Pairing: none really
Characters: Leo, Margaret, Donna and Josh
Rating: PG
Beta By: Imp leosimpishgrinyahoo.ca
Lynn helped me to improve this, as usual !!
Archived at:
Disclaimer:
The characters are from the NBC, WB, Bravo, A John Wells Prod., TV show, 'The West Wing'. They own them; therefore, they do not belong They are the creation of Aaron Sorkin. We only borrowed them.No copyright infringement is intended. No monetary benefit is received or anticipated.A 'grateful' and 'enormous' thanks, to the actors and actresses, who portray the characters 'brilliantly'and who brings them to life in my head. Feedback: I'd love it hear your opinion! PLEASE! It helps to improve my writing!Note: This fic is NOT connects to my series and is just a stand alone that is more in line with the cannon of the show.
Summary: Ice cream and June just seem to go together! It just makes summer officially here!
On an away trip, somewhere in the heartland of America with the President and part of the senior staff, Leo and Margaret are holed up in his hotel room. It has been a warm June day for the first day of summer. Both are at the table working on messages and the never-ending avalanche of files, late into the evening. The staff is popping in and out on a regular basis, with info and questions for Leo to deal with. The First Couple has decided to call it an early evening and they have been safely tucked away on the secluded floor above, in the VIP suite. June is a good month for bar-b-cues. Leo is too tied up with work to think about their loving relationship and to wish that he could have that again too.
Donna, in a tactical move to hide from Josh, shows up to give Margaret a small break, with two pints of Hagen Daas ice cream. Holding out one to Margaret, they share a smile of complete understanding that only the Sisterhood can read. That they are truly sisters in arms. It's been a hell of a day and they need a treat to keep on working.
They move to sit down on the couch in the room and Margaret asks, more with concern than surprise, "Where ever did you find ice cream at this time of night?" Thankful as she is, Margaret is honestly hoping that Donna did not go venturing out into the night, in search of ice cream. She pulls the lid off to reveal the flavor, as Donna hands her a plastic spoon to use.
Donna quickly removes the lid from hers and Margaret, in the bliss of her first bite, leans over to check out Donna's flavor of choice. They share another smile, but this one is sweetened with the first bites of their cool delight.
Donna after her second bite breaks enough to answer Margaret's question. "I will admit that we can be resourceful in a strange city, when it comes to finding ice cream, but this one was easy."
Leo glances up with a quirk of a smile at Donna's truthful comment. He knows that her statement is one of wonders of the Sisterhood. They can find a needle in a haystack, if they thought one of the senior staff needed it.
Donna continues to explain to Margaret, as they keep the small plastic spoons busy. "They not only have a nice restaurant here, but this hotel also has a small self-serve cafeteria for after hours. A woman must manage it, because it has tons of desserts and the ice cream, as you can note, is not rock hard, but just the right temperature for immediate consumption."
"As is should be," Margaret agrees and pops another bite into her mouth.
Leo again wears a small smile, but keeps focused on the work in front of him, not really wanting the ladies to know that he's enjoying listening to their casual conversation, while eating their ice cream.
After a quick knock, Josh pops in the door and strides up to where Leo's working, papers flapping in his hand, "Have you seen Donna? I lost her and I need her to help me with something."
Leo looks up at Josh and calmly points to the two women in the corner of the room snacking on ice cream. With a look on his face, like how could he have missed them, when he passed them?
"Donna!" Josh sounds wonderfully pleased, like he just found a long lost, best friend, which is probably an accurate response.
Donna gives him a quick smile at his cheerful greeting, this late time in the evening. The ice cream seems to be doing its job of restoring her energy. She asks with her usual, "What do you need, Josh?" Donna pops another bite of ice cream into her mouth and waits for him to reveal his latest dilemma.
"Donna, I can't read my own notes from this afternoon. Can you do your magic and tell me what I mean here?" Josh tries not to sound like he's pleading, but he still bounces on his feet.
"I always do, Joshua." Donna grabs a fast bite, knowing that she's going to have to deal with Josh's crisis first, and ice cream second. She jams the spoon into the container and takes the papers from him with her now free hand and rests the ice cream container beside her, still in her other hand.
As she scans the first page, Josh leans in and looks with interest at her ice cream, to check out the flavor, "So, can you fix my notes for me, Donna?"
"Yeah, give me a second to rewrite them for you." She stands, still looking at the pages and hands the ice cream to Josh, as she to move over to the table where Leo is working.
Josh glances between Donna and the cold ice cream container in his hand.
She instinctively knows he's giving her a questioning look and without looking around, she warns, "You better leave me some, Joshua!"
Josh grins at her knowing that he's going to steal some of her ice cream. "What is the flavor of the night?"
Donna sighs at him asking the obvious, "Strawberry and chocolate chips, Josh." She then indulges herself and gives her own personal description, "Creamy pink, with pieces of real strawberries and tiny dark chocolate chips," she reveals like it's sinful. Her eyes never leave the notes that she's reading. She knows it will make him crazy, but she loves to mess with his head.
Josh swallows hard, like he has no spit left in his mouth and immediately scoops some of Donna's decadent ice cream into his mouth. Closing his eyes, as he savors the ice cream melting in his mouth.
Margaret is pleasantly amused at the two bantering, as she continues to enjoy her own ice cream.
Hearing the two expounding the merits of the cool treat, Leo glances quickly to Margaret out of the corner of his eye. His mouth is almost watering, wondering what flavor she's enjoying.
Josh sounds happy, as he scooping more ice cream with the spoon, "I think it might just be as wonderful as you make it sound, Donna. Was it as wonderful for you, as it is for me?" He makes it sound like sex. "How does it 'taste' to you?"
"Just like cool fresh ripe strawberries, dipped in creamy smooth dark chocolate," she sighs dreamily and dramatically.
"Sounds like one of your late night fantasies, there Donna?" Josh goes for a teasing dig.
"Yeah, well, this is as close as I'm going to get, it seems, to any fantasies that I have dealing with chocolate and strawberries." Donna quips back, without even making an effort.
Margaret makes a chuckle at Donna volley to Josh's challenge and at the interested look on Josh's face.
Leo is enjoying the banter, just as much as Margaret is. It's a much needed stress reliever at this late time of the day. He glances up at Donna standing across the table, giving her a smile of congratulations at her getting back at Josh so easily.
Dropping her eyes back to the table, after returning Leo's smile, Donna finally surrenders and asks, "Margaret, I'm sure you have a legal pad somewhere here, but I'm at a loss to find it."
Waving Donna to sit at the table, Margaret joins her with ice cream still in hand. She scolds, "Leo, you have these files spread all over and most likely mixed together." She digs a hand under the pile and comes up with the legal pad for Donna. She gives a pointed look, at his face looking innocently up at her.
Leo defends himself, "It just seems to happen, Margaret. You know how I work." He gives her an almost shy smile, as he tips his head quickly to the side in an accepting nod.
She returns his small smile, not really upset at his usual method of disorder, "Leo, grab your cell phone and let me in there to fix this mess."
Leo knows when he's better off and quickly stands to give her the chair.
"Here, Leo, take this and go over to stand with Josh." She states the obvious, "You'll just hover over me, anxious to get back to work."
Leo looks down at the ice cream container in his hand. "I can tell this is chocolate and something else, but what's the flavor?" He won't ask, but God does he want some of it.
"It's Rocky Road, Leo." She banters back to him, "I'm sure there's a parable in there somewhere, but let me warn you! I claim the last bite. The last two, if at all possible!"
Leo looks over to see Josh enjoying Donna's ice cream. Leo is very proper with most people, and he's not comfortable with sharing food with just anyone. Remembering his manners, Leo hesitates, looking at her spoon. His near drooling for it, at this point, just may sway him to use her spoon. He reasons logically to himself, we have been together for a while and we know each other so well. She's nearly family. Besides she 'is' my Margaret, a woman. It's not like I'd be eating after some guy.
Noticing that Leo is glancing around and she can tell that he's debating in his head, Margaret then says, "Go ahead, Leo. It is June, the first day of summer and we are hot and tired. This is a time-upon-time verified Sisterhood remedy that will perk us up. The Sisterhood has all the answers and, besides, I don't have 'cooties'!"
Leo chuckles softly at her use of the old fashion term, as he slips his cell phone into his pocket. Understanding that Margaret is offering, in her way, to share her ice cream with him. She is generous to a fault with caring for him, but he knows that ice cream is sacred to the Sisterhood. At times, he just might believe that she would share her blood with him, if she decided he needed it.
His special impish grin spreads across his face, as Leo jumps in and scoops up some of the smooth chocolate treat, as he walks over to join Josh. He comments to Josh, while scooping his second bite, "I think we better heed their warnings and leave them the last few bites."
Josh finishes sucking the pink sweetness off the upside down spoon in his mouth. "I think your right, Leo. Especially if we hope for them to ever share with us again."
"You got that right," Leo agrees and savors a cool mouthful, before he delights in chewing on a nut he that discovers when the ice cream melts in his mouth.
Josh then reveals an inspiring thought he has, "I bet they have more ice cream downstairs that we can share later."
"Only if the rest of the Sisterhood hasn't found it first." Leo then smirks, "Then again, Josh, there is always room service. It may not be Hagan Daas, but I'm sure that their ice cream comes with some nice sweet toppings."
"You are 'da man', Leo. No wonder you're the boss." Josh concedes.
"Did you ever doubt me, Josh? I have my means." Leo enjoys another bite of Margaret's treat.
Josh looks at Leo and glances to the ladies at the table. Maybe Leo does have his motives. Josh just shares a knowing glance at Leo, before he announces, "Donna, I'm getting close to the bottom."
"Bring it here. It's mine again." Donna gives him a disapproving look, as he grins, popping a last bite in his mouth. "Now, Joshua."
Josh complies obediently, not risking any bantering with her over the last of her ice cream. He looks over her shoulder at his new notes growing on the pad of paper and sets the container next to her on the table.
Leo shortly moves behind Margaret and she holds up her hand without looking at him, before he can say anything. He places the container in her up reaching hand. They are a synchronized team. "Thank you, Margaret," he whispers softly in her ear, as she glances in the container, checking to see how much is left. Since the view of his face is blocked from the others, on the other side of her head, he puts a quick cool-lipped kiss on her cheek. Very innocent, but very nicely received by Margaret, he notes, from the soft smile on her face.
The ladies of the Sisterhood pause in their tasks of organizing the important men in their lives, to savor the last few bites of their cool treat. Ice cream over rules all else, especially when at the bottom of the container. Where the last bites seem to be as wonderful as the first, maybe even better tonight, after sharing ice cream and spoons with the men in their lives, even if it's only their work lives.
It's been a nice ice cream break, on a June night.
The End
blessings
chipmunk
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chipmunk aka: Betty Lou Riley riley2bright.net
Home web page class=MsoNormal 'tab-stops:.5in'>Posted June 21, 2004