Chapter Nine: Nineteen Days

Josh was excited. He had a date with Donna. Somehow, through their easy and familiar banter, he was able to find the courage to ask her out. Now, he just had to wait an agonizing nineteen days. Day twenty, which was Saturday October 19th, was circled on his calendar. The silver lining of course, was that he could visit her every day at Cabbot's, although he was absolutely not happy about the fact that she had to work so much. As he walked down the street, that familiar worry he had for her set in. He could only imagine how tired she would be, trying to keep up with two majors, working so many hours, and her infection had barely healed! What if it came back? Should he suggest she wear a bandage or maybe that scarf of hers to cover it up at work to protect it? Josh quickly dismissed the idea. He's not a doctor and he was sure that her doctor would have given her the best instructions. Hopefully she had a really good doctor. "But that scarf really brought out her blue eyes," he thought to himself as he remembered how she looked with it loosely wrapped around her neck with her hair pulled back. She looked beautiful. She always looked beautiful to Josh. He had never been so emotionally and physically attracted to anyone in his life. No one in his past even came close. The only way he could explain it was that he felt drawn to her, right from the beginning-magnetic.

When he got accepted at Yale Law School, he told himself that law school was his main focus for the next three years. Nothing, nothing was going to change that. But she had changed that. She had walked into his life, well actually he had kind of walked into hers, but same thing. He was absolutely determined to succeed in law school, but he realized that didn't mean he had to sleep an average of four hours a night so that he could study twelve hours a day. That wasn't inspiring. But falling in love with the right person? Now that's inspiring. Donnatella Moss inspired Joshua Lyman.

He would wait though. Wait until she was ready. He had no intentions of rushing her. Whatever it was that she went through and is still going through, she needs to heal from that first. Josh planned to be right by her side though, if she let him.

A dark and unsettling thought crossed his mind. Had someone hurt her? "So help me God, if someone hurt her, there will be hell to pay," Josh said to himself.

He pulled himself out of of his brooding thoughts when he found the items in the art store he had just walked into. He paid for all the items and sat outside on the bench, grinning as he began to write. When he finished, he looked at his final product. It wasn't nearly as nice looking as hers, but it would do. He carefully placed it in his backpack and walked to Cabbot's.

When he arrived, he noticed that it was far more quiet than when he had arrived earlier that morning to get coffee for him, his dad, and a doggy coffee pupachino thing for Buster. Donna was right, 2pm was a good time to get a good seat at the coffee bar. He took a seat right near her chalkboard. He smiled at the picture and laughed.

Good afternoon coffee and tea lovers!

Did you know that we sell pupachinos for your fur babies? Buster had one this morning and gave it a 10/10!

Right below her message was a drawing of Buster, sitting with his tail set off the side mid wag, his little dog collar prominently said "BUSTER", he had what looked like whipped cream all over his nose, and a little cup that had the word pupachino written on it was next to one of his front paws.

Josh saw Donna walk around the corner, she threw him her incredible smile and he gave her his best dimpled grin as he pulled his own chalkboard from his backpack and turned it toward her so that she could read it.

Hi I'm Josh!

I'm here to bug my FAVORITE barista Donna, from 2pm until she kicks me out. Day 1 of 19!

Fun facts:

I like my hamburgers burnt like hockey pucks

I love the New York Mets

I'm in law school, but I don't want to practice law

Below his fun facts, he had tried to draw a picture of him sitting at the coffee bar with Donna talking to him. Of course, there was no physical resemblance, just two stick figures smiling at each other, and a little rectangle that appeared to be a coffee cup. The burnt hamburger he drew turned out pretty good, but he also had an arrow pointing at it that said "hamburger".

"Joshua Lyman", she said with a look of mischief in her eyes. "Did you get your own chalkboard?"

"Yes, yes I did Donnatella Moss. If you get one, then so do I."

"Well, I like your drawings," she said giggling.

"Thanks! The hamburger turned out pretty good, yeah?"

"It is a perfectly drawn burnt like a hockey puck hamburger, Josh."

"I drew it for you," he said impishly.

"Yeah? Well I'm honored. No one has ever drawn me a burnt hamburger before."

"First time for everything, Donna."

"Well you need to sign it!"

"Yeah? Where should I do that?"

"Somewhere clever, like the hamburger bun."

"But Donna, that might ruin the aura that the hamburger gives off in this brilliant piece of art."

"Sign the hamburger Josh, I promise, you won't regret it."

"Are you sure?"

"Josh, it's the part of the drawing you are most proud of, so sign the hamburger," she said as she chuckled a little, giving him his coffee.

"Fine. Gimme your chalk . . . Thank you," he said as he carefully signed his name. "But you know Donna, this isn't my favorite part of the drawing. My favorite part is the stick figures. They look like they're having a good time, ya know, talking to each other and ummm getting to know each other and stuff," he trailed off.

"That's a very accurate description of those stick figures Josh. Do they have names? Do we know them?"

"Yeah ummm the guy his name is Jacob and the girl is Daniella."

"Daniella, hmmm that's different."

"Yeah, but Jacob thinks it's beautiful. Does Daniella not like her full name? Should Jacob call her Dani or Danielle instead?"

"No. She likes it when Jacob says her full name," she said shyly, blushing ever so sightly.

"Okay Donnatella," Josh replied reverently.

"So what is Jacob studying, he has books on the table. And what does Daniella study?"

"Well Daniella has two majors. She chose music because she is creative and talented, and criminal justice, because she would make a good detective. Jacob learned how unbelievably perceptive she was the second time they met."

"Yeah? Well I'm pretty sure Daniella commented on Jacob's detective skills too. Is that what he's studying?"

"Ummmm, hmmmm . . . He's always studying and never sleeps enough, so I think he's a med student. I believe I was once told they usually study alone or in pairs . . ."

"Nah, not a med student," she said quickly."

"No?"

"No. Jacob is definitely not a med student." She was still adamant in her response, Josh noticed. He was going to let it go for now, but something was off. Her whole demeanor changed when he playfully suggested that his stick figure was a medical student. He wanted to get back to having fun. "Okay, you pick for Jacob. What do you think he's studying?"

"Well, Daniella has gotten to know him a little bit. She's seen how passionate he gets in his study group about certain issues. He stands his ground and he wants to make changes in the world. He cares about people. He's getting his PhD in Political Science."

Josh was stunned. He couldn't help but smile at her and quietly say, "Daniella really understands and knows Jacob."

"I think they understand and know each other," she said softly.

"I think you're right Donnatella."

The quiet, comfortable moment that they often share set in. Josh couldn't help but look into Donna's eyes and say rather affectionately, "Jacob can't wait to take Daniella out on their first date."

"And Daniella can't wait to go out with Jacob. It's already marked on her calendar that she has in her bag."

"It's on his calendar too."

"Nineteen more days."

"Nineteen more days."

"Drink your coffee and study Joshua. Study so you can get through law school and make this world a better place."

"Ahh-kay Donnatella," he said affectionately as he began to pull out his Con Law books.