Title: The Dance Is Over
Author: Lucy Mars
Disclaimer: Nah, not mine.
*hasn't really been edited yet, so all errors are mine. ;]
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Chapter #8:
"Who do you think Frank is?"
"Josh," Kathleen groaned, "I told you I didn't know who this elusive Frank was."
"No, really. Do you know any Franks?" Josh asked racking his brain to put a face to the name. "I don't remember any Franks. The only Frank I know use to work as a security guard at the White House, and he was 50. What Franks do you know?"
Sighing, Kathleen sat up. Josh was very annoying when he was like this. "I know a Frank Lucas on the Hill."
"Yeah?" Josh asked eagerly.
"But he's married and a grandfather of three."
"Oh," Josh frowned, navigating the busy streets.
"Maybe he's just a friend," Kathleen offered.
"Maybe he's more than a friend." Josh mumbled, feeling his chest constrict painfully.
"It's your own fault," Kathleen chastised.
"What?"
"You know it is."
Sinking in his seat, Josh stopped for a red light. "I know."
"You can still fix it."
"What if this gomer really loves her?" Josh asked.
Her heart melting at the expression on his face, Kathleen reached over and gave his arm a small squeeze. "Not as much as you love her, though."
Giving Kathleen a small smile, Josh had to agree. "What if she really loves him?"
"From the look on her face when she saw me, she still has feelings for you."
"Really?" Josh asked, feeling his face light up.
"Oh, yeah." Kathleen laughed, "If looks could kill, damn, I'd be dead seven ways to Sunday."
"So there's hope?" Josh asked eagerly.
"There's hope." Kathleen confirmed.
`~`~`~`~`~`
"Do you stay here all night?"
"What?" Donna asked, her head resting comfortably on her desk.
"Donna," Frank sighed setting a cup of coffee down on her desk, "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Sleeping," Donna sighed closing her eyes, "What are you doing here? It's 6 in the morning on a Saturday."
"I had some stuff to finish. What the hell are you doing here?" Frank frowned. Donna didn't sleep in her office. She stayed late, but she never slept in her office.
"Sleeping," Donna mumbled again.
"You have a bed at home, don't you?"
"I don't remember," Donna mumbled against her arm, "I haven't been home in so long."
"Okay," Frank laughed pulling his boss up into a sitting position, "You need to go home and shower."
"Why?" Donna groaned, sitting up limply.
"Well aside from the fact that you smell, you have a meeting in two hours."
"Where?" Donna asked rubbing her eyes.
"The White House."
Her eyes snapping open, Donna shook her head. "That's tomorrow."
"No," Frank said pushing the cup of coffee in front of Donna, "that's in two hours. Tomorrow there's a certain First Family wedding that you're attending, remember?"
"Oh my god," Donna muttered, "This is bad."
"You're not ready?" Frank asked surprised. Donna was always ready. She was the Queen of Index cards and facts.
"I'm ready…I'm just…"
"Just what?"
"Very very tired." Donna sighed, letting her head fall back onto her desk.
"When was the last time you sleep?" Frank asked noticing the dark circles around her eyes.
"I don't remember." Donna groaned.
"Okay boss, lets go."
"Go where?" Donna asked when Frank pulled her to her feet.
"I'm going to take you home so that you can shower, pump as much coffee into you as possible and we can run through you're meeting. Okay?"
"Do I have much of a choice?" Donna asked as Frank dragged her to her car.
"No, not really." Frank grinned, "Car keys?"
"I've never let anyone else drive this car," Donna pouted.
"I can get you to your house safely, or you can drive and ram it into a pole."
Handing Frank her keys, Donna fell into the passenger seat. "Bang up my car and I'll kill you."
"Sure," Frank laughed.
"You forget that I know some secret service agents by name." Donna grumbled sinking into the cool leather seats.
"I keep that in mind." Frank promised.
`~`~`~`~`
"I'm surprised you don't have jet lag."
"I've got a weird internal clock." Josh shrugged.
"Among other things." Sam smiled.
"So," Josh said playing with his toast.
"Josh," Sam grinned leaning across the table, "ask me what you want to ask about Donna and be done with it."
"What makes you think…"
"Josh," Sam laughed, "shut up and ask."
"Who's Frank?" Josh asked in a rush.
"Frank?" Sam asked confused.
"Frank," Josh repeated, "Is Donna seeming a guy named Frank?"
"Frank!" Sam laughed, "You think that Donna's dating Frank?"
"Well…yeah," Josh frowned.
"Oh Josh," Sam said shaking his head, "you never cease to amuse me."
"I'm glad that you find all of this so entertaining, you sick…"
"Frank is Donna's assistant," Sam smiled, cutting Josh off.
"Her assistant?" Josh asked incredulously.
"Yup." Sam grinned.
"So she's not dating him?" Josh asked enthusiastically.
"Unless Donna's suddenly into grad students, no, she's not dating him."
"Okay," Josh said letting out the breath that he was holding.
"But if she's seeming someone else, I don't know." Sam shrugged.
"What do you mean?" Josh asked confused.
"I don't know if Donna's seeing someone right now."
"Do you think she is?"
Raising an amused eyebrow, Sam sipped his coffee slowly. "Why would you care?"
"Sam," Josh growled.
"What?" Sam asked innocently.
"Is Donna seeing anyone?"
"I don't know." Sam repeated, "I told you I didn't know."
"Do you really not know, or are you just screwing with me?"
Josh frowned.
"I really don't know," Sam answered. "I thought that you didn't have any feelings for Donna."
"Sam…" Josh warned.
"I thought that…"
"Sam!"
"What?"
Shifting uncomfortably in his seat, Josh played with his fork. "It is entirely possible that I've had a change of heart."
"Since when?" Sam demanded, leaning over the table. He's waited two years to hear Josh say those words.
"Since two days ago."
"Two days ago? What happened two days ago? Where were you?"
"I was cornered in a plane and we were over the Pacific. It was either jump out of the plane or hear Kathleen out." Josh laughed, "The latter won."
"So she knocked some sense into you?" Sam asked eager for details.
"It is entirely possible that she made me see the light."
"Josh," Sam moaned, "the cliché."
Shrugging his shoulders, Josh nervously ran his hands through his hair. "As surprising as it may sound, that wasn't the hard part."
Confused, Sam frowned at Josh. "It wasn't?"
"The hard part is going to be getting Donna somewhere where I can talk to her."
Fishing out his cell phone, Sam tossed it at Josh and watched as he deftly caught it. "Call her."
"What?" Josh exclaimed.
"Call her," Sam repeated, "Speed dial number 3."
"Sam, I'm not just going to call her."
"Why the hell not?" Sam demanded, "Call her!"
"No!" Josh snapped.
"Just call her and ask her to meet you for lunch, or
something."
Rolling his eyes, Josh put Sam's phone down on the table. "Seeing how she didn't say two words to me yesterday at lunch, do you really think that she's going to meet me for lunch?"
"You never know," Sam grinned, "Stranger things have happened."
"I'm not calling her, Sam."
"You can either call her, or I can tell her that I can't go to the wedding with her tomorrow." Sam threatened.
"So?" Josh asked confused with where Sam was going with this.
"If I don't go with Donna, than Abby is going to fix her up with some eligible bachelor, who will sweep her off her feet. Is that what you want?" Sam asked, "For Donna to swoon in the arms of another man?"
Scowling at Sam, Josh set down his glass roughly. "That's
evil Sam."
"It's your choice, Josh."
Glowering at Sam the entire time, Josh grabbed his phone and pressed #3.
`~`~`~`~`
Her skin warm and her limbs limp, Donna dragged herself out of her steam filled bathroom and back into reality. Shivering as the cool air washed over her flushed skin, Donna tightened her sash. Padding around her room and grabbing some clean clothes, Donna stopped when she watched the morning sunlight play across her bed. Her large, welcoming and comfortable bed. A bed that you could just sink into. A bed that was so inviting right now. Casting a quick look at her closed door and the sound of Frank Humming to himself as he made coffee and watched CNN, Donna threw caution to the wind and let herself sink down into the soft bed. Just five minutes. Five minutes and she would get up and get ready. Curling up under her duvet cover, Donna closed her eyes just as Frank yelled from the kitchen.
"Get your ass out of bed and get dressed!"
Groaning, Donna pulled her blanket over her head and tried to hide from Frank.
"Are you decent?" Frank asked knocking on Donna's door.
"No," Donna moaned, "Go away."
"To bad," Frank laughed, "I'm coming in anyway."
Sighing, Donna peeked her wet head over the top of her covers. "How did you know that I was in bed?"
Leaning against her doorjamb with his arms crossed and a smile dancing across his face, Frank shook his head. "Boss, you need to get up."
"How did you know?" Donna frowned, not making any moves to get out of bed.
"I've got three sisters," Frank grinned, "I know. Now get out of bed. The coffee's almost done."
"Five more minutes," Donna whispered pulling the covers back over her head.
"Now," Frank corrected pulling the duvet away from Donna, and leaving her with a thin sheet.
"Who's the boss here?" Donna asked cracking an eye open to glare at Frank. Not an easy task considering the fact that her eyelid was drooping sleepily.
"You, but right now, I'm taking charge. I've got three little sisters. I know how you women work. You lie in bed till the last possible second and rush up when you realize that your time is up. And do you know who suffers while you apply eye makeup at a
dangerous speed and angle? Me. That's right. Me. Now get up. I'm playing the role of honorary big brother this fine morning."
"You're 7 years younger than me." Donna reminded him as she grabbed the duvet and pulled it back over her head. "Wake me up when the coffee is finished. Use any means possible. I promise in advance not to fire you. Now get out."
"Whatever," Frank laughed closing the door behind him.
Sighing happily, Donna closed her eyes just as her phone rang shrilly. At least that's what it felt like. She could have just closed her eyes, or have closed them ten minutes ago. The space between sleep and consciousness had a funny way of blurring the lines. Reaching her arm out blindly, Donna grabbed her phone off of her nightstand and pulled it under the cocoon of warmth that she'd formed. Squinting to look at the number under the mass of blankets, Donna had to stifle a groan as she answered her phone, "Sam, what could you possibly want this early in the morning?"
"Ah…" Josh stuttered.
"Sam?" Donna asked pulling herself into a sitting position on her bed. It must be her sleep-deprived mind and lack of oxygen from hiding under her smothering blankets that made Sam sound so weird. So different. So much like Josh. "You okay?"
Before Josh even had a chance to stutter, Franks booming voice rang through Donna's townhouse. "Are you out of bed yet?"
"Hold on, Sam." Donna sighed, "Yes!" she yelled back at Frank.
"Liar!" Frank accused stirring a cup of coffee for himself, "Get your ass out of bed already and get dressed. You can't go to your meeting naked."
Choking on his tongue, Josh felt his heart start to crack at the sound of Donna laughing at what the mystery man had just said.
"I could try," Donna laughed.
"Get dressed," Frank laughed, "I made you coffee. You're going to be late."
Looking at the clock sitting on her nightstand, Donna had to admit that Frank had a point. "I'm coming!"
"Don't make me come in there and dress you." Frank laughed, "Not that I have a problem with that."
"Shut up," Donna replied getting out of bed and grabbing the clothes that she'd discarded earlier, "Listen Sam, I have to…"
Clearing his throat, Josh pulled himself together. "It's not Sam."
Her feet freezing beneath her, Donna had to remind herself to breath after a moment of silence feel between them. "Josh?" she asked timidly.
"Ah, yeah, it's me."
Dropping the shirt that she was holding, Donna clutched her phone with unnecessary force. "Josh?" Donna asked again.
"Yeah,"
"How did you get this number?" Donna asked surprised.
"Sam," Josh answered. One-word answers, right now, that was all that he was capable off. As soon as he could start to breath again, he could bend over and pick up the shattered remains of his heart and then, he would be more eloquent.
"Oh," Donna said stupidly.
"Listen," Josh said clearing his throat, "I can let you go if you're busy."
"I'm not…"
"Donnatella!" Frank bellowed, his best imitation of how Sam yelled for her when he came by her office.
"I'll let you go." Josh said curtly.
Holding the dead phone, Donna opened and closed her mouth with bewilderment. Sitting down heavily on her bed, Donna fell back against her mattress. "What the hell just happened?"
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So...........whatcha think?
-lucy
"http://lucy_mars.tripod.com"