AUTHOR'S NOTE: I don't own any of these characters...unfortunately.
"So, Abbey, how did you and the President meet?" CJ can't believe she's never heard this story. She knows they met in college, but that's about the extent of it. The First Lady had heard about CJ's latest fight with Danny and invited her to join her for some wine. After they had polished off one bottle and started a second, CJ couldn't help but ask.
"Oh, you don't want to hear that story…long story short, we met during our undergrad years. He was – of course – at Notre Dame, and I was at St. Mary's." Abbey rolled her eyes at Jed as she mentioned his Alma Mater; he had joined them when they were about halfway through the first bottle, sticking to scotch, though, rather than wine.
"Oh, come on, please? I don't understand how I haven't heard this story before," CJ slurred slightly.
"Fine," Abbey pretended to be telling the story somewhat against her will, though she really enjoyed telling it. It was a pretty cute story, after all. "It was October, and I was hurrying back to my dorm after class. Jed never has told me what he was doing at St. Mary's, what with it being an all-girls school."
"Picking up chicks," Jed deadpans, and Abbey rolls her eyes at him again.
"Anyway…" She smiles at him. "I was hurrying back to my dorm after class, because I had a paper I needed to finish for my class that was later that day. When I came around the corner, I bumped into Jed and my books went flying."
"Bumped? I'd say you nearly ran me over," Jed teases.
"Oh shut up," she says as she slaps him lightly on the arm. "As I was saying, he helped me pick up my books and we started talking. I knew I had a little time to kill, or, really I decided that my last draft of my paper would have to be good enough. We kept talking and ended up sitting on a bench outside my dorm for 2 hours."
CJ loves watching the President watch Abbey – like she's the only girl in the world. She can only hope she finds someone who looks at her that way.
"Now, we'd just met, but I couldn't help but feel that there was something different about him. I had broken up with a guy I'd been seeing for 2 years a couple of months before this. He had never made me feel the way I felt when I met Jed. I had to know if he felt that connection, too."
"It was nice to meet you, Abbey." Jed smiles and places a kiss on Abbey's hand.
"You, too, Josiah," Abbey blushes.
"Oh, please, call me Jed." He winks at her.
"Okay…Jed, when will I see you again?"
"Well, I'm going to a party tonight at 9, if you'd like to join me? It's nothing big – just a small group getting together. What do you say?"
"I'd love to." Abbey smiles.
"Great. Pick you up around 8:30?"
"Sounds great. See you then!"
"It's a date," Jed smiles as Abbey begins to walk away.
"When I got up from that bench, I was terrified that I would come across as too eager. I tried to act casual."
"I wouldn't have noticed if you'd been too eager. I was too busy trying to maintain my calm, as well." Jed smiles at Abbey.
"I went to class & turned in my paper. Sitting through that class was one of the toughest things I'd done up to that point; it's still relatively high on the list. After class, I hurried back to my dorm to get ready for our date. I wasn't sure how to dress, but since he said it was just a small group getting together for dinner & maybe playing games, I decided on a straight black dress with white detailing around the neck and down the front. It hit just above my knees. With about 10 minutes to spare before Jed was picking me up, I was fastening my earrings and putting the finishing touches on my makeup."
"I loved that dress by the way. Whatever happened to it?" The President raises his eyebrows slightly and smiles at Abbey.
"I've got it packed up somewhere in New Hampshire, but there's no chance it still fits." Abbey sees a flash of disappointment cross his face.
"I was hoping it was here somewhere."
"Now, why would I have a dress that doesn't fit & certainly isn't appropriate for a First Lady hanging in the closet in the White House?" She jokes with him. "If it will make you feel better, I can see if I can find it the next time I'm at the New Hampshire house."
Jed smiles, "I'd like that very much." He takes Abbey's hand and kisses it, just like he had years ago, and she is taken back to her story.
"So, as I was checking to make sure my hair was looking acceptable, the phone rang in my room."
"Hello."
"Hi. Is this Abbey?"
Abbey's stomach turns a flip. She smiles as she says, "it is."
"Oh hi. It's Jed. Umm..I'm upstairs whenever you're ready." Jed doesn't understand why just talking to this girl makes him so nervous. That's never happened before. He thinks he likes it, though.
"Okay. I'll be there in just a few." Abbey takes one last look in the mirror.
Jed takes over telling the story for a minute. "So there I was, waiting in the lobby of the dorm. I wasn't allowed to pick her up at her door, since it was an all-girls school. Instead, I had to call her room from the lobby when I got there. After we hung up, I was listening for anyone coming down the hall. I heard someone from the hallway on my right walking towards the lobby in high heels. I looked that direction, but it was some blonde girl."
Abbey smiles at Jed, knowing that her husband has never understood the fascination with blonde women. It's not that he hasn't ever found one attractive; luckily for her, though, brunettes were more his type.
"When that wasn't her, I turned and looked towards the hall on my left. Just then, the prettiest girl I'd ever seen walks around the corner and takes my breath away." Jed smiles at Abbey. "I'd heard that term before, you understand, but never experienced it. Then, she smiled at me, and I thought I might just fall over dead. At that moment, I knew any idea I had of becoming a priest was long gone."
"Good evening, Abigail." He takes her hand as she reaches him and places a kiss to the back of it.
"Good evening," she smiles and blushes.
"Shall we?"
"Let's." Abbey agrees. She looks at his outfit – and his reaction to her outfit – and decides she made the right choice.
"We got in his car and drove for a bit before pulling up to an apartment building about 15 minutes from campus. Jed hopped out of the car and had my door open before I even had a chance to think about opening it myself. When we got to the door of the apartment, he just opened it and walked right in."
"They were expecting us," Jed explains.
"There you are! We were beginning to think you'd gotten lost again," one guy teases.
"Oh shut up, Leo," Jed shoots back. "I was picking up Abbey. Abbey, this is Leo, Jenny, Gary, Betty, James, and Nancy."
Abbey waves at the group. "Hi, everyone."
"I was just glad to see Jenny. We were never close friends, but we had a class together the semester before. It was just nice to see a familiar face."
"That's my wife – the introvert," Jed can't help but tease his wife.
"No," she says as she rolls her eyes. "I just like being around familiar people when I'm in groups where I don't know everyone," she tries to explain, as Jed and CJ chuckle at her.
"As I was saying, before we got there, someone else had picked up some pizza, and we all decided to eat before we played any games. I sat at the table between Jed and Jenny, with Leo on the other side of her."
"What Abbey didn't know at the time, was that it was also Leo and Jenny's first date. A blind date. They'd been set up by our friends Gary and Betty, as Jenny was Betty's roommate."
"That turned out well, now didn't it," Abbey says, only half-joking. "When we finished the pizza, someone – I think it was James – was spinning his empty beer bottle on the table."
"That was definitely James," Jed says. "He was always fidgeting with one thing or another."
"Hey! I've got an idea. Let's play Spin The Bottle!" Betty suggested the game, knowing that two of the couples were on their first dates. Somewhat to her surprise, everyone agreed.
"Okay, who goes first?" Jenny asked.
"Why don't you go first, Betty, since it was your idea," Gary said.
"Okay, sure!" Betty took the bottle that James had been spinning on the table and moved it to the living room. Everyone gathered around and sat on the floor. Betty gave it a good spin, and it stopped on Gary. They all laughed and commented on how it was a lucky spin as Betty leaned over and gave Gary a kiss on the lips.
Now, it was Gary's turn. He spun the bottle and it landed on Jed. "Hey, man, I mean…you're cool and all, but…" Jed stuck his hand out to make contact with Gary's lips.
"There. That counts," Jed joked, and they all laughed.
Jed took the bottle and gave it a good spin, looking at Abbey as he let go of it. The bottle stopped, pointing directly at Abbey – not between her and James – straight at her. Jed looked Abbey in the eyes as he leaned over. Wanting to be a gentleman – and not wanting to presume anything about how she felt towards him – he placed a gentle kiss on Abbey's cheek. The group – particularly Gary and James – started booing and heckling them. Jed looked a little confused.
"Come on, Jed, you know that's not what they meant," Abbey said as she placed her hands on either side of Jed's face. She leaned in closer, pressing her lips to his. Jed follows her lead, deepening the kiss.
"I vaguely remember hearing the others cheering us on," Jed says.
Abbey blushes as she confesses that she doesn't remember anything after the kiss. "I knew instantly, though, that it was the best kiss I'd ever had, and – as crazy as it sounds – I knew I didn't want to kiss anyone else…ever." Abbey smiles over at Jed, and CJ thinks she sees tears welling up in the First Lady's eyes – feels them welling up in her own.
"That's so sweet!" CJ says, after giving them a moment. She didn't want to interrupt when they'd just finished telling their story. "Mr. President. Abbey, I've had a wonderful evening, but I really should be going. I have to be back here in just under four-and-a-half hours," CJ says as she checks her watch. She gets up to go call a cab, but Abbey stops her.
"You know, CJ, you can't keep pushing him away. I understand your hesitation, but if it's meant to be, it will happen, whether you're ready for it or not."
"Thanks, Abbey. Really. For everything." CJ smiles at Abbey, content and fully believing that things will work out for her and Danny if they're supposed to.