Part 15
Yawn…..Another day begins. Another wonderful day begins. The sun is bright, the birds are singing….Why am I being all Mr. Sunshine? Well, you wake up with Donnatella Moss in your arms and you'll know what I'm talking about. I just can't get over waking up next to her.
"Wake up sleepy head, rise and shine!" I leaned and kiss her on her temple.
She moans. Oh dear, not the best sound I want to hear if I want to have a hot shower and not a cold one like last night. I nudge her a bit so she'll stop making those sounds.
"Go away Joshua. I want to sleep. It's Sunday." Donna mumbles in the most adorable way.
"Donna, you do realize that we just reversed our roles here, don't you. Me waking you up. You being the grumpy one…."
"Josh, go take a shower before I push you off the bed!" Donna elbows me lightly on my chest.
"Touchy." I get off the bed and take a shower. I should make a big breakfast for my Donnatella.
Donna was up when I got off the shower. She looked like a zombie and pushed me away from the bathroom door and slammed the door as she went in.
Someone got up at the wrong side of the bed. Well, I'll just have to change that wouldn't I?
She's going to love this. It's time to show Donna who the real chef in this relationship is.
I look up for some gourmet breakfast ideas from my mom's recipe book. As I needed to make something in a short amount on time, I decided on French Toast, Italian Omelette and something called the Irish Oatmeal. Looks like I'm going covering Europe for breakfast. It's amazing that I actually had most of the ingredients needed. I'm pretty sure it was all Donna's shopping.
I start up the coffee and begin to set the table. Hmm…The table needs something. I have the cutleries and napkins placed, but it needs something extra. I got it! I quickly took my keys and went out of my building.
There's got to be some flowers around here. Not that I've noticed any. But it's only a reasonable assumption that flowers can be found along streets, right? Ah, I see some carnations and daisies. Sigh, they don't seem right. I look around some more. There they are! A bunch of gorgeous purple and pink tulips. I go and pluck a bunch, with their stems and leaves so it looks more natural. Wow, I've never noticed so many flowers around here before. A man can save a lot of money if he just spends some time noticing mother nature.
I hope Donna's not at the kitchen yet. I enter my place and thankfully, she's still getting dressed I presume. I place the flowers in a vase on the middle of the table. Voila, perfect!
I pour some orange juice in two glasses and serve the food I cooked on the plates. What else? Ah, yes…coffee.
"What smells so good? What in the world?" I hold the pot of coffee in my hand as I see Donna alternately staring at the table and then at me for a couple of times.
"Ah, Mademoseille Donnatella. Would you care to join me for ze' breakfast?" I say in a French accent. A quite impressive French accent if I say so myself.
I place the coffee pot on the table and pull the chair out for Donna.
"Please take a seat Mademoseille." Donna does so, still looking a little stunned.
"Today, the specialties are ze' toast from my country, France. Hence, it's name French Toast." Donna giggled at that. It's so wonderful to see her mood completely switched from when she got up. I'm glad I had a little to do with that.
"And here we have, ze' Italian Omelette with sun-dried tomatoes, parmesan cheese and Italian herbs to give it some zing. And finally we have ze' Irish Oatmeal. It has raisins, cinnamon, corn syrup and topped with freshly chopped strawberries and peaches. Hope you enjoy your meal!" I state as I took her hand and kissed it."
"Josh..Oh wow! Did you actually do all this?" Donna said with they widest grin on her face.
"From scratch baby!" I said, returning to my good ol' all American self.
"I'm shocked. I don't know what to say. Everything looks so incredible. And these flowers! How did you manage to get them so fast? I know I took a long shower but not that long." Donna says as she leans toward the flowers to smell them.
"I plucked them of the side of the street below. You'll be quite amazed to fine quite pretty flowers around there."
"You plucked them? You went outdoors into the nature, in the morning to pluck flowers?" She mocks.
"Anything to bring a smile on my girlfriend's face."
Oh no. She's getting emotional. She gives me a smile with a slight pout and her eyes getting all sparkly.
"Donna, don't get emotional on me…"
"I'm not, I'm not…Okay, let's eat. I can't wait to taste your cooking."
I watch her, as she takes a bite of the omelette. She closes her eyes as she tastes it and lets out an "mmmmm" sound. Oh, I could take her right here, right now. Stop it Lyman. Get your mind out of the gutter.
"Good, bad?" I ask.
"Delectable." She says and I grin like a fool I'm sure.
"I didn't know you had it in you, Lyman. I guess you'll be cooking all our meals from now on, huh?"
"Don't count on your luck Donnatella."
"Josh, seriously, everything's so damn delicious. How did you know to make all this?" She says as she takes a bite of the toast and the oatmeal as well.
"A little recipe book, my mom left behind. Who knew it'll come in handy?"
"I'm sorry I woke up grumpy today. Wait, did u do all this BECAUSE I woke up grumpy?"
I gave her a smile and raised my shoulders.
"Cool, I should wake up this way more often."
"Right!" I swat her hand as she takes the pot of coffee.
"Hey, come on! What happened to the chivalrous French guy? He was sexy." Donna flashes a cheeky and sly smile at me.
"He's gone. You're stuck with good ol' all American me."
"Well, I guess I could live with that." She says with a wink.
Donna and I spent the rest of the morning reading the newspaper and believe it or not, watching cartoons. It was actually quite fun. I didn't know Road Runner could crack Donna up so much. It's quite amazing when I learn something new about her everyday.
We got to the office by 2.30pm. Around 4pm, CJ called Donna, Sam and I into her office. I guess she's got something to share with us. I hope it's something good.
The three of us stood around CJ's desk while watching her print of something.
"Okay guys. I gave the DCPD the description we had. And they had about twelve people matching, but I removed the ones that are no longer in DC and the ones that were elsewhere during any of the rape incidents. So, I'm now down to five guys." CJ explained and started to lay out the six photos she printed out.
"How did you get all this so fast?" Donna asked as she started to take a closer look at the pictures. I seriously hope this is not too overwhelming for her. One of those six guys could have been the one who raped her!
"The cop who's helping me sent them through e-mail and I printed them out. Anyway, this guy Simon Devour, has had one case of tax fraud. He pleaded guilty and spent some time in jail. I don't think he's the one." CJ said pointing to one of the pictures.
"The next one is Tim Sherman, as you can see he's got many piercings on his face, is a gang member…into gang fights and stuff. Also not likely to be the one we are looking for. This other guy is Nat Fryer, drug addict, in and out of jail and rehab a few years ago. Seems to have cleaned up his act. This one is Anthony Martin, robbery and assault five years ago. And finally, Aaron McCain. Get this, he was charged with sexual assault two years ago. But the case was dropped. I looked him up and he had another similar case against him when he used live in Cincinnati, Ohio five years ago. Both were dropped because of lack of evidence. There was no date rape drug involve but both were dates and one woman claimed he raped her in the car when he was sending her home and the other said he raped her in her apartment when she invited him in. I could be wrong, but I think he's the only possible suspect we have."
Wow, this was a lot to take in. Do we actually have this guy? How are we going to prove it?
"That's a lot of information there CJ. What do you think we should do now?" I asked CJ.
I feel rather useless right now. Relying only on CJ for everything. I don't seem to be doing much or having any ideas to go about this. Politics is way easier than detective work.
"Well, we could be totally going in circles because there's the possibility that this guy we're looking for has no criminal record in DC, in which case, this whole thing would be just a waste of time. But I just had an idea that we should show the photos to Chad, the bartender guy and see what he says. I know he probably has no recollection of how this guy actually looks but he's our best chance.
"I think that's the best way to go too. I'll give Chad a call. You have the number right?" Well, at least I can be a little more of a help now.
"Beat you to it, sailor. The only time he can meet us today is in an hours' time. I agreed coz I want to do this as soon as possible." Damn, she's good.
"I've got a meeting with Patrick…something at 5pm." Sam said.
Damn it! I've got a meeting too.
"Shoot, I've got a meeting too. Donna, could you reschedule it?"
"No way in hell Lyman. Do you know how hard I tried to get this meeting scheduled for you? And Congressman Leeds was not all that thrilled about working on a Sunday. So, you're going to go for that meeting whether you like it or not." Donna said with her eyes filled with warning.
"Well, that's good then. He doesn't have to work on a Sunday."
"No Josh, he had to work today to prepare for the meeting. And he'll be furious if you cancel it. I've already got three people to apologize to on your behalf. You are going to this meeting and that's that. CJ and I will go see Chad."
No arguing with that tone. I just nodded in defeat. Oh well, you win some, you lose some. Unfortunately, I seem to be losing a whole lot more these days.
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CJ and I went to a diner nearby to meet Chad. He wasn't there yet when we arrived.
"So, how are things with you and Josh?" CJ started as we took a seat.
"Good. Great even. I mean I though I knew everything about him but boy, the amount of things that surprise me. He's not just a master politician, he's pretty amazing in lots of other aspects." I said.
I think I must be beaming as CJ looks at me raising an eyebrow.
"Donna, that's a little more than I want to know. But......so you are okay with…..doing it?"
Oh dear. She must have gotten the wrong idea. I laugh out loud.
"No, no. That's not what I was talking about. I mean, this morning, he had gone outside to pluck some flowers to place on the breakfast table. Tulips for crying out loud! And he cooked me an amazing gourmet breakfast with the table all set up so well. He did all this
from scratch and it was so delicious." I started to smile like an idiot remembering that morning.
"Wow. That's something I've never heard about Josh Lyman. Did you like do something special for him the night before?" CJ asked suggestively.
"Ah, I understand why you may think that but get this….I didn't 'put out' the night before. And I got up soooo grumpily that morning for no good reason. And he did all that to cheer me up and boy, did that do the trick."
"Okay. Double wow! Jesus, I am sooo envious of you. If I knew Josh Lyman was such a romantic fool, I would have snagged him long ago!" CJ joked.
We laughed at that for some time. I had to stop drinking as I almost choked on my soda.
"So did you give him your flower after that?" CJ continued pressing on that matter.
"No. I'm still not ready. I honestly don't know why. I mean, we've been sleeping on the same bed for sometime now but nothing more."
"Don't worry. You'll know when you're ready. Meanwhile, enjoy all the chivalry while you get it."
"Amen to that." I continued to laugh.
"Hello. Sorry I'm late. Traffic." It was Chad.
"Hello Chad. Have a seat." I said pulling out a chair for him.
"Would you like anything?" CJ asked him.
"No thanks."
"Well, we should get to the point. Chad, I know you can't remember the guy's face but I'm going to show to a few mug shots and see if you can point out anyone or recall anything."
"Miss, I really don't think I'll be able to do that. I honestly wouldn't be able to recognize him."
"Chad, just have a look at this photos okay?" I asked him politely.
He nodded as CJ laid all the six photos on the table. Chad looked at them intensely. I turned nervously at CJ only to see her just as nervous as me. It seemed like eternity before any of us spoke.
"If I had to choose someone, and I won't be testifying on this…..but I would place my money on this guy." He said as he pointed on a picture.
CJ and I took a deep breath and looked at the picture. Oh my god. It was Aaron McCain. The guy with the sexual assault charges. CJ looked at me and gave a slick smile.
"Thank you Chad. You have been a tremendous help!" CJ said as she got up.
"Yes. Thanks a lot. Sorry for taking up your time." I said.
"No problem. Well, glad I was of help. See you around." With that, we left and headed back to the office.
We filled in Sam and Josh about our meeting with Chad.
"I'm going to talk to Jane and we'll get some cops involved and we are going to nail this guy very soon!" CJ said vengefully.
However good that sounds, I know there's a huge possibility that we are on to the wrong guy.
Monday has come starting with a very busy schedule for Josh. That means a whole lot of work for me as well. We didn't even have time for a proper lunch. I stuffed Josh's backpack with a roast chicken sandwich. I hope he'll find it during his meeting at the hill.
It's almost 7pm now and we still have heaps to get through. Nothing major so I guess I can postpone some stuff for tomorrow.
"Carol ordered Chinese for the four of us. It'll be here in a short while. I've got a lot to discuss with you guys at my office." I hear CJ telling me very quickly as she passes by my desk.
I pass the message to Josh and Sam. We arrived at CJ's office just in time for the food. I can't begin to tell how famished I am.
"I spoke to Jane. She's very optimistic about what we found out. Anyway, she has some good contacts with the DCPD and now we've got two police officers with us. They had planned a strategy while they were updating things with me. So, this is how it's going to be. The police have the guy's address and details. They'll be following him around this week. This weekend, hopefully he'll be on his 'venture 'as it'll be four weeks since his last attack. I'll be the target, miserable, vulnerable and all. Sam and Jane will be with me. They'll be a couple. Leaving me alone after a while. The same way it was with Donna. "
"Hey, I haven't even seen this Jane person. You want me to act as her boyfriend?" Sam sounded a little squeaky saying that.
"The police officers have other obligations. Like tailing him, keeping us safe, getting backup and all, Sam. You're it." CJ said is her no-nonsense voice.
"Don't worry Sam. She's really nice. You'll like her." I chipped in hoping Sam wouldn't mind doing it. I feel bad enough dragging everyone into my problem. I really don't want any of them to do anything they don't want.
"Okay. I'll have to meet her first though."
"No problem. Now if you'll just shut up, I can continue. Anyway, the police will tail him Friday and Saturday night. We'll be waiting near his target area wearing earpieces. If he goes to a bar or nightclub, the cops will let us know which one and we'll go there. Then we'll try to get him to notice me and I'll take it from there. The cops said we need to get him putting in the drugs and taking the victim home and some indication that he wants to rape her."
"CJ will you actually have to drink it, if he offers you the drugged drink?" I asked CJ worriedly. I really wouldn't want her to do that.
"Yeah. It's the only way. Otherwise I wouldn't know how to act. The cops are going to give me a fake ID with an address of a place they will fit with security cameras and such. So, there's nothing to worry about. The cops will follow him anyway. Besides, this is only if he is actually the guy and he'll actually fall for the trap…. which is probably a long shot."
"Wow…..you guys really thought it through. So, where will Josh and I be? Just around the nightclub?" I asked visioning us spying through while holding menu cards.
"No, you are not going anywhere near the club."
"No way in hell you will be there."
"He'll recognize you. We can't take that risk."
Woah! Talk about ganging up on me! They were all talking at the same time. I never thought I wouldn't be a part of the 'final act'.
"Come on guys, if CJ can wear a blond wig, I'm sure I can wear a disguise as well. Besides, there'll be so many people there. There's no way in hell he'll recognize me." I pleaded, trying to reason with them.
"We'll see about that Donna." Josh said as he placed a hand on my shoulder.
This is my chance. Watch out, Josh's dumpling, I'm coming at you!
"Hey, you stole my dumpling!!" Josh tried to take it back from me but I was too quick for him.
"Well, if you wanted it so much, you should have been guarding it better." I joked.
"Yeah, yeah…whatever. But I'll get my revenge. You won't know where, you won't know how…but it's coming." I laughed at Josh's threat. He looked so cute threatening me. I could just eat him up…but I won't.
"Will you two stop it for just a few minutes? It's getting nauseating…even worse that I'm eating." CJ sounded really annoyed with us. I think she's just kidding, but you can never be too sure.
"Oh yeah... Where are you going to get your blond wig from, CJ?" Sam asked.
"Blond wig? CJ, is there something going on I should know about?"
Oh, dear. The four us turn towards the door and found Toby standing there. Okay, how in the world are we going to pull out of this mess?
TO BE CONTINUED………….
