Title: Working it Out
Author: mim
Disclaimer: The West Wing is the creation of Aaron Sorkin and definitely
not myself.
Summary: Donna/Josh fic set right after Episode 5.3
Donna - 32, more confident, but still looking for Mr. Right.
Josh - 38, as arrogant and smug as they come, but vulnerable in the
presence of women who he's romantically interested in.
Chapter 1 - It Just Came Out That Way
Donna
"Ryan!" "Yeah." "Where is the thing?" "You know you guys are always talking about a thing around here." He gestures with air quotes. What a putz. "Well, where is the thing?" I ask again while writing a message to Josh from FLOTUS's office.
"I'm trying to help you with your communication problem Donna." Ryan fiddles with something on my desk. I quickly snatch it out of his hand.
"Josh handles Domestic Policy Ryan. We are very proud of our lack of communication abilities around here." I give him a look and he rolls his eyes and hands me the file he's been holding behind his back. Putz.
"Thank you." I smile. "Okay, please go find Josh, he's probably with Toby in the mess. Give him this, it's from the office of the First Lady."
"Is it from that Amy chick?"
"Yeah."
"She's hot."
"Are you channeling Josh right now?" I quip as I try to ignore his comment.
"Is there something going on with them?" His mouth forms a half smile in amusement.
"Go." I order. Like I have time to worry about Amy and Josh. Josh and Amy, Amy and Josh. It never fuckin' ends with those two. I stand up from my desk and walk over to the copy machine. As I copy the contents of the file that Ryan just handed me I remember my conversation with Amy earlier this morning. It was fine, but something made me feel like she was trying not to bring something up. I guess it must've have been the "Question that Should Have Never Been Asked". Weeks ago, Amy asked me if I was in love with Josh. After moments of silence I assured her that while I respected Josh as my boss and a friend, that I was not in love with him in THAT way. She seemed to not believe it but didn't press for more. Since then, every time I talk to her I feel like that question just looms over the conversation. I didn't mean to pause for that long or stammer into an explanation like some school girl. It just came out that way.
Josh
"Did you tell him that?" I asked Toby as we stopped in the corridor outside the mess.
"Yes."
"Did he agree?"
"I didn't ask."
"Toby . ."
"I didn't ask Josh because it doesn't need an answer. He needs to realize that he can't take those things to the President like that." Toby walks away with his coffee and my copy of the Post. Hey, doesn't he get the Washington Post too? Oh, wonderful, here comes Pierce. The intern from Blue Blood Hell. Right away I start walking toward my bullpen area, he still struggles to follow.
"A message from Amy." He hands me a piece of paper and rambles on about a polo match he played in this weekend. Walking briskly through the halls I read the letter from Amy. It asks about a meeting on Domestic Violence. Crap, I forgot about that shit! Last time she was in my office, the meeting kinda veered off course. I stop in front of my door.
"Damn. No wonder Donna's got gams of steel." I look at him sideways and Donna chooses to walk up at that moment with a file and smiles at the comment and then walks off. I go in and sit at my desk. Pierce follows.
"So Amy, huh?" he smirks.
"What?"
"She's a hottie."
"I'm starting to think that I'm not going to be on the top feministas shit list around here anymore." I tell him.
"Well, I am partial to blondes." He nods he head toward Donna's desk. "But sometimes a brunette will turn my head. I'll tell you one thing, that C.J. is built like a goddess." He smiles broadly. I just look at him wondering how I got to be the lucky one he's interning for.
"Josh you have Senior Staff in five." Donna walks in and hands me a folder and takes a couple from my desk and hands them to Ryan.
"These need to go to Will's office." She directs him. He smiles and scatters off. I'm surprised he didn't come back to ask where Will's office is.
"Donna, wear longer skirts." I take a drink of my coffee and she asks where that piece of fashion advice came from. "Pierce is like a walking gland Donna, and I can bear without the comments about your gams." She smiles.
"In fact, from now on you're wearing pants only." I order. She rolls her eyes and reminds me again about my meeting.
Donna
"Donna, I'm going to wait in Josh's office until he gets back from Senior Staff." Amy says as she walks into his office. Knowing how much Josh hates walking into an ambush, I smile and let her go. Seeing her reminds me of our conversation. It was just a weird moment. A weird question. And it came out of nowhere. I didn't mean that she didn't get Josh, I just meant that all the obsessing she was doing over that conversation was getting her nowhere because she wasn't considering his background. But to ask me if I was in love with him was out of nowhere.
Do I love Josh? Of course I love him. He's done so much for me but it's more than just that, we fit. We click, and it all works for us. But I'm not in love with him because that would be crazy. He is my boss and we work at the most scrutinized place in America. A lawyer can date his secretary, a CEO can marry his assistant, a Hollywood Star can fall for their personal assistant. But the Deputy Chief of Staff of the White House cannot become involved with his assistant. Period. It isn't an option so there is no use contemplating if I'm in love with Josh because it is undoable in our situation.
Josh
"Donna, I need everything you can get me on Russell and I need it in an hour." She acknowledges my request and I walk into my office only to see Amy sitting in my chair. For the love of God, can't Donna keep anyone out of my office? I give her an annoyed look and close my door.
"So Bingo Bob?"
"Amy . . ."
"Josh do you want to get back together?" I stared at her, blindsided.
"What? Amy . . ."
"I only ask because based on recent events it feels like you are looking for someone to cling to for human contact and since I'm the nearest warm body, I'll do."
"Okay, first of all, where is this coming from, second, I'm really busy Amy and although I know we need to have this discussion something tells me that my office in the middle of the morning is not the place to do it."
"Are you in love with Donna?" Whoa, it's like she ran me over then decided to back up and try again just to make sure I felt the impact.
"Amy! I don't know what kind of shock value you're going for here but I think it's time you got out of my office. Call me later and we'll talk."
"No."
"Excuse me?" I asked incredulously.
"I'm tired Josh. I'm tired of this back and forth crap. And I've come to a revelation of sorts. I don't love you, at least not in the way I used to. You're like gravity though Josh. I just get pulled to you, the fights, the arguments. They are all forms of passion and I think I was just mistaking them for the wrong kind of passion. So, unless we have business to discuss, the Fourth of July type stuff won't be a regular occurrence." She stood up and walked out. I just got dumped by my ex-girlfriend. That's always the start of a good day. I sat at my desk and put my head in my hands. I heard a slam on my desk and popped my head up.
"Here is Russell stuff from the House, the Senate stuff is on its way." Donna said as she sat down and picked up a file.
"Donna, I realize that you are a busy person but do you think you could fit it in your schedule to tell me when someone is waiting for me in my office, or better yet you could get them to wait outside it." I scolded.
"Josh, I realize that you are an important person but do you think you could handle your personal affairs yourself?" She replied without looking up from her file. This is what I have to deal with in my life. These kind of women.
Chapter 1 - It Just Came Out That Way
Donna
"Ryan!" "Yeah." "Where is the thing?" "You know you guys are always talking about a thing around here." He gestures with air quotes. What a putz. "Well, where is the thing?" I ask again while writing a message to Josh from FLOTUS's office.
"I'm trying to help you with your communication problem Donna." Ryan fiddles with something on my desk. I quickly snatch it out of his hand.
"Josh handles Domestic Policy Ryan. We are very proud of our lack of communication abilities around here." I give him a look and he rolls his eyes and hands me the file he's been holding behind his back. Putz.
"Thank you." I smile. "Okay, please go find Josh, he's probably with Toby in the mess. Give him this, it's from the office of the First Lady."
"Is it from that Amy chick?"
"Yeah."
"She's hot."
"Are you channeling Josh right now?" I quip as I try to ignore his comment.
"Is there something going on with them?" His mouth forms a half smile in amusement.
"Go." I order. Like I have time to worry about Amy and Josh. Josh and Amy, Amy and Josh. It never fuckin' ends with those two. I stand up from my desk and walk over to the copy machine. As I copy the contents of the file that Ryan just handed me I remember my conversation with Amy earlier this morning. It was fine, but something made me feel like she was trying not to bring something up. I guess it must've have been the "Question that Should Have Never Been Asked". Weeks ago, Amy asked me if I was in love with Josh. After moments of silence I assured her that while I respected Josh as my boss and a friend, that I was not in love with him in THAT way. She seemed to not believe it but didn't press for more. Since then, every time I talk to her I feel like that question just looms over the conversation. I didn't mean to pause for that long or stammer into an explanation like some school girl. It just came out that way.
Josh
"Did you tell him that?" I asked Toby as we stopped in the corridor outside the mess.
"Yes."
"Did he agree?"
"I didn't ask."
"Toby . ."
"I didn't ask Josh because it doesn't need an answer. He needs to realize that he can't take those things to the President like that." Toby walks away with his coffee and my copy of the Post. Hey, doesn't he get the Washington Post too? Oh, wonderful, here comes Pierce. The intern from Blue Blood Hell. Right away I start walking toward my bullpen area, he still struggles to follow.
"A message from Amy." He hands me a piece of paper and rambles on about a polo match he played in this weekend. Walking briskly through the halls I read the letter from Amy. It asks about a meeting on Domestic Violence. Crap, I forgot about that shit! Last time she was in my office, the meeting kinda veered off course. I stop in front of my door.
"Damn. No wonder Donna's got gams of steel." I look at him sideways and Donna chooses to walk up at that moment with a file and smiles at the comment and then walks off. I go in and sit at my desk. Pierce follows.
"So Amy, huh?" he smirks.
"What?"
"She's a hottie."
"I'm starting to think that I'm not going to be on the top feministas shit list around here anymore." I tell him.
"Well, I am partial to blondes." He nods he head toward Donna's desk. "But sometimes a brunette will turn my head. I'll tell you one thing, that C.J. is built like a goddess." He smiles broadly. I just look at him wondering how I got to be the lucky one he's interning for.
"Josh you have Senior Staff in five." Donna walks in and hands me a folder and takes a couple from my desk and hands them to Ryan.
"These need to go to Will's office." She directs him. He smiles and scatters off. I'm surprised he didn't come back to ask where Will's office is.
"Donna, wear longer skirts." I take a drink of my coffee and she asks where that piece of fashion advice came from. "Pierce is like a walking gland Donna, and I can bear without the comments about your gams." She smiles.
"In fact, from now on you're wearing pants only." I order. She rolls her eyes and reminds me again about my meeting.
Donna
"Donna, I'm going to wait in Josh's office until he gets back from Senior Staff." Amy says as she walks into his office. Knowing how much Josh hates walking into an ambush, I smile and let her go. Seeing her reminds me of our conversation. It was just a weird moment. A weird question. And it came out of nowhere. I didn't mean that she didn't get Josh, I just meant that all the obsessing she was doing over that conversation was getting her nowhere because she wasn't considering his background. But to ask me if I was in love with him was out of nowhere.
Do I love Josh? Of course I love him. He's done so much for me but it's more than just that, we fit. We click, and it all works for us. But I'm not in love with him because that would be crazy. He is my boss and we work at the most scrutinized place in America. A lawyer can date his secretary, a CEO can marry his assistant, a Hollywood Star can fall for their personal assistant. But the Deputy Chief of Staff of the White House cannot become involved with his assistant. Period. It isn't an option so there is no use contemplating if I'm in love with Josh because it is undoable in our situation.
Josh
"Donna, I need everything you can get me on Russell and I need it in an hour." She acknowledges my request and I walk into my office only to see Amy sitting in my chair. For the love of God, can't Donna keep anyone out of my office? I give her an annoyed look and close my door.
"So Bingo Bob?"
"Amy . . ."
"Josh do you want to get back together?" I stared at her, blindsided.
"What? Amy . . ."
"I only ask because based on recent events it feels like you are looking for someone to cling to for human contact and since I'm the nearest warm body, I'll do."
"Okay, first of all, where is this coming from, second, I'm really busy Amy and although I know we need to have this discussion something tells me that my office in the middle of the morning is not the place to do it."
"Are you in love with Donna?" Whoa, it's like she ran me over then decided to back up and try again just to make sure I felt the impact.
"Amy! I don't know what kind of shock value you're going for here but I think it's time you got out of my office. Call me later and we'll talk."
"No."
"Excuse me?" I asked incredulously.
"I'm tired Josh. I'm tired of this back and forth crap. And I've come to a revelation of sorts. I don't love you, at least not in the way I used to. You're like gravity though Josh. I just get pulled to you, the fights, the arguments. They are all forms of passion and I think I was just mistaking them for the wrong kind of passion. So, unless we have business to discuss, the Fourth of July type stuff won't be a regular occurrence." She stood up and walked out. I just got dumped by my ex-girlfriend. That's always the start of a good day. I sat at my desk and put my head in my hands. I heard a slam on my desk and popped my head up.
"Here is Russell stuff from the House, the Senate stuff is on its way." Donna said as she sat down and picked up a file.
"Donna, I realize that you are a busy person but do you think you could fit it in your schedule to tell me when someone is waiting for me in my office, or better yet you could get them to wait outside it." I scolded.
"Josh, I realize that you are an important person but do you think you could handle your personal affairs yourself?" She replied without looking up from her file. This is what I have to deal with in my life. These kind of women.