Title: Oh but to be a Genie 1/1
Author: Rhasa
Keywords: Josh/Donna UST of sorts
Category: Humour/Parody
Rating: PG 13
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: Not mine. Empty pockets.
Summary: This is where I write something short and fantastic so you
can't help but read it. Simply know this: One night at the office
Josh and Donna have a little fun comparing themselves to an all time
classic duo Jeannie and Major Nelson.
Author's note: Okay as anyone with kids knows, sometimes it is almost
impossible to sit down and write in peace. I've knocked this out in a
few hours with 42 breaks of various durations during which I've read
Dr Seuss, made drinks, sandwiches, broken up fights, fixed
Spiderman's broken leg for the umpteen hundredth time, cooked hubby a
Father's Day breakfast, washed the dog, made playdough, taken a trip
to the park and done eight loads of washing amongst other numerous
daily household chores. Such is an exciting Sunday in my house.
Anyway, this is my little way of saying sorry if it all seems a bit
disjointed but hey I had fun writing it.
Now if I try really hard, close my eyes, cross my arms and blink,
maybe, just maybe, the housework will get done, the dog will be fed,
the kids will be bathed and sound asleep in bed and I'll have my
first night of full sleep in nine years that consists of
uninterrupted slumber for seven hours unlike the usual four I get and
I wouldn't have to go to work tomorrow. That's what I'd wish for...
Oh but to be a Genie.
Dedication: To all the fic writers out there who are Mums. I know
what you're going through. And isn't this the greatest hobby to have
in the world?
Oh but to be a Genie.
by Rhasa
Josh could not remember the last time he felt this refreshed. It was
amazing just what seven solid hours of sleep could do to a man. He
figured that the last time he had had that amount of sleep had been
right after he was shot. Working in the White House, conditioned you
to a few hours here and there; four hours of sleep a night, while an
exception for most of the working population, was more the norm for
senior staffers.
He had somewhat expected that he would feel rather groggy this
morning. Sometimes oversleeping made people feel that way, but having
seven hours sleep had made Josh feel like he was a new man. He felt
like he could take on the world and no doubt in some small way he
probably would be doing just that.
Whistling while he made his way into the West Wing he promised
himself that he would finish his working day at 9 p.m. more often,
for this morning he felt like he was da' man.
"Good morning Mr Lyman." A guard greeted him.
"Good morning, Celia. It's a lovely morning isn't it?" He smiled as
he swiped his security pass. "Hey, did you change your hair?"
Celia gave him a perplexed look. She had been working here for almost
three years and could not remember a single time that Joshua Lyman
had greeted her other than with the usual small smile and nod of the
head.
"Well yes, I did," she offered, hesitantly. "Cut it short. Last
Friday."
"Easier to manage," Josh stated, matter-of-factly.
"Yes. It is. `Specially for when I have a 4am start. Don't have to
waste half my morning styling it."
"Well, it looks nice. I like it. It makes you look five... no, ten,
ten years younger." He said with a smile.
This comment produced a low chuckle from Celia. It wasn't often that
the fifty-five year old African American woman got compliments. She
had long since learned that her job often meant that she blended into
the background and became somewhat like another piece of furniture.
She made up her mind that she liked this new Josh Lyman.
"Well thank you Mr Lyman. You've made my day."
"Hope it gets better than this, Celia. Have a nice day."
"You too Mr Lyman, you too," she said with a chuckle and another
shake of her head once he had passed.
It wasn't just Celia who was noticing a certain spring in Josh's
step. Other, more casual observers, those who had managed an even
earlier start to Josh's 6am day, took in the way he seemed to be
bouncing down the corridor. The smiling and whistling were making
some of the interns nervous, and other staffers just plain curious.
But all this was lost on Josh, as he swung his backpack over his
shoulder and burst through the doors to the bullpen.
Smiling once again, secretly revelling in his own good fortune, Josh
made a cursory glance into the bullpen. Donna was not at her desk,
nor would he expect her to be.
Josh affectionately remembered her sparkling eyes when she had
whispered, "You are the greatest master a girl could ever have,"
after he had offered her the rare early mark.
"Well, Jeannie, just for that, I'll even let you come it at seven
tomorrow," he had replied, enjoying the game they had been playing
for the last few hours.
With this further indulgence, Donna had thrown her arms around Josh's
neck, Jeannie-ala-Barbara-Eden style, giggled, then stepped back,
blinked her eyes while nodding her head and crossing her arms and was
gone.
Josh laughed.
More than once he had secretly compared his relationship with Donna
to that of Captain Nelson and Jeannie the genie. Hey, there was a
resemblance after all. He only wished he had a bottle handy to keep
her under control every once and a while.
Fondly remembering the night before, Josh now strode into his office
and placed his backpack on the floor. Everything seemed pretty much
the same as he had left it.
"Hey," came a quiet voice from the door.
Looking up Josh saw Sam leaning heavily against the door frame.
"Hey there Roger," Josh smiled.
"Huh?" Sam was obviously confused and extremely tired. "I'm Sam,
Josh."
"Yeah," he said acknowledging him with a smile again.
Intrigued at his friend's good humour Sam dragged himself into Josh's
office and fell into one to the chairs.
"So, we got this thing with Senator Heffernan, at one today."
"Yeah." Josh acknowledged.
"Yeah," Sam repeated.
When Sam said nothing further, Josh looked up. Sam was looking at him
strangely.
"It's good, Sam. It's all good."
"It's all good?" Sam asked, with a tone in his voice that made Josh
wondered if he had really asked if Josh was speaking some alien
language or something.
"Yeah. It's ALLLLLLL good." Josh emphasised as he leaned back in his
chair and casually put his feet up onto his desk, smiling.
Still Sam did not say anything.
Under the intense scrutiny that he was feeling, Josh shrugged, "What?"
Shifting in his seat Sam leaned forward. "You had sex last night."
"What?" Josh sputtered in astonishment.
"You had sex last night."
"You couldn't be so more wrong my friend."
"I don't know Josh, you seem pretty happy this morning."
"So?" Josh inquired.
"You seem *really* happy."
"So, I seem really happy. I've never seemed happy before?"
"Well, yes- well, no. Not really. You are not usually happy.
"Not usually happy, Sam. Come on. I'm happy. I'm a happy guy.'
"You are not a happy guy, Josh."
"Yes I am. I am a happy guy. A not happy guy is- is- is like-, Toby."
He nodded his head emphatically. "Yep, Toby is not a happy guy. I'm a
happy guy."
"Well yes you are a happy guy this morning, which makes me believe
you had sex last night."
"As much as I would like to admit that my sudden `happiness' is due
to a night of sex and unbridled passion, I have to admit that I am
a `rested' guy."
"A rested guy?" Sam questioned.
"Yeah. Rested. As in `I got seven hours straight sleep' last night."
"Sleep?'
"yeah."
"that's it?
"Yeah."
"Seven hours straight sleep."
"Yeah."
"No sex."
"'Fraid not. Just seven hours straight sleep."
"And you're a happy guy."
"Yeah."
"Wow." Sam looked both amazed and impressed. "Who would have
thought?" He said to himself.
"Exactly. You should try it."
"Yeah."
"No really, I recommend it."
"Yeah."
"Made me feel like a new man."
"I can tell."
They both nodded to one another, lost in their own thoughts.
Sam stood. "So really, no sex?" he asked one more time.
"Sam! No! Just sleep!"
"Wow."
"Yeah."
"Was it better than... you know..."
Josh thought for a moment.
"Yeah."
"yeah?"
"yeah." Josh admitted, again with a shrug.
"Oh." Sam said.
"I know. I must be getting old, when seven hours of straight sleep is
better than... you know..."
"No. No, it's just that you needed it. Maybe, I'll try it."
"You should."
"Yeah. Well, Heffernan at one.
"Yeah, it's all good.
"Good. Oh and Josh?"
"Yeah?"
"You called me Roger before? What was that about?"
"Roger Healy."
"Roger Healy?"
"Yeah"
"Out of `I Dream of Jeannie'?"
"Yeah.." He said as he waved a hand in front of him, dismissing the
whole thing. "It's just that Donna and I were fooling around
yesterday. She said I was like Major Nelson out of `I Dream of
Jeannie'."
"Huh." Sam said and then thought for a moment. "There is a tiny
resemblance between Donna and Jeannie you know."
"Yeah."
"They both have long blonde hair."
"Yeah"
"They're both slim, attractive, look good in pink."
"Yeah," Josh said with a more suspicious tone.
"And both work for uncaring, overbearing bosses who seek to control
them."
"Hey! I am not uncaring, controlling and overbearing!"
"Oh no?"
"No. I gave her the night off. Gave her a late start morning too."
"Oh. Well then why is she here?"
"She's here?"
"Yeah. She's down photocopying. `Saw her when I came in."
"Huh," Josh grunted, somewhat surprised. "Well I told her she didn't
have to be in until seven."
"I see."
"I'm not uncaring or do I seek to control her."
"Okay," Sam said.
"I'm not." Josh said more to himself than to Sam.
"I'm sure she appreciates those small indulgences you throw her way
every once and a while," Sam said backing towards the door before
stopping. "So, I'm Roger, hey?"
"Yeah."
"Best friend. Close work colleague, always covered Tony Nelson's ass."
"The other way round, my friend."
"Roger Healy- ladies man," Sam said with a self-satisfying grin.
"Well I wouldn't go that far." Josh chuckled.
"Roger had delusions of grandeur."
"Yeah, I guess."
"And he was secretly in love with his best friend's girl."
"Yeah - hey what?" Josh looked up suddenly,
"Roger, was secretly in love with Jeannie," Sam said as if this was a
well known fact.
"No he wasn't." Josh replied.
"Yes he was."
"No he wasn't. He wanted all the fame and fortune she could bestow on
him. If it wasn't for those things, Roger would never have been
interested in Jeannie,"
Josh argued.
"He may have wanted that in the early series," Sam admitted. "That
was before he really got to know her, but what he really wanted as he
got older was the adoration that she bestowed unconditionally on his
best friend. He wanted Jeannie to love him like she loved her master."
"No. No, no, no." Josh shook his head with the tone of a man who knew
he was right. "He was happy to see his best friend come to his senses
and admit that he was in love with Jeannie and that she was the best
thing that ever happened to him."
Sam said nothing as he looked at Josh with a bemused expression.
Suddenly Josh's good mood began to fade as confusion set in. He could
feel the beginnings of a headache coming on. There were obviously
some other similarities between his relationship with his assistant
and the `I Dream of Jeannie' dynamics that he had not previously
considered.
"Let's not go there, okay,." Josh said, suddenly nervous.
"Okay." Sam laughed, and made his way to the door again, before
stopping yet again. "So who is Dr Bellows?"
"Leo." Josh stated a little too quickly.
"Yeah, that works." Sam nodded. "Heffernan at one?" Sam said as he
made moves to leave.
"It's all good." Josh uttered his now standard reply.
"It's all good?" Came another voice.
Sam and Josh both looked up to see that Toby had now joined them in
Josh's office.
"Hey Toby." Josh greeted the senior Communications Director and was
afforded a curt nod of the head.
"Heffernan at one, is all good," Sam elaborated for his boss.
"Good," Toby acknowledged.
The three men looked at one another briefly. There was a consensus
that none of them really wanted to start the working day just yet.
Josh knew Sam was stalling entering his office his suspicions proved
right when Sam started up again.
"Toby, if you had a magic Genie that could grant you any wish, what
would it be?"
"Only one wish?" Toby asked
"Well, in this case, yeah, one wish." Sam said.
"Could you wish for other wishes?"
"It's a given that you can't use your one wish to wish for more
wishes, Toby." Josh said as he sat down with the feeling that they
were just getting back into this whole Genie thing again.
"It's a given, Josh? Where is it a given? In the Genie Book of
Etiquette?" Toby smirked.
"No. I mean that somewhere, someone said that you couldn't use your
one Genie wish to wish for more wishes."
"I think that was for Leprechauns." Sam said.
"We are not getting into Leprechauns, Sam," Josh said.
"World peace," Toby said matter of factly.
"What?"
"That's what I'd wish for. World Peace."
"Everyone wishes for that." Josh said.
"No everyone wishes for more wishes," Sam said.
"Apparently not," said Toby.
"Besides, you can't have world peace." Sam said.
"Why not?"
"Because it never works out. Haven't you seen that X Files episode?
Mulder wishes for world peace and a Genie grants his wish, but what
she really does is remove all the people except Mulder from the earth
so that there is total peace as in `peace and quiet' no one around to
fight or even make noise. World peace, never works out. So you have
to pick something else."
"Okay for the sake of ending this and getting you two out of my
office so I can start my day, let's say that you can't use your wish
to wish for other wishes, and you can't wish for world peace." Josh
said.
"I'll have to get back to you then." Toby said.
"Okay."
"Just think of something now." Sam whined.
"What's the rush? It's not like we have our own Genie somewhere
around here."
"Well that's debatable."
"What we have a Genie around here that I don't know about?"
"No, we have Donna," Sam informed him.
"Donna?" Toby looked puzzled.
"Never mind," Josh said a little too quickly and a little too loudly.
"Donna is Jeannie from `I Dream of Jeannie' and Josh is-" Sam began.
"Major Nelson." Toby finished for him.
"Yeah," Sam replied.
Josh could feel his headache grow. "Okay you know what-" he began.
"So that would make Leo, Dr Bellows." Toby smirked.
Josh sighed heavily.
"Yeah," said Sam. "And I'm Roger Healy."
"That works," said Toby. "And Donna has the power to grant wishes?"
Sam shrugged.
"I wish she would grant my wish and have you two disappear from
here," Josh moaned to himself.
"Donna looks kind of like Jeannie," Toby started.
"Not this again.," Josh put his head in his hands.
"And she calls Josh `master'," Sam offered.
"She calls him master?" Toby asked incredulously not quite believing
what Sam had just told him.
"She does not call me master. She called me master, once, yesterday
when we were fooling around. Donna is not a Genie nor is she my
Jeannie. And I will prove it to you. I wish for some coffee,
something I know I will never get, well at least, not until I get you
two out of my office and I have the opportunity to go down to the pot
myself!"
Josh's voice had risen considerably, and the other two men now looked
at each other as a silence filled the room.
The silence was soon broken, though.
"Sorry, Josh am I interrupting anything?" Came a voice from behind
them.
The Communications Director and Deputy Communications Director turned
to look behind them. As they did Donna took another step into the
room. For a moment the three men looked at her dumbstruck, not saying
a word.
"What?" She asked nervously. The way they were looking at her made
Donna feel more than a little uncomfortable. She briefly considered
leaving, but before she could move, Josh spoke.
"What's that?" Josh nodded to the item she was holding in her hand.
"It's coffee." Toby answered him.
Donna looked down sheepishly, at the steaming mug in her hand.
"Wow," said Sam. "What are the odds?"
"Did you hear us talking?" Josh asked suspiciously.
"Did I hear you talking about what?" Donna asked innocently.
From the tone in her voice, Josh quickly concluded that she had not
overheard their conversation or more importantly his wish for
coffee. "Never mind," he said as he sat down in his chair.
Still looking puzzled, Donna remained holding the mug of coffee and
she stepped further into the room.
"Well Roger and I will be getting back to work now," Toby said as he
headed out of Josh's office.
Sam said nothing as he trailed after his boss, but the look of
bemusement on his face was not lost on Josh.
"I didn't know you were having a meeting," Donna began as she walked
up and put the coffee mug on Josh's desk.
"It wasn't a meeting we just-" He began automatically and quickly
changed his mind. "It wasn't a meeting."
"Good," she said.
"Donna, why did you bring me coffee?"
"You don't want coffee in the morning?" She asked in a somewhat hurt
voice.
"Yeah, I want coffee in the morning. I want coffee in the afternoon
and evening too. But you never bring me coffee."
"I wanted to thank you."
"Thank me?"
"Yeah. Thanks for the early mark yesterday. I managed to get a really
good night's sleep. I'm feeling really good this morning."
"Tell me about it."
"And when I'm feeling good I want those around me to feel good too,
to you know, keep the goodness going." She shrugged her explanation.
"'Keep the goodness going'?" Josh chuckled.
"I said I was feeling really good, not that I was feeling
particularly eloquent this morning. But you know what I mean."
"Yeah." He did know what she meant.
Donna smiled at him as she relaxed in the chair in front of his desk.
She remembered the kind of day they had had yesterday and she wanted
to make sure that today was going to be just as good.
"Why are you in so early?" Josh said as he looked at his watch. "I
told you that you didn't have to be in until seven."
"I know, but after such a good sleep I woke up feeling energised. I
just came in as normal."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah," she replied, but as soon as the word was out of her mouth
her features changed and she began to look very guilty. "And there
was another reason." She confessed.
"I'm listening."
"Well I wanted to be here before you had staff because I wanted to
ask you something."
"And that `something' would be?" Josh prodded.
"Well I heard it from Margaret that Leo is arranging for you to meet
with Senator Beatty to discuss the thing."
"Yeah we knew that was coming."
"Well the thing is I also heard that Senator Beatty won't be able to
meet you in D.C. because his daughter is getting married."
"So?"
"He's caught up in all the preparations, it's his only daughter you
know and she's like thirty-eight and this is her first wedding, this
is a big deal and he wants to be there to offer her his support and
give his daughter away-"
"Donna, you are going to make a point eventually aren't you?"
"Yes, Josh. My point is this. Senator Beatty is spending the next
three weeks in Hawaii and you'll have to meet him there and-"
"Oh-" Josh began, he knew what was coming.
"and-"
"Donna-" He had to cut her off quickly before she asked.
"and I wanted to-"
"Donna!" He whined. If he stopped her from asking he wouldn't have to
say no.
"Josh, you need me there," she stated with conviction.
"No."
"Josh, you do."
"I don't need you there and you know it."
"Ah come on Josh, Blake will be meeting with Beatty and he's bringing
his assistant."
"Blake is a Republican."
"So. He knows the value of having a reliable assistant with him, on
hand to do all the reliable assistant things that assistants do in
delicate negotiations such as these."
"Donna, I know it's Hawaii. It's no big deal. I've been there a few
times before and it doesn't impress me all that much."
"Says you who has gone there so many times that the place has now
lost all of it's mystique. But I on the other hand have never been to
Hawaii and would likely never get to go except for the graces of her
kind and wonderful master allowing her to-"
"What did you just call me?" Josh's head snapped up.
"Huh? What?" Donna was momentarily confused. "Master?"
Josh sighed and closed his eyes which didn't help with shutting out
the images of his young assistant clad in a skimpy pink genie outfit.
Donna pleading with him to go to Hawaii was not unlike Barbara Eden
begging with Larry Hagman to take her to some other exotic location.
If memory served him right, Major Nelson would always say `no' and
Jeannie would always find some way to make his life a living hell
because of it.
"Yeah. You are my master and I am your slave-" Donna's voice
permeated his thoughts. "-and I would be of service to you in Hawaii
and I would be indebted to you if-."
"You can't go."
"But Josh. Blake-"
"Is that your answer to everything, all the other assistants are
going so why can't you?"
"Well, yeah."
"I'm sorry, Donna, but you can't go."
"But I'll miss you."
"You can't-" he began automatically. "You'll miss me?" He looked up
at her, watching for the humour in her eyes.
"Yes. I always miss you. There's no one here to boss me around when
you're gone. I'm like a ship without rudder, a compass without a
needle, a-"
"A slave without a master?"
"A Jeannie without her Major Nelson," Donna agreed.
"So that explains all the manner of mischief you seem to get up to
when I am gone."
"Mischief? What mischief?"
"Well between you and Roger something always manages to go awry."
"Roger? Roger Healy?"
"Yeah. Sam is Roger Healy."
Donna thought about this for a few seconds. "Yeah, that works."
"Look my trip will only take two-three days tops. It's not like you'd
get to see anything if you did come. We'd be tied up all day-"
"Yeah, but the nights Josh... beaches by moonlight-"
"And we'd be reading over notes all night. Besides, you'll have Roger
here to keep you company."
"I wouldn't use that as a point of persuasion if I were you."
"Why not?"
"Well everyone knows that Roger has a thing for Jeannie."
"He does not." For a brief moment Josh was stricken with panic. Donna
was referring to just the characters and not actually Sam and
herself, wasn't she?
Of course she was.
"Does too," Donna continued. "And Jeannie did come on to Roger one
time to make Major Nelson jealous."
"She did?"
"Uh huh. And Roger enjoyed it too."
"So what are you saying Donna. If I don't take you with me to Hawaii
you and Sam are going to make me jealous?"
"No. I wouldn't do that Josh. I'm not Jeannie, Sam isn't Roger and
you're not Major Nelson."
"Damn straight, because if I was Major Nelson, and you were Jeannie
I'd lock you away in your bottle and probably throw it back into the
ocean."
"You'd throw me away?" She pouted.
"Yeah." he said with a self satisfying grin. Then he noticed the mock
sad expression on her face. "No. I wouldn't throw you away Donna."
"Because you'd realise just how invaluable I am to your life and that
you couldn't live without me?"
"Yeah something like that." He said smiling fondly.
"Well if that's the case, I should come to Hawaii with you."
Josh sighed. he had been feeling really good when he came into work
this morning. Now he wasn't so sure anymore.
"Look I've got staff in five minutes. I'll tell you what, if Leo
suggests that I take additional help without anyone pre-empting him,
I'll bring you along."
Donna clapped her hands together softly in excitement. Josh didn't
know if she had mirrored the mannerism of Barbara Eden's Jeannie on
purpose or if she was genuinely excited. He shook his head once more.
"But if you go Donna, I don't need to tell you it won't be any
holiday. It will be work, work, work. Do you understand."
"Yes Master," she giggled.
THE END
FB "/group/JoshDonnaFF/post?protectID=08501511311215807101509717500417606307117 9066034"
Another Autor's Note
I guess I've just realised what a WW fan I am. I live in Canberra the
capitol of Australia. For other Aussies and maybe a few international
readers/writers you might have heard that we are in the middle of the
biggest bushfire this city has ever seen. Yesterday we lost 4 locals
and over 400 houses and all the devastattion seems so surreal. Today
I've done everything I can to prepare for a firefront should the wind
be unkind and turn this way. We live right next to the forest so we
are on alert. Anyway, you know you're a WW fan when you have
evacuated your kids, hosed your roof and fill the downpipes and
prepared for eveything and you think "hey I better pack my car with
the most precious things I own" and the second thing to go into the
car after the photo albums are all your WW tapes and DVD's and a few
disks with unfinished fics and you then sit inside and think, I'd
better post that story, like NOW in case something happens and I
won't have a computer anymore... weird what goes through some
people's heads.
Fingers crossed.
PPS If anyone wants to do a sequel to this where Donna actually ends
up in Hawaii with Josh and all manner of misadventures occur where
she is only trying to help but makes things much much worse without
having any actual genie powers to speak of be my guest. In fact I
would love to read that.
Cheers
Author: Rhasa
Keywords: Josh/Donna UST of sorts
Category: Humour/Parody
Rating: PG 13
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: Not mine. Empty pockets.
Summary: This is where I write something short and fantastic so you
can't help but read it. Simply know this: One night at the office
Josh and Donna have a little fun comparing themselves to an all time
classic duo Jeannie and Major Nelson.
Author's note: Okay as anyone with kids knows, sometimes it is almost
impossible to sit down and write in peace. I've knocked this out in a
few hours with 42 breaks of various durations during which I've read
Dr Seuss, made drinks, sandwiches, broken up fights, fixed
Spiderman's broken leg for the umpteen hundredth time, cooked hubby a
Father's Day breakfast, washed the dog, made playdough, taken a trip
to the park and done eight loads of washing amongst other numerous
daily household chores. Such is an exciting Sunday in my house.
Anyway, this is my little way of saying sorry if it all seems a bit
disjointed but hey I had fun writing it.
Now if I try really hard, close my eyes, cross my arms and blink,
maybe, just maybe, the housework will get done, the dog will be fed,
the kids will be bathed and sound asleep in bed and I'll have my
first night of full sleep in nine years that consists of
uninterrupted slumber for seven hours unlike the usual four I get and
I wouldn't have to go to work tomorrow. That's what I'd wish for...
Oh but to be a Genie.
Dedication: To all the fic writers out there who are Mums. I know
what you're going through. And isn't this the greatest hobby to have
in the world?
Oh but to be a Genie.
by Rhasa
Josh could not remember the last time he felt this refreshed. It was
amazing just what seven solid hours of sleep could do to a man. He
figured that the last time he had had that amount of sleep had been
right after he was shot. Working in the White House, conditioned you
to a few hours here and there; four hours of sleep a night, while an
exception for most of the working population, was more the norm for
senior staffers.
He had somewhat expected that he would feel rather groggy this
morning. Sometimes oversleeping made people feel that way, but having
seven hours sleep had made Josh feel like he was a new man. He felt
like he could take on the world and no doubt in some small way he
probably would be doing just that.
Whistling while he made his way into the West Wing he promised
himself that he would finish his working day at 9 p.m. more often,
for this morning he felt like he was da' man.
"Good morning Mr Lyman." A guard greeted him.
"Good morning, Celia. It's a lovely morning isn't it?" He smiled as
he swiped his security pass. "Hey, did you change your hair?"
Celia gave him a perplexed look. She had been working here for almost
three years and could not remember a single time that Joshua Lyman
had greeted her other than with the usual small smile and nod of the
head.
"Well yes, I did," she offered, hesitantly. "Cut it short. Last
Friday."
"Easier to manage," Josh stated, matter-of-factly.
"Yes. It is. `Specially for when I have a 4am start. Don't have to
waste half my morning styling it."
"Well, it looks nice. I like it. It makes you look five... no, ten,
ten years younger." He said with a smile.
This comment produced a low chuckle from Celia. It wasn't often that
the fifty-five year old African American woman got compliments. She
had long since learned that her job often meant that she blended into
the background and became somewhat like another piece of furniture.
She made up her mind that she liked this new Josh Lyman.
"Well thank you Mr Lyman. You've made my day."
"Hope it gets better than this, Celia. Have a nice day."
"You too Mr Lyman, you too," she said with a chuckle and another
shake of her head once he had passed.
It wasn't just Celia who was noticing a certain spring in Josh's
step. Other, more casual observers, those who had managed an even
earlier start to Josh's 6am day, took in the way he seemed to be
bouncing down the corridor. The smiling and whistling were making
some of the interns nervous, and other staffers just plain curious.
But all this was lost on Josh, as he swung his backpack over his
shoulder and burst through the doors to the bullpen.
Smiling once again, secretly revelling in his own good fortune, Josh
made a cursory glance into the bullpen. Donna was not at her desk,
nor would he expect her to be.
Josh affectionately remembered her sparkling eyes when she had
whispered, "You are the greatest master a girl could ever have,"
after he had offered her the rare early mark.
"Well, Jeannie, just for that, I'll even let you come it at seven
tomorrow," he had replied, enjoying the game they had been playing
for the last few hours.
With this further indulgence, Donna had thrown her arms around Josh's
neck, Jeannie-ala-Barbara-Eden style, giggled, then stepped back,
blinked her eyes while nodding her head and crossing her arms and was
gone.
Josh laughed.
More than once he had secretly compared his relationship with Donna
to that of Captain Nelson and Jeannie the genie. Hey, there was a
resemblance after all. He only wished he had a bottle handy to keep
her under control every once and a while.
Fondly remembering the night before, Josh now strode into his office
and placed his backpack on the floor. Everything seemed pretty much
the same as he had left it.
"Hey," came a quiet voice from the door.
Looking up Josh saw Sam leaning heavily against the door frame.
"Hey there Roger," Josh smiled.
"Huh?" Sam was obviously confused and extremely tired. "I'm Sam,
Josh."
"Yeah," he said acknowledging him with a smile again.
Intrigued at his friend's good humour Sam dragged himself into Josh's
office and fell into one to the chairs.
"So, we got this thing with Senator Heffernan, at one today."
"Yeah." Josh acknowledged.
"Yeah," Sam repeated.
When Sam said nothing further, Josh looked up. Sam was looking at him
strangely.
"It's good, Sam. It's all good."
"It's all good?" Sam asked, with a tone in his voice that made Josh
wondered if he had really asked if Josh was speaking some alien
language or something.
"Yeah. It's ALLLLLLL good." Josh emphasised as he leaned back in his
chair and casually put his feet up onto his desk, smiling.
Still Sam did not say anything.
Under the intense scrutiny that he was feeling, Josh shrugged, "What?"
Shifting in his seat Sam leaned forward. "You had sex last night."
"What?" Josh sputtered in astonishment.
"You had sex last night."
"You couldn't be so more wrong my friend."
"I don't know Josh, you seem pretty happy this morning."
"So?" Josh inquired.
"You seem *really* happy."
"So, I seem really happy. I've never seemed happy before?"
"Well, yes- well, no. Not really. You are not usually happy.
"Not usually happy, Sam. Come on. I'm happy. I'm a happy guy.'
"You are not a happy guy, Josh."
"Yes I am. I am a happy guy. A not happy guy is- is- is like-, Toby."
He nodded his head emphatically. "Yep, Toby is not a happy guy. I'm a
happy guy."
"Well yes you are a happy guy this morning, which makes me believe
you had sex last night."
"As much as I would like to admit that my sudden `happiness' is due
to a night of sex and unbridled passion, I have to admit that I am
a `rested' guy."
"A rested guy?" Sam questioned.
"Yeah. Rested. As in `I got seven hours straight sleep' last night."
"Sleep?'
"yeah."
"that's it?
"Yeah."
"Seven hours straight sleep."
"Yeah."
"No sex."
"'Fraid not. Just seven hours straight sleep."
"And you're a happy guy."
"Yeah."
"Wow." Sam looked both amazed and impressed. "Who would have
thought?" He said to himself.
"Exactly. You should try it."
"Yeah."
"No really, I recommend it."
"Yeah."
"Made me feel like a new man."
"I can tell."
They both nodded to one another, lost in their own thoughts.
Sam stood. "So really, no sex?" he asked one more time.
"Sam! No! Just sleep!"
"Wow."
"Yeah."
"Was it better than... you know..."
Josh thought for a moment.
"Yeah."
"yeah?"
"yeah." Josh admitted, again with a shrug.
"Oh." Sam said.
"I know. I must be getting old, when seven hours of straight sleep is
better than... you know..."
"No. No, it's just that you needed it. Maybe, I'll try it."
"You should."
"Yeah. Well, Heffernan at one.
"Yeah, it's all good.
"Good. Oh and Josh?"
"Yeah?"
"You called me Roger before? What was that about?"
"Roger Healy."
"Roger Healy?"
"Yeah"
"Out of `I Dream of Jeannie'?"
"Yeah.." He said as he waved a hand in front of him, dismissing the
whole thing. "It's just that Donna and I were fooling around
yesterday. She said I was like Major Nelson out of `I Dream of
Jeannie'."
"Huh." Sam said and then thought for a moment. "There is a tiny
resemblance between Donna and Jeannie you know."
"Yeah."
"They both have long blonde hair."
"Yeah"
"They're both slim, attractive, look good in pink."
"Yeah," Josh said with a more suspicious tone.
"And both work for uncaring, overbearing bosses who seek to control
them."
"Hey! I am not uncaring, controlling and overbearing!"
"Oh no?"
"No. I gave her the night off. Gave her a late start morning too."
"Oh. Well then why is she here?"
"She's here?"
"Yeah. She's down photocopying. `Saw her when I came in."
"Huh," Josh grunted, somewhat surprised. "Well I told her she didn't
have to be in until seven."
"I see."
"I'm not uncaring or do I seek to control her."
"Okay," Sam said.
"I'm not." Josh said more to himself than to Sam.
"I'm sure she appreciates those small indulgences you throw her way
every once and a while," Sam said backing towards the door before
stopping. "So, I'm Roger, hey?"
"Yeah."
"Best friend. Close work colleague, always covered Tony Nelson's ass."
"The other way round, my friend."
"Roger Healy- ladies man," Sam said with a self-satisfying grin.
"Well I wouldn't go that far." Josh chuckled.
"Roger had delusions of grandeur."
"Yeah, I guess."
"And he was secretly in love with his best friend's girl."
"Yeah - hey what?" Josh looked up suddenly,
"Roger, was secretly in love with Jeannie," Sam said as if this was a
well known fact.
"No he wasn't." Josh replied.
"Yes he was."
"No he wasn't. He wanted all the fame and fortune she could bestow on
him. If it wasn't for those things, Roger would never have been
interested in Jeannie,"
Josh argued.
"He may have wanted that in the early series," Sam admitted. "That
was before he really got to know her, but what he really wanted as he
got older was the adoration that she bestowed unconditionally on his
best friend. He wanted Jeannie to love him like she loved her master."
"No. No, no, no." Josh shook his head with the tone of a man who knew
he was right. "He was happy to see his best friend come to his senses
and admit that he was in love with Jeannie and that she was the best
thing that ever happened to him."
Sam said nothing as he looked at Josh with a bemused expression.
Suddenly Josh's good mood began to fade as confusion set in. He could
feel the beginnings of a headache coming on. There were obviously
some other similarities between his relationship with his assistant
and the `I Dream of Jeannie' dynamics that he had not previously
considered.
"Let's not go there, okay,." Josh said, suddenly nervous.
"Okay." Sam laughed, and made his way to the door again, before
stopping yet again. "So who is Dr Bellows?"
"Leo." Josh stated a little too quickly.
"Yeah, that works." Sam nodded. "Heffernan at one?" Sam said as he
made moves to leave.
"It's all good." Josh uttered his now standard reply.
"It's all good?" Came another voice.
Sam and Josh both looked up to see that Toby had now joined them in
Josh's office.
"Hey Toby." Josh greeted the senior Communications Director and was
afforded a curt nod of the head.
"Heffernan at one, is all good," Sam elaborated for his boss.
"Good," Toby acknowledged.
The three men looked at one another briefly. There was a consensus
that none of them really wanted to start the working day just yet.
Josh knew Sam was stalling entering his office his suspicions proved
right when Sam started up again.
"Toby, if you had a magic Genie that could grant you any wish, what
would it be?"
"Only one wish?" Toby asked
"Well, in this case, yeah, one wish." Sam said.
"Could you wish for other wishes?"
"It's a given that you can't use your one wish to wish for more
wishes, Toby." Josh said as he sat down with the feeling that they
were just getting back into this whole Genie thing again.
"It's a given, Josh? Where is it a given? In the Genie Book of
Etiquette?" Toby smirked.
"No. I mean that somewhere, someone said that you couldn't use your
one Genie wish to wish for more wishes."
"I think that was for Leprechauns." Sam said.
"We are not getting into Leprechauns, Sam," Josh said.
"World peace," Toby said matter of factly.
"What?"
"That's what I'd wish for. World Peace."
"Everyone wishes for that." Josh said.
"No everyone wishes for more wishes," Sam said.
"Apparently not," said Toby.
"Besides, you can't have world peace." Sam said.
"Why not?"
"Because it never works out. Haven't you seen that X Files episode?
Mulder wishes for world peace and a Genie grants his wish, but what
she really does is remove all the people except Mulder from the earth
so that there is total peace as in `peace and quiet' no one around to
fight or even make noise. World peace, never works out. So you have
to pick something else."
"Okay for the sake of ending this and getting you two out of my
office so I can start my day, let's say that you can't use your wish
to wish for other wishes, and you can't wish for world peace." Josh
said.
"I'll have to get back to you then." Toby said.
"Okay."
"Just think of something now." Sam whined.
"What's the rush? It's not like we have our own Genie somewhere
around here."
"Well that's debatable."
"What we have a Genie around here that I don't know about?"
"No, we have Donna," Sam informed him.
"Donna?" Toby looked puzzled.
"Never mind," Josh said a little too quickly and a little too loudly.
"Donna is Jeannie from `I Dream of Jeannie' and Josh is-" Sam began.
"Major Nelson." Toby finished for him.
"Yeah," Sam replied.
Josh could feel his headache grow. "Okay you know what-" he began.
"So that would make Leo, Dr Bellows." Toby smirked.
Josh sighed heavily.
"Yeah," said Sam. "And I'm Roger Healy."
"That works," said Toby. "And Donna has the power to grant wishes?"
Sam shrugged.
"I wish she would grant my wish and have you two disappear from
here," Josh moaned to himself.
"Donna looks kind of like Jeannie," Toby started.
"Not this again.," Josh put his head in his hands.
"And she calls Josh `master'," Sam offered.
"She calls him master?" Toby asked incredulously not quite believing
what Sam had just told him.
"She does not call me master. She called me master, once, yesterday
when we were fooling around. Donna is not a Genie nor is she my
Jeannie. And I will prove it to you. I wish for some coffee,
something I know I will never get, well at least, not until I get you
two out of my office and I have the opportunity to go down to the pot
myself!"
Josh's voice had risen considerably, and the other two men now looked
at each other as a silence filled the room.
The silence was soon broken, though.
"Sorry, Josh am I interrupting anything?" Came a voice from behind
them.
The Communications Director and Deputy Communications Director turned
to look behind them. As they did Donna took another step into the
room. For a moment the three men looked at her dumbstruck, not saying
a word.
"What?" She asked nervously. The way they were looking at her made
Donna feel more than a little uncomfortable. She briefly considered
leaving, but before she could move, Josh spoke.
"What's that?" Josh nodded to the item she was holding in her hand.
"It's coffee." Toby answered him.
Donna looked down sheepishly, at the steaming mug in her hand.
"Wow," said Sam. "What are the odds?"
"Did you hear us talking?" Josh asked suspiciously.
"Did I hear you talking about what?" Donna asked innocently.
From the tone in her voice, Josh quickly concluded that she had not
overheard their conversation or more importantly his wish for
coffee. "Never mind," he said as he sat down in his chair.
Still looking puzzled, Donna remained holding the mug of coffee and
she stepped further into the room.
"Well Roger and I will be getting back to work now," Toby said as he
headed out of Josh's office.
Sam said nothing as he trailed after his boss, but the look of
bemusement on his face was not lost on Josh.
"I didn't know you were having a meeting," Donna began as she walked
up and put the coffee mug on Josh's desk.
"It wasn't a meeting we just-" He began automatically and quickly
changed his mind. "It wasn't a meeting."
"Good," she said.
"Donna, why did you bring me coffee?"
"You don't want coffee in the morning?" She asked in a somewhat hurt
voice.
"Yeah, I want coffee in the morning. I want coffee in the afternoon
and evening too. But you never bring me coffee."
"I wanted to thank you."
"Thank me?"
"Yeah. Thanks for the early mark yesterday. I managed to get a really
good night's sleep. I'm feeling really good this morning."
"Tell me about it."
"And when I'm feeling good I want those around me to feel good too,
to you know, keep the goodness going." She shrugged her explanation.
"'Keep the goodness going'?" Josh chuckled.
"I said I was feeling really good, not that I was feeling
particularly eloquent this morning. But you know what I mean."
"Yeah." He did know what she meant.
Donna smiled at him as she relaxed in the chair in front of his desk.
She remembered the kind of day they had had yesterday and she wanted
to make sure that today was going to be just as good.
"Why are you in so early?" Josh said as he looked at his watch. "I
told you that you didn't have to be in until seven."
"I know, but after such a good sleep I woke up feeling energised. I
just came in as normal."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah," she replied, but as soon as the word was out of her mouth
her features changed and she began to look very guilty. "And there
was another reason." She confessed.
"I'm listening."
"Well I wanted to be here before you had staff because I wanted to
ask you something."
"And that `something' would be?" Josh prodded.
"Well I heard it from Margaret that Leo is arranging for you to meet
with Senator Beatty to discuss the thing."
"Yeah we knew that was coming."
"Well the thing is I also heard that Senator Beatty won't be able to
meet you in D.C. because his daughter is getting married."
"So?"
"He's caught up in all the preparations, it's his only daughter you
know and she's like thirty-eight and this is her first wedding, this
is a big deal and he wants to be there to offer her his support and
give his daughter away-"
"Donna, you are going to make a point eventually aren't you?"
"Yes, Josh. My point is this. Senator Beatty is spending the next
three weeks in Hawaii and you'll have to meet him there and-"
"Oh-" Josh began, he knew what was coming.
"and-"
"Donna-" He had to cut her off quickly before she asked.
"and I wanted to-"
"Donna!" He whined. If he stopped her from asking he wouldn't have to
say no.
"Josh, you need me there," she stated with conviction.
"No."
"Josh, you do."
"I don't need you there and you know it."
"Ah come on Josh, Blake will be meeting with Beatty and he's bringing
his assistant."
"Blake is a Republican."
"So. He knows the value of having a reliable assistant with him, on
hand to do all the reliable assistant things that assistants do in
delicate negotiations such as these."
"Donna, I know it's Hawaii. It's no big deal. I've been there a few
times before and it doesn't impress me all that much."
"Says you who has gone there so many times that the place has now
lost all of it's mystique. But I on the other hand have never been to
Hawaii and would likely never get to go except for the graces of her
kind and wonderful master allowing her to-"
"What did you just call me?" Josh's head snapped up.
"Huh? What?" Donna was momentarily confused. "Master?"
Josh sighed and closed his eyes which didn't help with shutting out
the images of his young assistant clad in a skimpy pink genie outfit.
Donna pleading with him to go to Hawaii was not unlike Barbara Eden
begging with Larry Hagman to take her to some other exotic location.
If memory served him right, Major Nelson would always say `no' and
Jeannie would always find some way to make his life a living hell
because of it.
"Yeah. You are my master and I am your slave-" Donna's voice
permeated his thoughts. "-and I would be of service to you in Hawaii
and I would be indebted to you if-."
"You can't go."
"But Josh. Blake-"
"Is that your answer to everything, all the other assistants are
going so why can't you?"
"Well, yeah."
"I'm sorry, Donna, but you can't go."
"But I'll miss you."
"You can't-" he began automatically. "You'll miss me?" He looked up
at her, watching for the humour in her eyes.
"Yes. I always miss you. There's no one here to boss me around when
you're gone. I'm like a ship without rudder, a compass without a
needle, a-"
"A slave without a master?"
"A Jeannie without her Major Nelson," Donna agreed.
"So that explains all the manner of mischief you seem to get up to
when I am gone."
"Mischief? What mischief?"
"Well between you and Roger something always manages to go awry."
"Roger? Roger Healy?"
"Yeah. Sam is Roger Healy."
Donna thought about this for a few seconds. "Yeah, that works."
"Look my trip will only take two-three days tops. It's not like you'd
get to see anything if you did come. We'd be tied up all day-"
"Yeah, but the nights Josh... beaches by moonlight-"
"And we'd be reading over notes all night. Besides, you'll have Roger
here to keep you company."
"I wouldn't use that as a point of persuasion if I were you."
"Why not?"
"Well everyone knows that Roger has a thing for Jeannie."
"He does not." For a brief moment Josh was stricken with panic. Donna
was referring to just the characters and not actually Sam and
herself, wasn't she?
Of course she was.
"Does too," Donna continued. "And Jeannie did come on to Roger one
time to make Major Nelson jealous."
"She did?"
"Uh huh. And Roger enjoyed it too."
"So what are you saying Donna. If I don't take you with me to Hawaii
you and Sam are going to make me jealous?"
"No. I wouldn't do that Josh. I'm not Jeannie, Sam isn't Roger and
you're not Major Nelson."
"Damn straight, because if I was Major Nelson, and you were Jeannie
I'd lock you away in your bottle and probably throw it back into the
ocean."
"You'd throw me away?" She pouted.
"Yeah." he said with a self satisfying grin. Then he noticed the mock
sad expression on her face. "No. I wouldn't throw you away Donna."
"Because you'd realise just how invaluable I am to your life and that
you couldn't live without me?"
"Yeah something like that." He said smiling fondly.
"Well if that's the case, I should come to Hawaii with you."
Josh sighed. he had been feeling really good when he came into work
this morning. Now he wasn't so sure anymore.
"Look I've got staff in five minutes. I'll tell you what, if Leo
suggests that I take additional help without anyone pre-empting him,
I'll bring you along."
Donna clapped her hands together softly in excitement. Josh didn't
know if she had mirrored the mannerism of Barbara Eden's Jeannie on
purpose or if she was genuinely excited. He shook his head once more.
"But if you go Donna, I don't need to tell you it won't be any
holiday. It will be work, work, work. Do you understand."
"Yes Master," she giggled.
THE END
FB "/group/JoshDonnaFF/post?protectID=08501511311215807101509717500417606307117 9066034"
Another Autor's Note
I guess I've just realised what a WW fan I am. I live in Canberra the
capitol of Australia. For other Aussies and maybe a few international
readers/writers you might have heard that we are in the middle of the
biggest bushfire this city has ever seen. Yesterday we lost 4 locals
and over 400 houses and all the devastattion seems so surreal. Today
I've done everything I can to prepare for a firefront should the wind
be unkind and turn this way. We live right next to the forest so we
are on alert. Anyway, you know you're a WW fan when you have
evacuated your kids, hosed your roof and fill the downpipes and
prepared for eveything and you think "hey I better pack my car with
the most precious things I own" and the second thing to go into the
car after the photo albums are all your WW tapes and DVD's and a few
disks with unfinished fics and you then sit inside and think, I'd
better post that story, like NOW in case something happens and I
won't have a computer anymore... weird what goes through some
people's heads.
Fingers crossed.
PPS If anyone wants to do a sequel to this where Donna actually ends
up in Hawaii with Josh and all manner of misadventures occur where
she is only trying to help but makes things much much worse without
having any actual genie powers to speak of be my guest. In fact I
would love to read that.
Cheers