Disclaimer: No, I
do not own any of these characters, they belong to the utterly brilliant Aaron
Sorkin. I am simply having a little
fun. Personally I am not in extreme favor of a Josh/Donna relationship but since
I can do nothing about it, I have made up a story that I can agree with.
(I LOVE JOSH LYMAN!!!) Reading everyone else’s fan- fiction is slowly
pulling me into the fact that Josh and Donna could be perfect for each other.
Spoilers: Pretty much every episode but I made a specific reference to "Lies,
Damn Lies and Statistics". I began this story before the new season started so
Josh’s injury was that of my own imagination. I totally appreciate feedback
from any and all of you. My e-mail address is: indyjones2000@hotmail.com.
J
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A
Moon- Lit Night In Maui
By:
Lindsay
"Donna!" an
exasperated Joshua Lyman called from his office. His blonde assistant came to
the door, "Yeah?"
"Did you move an envelope that was sitting on my desk?" he asked as he
continued to search for the envelope that had been at large all morning. Donna
put her hands on her hips, "Josh, you have at least half a dozen envelopes on
your desk everyday. It’s no wonder you can’t find it." Looking around the
room she frowned, "How can you even find the floor in here?" Josh’s head
jerked up from inside a file cabinet. "Hey, give me a break! This is really
important!" "Was it needed to keep world peace?" she asked. Josh thought
for a moment, "Well, peace in my world anyway." Donna shook her head,
"You’re hopeless." She went back to her own desk, which, unlike her boss,
she was capable of keeping clean. As she typed she could hear Josh muttering to
himself, something she knew he only did when he was deep in thought. She could
also picture him trying to clinch his left hand into a fist. Only 2 months
earlier that was something he wasn’t able to do without experiencing severe
pain.
The night of the assassination attempt on the President was a subject that
not many White House employees brought up very often, but its effects were still
seen. Donna noticed it most in Josh. He had been hit with a bullet in the left
shoulder and as a result of tendon damage, lost partial use of his left hand.
Physical therapy and time were the only things that could help him. Donna had
often noticed him wiggling his fingers and flexing his hand when he thought no
one was looking. Even now it was hard for him to admit that he was never going
to get back to 100%.
The slamming of a drawer
brought Donna back to the present and she turned to see Josh standing in the
doorway of his office. She had to smile at the sight of him with his
shirtsleeves rolled up to his elbows and his tie hanging loose around his neck.
"Are you okay?" she asked gently.
"I’m gonna go see
Sam." He said as though he hadn’t heard her.
She turned back to her computer and sighed, "Whatever."
Josh walked through the hall towards the Communications bullpen; oblivious to
the occasional greeting he got from various staff. Ginger looked up as he came
into view. "Hey, Josh." She said smiling sweetly. "Hi, Ginger." Josh
replied flatly. He directed his attention towards Sam’s assistant. "Kathy,
is he busy?"
"I don’t think so, go
on in."
"Thanks." He gave her half a smile and knocked on the office door.
"C’mon in!" hollered an apparently happy Samuel Norman Seaborn. Josh
opened the door to see his best friend smiling like a Cheshire cat. "Hey, my
man! ‘Sup?" Sam said. Throwing himself down in a chair Josh shook his head,
"What on earth are you so happy about?" Sam just kept on smiling and
something clicked in Josh’s head, "Ohhhhh, wait, I know! You had a hot date
with Mal last night."
"Yup!"
"Don’t tell Leo why you’re so giddy." Josh warned.
"Awe, who cares what Leo thinks?" Sam waved it off. He then noticed that his
friend was not as upbeat as usual. "What’s wrong, Josh?"
Josh sighed, "I lost it." At first Sam was lost then he understood. "No,
way! Are you sure?"
"Yeah, it had the reservations, the tickets, my money, everything was in
that envelope!"
"Man, didn’t you need it for tonight?"
Josh nodded and put his head in his hands. Sam threw a crumpled piece of paper
at his friend, hitting him right on the back of his head.
"You have to find that envelope, buddy."
"You’re tellin’ me!" said Josh, his head still in his
hands.
"Where was the last place you saw the alleged envelope?" Sam asked, trying
to be one of those cops on TV.
Josh stood up quickly, "This is ridiculous! I gotta go." Sam stood as Josh
went out the door, "You’d better hope that Donna doesn’t find it!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
As Josh walked back to his office, C.J. called from behind him, "Hey!"
"Yeah?" Josh answered slowing down so she could catch up.
"Is tonight the big night?" the Press Secretary asked earnestly.
"Maybe."
"You’re not chickening out are you?"
"No!"
"Then what’s the problem?"
"I just lost a few things that-" Josh was cut off.
"You’re kidding!" C.J. stopped walking for a moment,
shocked.
"Far from it."
"You have to do this!" she almost yelled.
"You think I don’t know that!" Josh was getting irritated at her. "I’m
going into my office and I want to be left alone."
She nodded, "Fine."
C.J. went back in the
direction from which they had just come and Josh headed for his desk. On the
small bulletin board on the doorframe of his office was a note. As he neared it,
he recognized Donna’s ‘distinctive penmanship’. :
Joshua, Margret and I are taking a long lunch. Your schedule is clear until a
3:30 meeting with senior staff. Enjoy your afternoon. Donna.
Smiling to himself he took it
down and noticed that she’d written on the back of an envelope. "Donnatella,
get yourself a notepad." Josh thought. Turning the envelope over,
he blinked twice in disbelief. It was the envelope that he’d been missing!
"All right!!!!!!" came his joyous shout.
Charlie was walking by as Josh did a little victory dance. Making a face
at his friend, he commented, "Man, you have lost your mind!" Josh just
grinned and ducked into his office.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
For the rest of the
afternoon he was so happy that he even cleaned his office, knowing that it would
get on Donna’s good side, which was now his primary aim of the day. After he
finished he sat down to study the presidents gun- control bill.
Donna got back from lunch and gently knocked on Josh’s door. He called,
"Yeah?"
She walked in and was extremely surprised to see that his office was in
perfect order and the afternoon sun was pouring in through the open blinds.
Smiling she asked, "What got in to you?!"
Her boss stood and looked her in the eye, "You." He responded. Walking
towards her, he took her hand and closed the door. Turning to face her, his
voice soft, he said, "Donna, I hate myself for taking so long to say
this…" He grew quiet, and Donna searched his handsome face for a sign of
what was making him act this way. "What, Josh?"
Sighing he took her hands in his and tried to find the words to tell her what
he’d been denying for so long. "The night of the shooting, all I could think
about was you. I am so glad that you weren’t there to see it all as it
happened. I wouldn’t have been able to forgive myself if you had gotten
hurt." There was so much that he was feeling, but he wasn’t sure how put it
all into words. With that thought he lowered is head near to hers and kissed her
lightly. Drawing back, he noticed tears welling up in her eyes. "What are you
thinking right now?" he asked her.
She smiled, "I am wondering why it took you so long to do that."
"Do you want me to do it again?" Josh said mischievously.
"Oh, yeah!" She
wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately.
A minute later, she let go and glanced at the clock. "As much as I’d like to
keep you here with me, you have a staff meeting."
Josh ran a hand through his hair and looked at her longingly, "Do you love
me?"
"I think you know the answer to that." Donna grinned.
He stomped his foot and whined, "Then don’t make me go."
"You have to."
"Why?"
"Because if you don’t, Leo will kill you and then I’ll be
left without you." She handed him a folder and kissed him on the cheek.
"Have dinner with me." He said as she pushed him out the door.
"We’ll talk later, go!"
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Leo was sitting at his desk, surrounded by countless stacks of books and paper
when Josh strolled in.
"Sup?" Josh asked his boss.
Looking up, Leo took off his glasses and questioned, "What are you doing
here?"
"We…have a staff meeting at 3:30."
"What time is it?"
Josh looked at his watch, "3:29."
Before Leo could go any further, Toby walked in, then stopped suddenly. "Am I
late for the meeting?" He tapped on his watch and held it up to his ear to
make sure that it was still working.
Leo got up and began
putting books back on the shelves, "No, it just so happens that Josh was a
whole minute early today."
"The world is coming to an end." Toby commented dryly.
"What’s that supposed to mean?" Josh declared defensively.
Before either one was able to answer, the President entered, followed closely by
Sam and C.J.
"Well, Josh, you decided to grace us with your presence today!" Jed Bartlet
teased. As everyone sat down, Josh tried to defend himself. "I don’t
understand what the big deal is!"
"Oh, please, when was the last time that you got to a staff meeting
before everyone else?" declared an irritated chief-of-staff. Josh searched for
an answer but Leo spoke again, "It was never, you have never shown up remotely
on time."
"Okay fine, but I have a feeling that my life changed about 5 minutes ago."
Josh shot back.
Sam and C.J. looked at each other, bewildered, for a moment then Sam spoke.
"I’m assuming you.." he drifted off as Josh got a goofy grin on his face.
"Way to go, buddy!" Sam cheered.
"I guess that you and
Ms. Moss have come to an understanding?" Jed smiled.
"You could say that, sir. I also want to thank you for giving the two of us a
long weekend off. It was very generous of you, what with the mid-terms being
just around the corner." Josh shook hands with the President.
"I hate to dump on this happy occasion but we have things to do!" Leo
growled.
"Not that that many things, Leo. Lighten up, would you?" Bartlet spoke
softly to his best friend.
"Fine." Leo shook his head and eased onto the couch. "While everyone
is sharing their feelings, Sam, why are you so happy? I know that it’s not
just Josh’s happy news."
"Do share." Toby said, pretending to be interested.
"Me?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, you."
Josh snickered as Sam squirmed in his chair. "C’mon, Sam."
"Uhhh, well I’m just.."
Toby filled in for Sam, "I’m guessing that Sam had a very good date
with your daughter last night, Leo."
The room was quiet as all eyes went back and forth from Leo to Sam. "I really
didn’t need to hear that, Toby." Leo said coolly. Sam was startled at
Leo’s answer, "You mean, that you don’t mind?"
"Of course I mind, but it really isn’t my business." The entire room was
quiet with everyone trying to absorb what Leo had just said. He was oblivious to
the stares and changed the subject, "The sex-ed report is going to come out of
the drawer in a few weeks and we need to be ready for it." Jed spoke, "Well,
I think that that’s our biggest item of business today. Thank you,
everyone."
Scattered murmurs were
heard as the staff rose to leave the room. Josh followed C.J. out and whispered,
"I just had to show up early for 5 minutes of awkward silence didn’t I?"
She frowned, "Something is bothering Leo and it’s freaking me out." Josh
waved it off, "He’s fine, don’t worry about it. I’m not." They parted
and Josh headed back to his office. His mind began swimming with thoughts of
Donna. This amazing woman loved him! He couldn’t understand what she saw in
him but right now he had dinner plans to make.
As he neared the bullpen,
he heard a group of female voices coming from the vicinity of Donna’s desk.
Walking through the doorway he found, Bonnie, Margaret, Ginger, and Carol
crowded around Donna. He stopped for a moment before making himself known. "I
said it once and I’ll say it again, ‘Here’s a group of federal
employees’" Donna blushed, "Sorry."
"It’s no big deal. I already know where my assistant is," he winked at her
making her face turn an even darker shade of red, "but I think you other
ladies might be missed."
Carol was the first one to get the hint, "Right, C.J. will spit nails if
I don’t get back. See ya, Donna!" The others followed suite and as Margaret
left she put her hand on Josh’s shoulder. "You are a very lucky man, don’t
forget that." She whispered in his ear. Josh smiled his appreciation then
focused his attention on Donna.
"We are both
getting out of here early tonight. So how about that dinner date?"
She nodded, "Great, when and where?"
He thought for a moment, "How’s 7:30, my place?"
Donna was shocked for a moment, "Seven-thirty’s fine, but are you really
going to cook?"
"You bet. I have a great dinner planned!" He started to walk into his
office. Giggling at him she teased, "You mean, you have a great caterer lined
up?"
Josh stopped and turned around. "I absolutely do not!" He was quiet for a
second, "Ok, I do. But only if I need some last minute help."
Getting up, she walked
toward him and straightened his tie. "Was that so hard?" she said softly.
Josh was in heaven as he felt her closeness.
Well,
what are your thoughts? I am working hard on the next installment. Please give
me feed back.
J
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