A/N: Hello everyone! I know it's been a while since I've updated this fic, but I'm back! I hope you all enjoy :)
Sam rapped lightly on Josh's office door.
"Hey," he greeted his friend with a smile tugging on his lips. "You busy?" Josh did not return the sentiment, instead barely looking up from the mountains of paperwork on his desk and practically grunting a "Hey" back.
"A little," he mumbled.
"I was just wondering if you had a transcript from that meeting with the Department of Agriculture." It was odd for Sam to ask something like that; he had been at that meeting, so he had received a transcript, and he was the more organized one between the two of them, so it was rare that he lost things. Josh looked up from the memo he was reading to see his friend rocking back and forth on his heels. "What are you so happy about?"
"I have a date tonight." Josh's eyebrows shot up; Sam going on a date was a rare occurrence, he was often too wrapped up in his work to worry about women and dating.
"Who is she?" Josh met his eye and he looked away awkwardly.
"Sara," he told him, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. He continued to speak when Josh just stared at him. "The one that writes for the Times, in the press pool..." He knew exactly which Sara Sam was talking about, he didn't need to explain. His Sara. The one he had been spending a lot of time with over the last year, the one he had developed strong feelings for. But she wasn't his, and Sam didn't know anything about his being in love with her. They were friends, nothing more, no matter how badly he wanted them to be more than that.
"Really?" he tried to sound casual, nonchalant, but it came out sounding incredulous. "I didn't know you were..." interested in her, he wanted to say, but he knew he couldn't. It would make it sound like he cared too much, which was the last thing he wanted.
"Yeah," he sounded almost embarrassed. "She's cute. I figured you'd want to know since you're, you know, friends with her." Friends. That made his stomach turn.
"Oh, right," he said distractedly. "Yeah."
"I'll let you know how it goes." With that he walked out of Josh's office. Josh's head was spinning, jealousy bubbling up inside of him. Sam was handsome, charming, easy going, everything he wasn't. There was no doubt she would fall for it all, and that would be the beginning of the end for them. Not that there was any them to begin with.
That night, Sam took Sara to an Italian restaurant in Georgetown, away from the hustle and bustle of the metro area, and away from the West Wing. Which was exactly what Sam needed right now. He had had back to back to back meetings that day, first with Toby and the Senate Majority Leader, then with the ways and means committee, and finally the daily Senior Staff meeting after CJ's afternoon press breifing. He was mentally drained. He'd ordered a straight scotch as soon as he had arrived at the restaurant and waited for her, sipping it at the bar. She walked in several minutes later, bringing the crisp October wind in with her. He turned towards the door.
"Hi," she said sweetly, walking up to where he was sitting. He adjusted his glasses on his nose and smiled at her.
"Hi," he said back, picking up his drink and taking a sip. "Our table's ready, it's right over there." He stood up, letting her go in front of him, and they walked to a small table in the back corner of the room. As they sat down, a waiter brought over menus and a bread basket. "I've never been here before, I hope it's good. Bonnie recommended it."
"Well, this bread looks amazing," she said, picking up a piece and tearing a chunk off of it. He took a piece for himself, dipping it in oil and taking a bite.
"Wow, that is good," he agreed. "If that's any indication about the rest of the food..."
They opened their menus and decided to order the calamari appetizer. Looking for the price, Sara frowned. She knew exactly what that meant - it was going to be expensive.
"Sam," she whispered. "There's no prices on this menu."
"Oh, don't worry about it," he told her dismissively.
"But Sam-"
"Hello, my name is Georgio, and I will be your server this evening," a young man with a slight Italian accent walked over to their table, interrupting her. "Do we know what we're going to be starting with? Any appetizers or drinks?"
"I'll have another scotch neat," Sam told him.
"And I'll have a Pinot Grigio," Sara said.
"We'd also like the calamari for our appetizer," Sam added.
"Very good," the waiter said, writing it down on his notepad.
"Another scotch neat?" Sara quirked an eyebrow. "Must've been a rough week."
"You don't know the half of it," he sighed. "Meeting after meeting, and I spent hours in Toby's office trying to edit the President's speech on unemployment. He ripped apart basically every draft I made."
Just then, Sam's cellphone rang and he rolled his eyes. He'd only left the White House forty-five minutes ago, and someone was already calling him.
"I should really take this," he told her. "It might be something important. I'll be right back."
He walked over to the corridor between the main room of the restaurant and the bathrooms. Opening the phone, he said, "Hello?"
"Hey, do you remember where you put the transcript from that meeting on the Hill you went to for me on Tuesday?" It was Josh. Of course it was Josh. Only Josh Lyman would be calling him asking about work things on a Friday night.
"I left a copy on your desk," he told him quickly. Plates crashed onto the floor.
"What's all that noise?" he asked. "Where are you?"
Sam groaned; he had told Josh about his date with Sara that afternoon, and he had already completely forgotten.
"I'm at Fortuna," he said, his tone clipped.
"Oh, right, right." He paused. "Well, thanks. I'm gonna go look for that memo."
He snapped the phone shut without even saying goodbye and went back to the table. Their drinks had already been brought over, and Sam took a giant swig from his after sitting back down.
"Everything okay?" Sara asked lightly.
"Yeah," Sam rolled his eyes. "Just Josh, looking for something." She nodded and sipped her wine. "So, how was your week?"
"Busy. I interviewed seven members of the House of Representatives, and researched and finished a story on the state of the metro area's public schools."
"Wow." He seemed genuinely interested, unlike a lot of the people she talked to about her work. "I've sat in on some Minority Committee meetings, and according to them, the D.C. metro area public schools are just horrendous."
"They are, it's so sad," she frowned. "All some of these kids have is their school, because their home life is so bad, but for a lot of them, going to school makes them feel just as unsafe as being at home."
"Your calamari," Georgio the waiter came over with their appetizer, placing the large plate down in between them and giving each of them two smaller plates.
"Thank you," they both said to him.
Sam gave her the big serving spoon the calamari had come with so that she could take a little bit for herself first, then she gave it back to him and he put some on his own plate. They both dug in, and Sara practically moaned as it melted in her mouth.
"Wow, this is amazing," she said. "I'm gonna have to thank Bonnie myself for recommending this place!"
"And this is just the appetizer," Sam said as he took another bite from his own plate.
Suddenly, Sam's phone rang again. He groaned internally. It was probably some intern looking to ask a stupid question that could've been answered when he came in the next day. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and held it up to her.
"Be right back," she smiled and nodded in understanding and he excused himself again. "Hello?" It came out a little more terse than he would've liked.
"What's the population of the state of California?" It was Josh. Again.
"Why are you asking me this?"
"I'm reading an article about migrant workers."
He sighed heavily, massaging the bridge of his nose with his free hand. "I don't know, Josh. Why don't you ask Donna to look it up or something?"
"I just figured you'd know, since you're from California and all."
"Sorry, I can't help you. I gotta go." He snapped his phone shut, even more annoyed than he was before.
Meanwhile, in the West Wing, Josh placed his phone back in its cradle, smirking to himself. His plan was working. Sam would be so busy taking his bullshit calls that he and Sara would barely be able to enjoy their date. There would be very few opportunities for them to be able to really talk and get to know one another, and Sara would most likely leave the restaurant thinking that Sam was just another yuppie asshole who was more concerned with his job and answering his phone than enjoying his time with her. Then Sam would off her radar and he would be able to swoop in and work his charms on her.
They had made it through ordering dinner and eating it without his phone ringing again. But Sam was seriously annoyed now, his leg bouncing underneath the table. In his mind, Sara was the best woman he had gone out with in months - she was cute, funny, knew a lot about current events and politics, and could hold an intelligent conversation - and the way things had been going, there was no way she would want to go out with him again. The calls had ruined their date as far as he was concerned, cutting off their conversations at the worst possible times. She was telling him some story about her and her siblings' growing up in New York City, and he wasn't even listening. Josh had gotten under his skin. He was really going to kill him tomorrow.
"The power had gone out in the entire neighborhood, and my brother and sister wanted to see if we would be able to see any stars. We ended up locking ourselves outside, on the roof! We must have only been up there for thirty minutes or so, but it felt like hours! We didn't know what we were going to do! My brother was crying, it was a mess. My dad eventually found us up there and we thought we would be grounded forever, but once he saw we were okay, everything was fine."
He chuckled, looking her in the eye now. "How many siblings do you have again?"
"Two," she frowned. She had explained all of this before she told him the story. "Katie - Katherine - is twenty-seven, and Colm is twenty-two."
"I'm an only child," he told her. "I always wanted siblings, particularly brothers. It was tough sometimes, not having anyone to play with."
"I'm sure, I couldn't even imagine not having them," she said. "Also, my dad's two brothers and their families lived in the same apartment building as us, so we were always going in between the apartments and playing and hanging out with our cousins. Between my dad's two brothers and their families, and my mom's two sisters and brother and their families, I have like almost twenty cousins all together."
"Oh wow," he was geniunely impressed.
"Yeah, birthday parties and Christmas were always a huge affair growing up. We didn't get much, but there was always plenty of family around, so it didn't really matter." She took a sip of her wine. "You grew up in California, right? That must have been incredible."
"Definitely different from New York," he said. "I spent a lot of time at the beach in the summer, in the mountains in the winter..."
His phone ringing cut him off, his eyes widening and his face twisting into a scowl.
"Goddammit," he grumbled a little too loudly, smacking his hand on the table. Sara looked slightly taken aback by his outburst. "I am so sorry, Sara. Let me just take this..."
"It's alright," she assured him with a sympathetic smile. "Duty calls."
He powerwalked to his spot by the bathrooms again, snapping the phone open and pressing it to his ear. "What the hell is so important that you need to call me three times in one night?!" He looked around quickly, making sure that no one was around.
"Sam?" It was Josh on the other end, feigning innocence. Sam was pissed now. "Are you going to that leadership breakfast on Wednesday or just Toby?"
"Josh," he growled, ripping his glasses off his face. "Are you serious?!"
"I need to know, because if you are then Donna needs to change the time of that meeting we have in the Mural Room at ten."
"For God's sake, Josh," he sighed. "This really couldn't have waited until, I don't know, tomorrow? Or Monday? I'm on a date right now, with Sara!"
"Oh yeah, that's right," he said wistfully. A pause. "So, are you going to the leadership breakfast?"
"No, Josh, I'm not. Stop calling me!" He snapped the phone shut, and turned off the vibrate switch. Anything else that Josh, or anyone else for that matter, needed from him would have to wait until his date was over. He looked up to see a bus boy staring at him. He laughed dryly, giving him a tight smile, before making his way back to his table.
"What the hell was that, that shit you pulled last night?" He hadn't bothered knocking on Josh's office door even though it was closed.
"What are you talking about?" Josh looked up from the report he was reading.
"Calling me three times in one hour while I was on a date? You knew about it, I told you yesterday afternoon!"
"I guess I forgot," he said simply. "Sorry man."
"At the end of the night, when I dropped her off at her apartment, you know what she said when I said 'We should do this again'?" He pushed his glasses back up onto his nose. "She said 'Maybe...' Just like that!"
Josh shrugged. "Maybe that Sam Seaborn charm isn't all it's cracked up to be."
"The beginning of the date was fine, perfect even," he told his friend. "It all went downhill when you started calling me!"
"So it's my fault your date didn't go as well as you wanted it to?"
"Yes, it is! Now she probably thinks I'm just another Washington schmuck, obsessed with my job!"
"Well, you are obsessed with your job," he was trying to lighten the mood, but Sam rolled his eyes. "But who's to say you wouldn't have gotten a phone call from Toby or CJ or Bonnie during your date? You do work for the President, you know."
"You're unbelievable," Sam said exasperatedly. "I'll talk to you later, when you're done being a prick." He turned on his heel and stalked out of Josh's office. He was so wrapped up in what had just transpired that he didn't even realize Donna was standing there. He had almost knocked her over. "Oh my God, sorry."
"He did it on purpose, you know," Donna said matter of factly.
"What?"
"He sabotaged your date on purpose," she told him. "I heard a commotion in there, so I sort of... heard everything you guys were arguing about. He sabotaged your date on purpose."
"Why... Why would he do that?" He scratched his temple.
"Isn't it obvious?" She adjusted the stack of papers she was holding. "He likes her."
He likes her? Sam thought. Were they in high school?
Josh often did whatever it took to get what he wanted or needed in his work, but Sam never thought he would do it, stoop that low, when it came to women. But, Josh was his best friend, and if he went through that much trouble to essentially ruin his and Sara's date, he must really like her, Sam figured. Now that he thought about it, had gotten very close over the last several months, and he had noticed them flirting on more than one occassion. Turning around, he paused for a moment before tentatively knocking on Josh's office door.
"Hey man," he said as he swung the door open. "I'm sorry."
Josh looked up from his computer. "You're sorry? For what?"
"For getting mad at you before," he explained. "I should've realized."
"I'm confused..."
"You like her, I get it. I should've realized last night when you called me a thousand times. I won't go out with her again."
Josh's eyes widened and he ducked his head, hiding the flush that had creeped up over his face. He wasn't going to admit to Sam that he was right. Not yet, anyway.