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Hungry for I love you's
It was my time it was my space
It was the bright red he brought to my face
Every underdog has their day
Sorry it hurts
But [Amy], I saw him first.
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"I don't know, Donna, I just..." He rested his head in his
hands and I gently rubbed his back like I did after Rosslyn. I bit my
lip, trying to keep my thoughts to myself. "What should I do?
Come on, you know about this stuff." He turned his head to look at
me, and his expression made it impossible to keep quiet. His beautiful
brown eyes were pleading with me to give him my opinion. I hardly ever
get to see that look, where he's not cocky, self-assured, smug Josh. I
reached out, rubbing his arm softly under his tuxedo shirt as we sat on Toby's
little couch. My gown crinkled as I shifted in my seat. "It's
up to you. I know you're not being commitment-phobic." Josh
grinned at the phrase. "She broke your trust and went behind your
back, and you've got to decide if you can forgive her and trust her again or
not, but I can't decide for you." *As much as I want to.*
"I don't know," he said again, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he tossed the options back and forth in his head. My Josh, always making mental lists, pros vs. cons. He's such an analyst. Tentatively, I stroked his temple once, fighting the urge to kiss his forehead. He always made faces at me when I did that. "I'd hate to see you get hurt again," I told him honestly. "But if you think she won't, then..." I trailed off.
Josh sighed, leaning back and looking at me. "I should just end it now, shouldn't I?" I didn't say anything, just went back to rubbing his arm. "I can't trust her any more, and damn," he sighed. "I thought I was getting past all this ... these issues," he smirked sardonically.
"You are," I assured him, impressed with the depth he was showing. I'd never heard Josh being that honest about *anything* before. "This wasn't your fault."
"No?"
"No," I affirmed.
"Donna?"
"Josh?" I gave him a little smirk of my own.
"Have you ever thought...about us?"
I sucked in a breath and admitted, "Sometimes. Where are you going with this?"
The smug grin was back. "Would you fight Amy for me? You know, like, jello wrestling or something?"
"Josh!" I stifled a laugh, standing and heading for the door. "No man is worth getting jello in places I can't reach with a loofah. Not even you." The door swung open under my hand, and our voices echoed in the silence of the deserted West Wing; nearly everyone was at the First Lady's birthday party.
"Too bad. 'Cause if you'd said yes, I woulda dumped Amy." My hand froze on the door. I could see his teasing smile without turning around.
Taking a deep breath, I spun around. Leaning against the doorjamb, my expression was teasingly disappointed. Snapping my fingers as if to say 'Drat!', I shook my head. "And see, Josh, if you dump Amy, I'll probably say yes to a lot of things." Laughing, I turned and slipped down the hall, very proud of myself. For once, I'd gotten the last word in against the most infamous word-slinger in the West, Joshua Lyman. Go, me.
"Donna, send me Amy when you're done strutting around!"
Always
the assistant, never the jello wrestler.
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"Yes to what?"
I should've known better than to get in early this morning. I looked up from Garfield to see Josh hovering over my desk. I hate it when he hovers, makes me want to get out the flyswatter. "What, yes to what?"
"Exactly."
"English, please."
Josh smirked and said, "What are those things you're gonna say yes to?"
I started to repeat his question when it clicked. "Oh, you mean---" I frowned. "You dumped her?"
"Uh huh. Is a date one of those things?"
Shit. Uh..... "Yes?"
"Good. Friday. Schedule it."
I sat, watching as he disappeared down the same hallway I had used last night, leaving me with my mouth hanging open. Once again, he'd gotten the last word. Damn him. An idea came over me to get a final word in, an idea which I'd tell Josh about in a few years, if he earned it.
I couldn't resist. The e-mail came from a free hotmail account, which I promptly deleted after serving its purpose -- no need to aggravate things. It said simply, "Sorry. I saw him first."
THE END
