One Lonely Shoe Part 7/7
Author: Nefret24
Disclaimers n' stuff: see parts 1 + up
*****
"Where's my other shoe?" I repeat dumbly. I had lost grip of the entire situation: I had no idea if I still had a job- after the fiasco with the ambassador; I was clueless as to exactly how my boss felt about the said fiasco- except to know that it most likely was not in my favor; I did not know whether I should disclose why I came to the stupid ball in the first place and I certainly was without inspiration insofar as the precise location of my (well, CJ's) left shoe.
"You lost your shoe?" Josh asks, and I see the corners of his mouth quiver as if he's trying not to smile.
"CJ's shoe," I correct him, gesturing with the right one that I carried.
"CJ's shoe?"
"These are her shoes, and yes, I lost the other shoe."
"Why are you wearing CJ's shoes?"
"Cuz mine didn't match the dress."
"You didn't have any black shoes?"
"No, not with me at the time."
He gives me a look of amused exasperation and then wiped his hands across his face. He turns and looking down the street, he finally speaks again. "Where's Sergio?"
"At Margaret's sister's house. In his cage." I figure by now somehow he must have gotten wind of the whole situation- he didn't refer to Sergio as the Butter Man.
"CJ says he's a pretty big dog." He is so not happy with me. I can hear it in his voice.
"That he is."
"Why didn't you tell me! You- you-" He's so pissed off he's incoherent. Good- cuz I have my own score to settle.
"I told you I had plans and you spun the rest of the web yourself. Besides, you probably would have just mocked me anyway."
"I never-"
"You always, without fail, decide that when I have a date, it is priority number one to make me feel completely and entirely without self worth. 'Oh, Donna how's the gomer?' " I mimic, feeling my cheeks getting redder and redder. "Friggin' passive aggressive snarking all the time! Every time, Josh, every time, you give me those pity speeches about how you hate to see your assistant being such a failure"
I look at Josh. He's not looking at me. Apparently the street sign on the next corner is utterly fascinating, because his attention is rapt and totally directed toward it.
He's not talking either. He's not interrupting and he's not contradicting me.
This is soooooo not good.
I decided it was a good idea to sit down.
"Joshua, Joshua, Joshua," I sigh, as I try to arrange myself in a lady like position against the lamppost.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm sitting down."
"Why?"
"Because you're going to sit down and we are going to have a little talk."
"Here?"
"Yes."
Amazingly enough, he sat down.
I can't imagine if people happened to pass by at that particular moment what they could possibly think. Just a man and a woman, both elegantly dressed, sitting on a street corner half turned away from each other and staring silently into space.
Yeah, weird, huh? Only in my life.
"So. Let's talk."
"Are you mad at me?"
"I'm not sure."
"Okay."
Another lengthy pause. For two people who spend every day of their lives walking and talking together, this sitting in silence was way too much. So of course, we both decided to start talking at the same time, and got into an argument as to who goes first.
Thank goodness for rank, that's all I have to say. I made him go first.
"Donna."
"Hmmmm?"
"You're not a failure, you know."
"Of course I know. My question is, do you?"
"Do I what?"
"Know I'm not a failure? Can it penetrate the ole Lyman membrane that maybe, just maybe, though I have made some mistakes in the past, that I know what I'm doing insofar as my personal life is concerned?"
"You have made some mistakes, though."
"Yes."
"Like Dr. Freeride."
"I concede."
"And Todd."
"And Todd."
"And that other dude- you know, the one with the hair?"
"JOSH! This is exactly what I'm talking about!"
"You lied to me about Sergio."
"Yes. Yes I did."
"I'm still mad about that."
"Cuz he's not the butter gomer you had fantasized him to be?"
He grins. "Case in point, right?"
"You betcha."
"Are you okay?"
"Sure- a bit cold, maybe and a still a bit angry at someone, but overall, just fine."
"The ambassador"
"Josh- I'm fine."
"Okay. Okay," he breathes. "You know something? I'm glad you came."
"It's better than getting mauled by a two ton greyhound."
"So what exactly did happen?"
"Long story, Josh."
"I got time."
"No, you don't."
"I have plenty of time," he gestures with his watch.
"Not with that time piece you don't."
"You've had your share of getting rescued tonight, haven't you?" Ooooh, treading on dangerous ground now, Joshua. If CJ were here, you probably wouldn't still be breathing.
"What?" I ask in my best feminista indignant voice.
"A regular damsel in distress."
"Excuse me? Who punched out Jan? It's okay- you didn't see it, you were unconscious at the time- ME. Me, me, me. All by myself."
"And I shall live in fear of the reputed Moss right hook."
"Damn straight."
****
It was nice, sitting there on the street corner talking with Donna. At one point, we just started talking about random things like we always do and normalcy set in again. Though I knew I didn't want normalcy anymore. I didn't want to go to work with Donna everyday and carry on meaningless conversations in the hallways and get into tiffs when she went out on a date.
I wanted to be the lucky gomer. Hell, I think by this point I qualify as gomer. And I'd be damn lucky too if she'd have me after what I've put her through.
"We should go back inside," she said, rubbing her arms.
This is where I did the very gallant gesture of giving her my jacket. She laughed at me. I mean, she friggin' laughed at me. I was being the typical genteel gentleman and she was almost in tears with laughter.
"Pierce Brosnan always gives his leading lady his coat," she got out between giggles.
"I outrank him. Take the damn coat."
"Thank you," and with a flick of her hair- a very dramatic gesture- probably something akin to what some Bond girl at one point or another has done- and took the coat.
"You're welcome."
We walked to the corner of the embassy- the front steps were a mere twenty feet away, when I had to stop her.
"What?"
"Donna"
"What?"
"I'm-I- I'm sorry I didn't invite you to the thing tonight. It was wrong of me."
"That's okay- really-"
"Donna, no, it's not okay. I screwed up with Mandy and I screwed up with Joey and I-I don't know what I would do if I screwed it up with you."
"With me?"
"I know that I've been the greatest asshole in the world but you gotta believe me when I tell you thatthis thingthat we have scares the shit out of me."
"Our thing?"
"Our, you know thing." Please oh please let the same rumor mill that preys on me have preyed on her.
"Our thing."
"Don't you think we have a thing?"
"I-I-" Surprise is the only reaction I can read on her face. Too late to stop now
"Cuz though I have on a number of occasions vehemently denied it, I would that is I would be I would like to have a thing with you."
She smiles. "Well, you see, that's a very odd coincidence indeed, because I came here tonight expressly for the purpose of dancing with someone who, perhaps, I could have a thing with."
"Really? Well, then, we really should go inside." Yes. Yes. Now. Immediately. To the dance floor. Now now now.
"Uh-huh. But, just so you know, I could never date someone who is cowed by a filing cabinet."
"Kay. And just so you know, I could never date someone who dislikes very, very large dogs."
"Well, then. I guess we won't date."
"No, we'll just see each other all the time and have lots of sex."
"I guess so."
"Though, truth be told the filing cabinet really is possessed"
"Shut up, Joshua," she said, drawing me close. "You owe me a dance."
The least I could do was to give her kiss before we went inside.
And on that street corner is where CJ's other shoe fell to the ground and was forsaken, so that Donna's real first dance (since we are not counting the ambassador for obvious reasons) at an embassy ball was with me and shoeless.
Sam and Toby were reconciled when the President became disinclined to follow either one of their speeches and decided to improvise his own. Toby transferred his anger towards the restraining secret service agents and Sam was just thankful that he hadn't been on the receiving end of the salad fork.
Leo, when later approached about his remark concerning Josh getting a date for the ball, was astonished to see it was so violently pursued as an order. "I didn't want to know the soap opera, Josh and I never will, Just don't let me read about it on the cover of the Times and I'll be happy."
The President was happy with his remarks, President Arroyo was unpleasantly rebuked but in such pleasant spirits she didn't care (possibly the wine), and the Czech ambassador, though his nose after plastic surgery did seem to be almost straight once more, never had the opportunity to visit the White House again.
CJ managed to quip her way out of the story to the press and gave herself the honorific of matchmaker of the West Wing- mostly just to see Toby grimace.
Margaret spoke of nothing but the ball animatedly to everyone for days straight and for four days straight, did not wash the left side of her face where the very handsome Philippino bodyguard had kissed her goodnight.
Sergio was content when his master and mistress returned home and he was finally let out of his cage, giving him free reign to terrify squirrels, rabbits and small children in the neighborhood.
To this day, the whereabouts of the shoe(s) are unknown.