Disclaimer - I don't own the West Wing Characters, sadly they belong to Aaron Sorkin, John Wells, NBC and blah, blah, blah. The greater crime is that I don't own Brad Whitford either. What a babe. However, I reserve the right to write myself into this story, so I can at least have him for a little while.

Pairings - Josh/OC

Rating - PG

Summary - Josh meets his match (in more ways that one) in the most unlikely place - a piano bar.

A/N - As always, I bow at the feet of my wonderful and terribly creative beta, Bartlegg, who gives me so much inspiration and help and this time, even provided the title of the story!

"Saaammm," Josh whined loudly, following his best friend into a downtown bar. "What are we doing here?" he asked as the roar of the crowd cheering the dueling pianos tore through his body.

"There's this girl," Sam began to explain.

"There's always 'this' girl," Josh complained. "A couple of weeks ago, it was the hooker."

"She's a call girl," Sam reminded him, "and a law student."

Josh couldn't respond, he was too busy weaving through the sea of bodies dancing to "Johnny Be Good" while attempting to keep up with Sam, who was quickly making his way over to the bar. He waved at a pretty blonde bartender, who grinned when she noticed him, motioning for him to make his way over to her.

"Chelsea," Sam said by way of introduction, slapping Josh on the back, "this is my best friend, Josh."

"Pleasure," Chelsea yelled over the din of the crowd. "Sam's told me a lot about you. What can I get you?"

"I'll have a Corona," Josh answered.

Chelsea turned away from them, winking at Sam as she hurried to retrieve their drinks. She sat Josh's Corona and Sam's Crown and Coke in front of them.

"What do I owe you?" Josh asked.

Chelsea waved her hand dismissively and smiled, "Not a thing, handsome. First one's on me."

Josh laughed and shoved his wallet back into his pants pocket. The two men sat down at the leather and mahogany bar and turned their swiveled chairs in the direction of the pianos.

One of the two players pulled a hand across the keys, much to the delight of the audience. "My friends, my friends," he half spoke, half sang into the microphone, "are you having fun?"

Their fans roared their approval, and the players laughed. "We've come to one of my favorite parts of the evening," he began, melodically tickling the ivories while he spoke.

"And why's that Scott?" the other player asked, adding gently to the melody.

"Because for approximately four minutes, Mikey shuts the hell up!" Scott answered, raising his arms to increase the already overwhelming reaction of the audience.

"That's cold, man, so cold," Mikey responded with a dismayed shake of his head.

Sam and Josh looked at each other and laughed, both thinking to themselves that the banter between the two players reminded them a great deal of their own friendship.

"We've come," Scott began, laughing as several of the women started to catcall him, "hard," he teased, sticking his tongue out and wiggling his eyebrows. "We've come to one of my favorite parts of the evening, you know what it is! Say it with me now! It's time for...."

"Audience participation!" the crowd screamed.

"That's right! Audience participation," Scott said with a nod of his head. "And our victim tonight...." The crowd booed him playfully and he shushed them his hand, continuing, "our victim tonight is...." Scott reached into the fish bowl on top of his piano and dug a small sheet of paper out. "Caroline!"

Caroline's friends jumped out of their seats and began pointing at a gorgeous brunette desperately trying to hide behind the traitors. Two of her friends dragged her out of her chair, much to the delight of the players, who began the familiar, fearful strains of the "Jaws" movie theme.

Mikey stood from his piano and stepped over to the beautiful young woman, who was blushing furiously on stage. Josh found himself immediately entranced by her eyes. As far as they were sitting from the stage, Josh could tell her eyes were the most brilliant shade of blue he'd ever seen.

"How do I know you're really Caroline?" Mikey teased, crossing his arms over his chest. "I think we need to see some ID. What do you think?" he asked the crowd, "Do we need to see some ID?"

The crowd cheered and Caroline reluctantly dug her driver's license out of her back jeans pocket. She handed the card to Mikey, who studied it for a moment.

"Caroline," he began to read, glancing at the nervous young woman. "Relax, we don't reveal your last name or address, Caroline Smith Jones Adams, who resides at 111 South Main Street.." Caroline laughed and he continued. "I'm kidding. Let's see, you were born in 1972, so that would make you..." He flipped the microphone over to her, and she answered, "26."

"Got a boyfriend?" Mikey asked.

"No," she laughed.

"What do you do for a living?" he questioned.

"I'm a lawyer," she answered.

"I'm a lawyer too," Mikey said.

"Really?" she asked curiously.

"No," he answered. "You wanna go home with me tonight?"

"Yes," she answered with a wide grin.

Mikey swallowed hard and his eyes went wide. "Really?" he asked weakly.

"No," she laughed.

The crowd cheered and Mikey feigned anger. "Where's the respect, people?" He grabbed the slip of paper Scott had taken out of the bowl and looked at it. "Your friends," he said emphatically, tilting his head in the direction of Caroline's table, "if you still want me to call them that, have chosen for you to sing....." He showed Caroline the paper and she immediately cringed. "I Say A Little Prayer For You!"

The audience roared and Josh shifted in his chair, captivated by the scene unfolding before him. "Do you know the words to the song, Sweet Caroline?" Scott asked playfully.

"Unfortunately, yes," she sighed.

Mikey handed her the microphone, waving his arms around to stir up the applause of the audience and Scott began the first notes of the song.

Josh felt the entire room closing in around him. All he could see was Caroline on the stage, clad in a bright pink striped top and hip hugging dark jeans. Her chestnut hair fell in soft waves around her face, nearly hiding her still blushing cheeks. The crowd disappeared from his view and his eyes focused only on her.

"The moment I wake up," she began singing, "before I put on my makeup..."

"I say a little prayer for you!" her friends screamed, applauding and yelling in encouragement.

"While combing my hair now," Caroline sang, finally getting into her performance by raking a hand through her shiny locks, "and wondering what dress to wear now..."

"I say a little prayer for you!" the crowd added, much to Caroline's delight.

She continued singing, and Josh began to wonder why this gorgeous woman on stage wasn't a professional singer instead of a lawyer, because she was incredibly talented, with a bewitching stage presence. There was something about this woman, something more than her beauty, something he couldn't quite put his finger on, but whatever "it" was - Josh simply couldn't tear his eyes away from her.

TBC.....