Author's Note- Sorry it took so long to get the last two chapters posted! I was on vacation and didn't work on it while I was gone. But here it is, begging to be read.
! WARNING ! – This chapter may contain weirdness. Read anyway.
Chapter Two
"In Reality, Italian Sucks"
Ainsley paid the cab driver and hopped out of the cab. She was standing in front of Ramone's, and was very nervous.
Sure, she'd
been on blind dates before, but for some reason, unknown to her, she wanted
this to work. She didn't want to get
her hopes up though.
She finally
got up the courage to go in. She walked
up the steps and inside. She went over
to the waiter.
"Hi. My name is Ainsley Hayes, and…" The waiter cut her off.
"Follow me
please."
Ainsley
followed. She was glad that he knew why
she was here, because she didn't want to make a fool of herself even before the
date began.
He was
leading her to a table in the corner. As she got nearer, she realized who was sitting at the table. She froze.
The waiter
turned around. "Miss Hayes, are you
coming?"
"Yeah." She quickly caught up. When he reached the table, he pulled out a
chair for her. She sat down.
"Ainsley?"
exclaimed Josh.
"Hi Josh."
She noticed his eyes were ready to pop out of their sockets. She knew how he felt.
"You're my
date?"
"Yeah. But I can leave if you're uncomfortable or
something. Really." She stood up, and started to walk away.
"Ainsley,
wait." He grabbed a hold of her
arm. "Sit down." She did.
"Why am I
offering to leave? This is my dream
date!" she thought.
"I just
can't believe Sam set us up, that's all."
"I… wait a
minute. Sam? Sam asked you to come?"
"Well,
actually, it was more of an order, but yeah, he did. Why? Didn't he ask you?"
"No! That's the problem? CJ asked me!"
"CJ!"
"Yeah. I told her that I…" she stopped when she
realized she was talking out loud.
"You told
her what?"
"Nothing."
"Ainsley…"
"No! It's nothing, really."
"If it were
nothing, you wouldn't have stopped mid-sentence. Come on, Ainsley. You can
tell me."
"No, really,
I can't."
"Then it
must either be about her or me. And I'm
sure it's not about her. So what's this
about me?"
Ainsley's
blushing only proved he was right. "Please?"
"Fine. But you're going to get mad, or something,
and just leave."
"Maybe, but
tell me anyway."
"Fine. I told CJ that I… that I liked you. And she must have gone and told Sam and set
this whole thing up. I'm sorry I wasted
your time."
"Ainsley,
you're not wasting my time. You want to
know why? Because I told Sam the exact
same thing about you. So it was a
conspiracy to get us together, one that I'm glad worked."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Josh?"
"What?"
"I'm hungry."
Josh
laughed. Ainsley joined him, because
she realized what a funny way that was to break from all that emotional
stuff. She also really liked his laugh.
"Sir, madam,
your food." A waiter set down two
plates heaped with pasta and sauce in front of them. "Enjoy your meal." He
scooted off.
"Well,
here's food." Josh picked up his
fork. He took a bite and almost choked.
"What's
wrong, Josh?"
"The sauce
is horrible!"
Ainsley
tried some and reacted in the same way.
"Do you like
cheeseburgers, Ainsley?"
"Sure, why?"
Josh stood
up. "Come on." He started walking toward the exit. Ainsley just followed.
When they
got outside, Josh turned to Ainsley. "There's a McDonald's just down the street. Do you want to go?"
"McDonald's? In these clothes?" She looked at her black dress and his good suit.
"Why
not?" Josh's eyes twinkled.
"Might as
well. Burgers sound really good."
"I thought
they might."
Josh clasped
Ainsley's hand in his and started walking toward the big M in the
distance. Ainsley just smiled and went
along.
"Ainsley,
can I ask you something?"
"Sure. What?"
"I always
thought you had a thing for Sam. What's
going on with you two?"
"Actually,
we're just good friends. Nothing
more. What about you and Donna? I could swear you guys were attracted to
each other."
"We're just
good friends too."
"She coddles
you."
"So I've
been told. Can I ask you something
else?"
"Like?"
"Like
how many Republicans does it * really * take to change a light bulb?"
"God, look
at all the Little Leaguers running around here tonight," observed Ainsley as
they sat and ate their food.
"I just
can't believe we're stuck eating in the Playplace!" replied Josh.
"But you
know what I think?"
"What?"
"This is so
much better than Ramone's."
"Well,
cheeseburgers always beat pasta and goop!"
All of a
sudden a plastic ball came flying from the ball pit and hit Josh in the
head. He picked it up and whipped it
back. Then some adults came in and
yelled for all the kids to get ready to leave. They all clamored from the equipment, grabbed their shoes from the
cubbies, and left.
"Finally,
some peace!" exclaimed Josh, finishing the final piece of burger.
"They
underestimate how annoying they can be sometimes."
"Are you
finished with your food?"
"Yep. Why?"
"Come
on." Josh stood up and started over
towards the large ball pit.
Ainsley
figured out what he was doing. "Josh,
are you insane? We can't go in there!"
"Sure we
can." He walked up the three stairs and
went through the hole. Ainsley sighed
and followed. She had just gotten in
when Josh threw a ball at her and hit her in the forehead.
"Hey!" she
exclaimed as she picked up another ball and whipped it back at him.
"Excuse me,
but you two can't really be in here."
Josh looked
up and saw a McDonald's employee standing there. The McDonald's guy recognized him immediately.
"I'm sorry,
Mr. Lyman. I'll leave you alone," he
said quickly, with a funny look on his face. He shrugged and left.
"What was
that about?" wondered Ainsley.
"That was
Senator David's son Paul. Apparently I
have achieved celebrity status with him." He grinned. Then his cell phone
rang. "Josh Lyman."
"Josh? Where are you?"
Josh's eyes
widened. He covered up the
mouthpiece. "It's Leo, and he wants to
know where I am," he hissed.
"Just tell
him!"
A smile
reformed on Josh's face. "Well, Leo, right
now I am sitting with a Miss Ainsley Hayes in the ball pit in McDonald's
Playplace."
"You're
WHERE?" boomed Leo.
"In the ball
pit in McDonald's with Ainsley Hayes!"
"What the
hell are you doing playing in the ball pit at McDonald's? And with Ainsley?"
Josh heard
loud laughter in the background. "It's
a rather long story, Leo. What's up?"
"Four
American tourists were taken hostage in China. We need you back here."
"I'll be
right there." Josh hung up the phone.
"You have to
go back to the White House, don't you?"
Josh
nodded. "I'm sorry, Ainsley." Josh, still down on his knees, started
moving toward the hole. "I'll get us a
cab and have them bring you home before I go to the… ohh!"
"What?"
"I just went
through someone's puke!"
Josh and Ainsley
got out of the ball pit, and Ainsley tried to help Josh wipe off the puke. The smell was making both of their stomach's
turn.
"Now I have
to stop home and change too, dammit."
"Don't
worry. Leo won't kill you if you're not
there right away, will he?"
"Yeah. But when I think of it, I'm sure when Donna
was taking care of me after the shooting, she stole some of my suits and kept
them at the office. I'll call her after
I drop you off."
"I have no
doubt that she did!"
They walked
outside and immediately found a cab. Ainsley told him her address and they drove off.
When they
reached her apartment building, Josh told the cabbie to wait and he escorted
Ainsley to the door of her building.
"I just
wanted to let you know you looked stunning tonight, Ainsley."
"Thank
you. And thank you for giving me such a
great time."
Josh leaned
closer and gave her a short kiss on the lips. "Goodnight, Ainsley." He walked
back to the cab. Ainsley watched it
drive off.
Tomorrow,
I'm giving CJ a huge hug… and quite possibly Sam as well…