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Sam's Plan
"Look, Josh can't know that I've told you," Sam insisted, walking over and closing the door. "He wanted to ask you and make it special."
"I can't believe he's going to ask me to marry him," Donna said, slowly sitting down. "You're being serious, aren't you?"
"Yes, Donna." He covered his eyes, trying to figure out a plan that would work for all of them. "But things keeps stopping him."
Donna was quiet for a moment. "You don't think its fate's why of trying to stop us?"
"What?"
"Maybe it's trying to tell us to slow down."
"No, Donna... No, you guys are getting engaged!" Sam insisted. "Just... just remember this is Josh we're talkigng about...He may be Chief of Staff to the President but he's still the same guy that, invented a secret plan to fight inflation, set the White House on fire and missed the motorcade and got left in Indiana."
"Yeah, okay that is true."
"Right, so you won't say anything to him?" He questioned. "We'll just forget we ever had this conversation."
"I've got to call C.J." She suddenly stood up.
"No, no..." Sam gently pushed her back down in her seat. "You can't tell anyone."
"Josh and I are getting married!"
"Not yet, you're not...He hasn't asked you."
"Yeah but..."
"Just don't say anything to anyone until after," Sam pleaded. "This way, Josh gets to do the romantic thing, you get the perfect proposal and I get to be best man and you know, live to see the wedding."
"Okay, fine," she sighed.
"Okay, great...now I've got to get out of here before I say or do anything that will get me into more trouble."
"I'll go and wait for Josh in his office then."
"Remember... You don't know anything."
"I don't know anything about what?" She asked, faking innocence.
"About the proposal..." He answered before realising what she had meant.
She rolled her eyes and left the office. "Good night, Sam."
"Yeah..." He started shoving things into briefcase. "Depends on who you are."
XxXxX
When Josh returned to his office, he was surprised to see Donna sat talking to Margaret.
"Hey, what are you doing here?"
"Waiting for you." She stood up. "You almost ready to go home?"
"Yeah, sure let me just grab my things."
Margaret looked at Donna as she watched Josh walk into his office. "What's going on?"
"What?"
"There's something happening between you two...I've got this vibe," she claimed.
"A vibe?"
"Yes, plus he's been acting really sweet the past couple of days towards you and now you've got that look on your face..."
"I've got a look on my face?"
"Yeah, a dopey 'I'm in love with my boyfriend' kind of look."
"I am in love with my boyfriend."
"But you've never had that look before..."
"I'm sure I have..."
"Nope, maybe the 'I'm in love with my boss' kind of look..."
"Who's in love with their boss?" Josh questioned as he reappeared.
"No one.." Donna answered, grabbing his hand and pulling him away. "Night Margaret."
"Bye..." Was all Josh had the chance to say before Donna had dragged him out of the door.
XxXxX
Donna was half listening to Josh, who was in the bathroom and rambling on about something that had happened that morning and half thinking about how he would propose. Sam had said something about him planning on doing it the night before at her party and she couldn't help but think how sweet that would have been. Then there was the dinner tonight, he was being so romantic, getting engaged would have been the perfect end to the night.
She wondered how long he had been planning this. How long ago he brought the ring...If he'd even brought it himself...Even if he got her ring. Josh was the kind of the guy to decided to propose then forget all about a ring. Just then, the suit jacket he had been wearing earlier caught her eye.
She jumped off the bed and picked it up off the floor, reaching into the pockets but they were all empty.
"I mean, we've been there almost a year and Otto still doesn't know how..." Josh trailed off and he stopped in the doorway just in a t-shirt and boxers with his toothbrush hanging from his mouth. "Are you going through my pockets?"
"No." She quickly let the jacket fall back to the floor.
"Because it kind of looks like you are..." He moved fully into the room, looking at her curiously.
"I wasn't...I was...I was uh... I was picking up after you!" She grabbed the jacket again but this time threw it towards him. "Why do you always leave you clothes on the floor?"
"I was just..." He started, removing the toothbrush from his mouth and putting his jacket on the chair in the corner.
"Just going to leave it there for me to clean up after you?" She finished off, storming past him and into the bathroom. "Typical man!"
Josh just stared in shock as she slammed the door, he had no idea what just happened.
XxXxX
"You asked her yet?" Sam questioned, from the door of Josh's office.
"I got called to the Situation room during dinner," Josh explained, putting his pen down.
"Yeah, I heard, but I thought you might have done it once you got home."
"Oh yeah, how special would that have been?" Josh rolled his eyes. "Besides, something weird happened last night?"
"What?"
"I don't know, I was getting ready for bed then she just flipped on me..."
Sam's eye widened. "What...what do you mean?"
"Well, she shouted at me for leaving my jacket on the floor and then hide in the bathroom for 20 minutes."
"Really?"
"Yeah, it was weird." He shrugged. "Anyway, it's a good thing I left the ring in the safe here or she might have found it while she was tidying."
"Uh...yeah..." Sam laughed nervously. "You wouldn't want her to find out, would you?"
Josh frowned a little. "Well, no...not yet...Are you okay?"
"Yeah, sure I'm fine." He nodded quickly. "Just y'know..."
"Sam?"
"It's nothing...Do you have any more ideas how you're going to ask her?"
"No," he sighed.
"Maybe something over lunch?" Sam suggested.
Josh thought about it for a moment before shaking his head. "I don't know, maybe I should leave it a day or two...Just so that I can get it perfect."
"No!" Sam exclaimed, startling Josh a little. "I mean, you can't leave it... you should do it today..."
"What's so special about today?"
"Nothing, I just want you guys to be happy."
"Sam, why are you acting weird?"
"I'm not... Listen, don't make plans for lunch...I'll set something up." He stood and made his way to the door.
"Sam..."
"Trust me."
Josh sighed but said no more as Sam left.
XxXxX
Donna quickly covered up the Bridal magazine she had been reading when there was a knock on her office door. "Come in."
"Hey, you've had your hair done." Annabeth said as she walked in.
Donna smiled. "Yeah, I made an emergency appointment this morning."
"Really? What's the occasion?"
"What? Oh nothing really..."
Annabeth raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.
"Okay, I'll tell you but you can't say anything to anyone!"
"About what?"
"Josh and I are getting married!" She exclaimed.
"Oh my, God! That's great!" Annabeth hugged her.
"I know!"
"Why can't I tell anyone?" She questioned.
"Well, he hasn't actually asked me yet."
Annabeth stepped back. "Oh."
"But he will."
"Oh yeah, sure..." She patted her arm.
"No, seriously...he's planning it."
"Planning it?"
"Sam told me...He had planned to ask on my birthday but something went wrong..."
"Sam told you this?"
"He thought Josh had proposed over dinner last night but he got called into the Sit room before he had a chance to."
"So, Sam actually said that Josh is going to ask you to marry him?"
"Yes!"
There was another knock on the door and Donna's assistant walked in.
"This just arrived for you."
Donna smiled widely as she was handed a single red rose. She looked at the small card attached to it. Please meet me for lunch, Love Josh xxx
"Aww..." Annabeth cooed. "That's so sweet."
"I can't believe how much trouble he's going to." Donna clutched the rose to her chest.
"I can't believe you guys are finally going to get married."
A few tears filled Donna's eyes. "Me either."
XxXxX
Santos dismissed the Senior Staff, all except Josh and Sam.
"Right, so I hear we're having another go at the proposal this lunch time?" Matt looked at them.
"We, Sir?" Josh repeated.
"Don't worry, we've got it all planned out, Josh," Sam assured him. "I've sent a rose to Donna from you asking her to meet you for lunch."
"What?"
"We've got a car arranged to take you to the park where you can enjoy a quiet romantic picnic."
"Picnic? Have you seen the weather?"
"The weather is fine."
"Sam, look at those clouds."
"I've called the experts and they said it's not going to rain."
"I'm getting a sense of deja-vu..."
"Will you trust me?!"
Josh sighed, not completely happy that they had taken control over his proposal. "I think I'll wait for another time..."
"Why?"
"Well because I want it to be perfect...I want it to be my way," he answered. "Besides, President Bartlet is coming by this afternoon and I want to ask when I don't have to rush away."
"President Bartlet is coming here?"
"Yeah, he's in town for a few days and wanted to catch up, maybe have dinner."
"That is perfect!" Sam insisted.
"Yeah, you and Donna have your romantic lunch...no rush...If you're late back, I'm sure President Bartlet will understand...Then later, we can all celebrate up in the residence."
"And what other time can you guarantee that he'd in town to celebrate."
"I don't know..."
"Okay, I'm ordering you to take your girlfriend to lunch and propose to her," Matt stated, picking up a picnic basket and handing it to him. "We even prepared food."
"Okay, fine..." Josh sighed, taking the basket.
"Good, now get out of here."
"Yes, Sir..."
"How did you know what food to get?" Sam asked once Josh had left.
"I'm the President." Matt stated but continued when Sam just stared back at him. "I asked Helen what would be the perfect food for a picnic."
"Ah, good idea."
"I thought so." Matt nodded. "Do you think we could do this professionally? Planning ways for people to propose?"
Sam thought about it for a moment. "Honestly, Sir? The stress of this is going to kill me."
XxXxX
Josh looked at Donna closely as they walked hand in hand through the park. Her hair was different...he wanted to ask about it but he didn't want to get into trouble. He wasn't sure how long it had been different and was beginning to wonder if that's why she got mad at him last night.
"This is nice," Donna sighed contently when they found a nice quiet spot.
"Yeah, it is." Josh smiled, spreading out a blanket for them both to sit on.
"It makes a change."
"Yes," Josh agreed, opening the basket and pulled out a bottle of champagne. "Drink?"
She nodded. "Y'know, we seem to drinking a lot of this lately."
"Well, we have a lot to celebrate," he answered as he started to open it while Donna removed the food.
"Oh really?" She watched him for a minute before looking to see what he had brought. Tuna salad... she was allergic to tuna and that's what he choose to bring her for lunch. They had known each other for 10 years...They had been dating for almost a year and he still didn't know that she was allergic to tuna. Maybe she had been right before about fate trying to tell them to slow down.
Josh finally managed to get the bottle open and turned to Donna.
"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked, moving closer when saw she had tears in her eyes.
"This." She shoved the salad over to him.
"Oh...that's...that's tuna."
"Yes! Tuna! I would have thought by now that you would know I'm allergic to tuna!"
"No, I did ..Honestly... it's a mistake!" Josh insisted, reaching to search for something else in the basket. "Look... we got... uh... Strawberries...Urgh, you hate strawberries...I know that too...What else do we have?"
Just as he grabbed the basket, there was a loud clap of thunder, he glanced up at the sky. "Oh no..."
XxXxX
Sam sat at his desk, humming quietly to himself as he type on his computer. He was concentrating so hard on his work that he didn't hear the door open. Then the sound of it slamming shut with so much force, caused him to jump and almost lose his balance.
He looked up and found Josh stood glaring at him. A very wet and angry Josh glaring at him. He turned a little in his chair to look out the window.
"Wow, it started to rain..."
"Rain?!" Josh exclaimed loudly. "It's a freaking monsoon out there!!"
"Okay, I know you must be upset..."
"Oh, I'm not upset, Sam..."
"Well, you kind of sound like you are."
"Trust me! That's what you said! Trust me!"
"Yes, yes, I did..." Sam nodded, jumping up from his chair as Josh moved closer to the desk. "But maybe you should have learned from the past..."
"Sam!"
"So, you didn't get chance to ask her?"
"Oh when would I have had the chance? While she crying because she thought I didn't love her enough not to kill her with tuna!"
"Why would you kill her with tuna?"
"Because she's allergic to tuna!" Josh shouted.
"Oh!"
"Yeah and then we almost drowned in the rain that I predicted..."
"Well, a little water never hurts..."
"Okay, you tell Donna that... She had her hair done this morning and apparently it's ruined!" Josh stated. "So, that's the tuna, her hair...she's crying her eyes out and everyone else is looking at me like I'm the worlds worst boyfriend..."
"Josh..."
"When was I meant to ask her?!"
"Uh...Well, at last now you get to wait for another time and do it how you want."
Josh glared at him. "I'm assigning a secret service agent to make sure you get no where near my plans."
"Right." Sam nodded.
He glared at him once more before storming out of the office.
TBC
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