's intrusion on desire.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Roosevelt Room referenced as site of Bartlet's ongoing plutonium crisis huddle with Far East Advisors, anchoring duty's pull that Abbey invokes to halt his advances, contrasting policy gravity with personal frolic.
New Hampshire jokingly dismissed by Bartlet as too distant for quick plane hop, underscoring time's tyranny on their starved passion amid primary shadows.
The Residence's bedroom pitched by Abbey as viable on-site haven for their liaison, eagerly embraced by Bartlet as 'smart' proximity solution before schedules intervene, teasing feasible escape within White House bounds.
Korea hurled by Abbey as plutonium flashpoint tying Bartlet to Roosevelt Room, weaponizing geopolitics to douse his fire, blending bedroom farce with nuclear peril.
Cochran's Mills, Pennsylvania looms as Abbey's 6 PM flight deadline, compressing their window to 'find time' via Charlie and Lilly, fracturing reunion with First Lady obligations.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
Far East Advisors hold Bartlet in Roosevelt Room throes over Korea plutonium, invoked repeatedly as unbreakable duty chain—Abbey and Landingham reference ending their session via McGarry, framing institutional drag on personal life.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
No narrative connections mapped yet
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Key Dialogue
"ABBEY: So, we can have sex now."
"CHARLIE: ([beat]) Okay, that's not me and you now, right?"
"BARTLET: It's been 14 weeks! Do these curtains close?"
"BARTLET: New Hampshire is an hour and a half away by plane. I don't think I have that kind of time."