"Thank you, Mr. President." Toby, C.J., Josh and Leo started filing out of the Oval Office.
"Josh?"
Josh turned around as everyone left and faced the President. "Yes, sir."
"How's she doing?"
"Donna?"
"Yes, Donna. I know how the First Lady is doing."
Josh smiled. "She's doing well. Everyday she's getting stronger. She thinks they might release her in a week or so."
"That's excellent. Have you two gotten back on track?"
"Sir?" Josh felt himself blush slightly.
"Don't play stupid with me. You're not very good at playing stupid, you're too cocky for it."
"Honestly, sir, we're just friends and well co-workers."
"You're not co-workers at the moment." The President cocked an eyebrow.
"Yes, sir."
"Do I need to make an executive order, Joshua?"
Josh shook his head. "No, sir. I just don't think we're in the same place right now."
"You'll get there though."
"I hope so, sir."
"You had better and you can take that as an order."
"Yes, sir."
"Good, now get back to work."
"Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. President."
Josh wandered back to his office he was intercepted by C.J. "Josh, have you talked to Donna?"
"Yeah, this morning."
"How's she doing?"
"She's good. She sounds really good."
C.J. smiled. "Great. I gotta go right now, but I'll see you in a bit."
"Akay." Josh looked at her curiously and then headed to his desk.
"Josh!"
Josh turned around and saw Toby heading toward him. "What's up, Toby?"
"Have you talked to Donna today?"
"Yeah, this morning. Why is everyone asking me this? She talks to all of you."
"How is she?" Toby asked ignoring him.
"She's great. They're talking about releasing her next week I guess."
"That's good." Toby replied.
"Man, you're freaking me out. What is with everyone?"
Toby just shrugged and moved down the hallway. As Josh moved closer to his desk he ran into Ginger and Carol. "Hi, Josh."
"Hi, ladies."
"Have you heard from Donna today?"
Josh just looked at the girls in horror and pushed past them and headed for is office. It was only a few feet away when his cell phone went off.
"Josh Lyman."
"Hi, Josh, it's Sam."
"Hey, how's it going?"
"Good, how about you?"
"Real good."
"Can I just say that people are acting very weird."
"Really? Have you heard from Donna today?"
Josh pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at. He quickly bolted into his office and closed the door. He stared at the door and put the phone back up to his ear.
"Josh?" Sam was calling for him.
"Yeah."
"Donna, have you heard from her today?"
"Yeah, I talked to her this morning. Why?"
"How's she doing?"
"She's good. Why do you know something I don't know?"
"Where are you?"
"I'm standing in my office."
"Really?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Does anything look different?" Josh could hear the humor in his tone.
Josh was really confused about what was going on. He turned around and felt his heart slam into his throat. "Donna!"
There she was sitting behind his desk. Her face was full of color, the scrapes and bruises were mostly healed. Her shimmering blonde hair was longer than he remembered and it flowed down her shoulders.
"Call me back later." He heard Sam disconnect.
Josh couldn't stop smiling. "Hi."
"Hello." She was beaming at him. "I wanted it to be a surprise."
"I'm very, very surprised and very, very happy to see you."
"I'd hug you, but I'm still getting used to his damn wheel chair and I can't stand up, so..."
Josh approached her. She wheeled out from behind his desk and opened her arms. He leaned down and hugged her lightly.
"I'm not going to break, Joshua," she whispered. She felt his arms tighten around her.
He couldn't believe how good she smelled. Her breath was warm on his neck. He wanted to pinch himself; it had felt like forever since he had seen her. He tucked his head into the crook of her neck and let out a heavy sigh.
Once he finally released her he held on to her hand and leaned against his desk. "It's really good to see you."
She grinned at him. "This place is a mess, Joshua," she scolded.
"What can I say, this place runs like a fine oiled machine when you're around but leave it up to me and I'm afraid...well just look."
"I see that. You should get another assistant."
"Ginger and Bonnie help out all I need."
There was a small knock at the door. Josh released Donna's hand self- consciously and called, "Come in."
"I'm sorry, I couldn't wait any longer." C.J. entered the office. "Hi, Donna!"
The two women embraced and Josh got out of their way. Suddenly everyone started filtering into his office greeting Donna. Josh stood in the background just watching. A familiar voice sounded next to him.
"I had Abbey pick her up this morning, she was waiting in the residence until you came to Staff."
Josh looked over at the President. "Thank you, sir."
"Leo told me that she's going to be starting a new position when she comes back to work."
"Yes, sir."
"That'll be good for her."
Josh nodded. "She's a bright girl. She's done a lot and she deserves to spread her wings."
Soon everyone had cleared out and Josh was left alone with Donna once again. "Quite the welcoming committee."
"I still can't believe the First Lady came to the airport to pick me up. She was so gracious and kind."
"You know you're one of the family here."
"I know, but my head still goes, 'the First Lady is sitting next to me,' you know?"
"Yeah, I know." Josh looked around the room.
"How much longer do you have to have the cast on?"
"Hopefully not very much longer." Donna glanced down at her fingers; she was fidgeting with her West Wing security pass.
"Has Leo talked to you yet?"
"About the job?"
"Yeah."
"Yeah, I talked to him yesterday when I was talking to Margaret."
"And?"
"Are you okay with it?"
"Donna, it was my idea."
"I know, but I can't help but think he did that when you were mad at me."
Josh rolled his eyes. "Don't you think I would keep you working for me if I wanted to torture you."
"That's an excellent point. So, Gaza was my last job as Senior Assistant to the Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Planning?"
"That's right. When you come back to work for the White House, you won't come to the West Wing, you'll be reporting to OEOB."
"Who's going to be your assistant?"
"Leo has ordered me to ask you to help find one that will be suitable for me. He says that you're the only one qualified to find the right person for the job."
Donna smirked. "Leo has a fair point," she replied. "Of course I'll help with the interviews."
"Help? You'll be running the interviews, I'm not allowed to have a say."
Donna just laughed. "Okay. I can start doing that next week. I'm sure there will be tons of people lined up to help the Deputy Chief of Staff."
Josh scoffed, "Don't bet on it."
"Kelli, how would you describe yourself?"
Donna stared at the younger woman with a skeptical eye. Kelli Wagner was twenty-seven, died blonde hair and was far too ambitious for her own good. Donna had taken an instant dislike to her...mostly because she knew that Josh would drool over her for the first couple of weeks, not that she cared, but professionally he needed to be able to concentrate.
The last six interviews had been with women that if Donna didn't know any better she say they came right from his fan club. The Lyman Hoes! Donna groaned inwardly at the very thought of it.
She glanced at the woman who was still talking animatedly. Donna couldn't bring herself to actually listen. She was a little under qualified and Donna was given this job to find her perfect replacement and Kelli Wagner wasn't her.
After ten more minutes of the interview Donna finally brought it to and end. Once Kelli had left Josh came bounding into the Muriel Room.
"How was she?"
"Not quite right."
"Donna," he whined.
"Josh, do you want the job done right or not?"
"I hired you after speaking to you for like five minutes and you've seen I don't know how many candidates and you still can't find someone?"
"Josh, there is a process. You finding me was a once in a life time chance," she boasted.
"'Tis true," he sighed. "Okay, so how many more do you have?"
"I've got three more today and then I'm supposed to make a decision."
"Have you seen your new office yet?"
"Yes, it's an actual office with a door and four walls. It's very impressive."
Josh leaned against the table next to her. "What are you doing next Saturday?"
"Not much. My mother is finally going home tomorrow. I've convinced her that I'm able to get around without her help. It's been nice to have her around, but I'm so ready for her to go home."
"Does she need a ride to the airport?"
"No, we're good. Thanks, though."
"So what about Saturday?"
"What did you have in mind?"
"I don't know, I thought we could spend some time together. We haven't had a lot of time together since you got back cause I've been working on the thing, and you've been recovering still. I just thought we could do something."
"Yeah, okay."
"Donna, your next interview is here."
"Thanks, Ginger."
In walked another leggy blonde, with big blue eyes and a large smile.
"She has potential," Josh muttered as he made a quick exit.
Donna looked down at the folder she was holding. Grace Morris wouldn't do one bit.
Josh had seen the scowl on Donna's face every time a beautiful woman had walked into the Muriel Room for an interview. He found it amusing. Something told him he was going to end up with a very old assistant. He didn't care, because he only had eyes for one woman any way, but it was still amusing. It meant that Donna wasn't completely immune to him, as he originally had thought.
Josh couldn't help but egg her on just a little bit. He knew in the end that she would find him the best replacement for an irreplaceable woman. He strutted back to his office where he found C.J. waiting for him.
"What's up?" Josh asked as he approached.
"How are the interviews going?"
"I don't think Donna is pleased with any of the candidates so far."
"Too young and too pretty are they?"
Josh smirked. "I'm sure she could come up with some valid answers."
"I don't doubt it."
"What do you need, Ms. Cregg?" Josh asked heading into his office.
"Honestly, I was just passing by saw you heading this way, I thought I'd say hi."
Josh's forehead creased in confusion. "What's going on, C.J.?"
C.J. quietly closed the door. "I've been dating Danny for the last few months."
Josh's eyes widened a little. "Really?"
"Yeah."
"No one knows?"
"I'm not sure anymore. We were seen out at a Starbucks this last weekend by a White House Reporter, by Katie, she didn't seem to suspicious but that doesn't mean that she hasn't put a tail on us so to speak."
"C.J., you know I don't care if you date Danny. I know that you two will respect each others professional lives, you need to talk to Toby and then you need to talk to Leo and possibly after that, you're going to have to talk to the President."
"Josh, we're getting married!"
Josh set down his cup of coffee; happy that he hadn't been drinking when she laid that little piece of news on him. "When? When did this happen?"
"Last night he proposed, I said yes and now I don't know what to do!"
Josh sat down in his chair. "Wow! As your friend, Congratulations, as your boss, you need to go talk to Toby."
"He's going to be mad."
"I know."
"You want to come with me?"
"Not particularly."
"Hey, I stood behind you and Donna."
"I'm standing behind you and Danny, just I'll be standing here and you'll be in Toby's office."
"Bambi ass!" C.J. opened his door to walk out.
"C.J., no joke, congratulations."
She smiled, "Thanks."
Grace Morris left the Muriel Room. Donna let out a frustrated sigh. She had been the most annoying and the stupidest person she had interviewed yet. She was surprised to see that Josh wasn't hanging around to ask if she had been the chosen one. Donna through Grace's file on top of the rejected stack and opened the next one.
A few minutes later Ginger brought in Michael Taft. Donna smiled to herself. He was a good-looking guy, just about to hit thirty. Donna hadn't seen many men in a position like hers, but there were a few.
"Michael Taft?"
He nodded and held out his hand.
"I'm sorry, I would stand but my legs broken."
"I'm sorry, I hadn't noticed." He reached over and shook her hand.
"It's fine. My name is Donna Moss and I'm Josh Lyman's current assistant."
She went through her process, asking the questions, going through the questionnaires they were required to fill out and vetting him as she did the others.
"Thank you so much, Mike."
"Thank you, Ms. Moss."
"Donna, please."
"I hope your leg gets better soon."
"Thank you."
She watched him leave. She closed his file and tossed it in what would be her acceptance pile except that Mike's file was the first one in it.
"You can't seriously be considering a guy."
Donna didn't even bother to turn around to face him. "He's very qualified and very nice. He has a good sense of humor. Plus I think it makes more sense for you to have a male assistant. As much as you stay in hotels, I think running around in your boxers in front of Mike is much more appropriate than in front of a woman."
Josh smirked and approached her. "You never seemed to complain."
Donna glanced up at him. "Josh, I swear that your fan club got a hold of the information that you were looking for a new assistant. I mean these women were just..." she trailed off.
"Just what?" He was still smirking. Damn him!
"They just would not have suited your needs."
"So you're hiring the guy?"
"I have two more interviews but he seems like the most promising."
"I bet."
A week later...
"Josh Lyman's office."
"Hi, Mike, it's Donna."
"Hi, Donna."
"How's it going?"
"There's a lot to take in."
"I promise it'll get easier."
"Did you want to talk to Josh?"
"Is he around?"
"Yeah, hang on."
"Well, Miss Donnatella Moss, how are you?"
Donna smiled. "I'm quite well. You Mr. Joshua Lyman."
"I'm great. What can I do for you this fine Friday afternoon?"
"Are we still on for Saturday?"
"Absolutely."
"Hey, how is Mike working out?"
Josh chuckled to himself. He knew that Donna would hire Mike and it turned out that he was a quick study and would probably turn out to be very helpful once he got a handle on the ropes, but he still had to tease her. "He's okay, I still think that what's her name would've been better," he whined with a smirk on his face.
"Josh, you didn't do the interviews, I did and I bet Mike turns out to be valuable."
"I suppose, but you were invaluable, that's a lot to live up to."
Donna felt herself smile despite herself. "Go back to work, Joshua."
"I'll be over early tomorrow."
"Okay."
Donna hung up the phone and stared at it for a long moment. She carefully repositioned herself on the couch so she was more comfortable. She looked down at her fingers where she was fidgeting with the ring that Josh had given her. Ever since she had been home, she had it on a silver chain around her neck. She couldn't bear to be without it, but she never once put in on her ring finger. She let out a heavy sigh. She wondered if they would ever find their way back to each other.
"Josh?"
Josh turned around as everyone left and faced the President. "Yes, sir."
"How's she doing?"
"Donna?"
"Yes, Donna. I know how the First Lady is doing."
Josh smiled. "She's doing well. Everyday she's getting stronger. She thinks they might release her in a week or so."
"That's excellent. Have you two gotten back on track?"
"Sir?" Josh felt himself blush slightly.
"Don't play stupid with me. You're not very good at playing stupid, you're too cocky for it."
"Honestly, sir, we're just friends and well co-workers."
"You're not co-workers at the moment." The President cocked an eyebrow.
"Yes, sir."
"Do I need to make an executive order, Joshua?"
Josh shook his head. "No, sir. I just don't think we're in the same place right now."
"You'll get there though."
"I hope so, sir."
"You had better and you can take that as an order."
"Yes, sir."
"Good, now get back to work."
"Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. President."
Josh wandered back to his office he was intercepted by C.J. "Josh, have you talked to Donna?"
"Yeah, this morning."
"How's she doing?"
"She's good. She sounds really good."
C.J. smiled. "Great. I gotta go right now, but I'll see you in a bit."
"Akay." Josh looked at her curiously and then headed to his desk.
"Josh!"
Josh turned around and saw Toby heading toward him. "What's up, Toby?"
"Have you talked to Donna today?"
"Yeah, this morning. Why is everyone asking me this? She talks to all of you."
"How is she?" Toby asked ignoring him.
"She's great. They're talking about releasing her next week I guess."
"That's good." Toby replied.
"Man, you're freaking me out. What is with everyone?"
Toby just shrugged and moved down the hallway. As Josh moved closer to his desk he ran into Ginger and Carol. "Hi, Josh."
"Hi, ladies."
"Have you heard from Donna today?"
Josh just looked at the girls in horror and pushed past them and headed for is office. It was only a few feet away when his cell phone went off.
"Josh Lyman."
"Hi, Josh, it's Sam."
"Hey, how's it going?"
"Good, how about you?"
"Real good."
"Can I just say that people are acting very weird."
"Really? Have you heard from Donna today?"
Josh pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at. He quickly bolted into his office and closed the door. He stared at the door and put the phone back up to his ear.
"Josh?" Sam was calling for him.
"Yeah."
"Donna, have you heard from her today?"
"Yeah, I talked to her this morning. Why?"
"How's she doing?"
"She's good. Why do you know something I don't know?"
"Where are you?"
"I'm standing in my office."
"Really?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Does anything look different?" Josh could hear the humor in his tone.
Josh was really confused about what was going on. He turned around and felt his heart slam into his throat. "Donna!"
There she was sitting behind his desk. Her face was full of color, the scrapes and bruises were mostly healed. Her shimmering blonde hair was longer than he remembered and it flowed down her shoulders.
"Call me back later." He heard Sam disconnect.
Josh couldn't stop smiling. "Hi."
"Hello." She was beaming at him. "I wanted it to be a surprise."
"I'm very, very surprised and very, very happy to see you."
"I'd hug you, but I'm still getting used to his damn wheel chair and I can't stand up, so..."
Josh approached her. She wheeled out from behind his desk and opened her arms. He leaned down and hugged her lightly.
"I'm not going to break, Joshua," she whispered. She felt his arms tighten around her.
He couldn't believe how good she smelled. Her breath was warm on his neck. He wanted to pinch himself; it had felt like forever since he had seen her. He tucked his head into the crook of her neck and let out a heavy sigh.
Once he finally released her he held on to her hand and leaned against his desk. "It's really good to see you."
She grinned at him. "This place is a mess, Joshua," she scolded.
"What can I say, this place runs like a fine oiled machine when you're around but leave it up to me and I'm afraid...well just look."
"I see that. You should get another assistant."
"Ginger and Bonnie help out all I need."
There was a small knock at the door. Josh released Donna's hand self- consciously and called, "Come in."
"I'm sorry, I couldn't wait any longer." C.J. entered the office. "Hi, Donna!"
The two women embraced and Josh got out of their way. Suddenly everyone started filtering into his office greeting Donna. Josh stood in the background just watching. A familiar voice sounded next to him.
"I had Abbey pick her up this morning, she was waiting in the residence until you came to Staff."
Josh looked over at the President. "Thank you, sir."
"Leo told me that she's going to be starting a new position when she comes back to work."
"Yes, sir."
"That'll be good for her."
Josh nodded. "She's a bright girl. She's done a lot and she deserves to spread her wings."
Soon everyone had cleared out and Josh was left alone with Donna once again. "Quite the welcoming committee."
"I still can't believe the First Lady came to the airport to pick me up. She was so gracious and kind."
"You know you're one of the family here."
"I know, but my head still goes, 'the First Lady is sitting next to me,' you know?"
"Yeah, I know." Josh looked around the room.
"How much longer do you have to have the cast on?"
"Hopefully not very much longer." Donna glanced down at her fingers; she was fidgeting with her West Wing security pass.
"Has Leo talked to you yet?"
"About the job?"
"Yeah."
"Yeah, I talked to him yesterday when I was talking to Margaret."
"And?"
"Are you okay with it?"
"Donna, it was my idea."
"I know, but I can't help but think he did that when you were mad at me."
Josh rolled his eyes. "Don't you think I would keep you working for me if I wanted to torture you."
"That's an excellent point. So, Gaza was my last job as Senior Assistant to the Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Planning?"
"That's right. When you come back to work for the White House, you won't come to the West Wing, you'll be reporting to OEOB."
"Who's going to be your assistant?"
"Leo has ordered me to ask you to help find one that will be suitable for me. He says that you're the only one qualified to find the right person for the job."
Donna smirked. "Leo has a fair point," she replied. "Of course I'll help with the interviews."
"Help? You'll be running the interviews, I'm not allowed to have a say."
Donna just laughed. "Okay. I can start doing that next week. I'm sure there will be tons of people lined up to help the Deputy Chief of Staff."
Josh scoffed, "Don't bet on it."
"Kelli, how would you describe yourself?"
Donna stared at the younger woman with a skeptical eye. Kelli Wagner was twenty-seven, died blonde hair and was far too ambitious for her own good. Donna had taken an instant dislike to her...mostly because she knew that Josh would drool over her for the first couple of weeks, not that she cared, but professionally he needed to be able to concentrate.
The last six interviews had been with women that if Donna didn't know any better she say they came right from his fan club. The Lyman Hoes! Donna groaned inwardly at the very thought of it.
She glanced at the woman who was still talking animatedly. Donna couldn't bring herself to actually listen. She was a little under qualified and Donna was given this job to find her perfect replacement and Kelli Wagner wasn't her.
After ten more minutes of the interview Donna finally brought it to and end. Once Kelli had left Josh came bounding into the Muriel Room.
"How was she?"
"Not quite right."
"Donna," he whined.
"Josh, do you want the job done right or not?"
"I hired you after speaking to you for like five minutes and you've seen I don't know how many candidates and you still can't find someone?"
"Josh, there is a process. You finding me was a once in a life time chance," she boasted.
"'Tis true," he sighed. "Okay, so how many more do you have?"
"I've got three more today and then I'm supposed to make a decision."
"Have you seen your new office yet?"
"Yes, it's an actual office with a door and four walls. It's very impressive."
Josh leaned against the table next to her. "What are you doing next Saturday?"
"Not much. My mother is finally going home tomorrow. I've convinced her that I'm able to get around without her help. It's been nice to have her around, but I'm so ready for her to go home."
"Does she need a ride to the airport?"
"No, we're good. Thanks, though."
"So what about Saturday?"
"What did you have in mind?"
"I don't know, I thought we could spend some time together. We haven't had a lot of time together since you got back cause I've been working on the thing, and you've been recovering still. I just thought we could do something."
"Yeah, okay."
"Donna, your next interview is here."
"Thanks, Ginger."
In walked another leggy blonde, with big blue eyes and a large smile.
"She has potential," Josh muttered as he made a quick exit.
Donna looked down at the folder she was holding. Grace Morris wouldn't do one bit.
Josh had seen the scowl on Donna's face every time a beautiful woman had walked into the Muriel Room for an interview. He found it amusing. Something told him he was going to end up with a very old assistant. He didn't care, because he only had eyes for one woman any way, but it was still amusing. It meant that Donna wasn't completely immune to him, as he originally had thought.
Josh couldn't help but egg her on just a little bit. He knew in the end that she would find him the best replacement for an irreplaceable woman. He strutted back to his office where he found C.J. waiting for him.
"What's up?" Josh asked as he approached.
"How are the interviews going?"
"I don't think Donna is pleased with any of the candidates so far."
"Too young and too pretty are they?"
Josh smirked. "I'm sure she could come up with some valid answers."
"I don't doubt it."
"What do you need, Ms. Cregg?" Josh asked heading into his office.
"Honestly, I was just passing by saw you heading this way, I thought I'd say hi."
Josh's forehead creased in confusion. "What's going on, C.J.?"
C.J. quietly closed the door. "I've been dating Danny for the last few months."
Josh's eyes widened a little. "Really?"
"Yeah."
"No one knows?"
"I'm not sure anymore. We were seen out at a Starbucks this last weekend by a White House Reporter, by Katie, she didn't seem to suspicious but that doesn't mean that she hasn't put a tail on us so to speak."
"C.J., you know I don't care if you date Danny. I know that you two will respect each others professional lives, you need to talk to Toby and then you need to talk to Leo and possibly after that, you're going to have to talk to the President."
"Josh, we're getting married!"
Josh set down his cup of coffee; happy that he hadn't been drinking when she laid that little piece of news on him. "When? When did this happen?"
"Last night he proposed, I said yes and now I don't know what to do!"
Josh sat down in his chair. "Wow! As your friend, Congratulations, as your boss, you need to go talk to Toby."
"He's going to be mad."
"I know."
"You want to come with me?"
"Not particularly."
"Hey, I stood behind you and Donna."
"I'm standing behind you and Danny, just I'll be standing here and you'll be in Toby's office."
"Bambi ass!" C.J. opened his door to walk out.
"C.J., no joke, congratulations."
She smiled, "Thanks."
Grace Morris left the Muriel Room. Donna let out a frustrated sigh. She had been the most annoying and the stupidest person she had interviewed yet. She was surprised to see that Josh wasn't hanging around to ask if she had been the chosen one. Donna through Grace's file on top of the rejected stack and opened the next one.
A few minutes later Ginger brought in Michael Taft. Donna smiled to herself. He was a good-looking guy, just about to hit thirty. Donna hadn't seen many men in a position like hers, but there were a few.
"Michael Taft?"
He nodded and held out his hand.
"I'm sorry, I would stand but my legs broken."
"I'm sorry, I hadn't noticed." He reached over and shook her hand.
"It's fine. My name is Donna Moss and I'm Josh Lyman's current assistant."
She went through her process, asking the questions, going through the questionnaires they were required to fill out and vetting him as she did the others.
"Thank you so much, Mike."
"Thank you, Ms. Moss."
"Donna, please."
"I hope your leg gets better soon."
"Thank you."
She watched him leave. She closed his file and tossed it in what would be her acceptance pile except that Mike's file was the first one in it.
"You can't seriously be considering a guy."
Donna didn't even bother to turn around to face him. "He's very qualified and very nice. He has a good sense of humor. Plus I think it makes more sense for you to have a male assistant. As much as you stay in hotels, I think running around in your boxers in front of Mike is much more appropriate than in front of a woman."
Josh smirked and approached her. "You never seemed to complain."
Donna glanced up at him. "Josh, I swear that your fan club got a hold of the information that you were looking for a new assistant. I mean these women were just..." she trailed off.
"Just what?" He was still smirking. Damn him!
"They just would not have suited your needs."
"So you're hiring the guy?"
"I have two more interviews but he seems like the most promising."
"I bet."
A week later...
"Josh Lyman's office."
"Hi, Mike, it's Donna."
"Hi, Donna."
"How's it going?"
"There's a lot to take in."
"I promise it'll get easier."
"Did you want to talk to Josh?"
"Is he around?"
"Yeah, hang on."
"Well, Miss Donnatella Moss, how are you?"
Donna smiled. "I'm quite well. You Mr. Joshua Lyman."
"I'm great. What can I do for you this fine Friday afternoon?"
"Are we still on for Saturday?"
"Absolutely."
"Hey, how is Mike working out?"
Josh chuckled to himself. He knew that Donna would hire Mike and it turned out that he was a quick study and would probably turn out to be very helpful once he got a handle on the ropes, but he still had to tease her. "He's okay, I still think that what's her name would've been better," he whined with a smirk on his face.
"Josh, you didn't do the interviews, I did and I bet Mike turns out to be valuable."
"I suppose, but you were invaluable, that's a lot to live up to."
Donna felt herself smile despite herself. "Go back to work, Joshua."
"I'll be over early tomorrow."
"Okay."
Donna hung up the phone and stared at it for a long moment. She carefully repositioned herself on the couch so she was more comfortable. She looked down at her fingers where she was fidgeting with the ring that Josh had given her. Ever since she had been home, she had it on a silver chain around her neck. She couldn't bear to be without it, but she never once put in on her ring finger. She let out a heavy sigh. She wondered if they would ever find their way back to each other.