A Very Embarassing Xmas
by:
LozDisclaimer:
Jingle bells, jingle bells, Aaron owns them all....Category:
Romance, CJ/LeoSpoilers:
Written in general tone of Season 3, general spoilers up Season 3.Rating:
PG-13Author's Note:
The good, the bad and the very ugly it's all appreciated. Idea to completed in under four hours. Bubble, bubble, boil and....no trouble all 4 criteria feature here.Monday - December 17th - CJ's office television
You're watching the weather channel; I'm Sue Martin with the latest forecasts around the country...
The Nations capital next week can expect uncharacteristically heavy snow falls for this time of the year, temperatures will drop well below our winter averages of 37, we're tracking a large slow moving low off the coast which is likely to bring those heavy falls with it...Now for New York.
~*~
Friday - December 22nd - The West Wing
"CJ you in here?" Leo's eyes slowly adjusted to the darkened room.
"Don't turn on the lights." he tries to figure out where her voice is coming from.
"My eyesight isn't what it used to be...where are you?"
"I'm up the back."
"What are you doing sitting here in the dark...you're not drinking are you?" he gropes around the chairs, feeling his way and yelps as his shin hits something hard.
"Yes Leo, I'm drinking, would you like to join me?" she says dryly.
"What are you doing sitting in the dark press room by yourself." his eyes adjust slightly and he can make her out.
"Nothing." she sighs.
"I came by your office to see if you'd gotten away, your stuff was still there but not you."
"Guess that low wasn't as slow moving as they predicted."
"You've been watching too much of the weather channel CJ."
"Everyone else is showing your testimony for the billionth time."
"Tell me about it, so they're saying it's a freak snow storm."
"There's nothing freak about it, it was all planned by some higher power, I was going to go home tonight and have a nice long bath, I even bought some new lavender soap..." CJ sounds downright depressed despite it being the season to be jolly.
"Nice theory, CJ what are you doing in here?"
"I was going to leave anyway, but the Secret Service physically restrained me and then they took my car keys.... I'm thinking."
"About...?"
"You wouldn't be interested Leo, it's not politically skewed."
"You assume if I can't score political points from something then I'm not interested."
"That's the implication." CJ sighs.
"Try me."
"Ok...I was thinking that this room has become a metaphor for my life."
"O-K." he emphasizes.
"See I knew you wouldn't be interested."
"Give me a break CJ, I need some more information."
"Well look at it, the rooms full, it's stuffed to the rafters with boxes and cameras and general crap, we could really use that bigger space at the OEOB that Sam suggested. But on the other hand it's so empty, it's dark, quiet, there's something missing."
"And that is..." he leads her to continue.
"The other half."
"The other half?" he repeats.
"Yes a partner."
"Oh you mean for yourself."
"Yeah." CJ confirms quietly inside her head she wonders how it is this man remained married for as long as he did if he can't comprehend - other half.
"I can get you a number, discreetly, we can arrange a date for you."
"LEO!" she says incredulously till she sees the stupid grin that has painted itself across his features.
"Do you think anyone would care if I did my Christmas online shopping here, just till I could get home?" CJ says seriously.
"It can be arranged as long as you promise to spend double what you were already going to on me."
"Hmm, double nothing is nothing, you've got yourself a deal." she teases having her own little dig.
"I'm hurt...so your life is full of things, but there's still a large void in it, is that what your saying?"
"How much do you charge an hour Dr. McGarry?"
"The first consultation's free Ms Cregg."
"Well I like your diagnosis."
"Let's get out of here CJ, this is starting to resemble some sort of mental institution."
"You should be in here of a day when they let the patients loose." she laughs.
"You're the zoo keeper right?" he holds out a hand to help her up.
"What's this?" she looks up at his hand.
"I can't see, you need to guide me out less I severe a limb on something."
CJ laughs taking his hand in hers.
~*~
Outside the Pressroom the remaining occupants of the West Wing are getting rowdy, probably from cabin fever. Yelling and laughing waft through the heavy doors and a group of people screech 'CHEESE' at the top of their voices. CJ leads Leo around the minefield of boxes towards one of the front exits successfully and is about to drop her hand from his when she stumbles across the last remaining box at the front of the room.
She begins her graceless fall to the ground with her hand still clamped to Leo's thus taking him with her. She stumbles over her own feet trying to regain her balance but ends up flat on her back with a large thump, seconds later an out of control Leo lands on top of her.
He extricates his head from between her breasts and looks up to her face embarrassed. CJ can only see the funny side of the situation; given a day this bad all that is left to do is laugh.
Suddenly it's not so funny anymore, her laughter dies as they gaze off at each other and ever so slowly Leo leans down to kiss her. She anticipates the kiss in the seconds it takes his lips to reach hers but she doesn't have long to compare dream and reality as a bright light blinds them both as his lips caress hers.
The offender makes their way back out of the Pressroom much less discreetly then they had obviously entered. CJ would have run after them had she not be pressed down under Leo's body weight.
"Just great, photo evidence." CJ bangs her head on the ground.
"Forget it, it's too dark to come out." Leo assures her, blinking from the bright flash.
After a few minutes pass, "What was that?" CJ asks softly, hesitant to broach the subject.
"I don't know... I know I liked it whatever it was." He hasn't taken his eyes from hers.
"What do we do now?" she asks moving closer to kiss him again.
"We could do it again." he meets his lips with hers and dreams don't live up to reality.
~*~
Sunday - 24th December - The Residence
"You're missing Toby in a Santa suit." CJ stands in the doorway to his office.
"He's taking this thing to prove he's in the holiday spirit a little too seriously isn't he." Leo looks up from his reading material.
"I'll let you in on a secret, the suit isn't stuffed and he fills it out really well." Leo nods a little knowing smile.
"The other night..." CJ comes further into the room and she has his full attention. "I really liked being held by you."
"I liked holding you." he stands behind his desk.
"The President's asking where you are..."
"Well lets not leave him waiting then." walking out together with her.
Upstairs Toby has Donna on his lap asking her 'What would you like for Christmas little girl?' across the room Josh informs him she's been naughty this year and won't be receiving anything.
The President acknowledges their presence in the room and takes the opportunity to take the floor.
"You all know I love you all very much, like family." the President begins his speech. "What you probably don't realize is I love having something to hold over you all and I've been sitting and collecting these all year." he looks around the room at his Senior Staff. "Tonight I'm going to hand out some prestigious Bartlet awards, for stupidity, bravery and just making me laugh."
"Sam." Bartlet booms.
Sam looks like he's about to break down and cry.
"Yes be afraid be very afraid." Bartlet grins as he opens the lid of the lap top computer next to him. "This one was sent to me by email from my secret source..."
Bartlet presses a few buttons and a picture of Sam in a bright red dress appears on the screen for the room to see, Sam's face turns the same shade as the dress.
"Sam Seaborn, congratulations on your award for the best dressed in the White House." the room erupts in whistles and cheers.
"Well I'd like to say thanks to everyone," Sam waves his hands around. "But most of all Josh, who will be publicly hanged on the front lawn later tonight for not destroying that photo in college." the room laughs with Sam who seems to have gotten over his embarrassment.
"Josh!" Bartlet beckons him to the front of the room.
"Yes sir." he says strutting cockily up to the President. "This one is my favorite of them all." he grins evilly.
Up on the screen pops a picture of Josh slumped up against the front of his desk, his clothes and hair are everywhere and his mouth is wide open with a sliver of saliva escaping to freedom.
"Congratulations on being the White Houses worse drunk and the cheapest." Bartlet proclaims as Donna laughs louder than the rest.
"Thank you Sir, well I'd like to apologize to *Ms.* Joey Lucas." A small ripple of laughter runs through the gathered staff. "And thank you to Donna Moss who will hang next to me on the front lawn tonight for taking that photo before returning me to the land of the living."
"Oh and I have another." Bartlet exclaims.
A photo of Josh later in Sam's foul weather gear replaces the drunk one.
"And now for the latest addition to my collection." Bartlet says enjoying running this he is ringmaster in his own private circus. "CJ, Leo."
CJ's stomach does somersaults when she's called up with Leo, knowing full well what's about to happen, she'd much rather be grilled in the Oval Office about it that put on display in front of her friends.
"Leo and CJ are the recipients of the prestigious 'Get a room' award." Bartlet announces as the photo pops onto the screen. Despite the dark room you can make out everything, Leo on top of CJ, their lips kissing, nothing can be misconstrued.
She runs from the room almost bowling over Santa in the process.
~*~
"Thought I'd find you here." Leo says flicking on the Pressroom lights and then off again.
"I needed to be somewhere where I wasn't going to be publicly humiliated again."
"Your embarrassed to be with me?" Leo asks realizing how stupid this conversation is given he can't see her so he's effectively talking to a big black hole.
"I didn't mean that."
"So you're not?"
"I'm not," she says looking at him as he sits down next to her.
"He knows what happened CJ."
"How?"
"He asked me a couple of days ago when he got the photo."
"What did you say?"
"It was an accident that we ended up in that position, but I'd like to pursue things further if you wanted to as well."
"Who took the photo Leo?"
"Guess."
"Danny Concannon..." CJ doesn't need an affirmative reply, if something is happening he's usually there. "Going into paparazzi journalism is he?" she says bitterly.
"It was all in the name of fun CJ, he surrendered the negatives and all copies to me. It was his point and click camera."
"Did he apologize?"
"He did, he didn't know who he was snapping, he heard us fall and it was too dark to know who he was photographing."
"Can I still revoke his press credentials?" she laughs.
"How about we just confiscate the camera?" Leo suggests.
"Softy." she mumbles.
"I bought you a present." he suddenly remembers. "Are you game to help me out of here again?"
~*~
"What is it?" she asks when they're in the safety of her office behind the closed door.
"Open it and find out." he sits down next to her on the couch.
She gasps as the holiday-colored paper reveals an antique gold photo frame. "I love it."
"I thought you would. Then I wasn't sure if it would be in bad taste with everything that happened."
"I didn't get you anything." she says disappointed. "Wait...how's this?" she leans into kiss him gently.
"That's good."
"Or how about this... I'd love to pursue things further with you."
"That's the best present I've got in years." he breathes before cupping her face and kissing her again.
"We should get Danny to take a nice photo of us to put in the frame," he says running a hand across her cheek.
"Absolutely not!" she laughs.
"Merry Christmas CJ." he says huskily moving in to kiss her again.
~*~