Title: Shattered Innocence 5/6
Author: Amber (ambino1111@prodigy.net)
The sundae didn't do much to help my anger or frustration, but it did taste really good. The White House has the most amazing chefs.
I hear Leo's booming voice before my desk comes into view, and my stomach instantly knots.
This can't be good.
A small crowd has gathered around Josh's office, trying to look inconspicuous and busy. They're not very good actors.
"Leo, what is going on?" I ask calmly, wondering why the Chief of Staff is standing in front of Josh's door, waving a white sheet of paper in the air and looking about one minute away from huffing and puffing and blowing the house down.
"Donna," Leo looks over at me, then back at the door. He looks both helpless and pissed.
"Joshua Lyman, open this damned door right now!"
Josh, whether intelligently or unintelligently, does not respond.
"Sir, maybe I can get him to-" Sam trails off, appearing suddenly. Leo looks at Sam, then me, then at the door. He nods for Sam to go ahead.
"Josh, listen to Leo, you dolt. This is not the way to solve anything. You're not helping the situation at all."
Now I'm really worried. "_What_ is going on?" I demand, my voice high and unyielding.
"That is exactly what I would like to know," Leo says loudly, turning towards Josh's door so his deputy can clearly hear him. "I was on the phone in my office and Josh dropped this off for me to read and sign off on. It is unacceptable."
Leo hands me the piece of paper. My eyes almost tear up when I read it. "A letter of resignation?"
Leo nods curtly, taking back the letter I'm holding out to him. My stomach feels queasy.
"I don't beLIEVE that he is acting like such a child. Honestly, a grown man hiding in his office. Nothing he could have done would warrant this."
Sam and I share a look. "Is this because of last night?" I ask Sam. He shrugs.
"That would be my guess," He responds quietly.
"He feels like he has compromised the ethics of offices everywhere and has shamed the White House and its staff," Leo reads the quote off the page and looks up, begging Sam and me for an answer. "What did he do? Why does he feel this way?"
We both answer at the same time.
"He shattered my music box."
"He slept with Donna last night."
Our sentences overlap, and we both jump and stare at each other.
"WHAT?!?" I shriek. Sam does the same, albeit in a slightly more-masculine tone. Slightly.
The wild look in my eyes must be threatening to Sam, because he starts explaining himself almost immediately. "Josh called me up this morning and told me he did something horrible, but he didn't remember doing it. He said he woke up in Donna's bed and had reason to suspect they had slept together."
"Had reason to suspect they slept together?" Leo repeated, incredulous.
I'm suddenly acutely aware of how many people are standing around and listening to this.
I think I'm going to vomit.
"Where the HELL did he get that idea?" I demand loudly. Sam looks frightened at my tone. Even Leo refuses to meet my eyes. I take a step towards Josh's door and repeat my question, this time directed at the man hiding in his office.
He doesn't respond. The silence is choking me.
"There was a kiss," Sam announces quietly, looking at the floor. I am standing in front of him two seconds later.
"What?" I am furious. And I'm hoping they'll think the red on my cheeks is from fury, not blushing embarrassment.
"He said he couldn't remember anything besides a serious kiss," Sam repeats, looking into my eyes and begging for mercy for Josh.
The jury's still out on that one.
"Did Josh kiss you last night?" Leo asks. I think he wants to know more out of personal curiosity than out of political worry.
I don't know how to answer. "Isn't it possible, didn't it even occur to Josh," I raise my voice at this point. "That he came over to my apartment, drunk, and, after he had broken a very dear possession of mine, passed out on my bed while I was making coffee? Didn't it occur to him that he dreamt of a kiss, and that the only reason I was mad at him the following morning was because he had broken my one-of-a-kind glass music box from my dead great-grandmother and I spent all day trying fruitlessly to have it fixed?"
The silence is physically adding tension to the room. The urge to vomit still hasn't gone away.
After an excruciatingly long amount of time, the lock clicks and the door swings open. Josh's head of unruly hair sticks out, shamefully.
"I didn't sleep with you?"
The question, under many other circumstances, could be funny. Not now, not here. I want to strangle him.
"No, Josh."
"And you're not mad at me?"
"Oh, I'm still angry about the music box. And this, too, actually. Livid."
I notice the crowd take a baby step backwards as the door opens a fraction more. "But you're not going to sue me, right?"
"Sue you?"
"For sexual harassment."
"What sexual harassment? You imagining that you kissed me?"
"So you're not going to quit then, right?"
I sigh. Heavily. Working with Josh is more difficult than dealing with a child. "Josh, why would I quit? We only have two precious months left in this wonderful White House."
With that, the door opens all the way and Josh smiles sheepishly. Behind him, on the desk, is a half-packed box of things I'm going to have to put back into their correct spots around his office.
Leo examines Josh, then me, then Sam. Then he rips the paper in his hands in half, then half again, and leaves, dropping the scraps into a recycling bin as he walks away.
**
The hot water pounding on my skin feels absolutely, sensationally wonderful. I never knew what I was missing before this "massage" setting on my new shower head.
I happily rotate under the spray, listening to the calming sound of beads of practically-scalding water ricocheting off my exhausted body.
"Don-na!" I hear. I close my eyes tightly and pray the voice was in my head. I cannot handle this again.
It is silent for a minute, save for the running water, so I declare it was only a hallucination and return to my shower of bliss.
"DON-NA!" The shout, combined with a really loud series of rapid knocks, makes me jump. I slide a little, lose my balance, and grab onto the shower curtain to find my footing.
Josh is, somehow, right outside my bathroom door, knocking and shouting my name over and over.
How on Earth did he-
"Josh, calm down. Give her a minute. Geez."
Kelly! Kelly let him in!
That traitor!
Grumbling loudly, I turn off the cascade of warm water and reluctantly tie a towel around myself.
My damn robe is in my bedroom!
Arg! I do not want to face Josh in a towel again, especially since I doubt he's drunk this time.
"Josh, go wait in the living room. I am going to get dressed and you are going to sit on the couch and wait until I come out to talk to you. Understand?" I yell through the door.
"Yes, ma'am," Josh says. I wait a minute for him to leave before opening the door. I peek my head out, a plume of steam escaping with me as I check the emptiness of the hallway.
I hear him talking with Kelly about her evil cats as I dash down the hall and into my room.
End part 5/6
The sundae didn't do much to help my anger or frustration, but it did taste really good. The White House has the most amazing chefs.
I hear Leo's booming voice before my desk comes into view, and my stomach instantly knots.
This can't be good.
A small crowd has gathered around Josh's office, trying to look inconspicuous and busy. They're not very good actors.
"Leo, what is going on?" I ask calmly, wondering why the Chief of Staff is standing in front of Josh's door, waving a white sheet of paper in the air and looking about one minute away from huffing and puffing and blowing the house down.
"Donna," Leo looks over at me, then back at the door. He looks both helpless and pissed.
"Joshua Lyman, open this damned door right now!"
Josh, whether intelligently or unintelligently, does not respond.
"Sir, maybe I can get him to-" Sam trails off, appearing suddenly. Leo looks at Sam, then me, then at the door. He nods for Sam to go ahead.
"Josh, listen to Leo, you dolt. This is not the way to solve anything. You're not helping the situation at all."
Now I'm really worried. "_What_ is going on?" I demand, my voice high and unyielding.
"That is exactly what I would like to know," Leo says loudly, turning towards Josh's door so his deputy can clearly hear him. "I was on the phone in my office and Josh dropped this off for me to read and sign off on. It is unacceptable."
Leo hands me the piece of paper. My eyes almost tear up when I read it. "A letter of resignation?"
Leo nods curtly, taking back the letter I'm holding out to him. My stomach feels queasy.
"I don't beLIEVE that he is acting like such a child. Honestly, a grown man hiding in his office. Nothing he could have done would warrant this."
Sam and I share a look. "Is this because of last night?" I ask Sam. He shrugs.
"That would be my guess," He responds quietly.
"He feels like he has compromised the ethics of offices everywhere and has shamed the White House and its staff," Leo reads the quote off the page and looks up, begging Sam and me for an answer. "What did he do? Why does he feel this way?"
We both answer at the same time.
"He shattered my music box."
"He slept with Donna last night."
Our sentences overlap, and we both jump and stare at each other.
"WHAT?!?" I shriek. Sam does the same, albeit in a slightly more-masculine tone. Slightly.
The wild look in my eyes must be threatening to Sam, because he starts explaining himself almost immediately. "Josh called me up this morning and told me he did something horrible, but he didn't remember doing it. He said he woke up in Donna's bed and had reason to suspect they had slept together."
"Had reason to suspect they slept together?" Leo repeated, incredulous.
I'm suddenly acutely aware of how many people are standing around and listening to this.
I think I'm going to vomit.
"Where the HELL did he get that idea?" I demand loudly. Sam looks frightened at my tone. Even Leo refuses to meet my eyes. I take a step towards Josh's door and repeat my question, this time directed at the man hiding in his office.
He doesn't respond. The silence is choking me.
"There was a kiss," Sam announces quietly, looking at the floor. I am standing in front of him two seconds later.
"What?" I am furious. And I'm hoping they'll think the red on my cheeks is from fury, not blushing embarrassment.
"He said he couldn't remember anything besides a serious kiss," Sam repeats, looking into my eyes and begging for mercy for Josh.
The jury's still out on that one.
"Did Josh kiss you last night?" Leo asks. I think he wants to know more out of personal curiosity than out of political worry.
I don't know how to answer. "Isn't it possible, didn't it even occur to Josh," I raise my voice at this point. "That he came over to my apartment, drunk, and, after he had broken a very dear possession of mine, passed out on my bed while I was making coffee? Didn't it occur to him that he dreamt of a kiss, and that the only reason I was mad at him the following morning was because he had broken my one-of-a-kind glass music box from my dead great-grandmother and I spent all day trying fruitlessly to have it fixed?"
The silence is physically adding tension to the room. The urge to vomit still hasn't gone away.
After an excruciatingly long amount of time, the lock clicks and the door swings open. Josh's head of unruly hair sticks out, shamefully.
"I didn't sleep with you?"
The question, under many other circumstances, could be funny. Not now, not here. I want to strangle him.
"No, Josh."
"And you're not mad at me?"
"Oh, I'm still angry about the music box. And this, too, actually. Livid."
I notice the crowd take a baby step backwards as the door opens a fraction more. "But you're not going to sue me, right?"
"Sue you?"
"For sexual harassment."
"What sexual harassment? You imagining that you kissed me?"
"So you're not going to quit then, right?"
I sigh. Heavily. Working with Josh is more difficult than dealing with a child. "Josh, why would I quit? We only have two precious months left in this wonderful White House."
With that, the door opens all the way and Josh smiles sheepishly. Behind him, on the desk, is a half-packed box of things I'm going to have to put back into their correct spots around his office.
Leo examines Josh, then me, then Sam. Then he rips the paper in his hands in half, then half again, and leaves, dropping the scraps into a recycling bin as he walks away.
**
The hot water pounding on my skin feels absolutely, sensationally wonderful. I never knew what I was missing before this "massage" setting on my new shower head.
I happily rotate under the spray, listening to the calming sound of beads of practically-scalding water ricocheting off my exhausted body.
"Don-na!" I hear. I close my eyes tightly and pray the voice was in my head. I cannot handle this again.
It is silent for a minute, save for the running water, so I declare it was only a hallucination and return to my shower of bliss.
"DON-NA!" The shout, combined with a really loud series of rapid knocks, makes me jump. I slide a little, lose my balance, and grab onto the shower curtain to find my footing.
Josh is, somehow, right outside my bathroom door, knocking and shouting my name over and over.
How on Earth did he-
"Josh, calm down. Give her a minute. Geez."
Kelly! Kelly let him in!
That traitor!
Grumbling loudly, I turn off the cascade of warm water and reluctantly tie a towel around myself.
My damn robe is in my bedroom!
Arg! I do not want to face Josh in a towel again, especially since I doubt he's drunk this time.
"Josh, go wait in the living room. I am going to get dressed and you are going to sit on the couch and wait until I come out to talk to you. Understand?" I yell through the door.
"Yes, ma'am," Josh says. I wait a minute for him to leave before opening the door. I peek my head out, a plume of steam escaping with me as I check the emptiness of the hallway.
I hear him talking with Kelly about her evil cats as I dash down the hall and into my room.
End part 5/6