As he hurried along the crowded corridors of the airport, Josh took back all the evil things he had said about fate in the past eight conflicted years of his life; ever since Donna had shown up in his office pretending that she already worked for him. Okay, maybe it was a little inconvenient that last night fate had allowed him to jump to conclusions about Will and Kate's kiss (or what he thought was Donna and Will's kiss). Maybe it was EXTREMELY inconvenient that just moments later she had confronted him and he had spent a good deal of time berating the innocent and confused Donna. Never minding, of course, the torturous moments in the past when he wanted to reach for her, to kiss her, to tell her so much more than he could in. For these reasons and moments alone Josh could have been bitterly angry at fate, turned his back on the "what ifs" of life.
BUT, was it not these very situations that gave Josh the courage to tell Donna how he felt? Were the events of last night not the impetus for his getting out of bed early this morning despite his hangover and heading for her room? And how convenient of fate to allow Will to answer the door with Kate Harper still in her bathrobe so that little doubt could be left in Josh's mind about what had really occurred.
As Josh continued through the airport recounting this scene he again felt the sense of relief that had washed over him this morning at the realization that Donna was not with Will. Although he had told himself that he could handle their relationship as long as she gave him a chance as well, Josh was thrilled to know that he wouldn't have to put up with Will's affections and attentions toward his true love. Josh almost skipped at the thought of Donna being his true love and quickened his already frenzied pace to a jog.
His therapy session with fate almost came to an abrupt stop when Josh recalled the trip with the Clarks to the airport. Never before had he been so overcome with the desire to hit a woman as when Mrs. Clark spent double the amount of time it took her to load into the van to get out of it. And she did this a total of four times thanks to the slurpee stop that Josh now displayed proudly across his jeans. The $207 plane ticket that he had no intention of using also caused a small sting in Josh's gratitude to the powers that be. However he figured that Donna was worth 100 million times that amount of money and vowed to never complain about that purchase for as long as they both should live. Josh's eyes brightened and his smirk spread to a full out grin when that particular phrase ran through his mind.
He was lucky, lucky to have fate on his side when he was taken into the security room for what he feared would turn into a frisking session but instead was granted the commiseration of the guards and an opportunity to see his Donna flash across the security camera's monitor. That last coincidence, the moment that would make cynics mutter "what are the odds of that happening?" or "that would only take place in fanfic," that unexpected chance coincidence gave Josh the confidence that Donna was going to forgive him and accept his offering of love, marriage, family and forever. How could fate let him come so far only to have her turn him down? It wasn't possible. He felt as though he was going to explode he was so eager to reach her and immediately Josh went from jogging to a full out sprint down the terminal. He was in love with Donna and he was just 10 gates away from telling her!
As she sat with her head in her hands Donna was suddenly aware of a disturbance in the humdrum routine of an average overcrowded airport. It was almost as if a new energy was causing whispers and giggles from the general population around her. Donna had spent a few moments watching a rather plump family dressed in matching orange t-shirts that had recently taken seats across the terminal from her. As she glanced up now, Donna saw the family pointing simultaneously at a commotion that seemed to be parting the oncoming crowd of airport travelers. She stood to get a better look at what a lot of people were apparently balking at when she spotted Josh Lyman sprinting full speed down the center of the crowd. He was definitely making a scene, the way his arms were flailing and his hair, damp with sweat and pretty overgrown, was half stuck to his forehead and half flying in every which way. And as he got closer, she could make out a dark stain across the front of his sweatshirt and jeans. His appearance and actions gave ample reason as to why he was causing such a fuss among the crowd. Donna was so struck by the oddity of the scene that she failed to wonder why he was there and why her pulse had quickened until he was standing directly in front of her, panting and grasping her arms.
"Donna" he began with a breath that was desperate for both her attention as well as fresh oxygen for his lungs. "I love you. And I am so, so sorry for the things I said to you last night and today. I am so sorry that I accused you of something that you had every right to do but weren't doing and for acting like I owned you instead of like I wanted to be owned by you. Because that is the truth Donna, I want to be yours in every sense of the word and I want to deserve to be with you and near you and never cause the same kind of crappy scene that I caused last night. So I am sorry for firing you, and for crossing the line of professionalism last night but mostly I am sorry that I didn't cross that line a long time ago when I first realized that I was in love with you. Please, tell me that I have a chance to make it up to you, that I have a chance to be with you."
Donna felt acutely aware that the airport humdrum was now being focused on she and Josh. If they thought a crazy man running through the airport was something worth whispering about, the only thing that could be more gossip-worthy was his confession of love to a woman who used to be his assistant! Of course, they didn't really know that she used to be his assitant, but she still felt like they might. The awkwardness of all of the eyes in terminal A being focused directly on the couple made Donna stare witha bambiesque expression past Josh's right shoulder and more towards the orange shirted tourists in the background. Donna suddenly realized that she should be focusing on what this man had to say. This man, whom she both loved and loathed, whom she hated yet desired, who fired her but now was standing before her confessing his love…this man…her Josh.
Donna felt her eyes begin to fill with tears and her skin felt as though it was on fire where he grasped her arms. "Josh?" She said his name with a relief and acceptance that made his heart skip a beat.
"Yes, Donnatella? My beautiful, wonderful Donnatella?" He used his right hand to push her hair behind her ear before returning his hand to herarm. He wasn't sure if she had heard anything he just said but her shoulders had relaxed under his touch and she was not yelling at him so he took both of those things to be a good sign.
"Would you just hold me?" Donna collapsed into his chest as years of tension and high wire acts vanished and Josh simply held her to his chest and rubbed her back. Had he come right out and said it? She hadn't heard it but she hadn't really been listening either. Donna was pretty sure that Josh was confessing his love to her. She was also pretty sure that he had apologized, said that she had every right to sleep with Will if she had wanted to, told her he viewed her as a professional, and that he never wanted to make a big dramatic scene again. She laughed and considered that three out of four ain't bad. Josh was growing and seeing her as an equal, plus he loved her, what more could she ask for?
She wept tears of relief and joy at the fact that he truly did love her and that all her years of devotion and holding onto the "what ifs" were finally working out for her. She began to forgive fate for the evil things she had accused it of in the past. And moments later, at exactly the right time, just as fate would have, Donna pulled back and Josh planted the deepest, most passionate kiss that has ever been witnessed in terminal A of O'Brien International Airport.
She could feel the eyes focusing in on them even as the insistent voice of a gate steward announcing the final boarding call for Wisconsin's flight 200 echoed overhead. She didn't think many of her fellow passengers had made their way to the plane yet, and she knew for certain that she would not be going. As she pulled back from his embrace just enough to look him in that dimpled grinning face of his, she smiled and opened her mouth to speak.
"Shhhhh" Josh interrupted her, "let me just say that I love you".
She grinned so wide that her cheeks hurt and moved in for another kiss. As if the spontaneous cheers from the surrounding crowds weren't bad enough, Donna suddenly saw dozens of flashes of light as if she had stepped out on the red carpet. Pulling back again she realized that it was the orange shirted family snapping away at them with the four separate cameras that hung around their necks. Her cheeks had been flushed with passion, they were now red with embarrassment.
"Ummm, Josh?" She questioned, tapping him on the shoulder and pointing in their direction. "Are those reporters for any paper that you recognize?"
Josh just laughed out loud and said "No, those are the Clarks, without whom I might not be with you today." At that moment he forgave fate for the shuttle ride to the airport.
Donna gave him a quizzical look to which he replied "I will explain it to you later." He put his hand in the air and waved to the Clarks who joyfully shouted back almost in unison:
"Congratulations Mr. Lyman! Wait to go!"
"Remember grape slurpees forever!" the young Mr. Clark exclaimed as he pumped his fist in the air and attempted to amuse himself in a moment that most boys his age would find disgusting. His mother quickly grabbed his arm and turning him toward the gate, the four rotund Clarks happily boarded their flight to Nantucket.
"Grape slurpee?" Donna questioned, feeling as though the entire past few minutes were something out of a daydream. Josh pulled his body back from her own to reveal the stain on the front of his clothes.
"Ah, yes, of course, grape slurpee" She replied with an amused shake of her head and flip of her hair.
"Yeah, you in the mood for one?" He grinned devilishly and made Donna laugh out loud as they strolled hand in hand back down the terminal.
"Yes, Josh, I believe I am…I just so happen to LOVE grape slurpees!"
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Months later an envelope came to Josh's office delivered by his new assistant Stephanie.
Flipping it over in his hands he saw the words PHOTOS DO NOT BEND etched across the bottom of the manila paper. He unclasped the top and pulled out multiple shots of he and Donna in the O'Brien International Airport, terminal A. They were from four different angles, one shot prominently focused on the slurpee stain. Josh laughed delightedly and checked for a return address: "Honey?" he called at the open door adjoining to his office,
"Yeah, Josh?" Donna stuck her head into the room to see Josh grinning like an idiot.
"I have one more address to add to the wedding list."
"Another?" She asked, obviously far along in the plans for the event.
"Yeah, just one more, this is a good one."
She pulled out a notebook and stood ready to take it down: "The Clarks" he began, "In Nantucket".
Donna grinned and dropped the notebook, she walked over and wrapped her arms around Josh glancing down at the photos in his hand, "You know, now that I think about it," she purred, "I could go for a little grape slurpee right about now!"
For the 100th time in his life, Josh forgave fate for the spilling of young Mr. Clark's grape slurpee!