See Part One for disclaimers.
------------
Donna grabbed a carrot muffin from the basket and made her way to the front of the line. Once she paid for the snack she turned toward the door, only to run in to Ainsley. Donna apologized and moved to walk around the lawyer.
"They keeping you busy up there?"
Donna stopped, surprised at Ainsley's actual civil tone. "Yeah, lots of papers. Got the bandaids and papercuts to prove it," she joked.
That got a smile from the Republican. "Well, I best leave you to your work."
The assistant nodded in response then walked away. She felt the other woman's eyes on her and wondered what she had done now to gain such attention from her. Self-conscious, she ran her right hand over her behind, then took a quick look as she got out of sight of others. Nothing.
Shaking her head, Donna shook off the non-sensical thoughts she had been having and returned to the bullpen, slipping in to her chair.
It wasn't two minutes since she sat down that Josh bellowed, "Donna!"
She held up the folders as he sauntered up to her. He grabbed them and leaned against her desk, flipping through them.
"Meeting went well?" she asked, between popping pieces of muffin in to her mouth. His only response was a non-commital grunt. "That good, eh?"
"As good as anything could be right now." He pushed himself up from the desk and turned toward his office. "Thanks!" he called over his shoulder.
~*~
Donna rubbed her eyes. It had been several hours since she had started filing again and she was getting tired. She looked at her watch to check the time. 10pm. About five hours. And still many more hours to go.
"Wow, and I thought we had a lot of papers to file."
Donna looked up to see Ainsley standing in the doorway to what was once the Sagittarius room.
"Mind if I...?" Ainsley asked, waving in the direction of the stairs.
"No, come on in," the assistant replied, watching the lawyer come down.
"They have you working all alone on this?"
"Yeah. Margaret's running between Leo and the President's offices trying to keep that under control, and Bonnie and Ginger have been doing research for both Toby and the campaign guys. CJ won't let Carol out of her sight, so I'm the only high level assistant that was available for it. Not that Josh didn't protest."
The two women grinned.
"Would you like some help?" she asked as she approached.
You could have knocked Donna over with a feather, or at least that was the expression on her face after hearing Ainsley's question.
"Uh, sure," she finally uttered, still surprised. Ainsley came closer and gave her a look of 'what next?'.
"I've separated all the files in to their appropriate year, starting from 1990 to present day," she stated, indicating the boxes with a wave of her hand. "They're all marked with their appropriate year, then separated in to 'medical', 'personal', and 'business/political' sections."
"Okay then," the lawyer replied, picking up a stack of papers from the table to begin sorting. She chose a chair on the other side of the table from Donna and sat down.
The two women worked in silence for a few minutes before Ainsley queried innocently, "You don't date much, do you?"
Donna stopped what she was doing and stared at Ainsley who was now looking at her. "Why do you ask?"
The lawyer shrugged. "Just making conversation."
"Making conversation is 'nice day out there' or 'doing anything this weekend?', not a person's dating habits," the assistant replied, sounding a bit uptight.
"Sorry, didn't mean to pry..." Ainsley gazed down at the files in front of her once again.
Donna sighed. "It's just..we haven't exactly been best buddies, you know?" she commented.
Ainsley glanced up again. "Yeah, I know. I've been something of a bitch to you lately."
The assistant let out a laugh, making the lawyer blush in embarrassment. "Sorry, just never imagined you'd say something like that about yourself."
"Not that it's not true."
"No," Donna responded, grinning. Ainsley returned the grin, then looked back down once again to the files.
"And no, I don't," the assistant said, getting the lawyer to look up again.
"Don't what?"
"Date much. I guess I have too romantic a notion of what I want in a guy, and most times..."
"Prince Charming he is not?"
Donna nodded. "Yep. I seem to attract the self-involved type. I'm almost at the point where I feel becoming a nun wouldn't be that bad a career change."
Ainsley choked out a laugh at Donna's comment and the assistant joined her.
"Yeah, I know, I wouldn't last as a nun."
"Maybe I should call you Maria from now on?" the lawyer joked, making Donna laugh again.
"Not unless you know some handsome prince who wants to whisk me away."
"Well...."
Donna leaned forward on the table, her voice rising as she demanded, "Okay, spill! You know a prince? An *available* prince?"
The lawyer started to laugh again, much to the assistant's annoyance. Ainsley waved her hands and shook her head negatively.
"No, no, no..sorry," she started, catching her breath. "I know a guy, who I consider a prince, meaning he's a really nice guy."
"Oh?" Donna's annoyance diminished and her interest was peaked once again.
"Yeah. And, if you're interested, I could set you up..."
"Sss..what's wrong with him?" the assistant asked, cutting herself off before agreeing.
"Nothing. Well, he is a Republican," she teased.
"Not all Republicans are terrible people."
Ainsley smiled. "Glad to hear you say that. Oh, he has this annoying habit of sucking the pimentos out of stuffed olives, but other than that.."
"I could live with that."
Ainsley grinned. "I'll set it up then. Any particular night?"
"Friday would be good, say 7pm?"
"Okay, I'll make sure that's good for him."
"Great, thanks!" Donna went to start filing some more, then stopped and glanced over at Ainsley. "What's his name?"
"Was wondering when you were going to ask," Ainsley commented, grinning still. "It's Cliff."
The assistant looked surprised. "Cliff? As in the Cliff who met you for drinks a few days ago?"
"Yep."
"Then there definitely has to be something wrong with him if you're no longer interested..."
Ainsley snickered. "I was never interested in Cliff. He's an old friend from college. He went out with my roommate, and we got along pretty well. After they broke up, we kept in touch. But there's never been anything romantic between us."
"Not your type then?"
"No, not really."
"Prefer social issue-minded Democrats?" Donna joked.
"Very funny. You *do* want me to set this up, do you not?" the lawyer asked, her expression fixed in a mock scowl.
Donna held up her hands in surrender. "Yes, okay, I take it back..." Ainsley nodded in satisfaction and returned to organizing the files. "For now."
The lawyer glanced up again. Donna made like she was engrossed in the files in front of her, but Ainsley couldn't miss the smirk. She shook her head and returned to her work.
~ * ~
Ainsley lay down on her bed, happy to finally be home. Helping Donna had taken longer than she expected, but she thought it was worth it.
The two women had had the chance to talk, allowing the lawyer the opportunity to find out more about Donna. Even though she had said some not nice things about her to Cliff, deep down she knew he was right. Donna was not a bad person, she just made some bad choices. She was just mad still after all the information about the President's MS had come down. Unfortunately for the assistant, she had become an easy target for Ainsley's anger.
But now she wanted to make amends, especially after seeing all the work Donna was doing on top of her regular job. Despite the craziness of the impending trial, the assistant was keeping her head about her and doing whatever she could to help out. That impressed Ainsley a great deal and made her decide to set up a blind date between Donna and Cliff.
Of course, she wasn't about to tell Cliff that he had won. His blind date's name would remain a secret, for now.
Ainsley rolled off her bed and stood up, making her way to the bathroom to get ready for bed.
End of Part Two
------------
Donna grabbed a carrot muffin from the basket and made her way to the front of the line. Once she paid for the snack she turned toward the door, only to run in to Ainsley. Donna apologized and moved to walk around the lawyer.
"They keeping you busy up there?"
Donna stopped, surprised at Ainsley's actual civil tone. "Yeah, lots of papers. Got the bandaids and papercuts to prove it," she joked.
That got a smile from the Republican. "Well, I best leave you to your work."
The assistant nodded in response then walked away. She felt the other woman's eyes on her and wondered what she had done now to gain such attention from her. Self-conscious, she ran her right hand over her behind, then took a quick look as she got out of sight of others. Nothing.
Shaking her head, Donna shook off the non-sensical thoughts she had been having and returned to the bullpen, slipping in to her chair.
It wasn't two minutes since she sat down that Josh bellowed, "Donna!"
She held up the folders as he sauntered up to her. He grabbed them and leaned against her desk, flipping through them.
"Meeting went well?" she asked, between popping pieces of muffin in to her mouth. His only response was a non-commital grunt. "That good, eh?"
"As good as anything could be right now." He pushed himself up from the desk and turned toward his office. "Thanks!" he called over his shoulder.
~*~
Donna rubbed her eyes. It had been several hours since she had started filing again and she was getting tired. She looked at her watch to check the time. 10pm. About five hours. And still many more hours to go.
"Wow, and I thought we had a lot of papers to file."
Donna looked up to see Ainsley standing in the doorway to what was once the Sagittarius room.
"Mind if I...?" Ainsley asked, waving in the direction of the stairs.
"No, come on in," the assistant replied, watching the lawyer come down.
"They have you working all alone on this?"
"Yeah. Margaret's running between Leo and the President's offices trying to keep that under control, and Bonnie and Ginger have been doing research for both Toby and the campaign guys. CJ won't let Carol out of her sight, so I'm the only high level assistant that was available for it. Not that Josh didn't protest."
The two women grinned.
"Would you like some help?" she asked as she approached.
You could have knocked Donna over with a feather, or at least that was the expression on her face after hearing Ainsley's question.
"Uh, sure," she finally uttered, still surprised. Ainsley came closer and gave her a look of 'what next?'.
"I've separated all the files in to their appropriate year, starting from 1990 to present day," she stated, indicating the boxes with a wave of her hand. "They're all marked with their appropriate year, then separated in to 'medical', 'personal', and 'business/political' sections."
"Okay then," the lawyer replied, picking up a stack of papers from the table to begin sorting. She chose a chair on the other side of the table from Donna and sat down.
The two women worked in silence for a few minutes before Ainsley queried innocently, "You don't date much, do you?"
Donna stopped what she was doing and stared at Ainsley who was now looking at her. "Why do you ask?"
The lawyer shrugged. "Just making conversation."
"Making conversation is 'nice day out there' or 'doing anything this weekend?', not a person's dating habits," the assistant replied, sounding a bit uptight.
"Sorry, didn't mean to pry..." Ainsley gazed down at the files in front of her once again.
Donna sighed. "It's just..we haven't exactly been best buddies, you know?" she commented.
Ainsley glanced up again. "Yeah, I know. I've been something of a bitch to you lately."
The assistant let out a laugh, making the lawyer blush in embarrassment. "Sorry, just never imagined you'd say something like that about yourself."
"Not that it's not true."
"No," Donna responded, grinning. Ainsley returned the grin, then looked back down once again to the files.
"And no, I don't," the assistant said, getting the lawyer to look up again.
"Don't what?"
"Date much. I guess I have too romantic a notion of what I want in a guy, and most times..."
"Prince Charming he is not?"
Donna nodded. "Yep. I seem to attract the self-involved type. I'm almost at the point where I feel becoming a nun wouldn't be that bad a career change."
Ainsley choked out a laugh at Donna's comment and the assistant joined her.
"Yeah, I know, I wouldn't last as a nun."
"Maybe I should call you Maria from now on?" the lawyer joked, making Donna laugh again.
"Not unless you know some handsome prince who wants to whisk me away."
"Well...."
Donna leaned forward on the table, her voice rising as she demanded, "Okay, spill! You know a prince? An *available* prince?"
The lawyer started to laugh again, much to the assistant's annoyance. Ainsley waved her hands and shook her head negatively.
"No, no, no..sorry," she started, catching her breath. "I know a guy, who I consider a prince, meaning he's a really nice guy."
"Oh?" Donna's annoyance diminished and her interest was peaked once again.
"Yeah. And, if you're interested, I could set you up..."
"Sss..what's wrong with him?" the assistant asked, cutting herself off before agreeing.
"Nothing. Well, he is a Republican," she teased.
"Not all Republicans are terrible people."
Ainsley smiled. "Glad to hear you say that. Oh, he has this annoying habit of sucking the pimentos out of stuffed olives, but other than that.."
"I could live with that."
Ainsley grinned. "I'll set it up then. Any particular night?"
"Friday would be good, say 7pm?"
"Okay, I'll make sure that's good for him."
"Great, thanks!" Donna went to start filing some more, then stopped and glanced over at Ainsley. "What's his name?"
"Was wondering when you were going to ask," Ainsley commented, grinning still. "It's Cliff."
The assistant looked surprised. "Cliff? As in the Cliff who met you for drinks a few days ago?"
"Yep."
"Then there definitely has to be something wrong with him if you're no longer interested..."
Ainsley snickered. "I was never interested in Cliff. He's an old friend from college. He went out with my roommate, and we got along pretty well. After they broke up, we kept in touch. But there's never been anything romantic between us."
"Not your type then?"
"No, not really."
"Prefer social issue-minded Democrats?" Donna joked.
"Very funny. You *do* want me to set this up, do you not?" the lawyer asked, her expression fixed in a mock scowl.
Donna held up her hands in surrender. "Yes, okay, I take it back..." Ainsley nodded in satisfaction and returned to organizing the files. "For now."
The lawyer glanced up again. Donna made like she was engrossed in the files in front of her, but Ainsley couldn't miss the smirk. She shook her head and returned to her work.
~ * ~
Ainsley lay down on her bed, happy to finally be home. Helping Donna had taken longer than she expected, but she thought it was worth it.
The two women had had the chance to talk, allowing the lawyer the opportunity to find out more about Donna. Even though she had said some not nice things about her to Cliff, deep down she knew he was right. Donna was not a bad person, she just made some bad choices. She was just mad still after all the information about the President's MS had come down. Unfortunately for the assistant, she had become an easy target for Ainsley's anger.
But now she wanted to make amends, especially after seeing all the work Donna was doing on top of her regular job. Despite the craziness of the impending trial, the assistant was keeping her head about her and doing whatever she could to help out. That impressed Ainsley a great deal and made her decide to set up a blind date between Donna and Cliff.
Of course, she wasn't about to tell Cliff that he had won. His blind date's name would remain a secret, for now.
Ainsley rolled off her bed and stood up, making her way to the bathroom to get ready for bed.
End of Part Two
