I didn't invent these people. See the first chapter for other info.
Enthralling Josh Lyman
Donna had given up. If Josh had picked up on all her supposedly subtle signals, there wasn't any way to carry on.
The thing hadn't been a total loss. She had a new admirer in Will Bailey, and even Toby had begun to see her a little more clearly. Her night with Sam had been fun. So why was her squabble with Josh weighing her down?
Friday, they pretended nothing out of the ordinary was going on, but there was a definite tension in the office. Donna had returned to her old wardrobe, but she still wore the perfume, maybe to prove to herself that what she had told Josh was true. She hadn't changed that much. Had she?
She left the office early. At lunch, she had told CJ she was tired of the games, and CJ was sympathetic if not disappointed. Uncharacteristically, Donna was depressed. When she was almost home, she decided she didn't want to be there alone. The bar the boys frequented was calling her, and she had every intention of getting drunk. She figured it would take even less alcohol than it did for Josh.
After a half hour of nursing beer number one—how they drank it at all, she didn't know—she had come to the conclusion that her experiment was just as much a failure as a success. She had proved that her mind was attractive and that her body, if properly endowed with revealing clothes, chemical enhancements, and seductive makeup, was attractive. Sadly, these were things she already knew.
The worst was that Josh had been right. If she meant to get the boys to pay attention, she had gone about it all the wrong way. She just didn't know the right way.
She finished beer number one, guzzling the last bit to force it down, and she had ordered number two when her phone rang. It read JOSH WW.
"Hey, Donna. I need you up here for a while."
"It's 9:30 Friday night."
"I know."
"I'm halfway to drunk, Josh."
"Are you on a date?"
"No."
"And you're not drunk either. Just come."
"On my way."
Donna moped back into the White House, not too happy to face Josh again. He was standing waiting at her desk.
He said, "So, I was thinking about what you said, about how I like women with no self-esteem."
She had stopped before she even really entered the office. "You called me up here to finish our fight?"
"No. No fight. I just wanted to clarify something."
"Then I can go back to my revelry?"
"Sure."
Donna moped over to her desk and sat down in the chair, the light floaty feeling of the beer disappearing every time Josh opened his mouth.
"Donna, I don't like women with low self-esteem. Case in point Amy. I think self-confidence is really appealing. What I do like is when women know they're sexy and don't feel like they have to prove it."
"Maybe some of us do have to prove it."
"Maybe it's sad to me when a woman doesn't know she's one of the ones who should never have to prove it." He was looking suddenly very sincere, and Donna rose from her chair and stood to face him. The only defense for his doe-eyed look was offense. She walked around to the other side of the desk to face him.
"So why is it guys always respond when a woman gets all dolled up, the same woman they wouldn't notice otherwise?"
"One, they do notice otherwise. Two, it's nice, and you women expect a response when you get dressed up."
"Why didn't you respond?"
"What?" He sat down on the edge of the desk, crossing his arms, looking genuinely confused.
"You said yourself that I've been making an extra effort this week to look nice. Why didn't you respond?"
"I guess I never dreamed the effort was for me. Was it?"
"Why in the world is everything always about you? This was for all the guys here who ignore me, not just you. Besides, it was CJ's idea to focus on you."
"Oh, so this was a conspiracy? God, I knew this whole thing smacked of some heavy-handed woman's influence."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because it's not like you, Donna. Because you're usually dependable, solid Donna. You have some odd habits, but you've never been insincere a day in your life. This week, you've been acting and prowling. And for no real cause, none except for conquest."
"See," she said, moving closer to him. "See, that's what I'm talking about. You call me 'good, soild Donna,' 'dependable Donna.' Nobody ever talks about CJ like that. She's just CJ, and that name puts a special look in your eyes, in every man's eyes in the office. It's like she's force of nature."
"Donna, I don't think you want to be a force of nature."
Turning, she said, "No. Not every day." She sat on the opposite desk and dropped her eyes to the floor. "But some days, I just need to feel like more than solid Donna from Wisconsin."
"So you decided to go out and make that happen."
Her voice rose again. "I just wanted, for a least one moment, every man in this office to see me. Maybe even to want me."
"Even me?"
"Even you."
"Because you think I don't see you?"
She finally looked him in the eye again. "No, Josh, I really don't."
He stood up and walked over to her. "Here's the thing. You don't want me to want you. You want respect."
"Maybe I want both."
"Maybe you already had both."
He stood there for a long time, long enough for Donna to know he meant it.
She finally said, "So what was all this fuss for?"
"I don't know, but I hear you have
a new fan in Will Bailey."
She groaned. "Are you serious?" Grabbing her coat, she followed Josh out of
the office and down the hallway.
"Well, he certainly has been asking a lot of questions about you. What did you do to him, Donna?"
"Brought him coffee."
"I'm really jealous now. But that would mean a hell of a lot more to me than to him. What else?"
"I implied that I thought he was cute."
Josh was walking in front of her, almost sideways so he could see her face and watch where he was going. "Oh. That'll do it. Nerds have a weakness for that kind of flirtation. Trust me, it always works on me. By the way, Sam said he had a nice time yesterday. First you bring Will Bailey coffee, and then you dance with Sam. Why don't you ever dance with me?"
"You've never asked. That and you never look quite as cute in a rumpled suit."
"Did you know that rhymed?"
"Yes, and did you know you're avoiding asking me a question that's burning in your mind." They had reached the doors, and Donna stopped, pulling on her coat.
"Which is…?"
"Is Sam a good kisser."
"I can honestly say I've never been curious about that, Donna. But give me your analysis, please, since you obviously have no girlfriends to gossip with this about."
"Be as sarcastic as you want. I bet he beats you by leaps and bounds."
"Oh, really. Why do you say that?"
"His lips."
Josh let out a chuckle, seemingly confident but self-consciously nervous. "Donna, it's all in how you use them."
"Hmm," she said. "I figured you'd say that."
"Well, figure this," he said, pulling her close and pressing his lips to hers. At first it was awkward, but it soon gave way to a softness as unexpected as Toby's embrace. To his credit, his tongue never came out of his mouth. Not that his lips needed any help.
"So," he said, obviously proud of himself but a little unsure of her reaction.
She started to walk away.
"Donna?"
She stopped and turned. "I guess I'll have to kiss Sam now."
She laughed out loud as she walked down the path to hail a cab. She felt like herself for the first time in a week. She considered telling CJ the ending to the experiment, but she couldn't. Besides, she didn't want to be blamed for Josh's inevitable retaliation.
That's all folks.
And if anybody wants to write Josh's retaliation, go for it. But let me know—I want to read it. I'd tackle it myself, but I don't know CJ well enough to seduce her.