Bram's interest in Leo's new media consultant gives Josh something to think about. - Bram and Josh
Rating: G
Notes: Neither Josh nor Bram are mine, but if they were I'd have them swapping shirts more often!

Maybe It's Time

The day that had begun with a 4am wake up call, followed by a 3 hour plane journey and then seemingly endless meetings. By 10.30 that evening, Josh and Bram were sitting in Josh's hotel room going over tomorrow's schedule.

"What about Hacker?" Josh asked.

Bram flicked through a file, "12.45," he replied.

"I thought that was Manson?"

"Sorry, yes, 12.15."

"Hacker?"

"Yeah."

"Okay." Josh put the schedule to one side and opened a file of notes for the governor's meeting with Hacker.

"So Donna's cute," Bram said without looking up from the papers he was reading.

"What?" Josh asked absently.

"Donna," Bram repeated, "she's kinda hot."

Josh looked across at Bram. "Do you have the stats for the thing tomorrow morning?"

"Which thing?"

"Meeting with Hacker," Josh clarified.

"Yeah, somewhere... here," he handed a piece of paper to Josh. "So you know her pretty well."

"Jan Hacker?" Josh, the king of misdirection, asked.

"Donna," Bram replied. "You know her well."

"Yeah, I guess," Josh said.

"You worked together a long time, you must have an idea what kind of guy she goes for."

Josh stopped what he was doing and looked at Bram. "Is this going to turn into a 'my friend likes your friend' type of conversation?"

"I was just wondering," Bram smiled. "I mean she is cute. Is she seeing anyone do you know?"

"We haven't worked together for almost eight months," Josh pointed out.

"But you're friends."

"We were," Josh agreed.

Bram was curious, he'd heard the rumors."So, you and her, did you ever... you know?"

"No," Josh replied, perhaps a little too quickly.

"No you don't know, or no you didn't?"

Josh sighed. "Are we really having this conversation?" he asked.

"I'm just curious."

"No we didn't. She was my assistant, it wouldn't really have been appropriate would it?" That excuse sounded lame even to Josh's ears.

"I guess not," Bram agreed. "So what kind of guy does she usually go for?"

"Seriously, you're still doing this?" Josh asked. "Republicans," he replied.

"Right, that's funny," Bram smiled.

"You think?"

"You're not kidding?" Bram asked.

"No."

"She dates Republicans?"

"The only guys I know she's dated have been Republicans, yes. Well apart from Colin, although I guess he was a different kind of Republican."

"I don't..."

"Never mind. Are you going to be on this subject all night?"

"Hey, I'm a single guy, she's a single girl. I thought I might ask her on a date. What do you think?"

"I think, I'm not the local match-maker and I don't hold Donna's dance card for her. Can we do some work?"

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Three hours later, Josh lay in bed and thought about his earlier conversation with Bram. Why had he never asked Donna out on a date? Well the reason he gave Bram was quite a good one. A Washington cliche, the powerful politician and his secretary. Josh smiled at that; Donna would kick his ass all round the Beltway if she heard him call her his secretary.

There was another reason though, Josh couldn't deny that. Fear, fear was the main reason he'd never asked Donna on a date. Fear that she'd say no, that she'd look at him in a way that said, 'why the hell would I want to date you?'. If that had happened, how could they continue to work together or even be friends? But then of course there was the fear that she'd say yes. They'd date for a few months, it would be fun for a while, but then the irritation would begin; irritation that would soon turn to loathing and hate.

He sighed to himself and looked at his cell phone, 4.26am. He really needed to sleep. They had a busy day tomorrow before they headed back to the campaign headquarters. Leo and Donna would be back tomorrow evening as well. When Donna had agreed to work for Leo, Josh had been pleased, but things weren't the same, there was an awkwardness between them that hadn't been there in seven years in the White House or a year on the campaign trail. He knew he should do something about it, he also knew it wasn't just up to him.

END