Miss You

Rating: PG-13 for now, may be changed later…

Disclaimer: If I owned the show, not only would Sam never have left, he would be the main character, that man is HOT! So anyway, my point being I own nothing; please don't sue me!

A/N: Okay, this is my first attempt at a "West Wing" fic, and I haven't really watched since Sam left, but I had an itch, so I went with it. Hope y'all like it:o)

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It'd been four years since he'd seen her; four years since she'd left her position at the Whitehouse and he'd followed suit shortly thereafter. She still looked the same, vibrant and young, long blonde hair. Beautiful. He almost thought he was hallucinating. He was starring at her and realized he should go talk to her. He stood up, running a hand through his short, dark hair and straightening his shirt, and made his way across the patio of the restaurant. He reached a tentative hand out to her shoulder, "Ainsley?"

She looked up, shocked, "Sam!"

He smiled, "What are you doing all the way down in San Diego?"

She returned his smile, "An old friend of my dad's owns a law firm out here, so I'm working for him. What about you?", she asked, pulling a chair out for him.

He sat down, scooting in next to her, "I grew up here. I guess I just felt like it was time to come home. I've been working as an environmental lawyer."

She nodded, understanding, and took a sip of her iced tea.

"So how long ago did you move down here?", he asked, flipping his menu open.

Ainsley did the same before answering his question, "Only about six weeks. I've just finished unpacking my apartment."

"So you haven't had a chance to do any sight seeing yet?"
She shook her head and he grinned, seeing an opportunity to spend some time with her, "Well you'll have to let me give you a tour sometime. Maybe next weekend?"

Ainsley beamed at him, "I'd love that Sam", she reached into her purse and fished out a card, scribbling her cell phone number on the back, and it was then, when she reached out to hand it to him that a sparkle caught his eye and he noticed the ring on her finger. Sam could feel his heart sinking into his stomach. He scolded himself, he should be happy for her, but he couldn't. He took the card from her, forcing a smile to his face, and swallowing the lump in his throat, "So uh, we should go to Balboa Park, visit the zoo"

She nodded enthusiastically, and the twinkle in her eyes made him temporarily forget the throbbing in his chest, "I've heard the zoo here is amazing!"

He nodded, "It's world famous"

Her face brightened, but after a moment he realized she was looking past him. He turned in his seat to see a tall man, older than himself, and handsome in a distinguished way, walking toward their table, eyes glued to Ainsley (not that Sam could blame him). She stood and took a few steps in his direction, meeting him in an embrace, and Sam turned away as the older man leaned in to kiss her.

"Sam", Ainsley started after a moment, drawing his gaze back in her direction, "This is my fiance, James Holden", then turning to James, "Honey, this is Sam Seaborn. He's an old friend of mine from Washington"

James held out his hand politely and Sam shook it, silently sizing him up.

"Sam Seaborn, former Deputy Communications Director?"

Sam nodded tersely but said nothing.

"Well it's nice to meet you", James continued, seemingly oblivious to Sam's discomfort.

Sam nodded and smiled, trying to be polite and then stood, placing his napkin on the table, "Well, I should be going. I don't want to intrude on your lunch date. It was really nice seeing you again Ainsley"

Ainsley reached out and placed a hand on his arm before he could turn around, "Stay Sam, you're not intruding. I haven't seen you in ages"

James nodded in agreement, "Please stay, I'd like to get to know some of Ainsley's friends. Most of them are back East"

Sam sighed audibly, the last thing he wanted to do was spend the afternoon getting to know the man who was going to marry Ainsley, but he couldn't say no to her, either. He reluctantly sat back down, much to Ainsley's delight, and the smile she gave him was almost enough to make it worthwhile. Almost.

"So", Sam started awkwardly, "How did you two meet?"

"Oh," Ainsley perked up, placing her hand on James' forearm, "We actually-", she was cut off by a shrill ringing that seemed to be emanating from her fiance's suit jacket.

"Excuse me", he smiled, reaching into his coat pocket to retrieve his cell phone.

Ainsley and Sam remained silent during his brief call, and after flipping his phone closed, he turned to Ainsley with a sheepish expression on his face.

"You have to leave?", she asked, a bit deflated.

He took her hand, "I'm sorry darling, I have to meet with a client"

"You just got here, we haven't even ordered yet", she protested

"I know, I'm sorry Ainsley, but I really have to do this. I'll take you out to dinner tonight and make it up to you, okay?"

Ainsley nodded, clearly disappointed, "Go"

Sam watched as James leaned in, kissing Ainsley briefly before waving his goodbye and hurrying off. He couldn't help thinking to himself as Ainsley sat looking down at her menu and pretending to order, that if he were with her, there was no way he'd put a client above her. He reached out a hand squeezing her shoulder gently, and Ainsley smiled appreciatively. Sam started to say something but was interrupted when the waiter approached their table to take their orders. He scribbled them down, flashed Ainsley a flirtatious smile and left them alone again.

"Sorry about James", Ainsley said, "he's always getting called back to work. He's a partner at the firm where I work."

Sam raised his eyebrows, "So you just met him?"

Ainsley laughed lightly and shook her head, "No we've known each other forever. He's actually the son of my dad's friend, the one who owns the firm."

"Ah," Sam nodded, "So were you two high school sweethearts then?", he didn't know why he kept asking about their relationship; just the thought of them together made his stomach ache, but for some reason he couldn't stop himself.

She looked a bit uncomfortable at that question, but answered him nonetheless, "Well sort of," she hesitated, "we started dating when I was 16, he was 27 and interning at a law firm in Raleigh."

Sam furrowed his brow, "Oh, I didn't realize he was so much older than you. He dated you when you were 16?"

Ainsley nodded, "But it's not like you think Sam, I mean, we'd known each other since we were kids"

Or since you were a kid anyway, Sam thought, bitterly.

"Anyway," she continued, "We dated for about a year and a half, and then he moved out here to work at his dad's firm, it was new then, and I went off to college. We didn't see each other for years, but then he was in Washington for a few months on business and he looked me up. I guess the rest is history", she smiled, looking down at the ring on her finger.

Sam gave her a tight smile, "So you moved to San Diego to be with him?"

She nodded and sighed, "Yeah, partly. I guess I just felt like I needed a change.'

He reached across the table and covered her hand with his, "I'm glad you're here. I've missed you", he paused for a moment, then added, "I've been bored, not having anyone competent to argue with"

Ainsley giggled, "I missed you too, Sam."