7: Fresh Doughnuts and Humiliations

Sam shifted uneasily in his chair, unable to concentrate. Normally had he been free at about this time, he'd go up to Josh's office to see if they could grab lunch together. Now, though, that might be a bad idea.

Or would it be worse to act out of the ordinary? Cathy and Ginger would be even more suspicious if they started deliberately going out of their way to look like they were not having an affair.

As if they weren't suspicious enough already. Josh was alright, safe over in his part of the office, but Sam couldn't go out of his door without running into Cathy, or Ginger... or Bonnie, who he was pretty sure had been informed of this morning's incident by now.

By next coffee break, it would have been passed to Donna. That was okay; Donna was his friend, and besides, she would give Josh more teasing than the three communications assistants put together.

But from that unholy foursome, it was only a matter of time before the rumour leaped to Carol or Margaret... and neither possibility was at all good news. CJ being Press Secretary, Carol usually felt obliged to inform her when this sort of rumour started flying. And Margaret had a habit of suddenly blurting things out in front of Leo...

Sam picked up a pen, looked at it blankly for a moment, and seriously considered impaling himself upon it.

Two days ago, everything had been normal - or as normal as it got when you worked in the White House and you'd just found out vampires and demons were real. Then he'd been bitten by a girl, turned into a werewolf, and started a rumour about having a gay affair with Josh.

My life sucks.

He knew he would have to go for lunch sometime, but in truth he was afraid to go outside. Cathy was scary at the best of times, and he wasn't exactly doing well on the whole connecting with women thing lately - the thought of three of them ganging up on him was quite terrifying.

The worst thing was, they weren't looking shocked or distressed at the idea such career-shattering risks might be being taken. They were smirking, and grinning, and tipping him winks, as if the idea of him having a gay affair with Josh was the best thing they'd ever heard.

Come on, Sam, get it together. You can't hide in here forever.

Why not?

Good question.

'Cuz eventually Leo will come and drag you out, and hence witness first-hand three giggling assistants playing 'I've got a secret'.

Good answer.

He steeled himself and got up to open the door. Cathy looked up and grinned widely at him. "Hi, Sam." Even the way she said his name was playfully amused.

Don't panic don't panic don't panic.

Breathe, Sam, breathe.

Maybe he wouldn't go out for lunch after all. "Cathy, can you order me lunch? I want to work on this draft awhile."

There? See? Normal. No werewolf bites and/or sexual experimentation going on here, thank you very much.

"Okay. By the way, that doughnut you had on your desk last night-?"

"-You ate it," he finished, smiling with relief. Normal. All back to normal.

"Yeah. Shall I get you another one with your lunch?"

"Please." Not that he ever actually ate the doughnuts he ordered; he and Cathy had an unwritten understanding. He would buy sugary junk food and contemplate eating it, and Cathy would remove the temptation - theoretically cancelling out extra calories with extra good karma. Or that was her story, anyway. Possibly she was just greedy.

He was caught completely off-guard when she flashed him another grin. "Want me to call Josh to come join you?"

She sniggered delightedly as he blushed crimson and yanked his office door shut. Sam leaned his back against it and closed his eyes in dismay.

Way to act like an innocent man, Sammy.

He sat down to go over the speech again, but he was too flustered to see straight. His cheeks were still hot with the force of the blush. God, this is so humiliating.

He allowed himself to slide off the chair and curl up underneath his desk.

I am never coming out of here again.