Donna stepped out of the shower over 45 minutes after she got in. One of the benefits of the hotel was the endless supply of hot water and Donna had taken full advantage. The steam that filled the tiny hotel bathroom was thick, covering the mirrors and just hanging in the air. It was probably best that Donna not see her reflection at this moment. She had finally managed to stop her heavy sobs; the tears had run out over 20 minutes ago but the heavy gasps had continued and the swelling around her eyes clearly reflected the earlier tears. Her breath now was ragged, but even. She looked as if she had gone 10 rounds in a boxing match and she felt like it too.

She stood nude in the bathroom while combing through her hair before slipping into the thick hotel robe and collapsing on her bed, face down on top of the covers. She breathed a heavy sigh, praying that she wouldn't burst into tears, and was out seconds later, exhausted from the evening events.

The next morning she got her wake up call at 5:45 am. This was not a new part of her routine, she had become so accustomed to wake up calls at this hour that she almost feared she wouldn't be able to go back to her regular alarm clock. She pushed herself up from the bed and immediately rushed to the bathroom as an overwhelming sense of nausea hit her. Her head was pounding but worse than that she felt an overwhelming sense of heartbreak. She was leaving. Her bags were packed and sitting by the door, her letter of resignation would have to come by fax. She was not about to write it now, maybe she would work on it on the plane.

Her thoughts wandered all over the place but mostly just to Josh and what had happened. Sleeping with Will? Sleeping with Derek? Where had these things come from? Why had he acted out in such a way and why couldn't she just forget it? Donna was struggling with this more than the rest of the previous night's events. She was unwilling to simply forgive him. This whole thing was obviously some sort of misunderstanding, some sort of nervous breakdown on his part, but she couldn't bring herself to feel compassion for him. For the first time in her life there was no part of her that longed to hold him, to comfort him, to be with him. It was a little scary to her. No, it was a lot scary to her.

She paused for a minute to focus on her reflection in the mirror. She looked rough. She wasn't mad per se. Josh had always been a shouter, he had yelled at her before but usually his accusations were based on some truth. This thing about Will, this was just bizarre. Josh had also been jealous of her dates before, his temperament always changed when she dressed to go out. Donna went over the issues in her head as she brushed her teeth, but as she puzzled over the differences in Josh's normal shouting and last night, Josh's normal jealousy and last night, Donna felt herself moving farther and farther away from the situation. This was Josh going crazy, and she didn't care. She was getting the heck away from him.

"This is what it feels like to have a strictly professional relationship." Donna said this out loud and nodded in affirmation to her reflection. If any other person treated me the way they did last night I would quit, anyone would. Technically she had been fired but Donna dismissed this, thinking that surely Josh would take this back if he ever were to return to normalcy. But she didn't care, she was leaving. She had survived working without him for months, she could do it for the rest of her life. Let Josh Lyman be somebody else's problem.

With that Donna gather her things and headed wearily to the elevator bank and down to the lobby. It was so surreal for her to be leaving him for a second time. The first time he had dismissed her quitting, this time he had fired her in a fit of rage. She shook her head and thought that now must be the time to cut her losses. She was still young enough and life would go on. As she slammed the taxi door, Donnatella Moss thought, minus a few outstanding paycheck issues, that she was free of Josh Lyman for good.