Pt. 7
The alarm is going to go off any minute now. I don't know exactly what time she has it set for, but I know she calls me every morning at 6:00am, and it's 5:50am now, so any minute it's going to go off and wake her up. For these last few moments of silence, I'm relishing the closeness of her body to mine. We haven't moved much since we went to bed, but of course that was only four hours ago. We are, for lack of a better term, spooning; my hand on her stomach, holding her as close to me as possible. It's also worth mentioning that her hair smells incredible. She is, to put it simply, perfect.
"I know you're awake," she whispers groggily.
"Really, and how do you know that?"
"I felt you prop your head up on your hand. Are you uncomfortable?"
"I could lay like this forever. I just wanted to watch you sleep."
She rolls over onto her back, forcing me to shift a bit so she can rest her right leg on top of mine. My hand is still on her stomach, and her eyes are still closed, but after a few seconds, she slowly opens them and sees me staring down at her, then she smiles up at me. "How long have you been awake?"
"Just a few minutes. We have to get up soon."
"We have ten more minutes," she says as she closes her eyes again. "The clock is fifteen minutes fast."
"Why?"
"So my brain thinks it's later than it is. Did you mean it?"
"Mean what?"
She opens her eyes and looks at me. "That you could lay like this forever."
"Yes." I stare at her for a minute before asking, "Would that be ok with you?"
She smiles and puts her hand on top of mine. "Yes."
"Sam said we're supposed to talk about this."
She smiles. "I think we just did."
I prop my self up a little more and stare at her. "That was the discussion?"
"Yes."
"Really? That wasn't so hard."
She laughs. "You thought it was going to be hard?"
I let my head fall back to the pillow so I'm close to her face. "I thought it might be. That's really all we have to say?"
She turns her head so we're looking directly at each other and smiles at me again. I'm learning to love this smile. "I think so. Is there anything else you want to say?"
I stare into her beautiful blue eyes and whisper, "Yes, but Sam said I have to wait a week or I'll scare you." She looks confused for just a second, and then looks at me seriously. "Well, when you do say it, I'm going to say it back. So it shouldn't be that scary for either one of us." Now it's my turn to smile at her. "Ok." zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Josh and I stare at each other for a few more minutes, and then we pry ourselves off of each other and get up. He's been wearing the same clothes for two days, so he goes home to get ready. I get undressed and start to get in the shower, but just then my phone rings. "Hello?" "I didn't kiss you." "So I noticed." "You did?" Is he nuts? We were lying there this morning, and I kept thinking 'he'll kiss me any minute.' But he never did. Then I thought it was ok, because we both would've had morning breath and although I'm not opposed to morning breath kissing, I'm not sure it's the right atmosphere for the first kiss. You know what I mean? "Josh, I know when I've been kissed and when I haven't."
"So I blew it already." What's he talking about? "What do you mean?" "I should've kissed you and I didn't." "Ok. For one thing, you're going to blow it much worse than that, and probably on a regular basis." "But you'll forgive me?" "Every time."
"Why?" Because it's inevitable. "Because of that thing we're not supposed to say for a week." "Really?" "Yes. And for another thing, I don't want you to kiss me because you should. I want you to kiss me because you want to." "Oh, I want to." I have to stifle a laugh because of the way he stressed the word 'want'. "Ok." "I mean, I really, really want to." This time I can't stifle it, and I just laugh. "I said ok." "Desperately want to. I've had entire dreams where we've done nothing but kiss." Good to know. "You say that as though you've had entire dreams where we've done much more…" "Oh, I have." "Really? Well, interesting." We're going to have to discuss those at some point. "Oh, they're interesting, but we're not going to talk about them." "We're not?" Oh, yes we are. "No, not until you're running at full capacity." "Full capacity? You think I'm not…" "No, no, no. That's not what I meant. I just meant you're not up to par." "Up to par?" He's digging himself deeper and deeper. This is fun. "Mobile?" "I'm not mobile?"
"I'm blowing it again, aren't I?" "Yes." "But you forgive me?" he asks me tentatively. He's so cute. "Yes." "Because of the thing?" "Yes." "The thing I'm not allowed to say for a week?" "Yes, that thing." "Maybe Sam's wrong about saying the thing." "Oh I don't know. He has a point. I mean, you wouldn't want to say it in an unromantic situation, say…while you're on the phone. At least not the first time." "Good point." "I tend to have those." "So for now, I'll stick with Sam's plan." "And does his plan include kissing?" "It didn't specify." "I see. I have to go. I'm naked." Let's see what he has to say about that? "You're what?" He squeaked. I love it when he squeaks. "I'm naked. I was getting in the shower." "Are you wet too?" Still squeaking. "Are you thinking of some of your dreams." Why is it that I'm naked in my living room talking on the phone to Josh, and it doesn't feel weird? It would feel weird if it were some other guy I was dating. Dating? We never actually defined it. "Yes." "Am I at full capacity in those dreams?" "Oh yeah." Wow, that's not a squeak. That voice was low and husky and…sexy. I like that voice. "Well, unfortunately, I won't be at full capacity for several more months." "See, when I said full capacity…" "Yes?" "What I meant was…" "Semi-full?" "Yes." "But I'm not at semi-full capacity yet either." "I know. And we should wait to…discuss the dreams…until you are." "I agree." "But…I can still hold you while you sleep, right? Because I've been very careful." Now he sounds like a kid in a candy store. 'Please, please, please can I have some candy?' "You have been, and so you may. Anytime you'd like, in fact. But for now I have to go."
"Because you're naked." "You remembered." "It's something I won't soon forget." I'm glad he can't see me right now, because I'm grinning like an idiot. "When will you be back to get me for work?" "An hour." "Will you have bagels with you?" "No. Wait…should I have bagels with me?" "Yes." "Then I will have bagels with me, because I won't blow it three times in one day." Fat chance. "Sure you won't." "And Donna. When I get there, I'm going to kiss you." "Not because you should?" "I think if we asked around, the general consensus wouldn't be that I should." "True, but you're going to anyway, right?" I hope I don't sound like I'm begging. "Oh yes. Definitely." "Good," I say somewhat seductively. "Because my lips are running at full capacity." "45 minutes. I can be there in 45 minutes." "Don't forget the bagels," I say as I hang up. Well, there you have it. We've been, I don't even know what to call it, for less than a half hour, and in that time we've declared our love and talked about sex. It was oddly comforting to discuss these things the way we discuss everything else. Just the two of us bantering, because that's what we do. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz I hang up the phone and immediately dial CJ. This isn't easy to do considering the fact that I'm speeding like a maniac through the streets of DC. What? I'm in a hurry. I have to get home, get showered and changed, brush my teeth, get bagels and get back to Donna's in 45 minutes. Or less, less would be even better. "Hello?" "Good morning!" I might as well try to get on her good side now, while I have the chance. "What?" Uh-oh. She doesn't sound like she's in a great mood. "I'm stopping for bagels this morning. Would you like me to get one for you?" "What did you do?" Damn, she knows me well. "What?" "What did you do?" "Nothing. Nothing." Really, I haven't done anything yet. I haven't even kissed her. Of course, by the time CJ gets her bagel, I will have. Kissed Donna I mean. "Josh?" "Nothing. I haven't done anything. But I do need to talk to you and Leo this morning, if you can fit me in." "Are you going to ruin my day?" Might as well be honest. "Maybe, but I'm going to bring you a bagel." "With herb and garlic cream cheese. I'll have Carol set it up." zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz As I step out of the shower, my phone is ringing. He really has to leave me alone so I can get ready for work. But, as long as he's calling… I pick up the phone and seductively say, "Now I'm wet and naked." "Donna?" "CJ?" Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit. "Yes. And you're lucky. What if I had been Toby or Leo?" Now I'm having mental images of talking to Toby or Leo while being wet and naked. "Oh, yuck," I groan. She starts laughing at me. "I'm glad you're enjoying this." "Oh, I am," she says and continues laughing. "What exactly can I do for you CJ?" "Well, I was calling because Josh called me a few minutes ago and asked for some time with Leo and me this morning, and I was wondering if you knew what it was about. But, I think I've figured it out." "Maybe it's about the arts in education bill," I say weakly. "Is that unwritten bill gaining a lot of press attention, Donna?" "Maybe?" I meant to say it, but it came out as a question. She knows. She's no idiot. "Or maybe, and this is just a shot in the dark, your little naked and wet comment was meant for Josh, and he needs to talk to Leo and me because the two of you finally had that incredible sex we were talking about the other night." "We DID NOT have incredible sex?" "What? After all the hype, it wasn't incredible?" She sounds dumbfounded. "No CJ, we didn't have sex at all." "What? No sex? I'm wrong?" Now she sounds disappointed, which I find humorous. I mean, I'm not disappointed but the press secretary is? "CJ, I'm not…" God help me, I'm about to quote Josh. "At full capacity." "What?" "The leg, CJ. Not to mention the collapsed lung and the recent surgery to repair a pulmonary embolism."
"Oh, right. So, no sex." "No, but we cuddled." I can't believe I'm trying to lift her spirits about my sex life. "Cuddled, huh? That can be nice, I guess." "It was very nice, in fact, it was absolutely incredible. If we never have sex, I could just sleep in his arms forever." "Sleep?" "All night." "Really?" "Yes." "And so you're dating?" "Yeah, I guess." "You guess?" "Well, we didn't actually use the word 'dating'…" "What word did you use?" I go back over the conversation we had in bed this morning. "Forever." "Really? Well, that word beats the hell out of the word 'dating'. In my opinion, at least." "I agree," I say smiling. "So, you and Josh." "Me and Josh. It's ok, right. You said the administration could deal with it." "Yes, it's fine. But I think I'll let Josh stew a bit before I let him off the hook." "I would expect nothing less."
