"Something about me not being stupid, I think it was."
Finally! There it was – the slightest trace of bitterness in her voice. He felt oddly elated for a moment before his nerves surged again, and he was up on his feet, pacing before her. Their "interview" had played itself over and over in his mind since the moment he had watched her walk away. Now, he was determined to say everything he hadn't then. "Donna, you have to know that I know how good you are. It didn't surprise me, that you did so well for Russell. It surprised me that you would want to do so well for Russell, but hey –"
"OK, do we really have to do this again? I picked the wrong guy, you won, I get it."
"Donna, you came to me –"
"Yes!" she says, her voice rising, "And I already told you that I realized it was a mistake!"
"And I'm trying to tell you that I'm sorry!"
He stops, flushed, exasperated – and terrified, because he knows where this is going. He stops pacing, and crouching down before her, says quietly, "Donna, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I couldn't hire you on two weeks ago. I'm sorry I didn't steal you back from Russell at the very beginning. I'm sorry I did whatever I did to make you leave in the first place."
Suddenly, she stands and walks away from him, and he is shocked by the change in her face when she spins around. "God, how do you do it? Every time! Every time I think I know where we stand – where I stand – you pull the rug out from under me. Do you know that it never once occurred to me, in all the time that we'd worked together, that being your assistant was a dead end for me until CJ spelled it out? And then, when I finally get up the courage to quit, you won't listen! You won't give me even a lunch to explain, to thank you, to - After everything, Josh! After Gaza. After Germany. Why did you come? I thought it would change everything, and it changed nothing! Nothing! How could that not change anything for you? Why are you here? What do you want from me!"
He is standing again, watching her from across the room as if in a daze. He's stunned, everything suddenly gone out of focus. He had thought he'd known where this was going. He'd had no idea.