Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine - just having a little creative fun!
A/N: Based on the folder marked "Private" on Josh's laptop and why he made a big deal out of Donna not looking in it, then not taking his laptop, during "Shutdown".
Donna ground her palms into her eyes again and stared at the tiny clock at the bottom left of the computer screen. The shutdown had been over for four days now and, now that Josh was off the leash, he was working harder than she had ever seen him work. She knew what he was trying to do – he was trying to get back into the good graces of Leo and the President, trying to show them that he's not quite the screw up that some of the Democrats on the Hill were still saying he was.
She finished typing up the latest memo for Josh and was getting ready to start work on the ton of notes from that days' meetings when Carol popped her head in the door.
"Hey Donna."
"Hey Carol."
"Josh got you burning the midnight oil?"
She giggled – when DIDN'T Josh have her burning the midnight oil. "Yeah, something like that. I've got a ton of notes to type up for him to review. I just finished this memo that he's been yelling about for an hour now."
"Yeah, well, make sure you remember to back it all up – I lost all of CJ's transcripts a couple of days ago when the power blinked on and off for a second. Let me tell you how bad it sucks to have to sit in front of a TV with a pen and a notebook, transcribing all of that by hand!"
"Good point. Thanks!"
"No problem. Talk to you later."
Donna hit the "Save As…" button and started a new folder on Josh's laptop to save all his documents for his latest endeavor when she saw it – the "Private" folder. She didn't even know he had a "Private" folder till he mentioned it at the beginning of the shutdown.
He didn't seem at all surprised that she was packing up office supplies, but then, she wasn't surprised that he didn't seem surprised.
"I'm taking stationery, a stapler, three pens of various colors, the budget files."
"Why don't you just take them on disk?"
Idiot – did he forget that I'm a girl on budget! "Because I don't have a computer. Can I take a computer with me?"
"Not unless you want three federal agents trailing you home."
"Do I get to pick which three?"
"I can survive for a day."
"Is that all it's going to last? A day?"
She knew that look very well. "Okay, take my laptop."
"Start a tally of programs affected by the shutdown, and email it to me as you go. Don't read anything in the folder marked "private."
'What in the world…"
"Don't take my laptop." 'Yup, it seems that Josh has lost his mind!'
Donna never got a chance to ask – ok, more like tease – him about the private folder. Will came to get him and she knew she had to leave. With all the hubbub about the Social Security checks and the final budget being agreed upon, she had forgotten about it till right now.
She save his memo in the new folder, but kept coming back to the "Private" folder.
"What could he possibly have in there that me, of all people, can't see" she mumbled to herself.
She knew she should just move on to the notes that needed to be typed up, but she was intrigued. He wasn't one to keep anything from her – calling her from Amy's bed, yet again had proved that to her. She knew he was in a marathon meeting in the Roosevelt Room and it would be very late before they broke.
She glanced around the office and out the door. She could hear a dull buzz of voices and Ryan Pierce singing to himself, but no one was really paying attention to her in Josh's office, so she clicked on the folder.
He had all kinds of things saved in it, things that surprised her.
There was a picture of her and him from the second Inauguration that she had never seen before. Apparently the staff photographer at the Post had emailed it to Danny who forwarded it on to Josh.
There was a subfolder entitled "Perfect Songs". In the folder were MP.3's of songs she couldn't believe he knew, much less would have saved on his computer – "Your Body is a Wonderland", "The Luckiest", "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", "She Don't Know She's Beautiful", "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic", "Two Princes", "Let My Love Open the Door", "Can't Help Falling in Love", "Hooked on a Feeling", "Love Song for No One" and so on and so on. She scanned the list – some were songs she had subjected him to while he complained about having to listen to them, some were songs she had stuck in her head and hummed when she thought no one was listening. The list made her smile.
There were several internet links saved in this folder. She scanned them. There was a link to her local favorite florist, a link to a website that housed all of Robert Browning's poems – her favorite. Several poems were saved in another subfolder marked "For Sam". There was also a link to the Mauna Lani Bay Bungalows in Hawaii, which made her smile even wider than the songs did. There were also links to the admission departments at Georgetown, American University, UVA, George Washington, and Catholic University – she also noted that he saved the Political Science and Government Program links to all of these as well. And those were just the DC colleges – he had also saved the links to NYU, Columbia, Yale, Harvard, and Boston College.
Lastly were 3 links marked "Other", "Other1" and "Other2".
She clicked on "Other" and was taken to a saved email he had written to his mom with an attached picture of a small but ornate jewelry box. Apparently this was going to be her Christmas present – she felt bad about ruining the surprise.
She clicked on "Other1" and was taken to a realtor website. She just shook her head.
She clicked on "Other2" and gasped – that link took her directly to the "Rings of Tiffany" portion of the Tiffany & Co. website. She didn't think she could smile any wider than she was already, but she was wrong. Tears had started to form in her eyes when she heard him.
"DONNA!"
She quickly closed down the links and closed the folder and pulled back up the folder she has saved his memos in as he came through the door, scribbling on his legal pad. She looked over at him and he finished his writing and looked up at her.
"Hey" she said, smiling at him.
"Hey" he replied, giving her a goofy smile, which quickly changed when he saw her watery eyes. "You alright?"
"Oh, god, yeah" she babbled as she shot out of the chair and rubbed her eyes. "I guess I've been staring at that computer for too long and it's starting to get to me."
He dropped the pad on his desk and stared at her. "You sure."
"Yeah, positive, I just need a break.
"Good idea. Let's get out of here for a bit."
She smiled at him. "Really – you mean like, out of the building and not eating out of containers in the Roosevelt Room."
He smiled back at her. "Absolutely. Instead of white cartons, we'll be dining off of Styrofoam plates at Wong's down the street."
"Wow, Joshua, you sure do know how to bring out all the stops."
"What can I say, I can bring it when I need to!"
They smiled at each other as they put on their coats. Donna turned and took a step toward him to straighten his tie and fix the lapel on his suit jacket under his coat. He squeezed her arm ever so slightly.
"So, Joshua, how'd the meeting go?"
He groaned as they turned to head out of the bullpen, Donna listening intently as he guided her through the building and out toward his car with his hand resting lightly on the small of her back.
THE END