Summary: Josh discovers that Donna is working on a
resume.
Spoilers: Probably, but I don't know the episodes well
enough to tell you which
Author:
Miss. Ellaneous
Disclaimer: They don't belong to me. Surprised?
Archive: Yes, please
Notes: This story occurred to me at work one day
when I had to make a resume. Not
because I was looking for a new job, but someone who picked up my printouts
wouldn't know that…
Assume
for the sake of the story that there are several industrial-strength printers
around the office and everyone shares.
3:05pm,
Thursday
Josh
Lyman walked through the West Wing on the way back to his office. He had 5 minutes before his next meeting,
and almost no idea what it was about. Hopefully, Donna had finished preparing his notes.
"Josh"
Carol called as he walked by. "Can you
take these printouts to Donna? Her
printer is being temperamental, so she sent them over here."
"Yeah,
sure" he replied absently as he accepted the stack. These were probably his notes. He leafed through the papers as he walked. Research…research…notes…more research…resume…notes…resume? Josh stopped, dumbfounded. Donna was preparing a resume? What in the world for? It's not like she needed to apply…for a new
job? Was Donna leaving? He couldn't….
Before
he finished that thought, he was tearing through the office with a vision of
Donna packing up her desk at that very moment, determined to make her
stay.
Donna
looked up to see Josh almost running towards her, carrying a stack of
papers. It was a good thing he was
running, because "You're late for your 3 o'clock" she informed him. "Are those my printouts?" she asked as she took the stack of papers
from Josh's hands and started rifling through them.
"No,
I'm not" he said, glancing at his
watch, "and…"
"Your
watch sucks, Josh. Here are your notes"
"But,
I need to talk …
"3
o'clock, Josh. The President. The Secretary of the Interior. Wildlife reserves. Go!" she said, as she
practically pushed him out the door.
"But…but…" he sputtered, although he knew she was
right.
What
had gotten into him? she wondered as
she sat back down to sort out the rest of her printouts. As much as she loved the man, she'd never
understand him.
Donna
fully admitted to herself that she loved Josh. When she first came to this realization, work had been painful, dealing
with Josh day in and day out and not being able to act on her feelings. But lately, it had settled down to a wistful
sort of love. It would be
nice…wonderful…if something happened between them, but she wasn't holding her
breath. Enough of that, she told
herself, as she settled back to work on notes for Josh's final meeting of the
day.
5:00pm
Josh
was still at his 4:30 meeting. Donna
had finalized his schedule for Friday, finished notes for the morning meetings,
and he still wasn't back. She
considered starting on the afternoon's notes, but that would leave her with
little to do tomorrow. Curse Friday for
being a light day! Really, this is
silly, she scolded herself. You don't
need to say goodnight to Josh every day before you leave. Mooning over him doesn't help, and could be
embarrassing if anyone else noticed.
Resolving
to be strong and get on with life, Donna closed down her computer, after
printing out a copy of tomorrow's schedule. She placed the schedule and the morning's notes on Josh's desk, and
grabbed her coat…
Josh
raced down the hall back to his office. Donna always waited to say goodnight to him, but what if she was really
leaving? He approached her desk, and
saw her computer was dark. She was
gone.
Donna
turned around as she exited the bullpen, scolding herself for a lovesick ninny
as she did so. There was Josh back from
his meeting. "Goodnight, Josh" she
called. There, she had declared her
independence, not waited around for him, and she still got to tell him
goodnight-
"Donna,
wait!" he yelled as he rushed over to her.
"Josh,
its five pm, on a Thursday, I've finished all my work for today and some for
tomorrow, and there are no national crises that I know of requiring my
attention. I want to go home" she said
as she continued walking.
He
caught up with her just outside the bullpen "You're leaving"
"Well,
yes, that is the easiest way to get home"
"No,
I mean your resume. You're leaving the
West Wing. Donna, you can't leave. This place would fall apart without
you. I would fall apart without
you. You can't-"
"My
resume? What are you talking about,
Josh? How would you even know if I was
making a resu-oh." She said as she
recalled the panicked look on his face as he rushed in, late for his 3
o'clock. "Josh, I'm not leaving. I just want to take some cyberschool classes
from George Mason"
"But
you have to leave to go to class. And
this job doesn't have regular hours. What if there's a problem here? What if I need you for something?" he said plaintively
"Josh,
you weren't listening," Donna said, still a little perplexed about why he was
concerned. "Its cyberschool. As in over the computer. I do the readings, I write the papers, and I
post discussion on the class message board. No class meetings. On my own
schedule. I can work and take this
course. I'm not going anywhere. Besides, you're the one always bothering me
about finishing my degree."
"You're
not leaving?"
"No,
I am not leaving"
"Oh,
good" he said, and turned to walk away.
"Josh? What was…?" No way was she letting him get
away without an explanation "Why were
you…?"
"I
meant it Donna. I need you here." Josh said quietly.
"Oh…thanks…but
I don't do anything special." Donna said, not understanding…not letting herself
understand "I'm your assistant. I keep
your schedule. I make your notes. I-"
"Not
just as an assistant"
"I
don't even bring you coffee. I – oh."
"Goodnight,
Donnatella Moss"
"Goodnight,
Josh"
And
they turned away from each other with smiles on their faces.
THE
END