Chapter 8

She takes a bite of my egg roll while I eat some of her cashew chicken. "Today was…"

"Entertaining?" I had fun. Well, once we got rid of beefcake #2 I had fun. I would've had even more fun had we gotten rid of Jeff the gym guy as well. And let's face it, I would've had even more fun than that had we been naked.

"Depressing."

"Why?" I ask with a full mouth.

"Because that's my price range. Homes with bad roofs and foul smells and wood paneling where homicides have taken place and the floor moves beneath your feet."

Ok, here's my chance. Be understated; don't be obvious. "Maybe you should consider waiting a while," I say as casually as possible.

"What difference would that make?"

You'll be living with me in eleven months and 20 days. "We've got less than a year in office. Things could change for you financially once we leave." You could be sponging off me. I'd be ok with it; in face, I'd welcome it.

She narrows her eyes at me. "Are you trying to tell me something?"

Yes. You and I are going to get married and have lots and lots of sex and argue over stupid things like mayonnaise vs. miracle whip and Heinz vs. Hunts, but agree on important things like children and gun control. "I'm just saying that whatever we do next might mean that you could afford more." Mayonnaise and Heinz, by the way.

"Whatever we do next?" she asks with large eyes, stressing the word 'we.'

I stare at her. What's she getting at? "Of course."

She takes a second to recover. "So you're just assuming we're still going to work together?" She's trying to make me squirm, but her smile gives her away.

I smirk and take a bite of my beef and broccoli. "You weren't assuming the same thing?"

She shrugs. "I've considered continuing to grace you with my daily presence."

"How kind of you…"

"I'm going to want to change some things, however," she says, taking another bite of my egg roll.

"As am I." Your last name, for one.

"One of those things being…what I do," she says.

I smile. "Yes, that's one of the things on my list as well."

"Really?" she asks, smile beaming at me. I'm not going to tell her, but I think she'd be interested to see how else our lists match up.

I smile back. "Really." She steals yet another bite of my egg roll, and I grab the last little bit of it out of her hand and pop it into my mouth.

"So… what else is on this list of things to change?" she asks a minute later, feigning innocence. See, I told you she'd be interested.

Nice try my worthy opponent. "Well, definitely the number of egg rolls we get when we order Chinese…"

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Donna and I had a little clarity on Sunday night over Chinese food, where we determined… well, I'm not really sure what we determined, but things were insinuated, so I'm thinking that maybe she got the underlying meaning there and isn't gong to be so pressed to buy a house.

In fact, it's Wednesday, and the subject of the house hasn't been mentioned much so far this week. Granted, we've pretty much looked at everything that's in her price range, which means we can't do anything else until some new things come on the market, but I'm thinking that the sub-plan to protect the plan has worked. I still have the addition to the sub-plan to take care of, which is of course getting Donna out of the beefcake gym she goes to, but yesterday I suggested an all female gym a mile from her place and she laughed at me, so that part of the sub-plan might take a little finagling. It's a word.

So, I'm thinking that things are looking up. To be safe, I've kept Donna working late for the last two nights and plan on keeping her late tomorrow and Friday, in case Jeff the gym guy or beefcake #2, or for that matter Brett the bore Allen gets any ideas about a date, and just to be safe, I've gotten online, gotten the name of blonde British actor guy, Paul Bettany, and it doesn't appear that he's filming anywhere in the DC area for the foreseeable future.

Yes, my life is good. Things are looking up. I, Josh Lyman, master politician and fabulous lover, am eleven months and seventeen days from the promise land. The promise land, of course, being engagement, kissing, sex and living with one Donnatella Moss. Things are good. Things are great. Things are spectacular.

Hmm… that's odd. I just got out of a three-day meeting with the House Ways and Means committee, which isn't one of my favorite committees for reasons that don't need to be discussed, and Donna isn't here. Ok, a three-hour meeting, but it felt like three days.

Anyway, Donna's not at her desk, and her coat's gone. That's odd, considering it's only 3:15 in the afternoon. I go into my office to call her and I see a post-it note on my computer screen. Josh, hot lead on a house, had to go. Donna. What?

Immediately, I grab my cell and call her. What the hell's going on?

"Hello?"

"Where are you?"

"Didn't you get my post-it?"

"Yes, but… where are you?"

"I'm on my way to Dupont Circle to meet Mark and Jeff. A place came on the market today and it seems to be a great deal, so we're going to check it out. Jeff thinks it'll go quick. Dupont's a very hot area."

"Mark and Jeff?" Mark AND Jeff? What the hell am I gonna do now?

"Yeah. Sorry I left, but there was no time to waste. I'll come back when we're done."

"Mark AND Jeff?"

"You just asked that. Yes."

"But…"

"I know you wanted to help, but it's not like you could've just left the meeting."

"Mark AND Jeff?"

"Are you ok?"

"I… should… I don't think… Mark AND Jeff? Is Brett Allen gonna be there too?" What the hell's going on? I thought I'd nipped it. The sub-plan and… it was just a meeting. How did things get so crazy so fast?

"Congressman Allen? What are you talking about?" Brett Allen? I said that out loud?

"Don't go!" Don't go? I said that out loud too? I told her not to go? I'm panicking. Calm down, Josh. Breathe.

"Don't go?"

"Don't go. Please."

"Why?"

"It's not… because... you need… these guys…."

"Please form a complete sentence."

"I'm… how far are you from there?"

"Five minutes. I'm meeting them in fifteen."

"Fifteen?" Can I get to Dupont Circle in fifteen minutes? I grab my wallet and run for the door.

"Yes. Jeff's coming from the office and they live a few blocks from where we're going, so Mark's meeting us there."

"What's the address?"

"Why?"

"I'll meet you there. I can get there in fifteen minutes."

"Josh, that's not necessary."

"Donna…."

"Josh, I'm an adult, I can look at a house without your supervision."

"Please…" I've resorted to whining.

"Why?"

"I want to help!" I want to sub-plan my way out of this nightmare.

"Josh, it's really…"

I cut her off. "I'm already hailing a cab Donna, just give me the address."

She sighs. "You'll be nice?"

"I'm always nice." She mumbles something under her breath about my niceness and gives me the address.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I jump in a cab and promise the driver a large tip if he gets me there quick, and then I sit back and try to come up with a plan. A sub-plan. A sub-sub-plan. What the fuck ever, I'm having a crisis here, work with me.

Dupont Circle? Dupont fucking Circle? Dupont Circle is THE area of town. It has awesome restaurants, great nightclubs, posh stores… what if she loves this place? What then? I think I'm hyperventilating.

Do you see what they've done? Jeff the gym guy and beefcake #2 both live in the area. They're trying to get her near them so they have more access to her than I do. It's a conspiracy I tell you. A conspiracy!

And before you say anything, yes I realize that saying that makes me sound a bit like Mel Gibson in that Julia Roberts movie where he was a paranoid freak. But he turned out to be right, didn't he? See?

No need to panic, right? I'm a politician. I deal with highly important things all the time, I can do this. I advise the President of the United States for cryin' out loud. This is nothing. This is two men who want to get with my woman. No big deal. Men have been trying this for eight years. It's me she loves. I don't need to be a jealous freak.

And as far as the townhouse goes, we haven't seen even one place in her price range here, which means that this must be the trashiest place in the neighborhood. I mean, that makes sense, right? Right? Why am I asking you? You're not even here; you're just in my mind. I'm losing it…

The cab comes to a stop in front of a very cute townhouse, damn it. Beefcake #2 and Donna are already there talking, which I'm obviously not thrilled about. What to do? What to do? I practically jump out of the cab, this time remembering my seatbelt, and rush up to them.

Beefcake #2 says hello to me as I grab Donna's hand and start pulling her down the sidewalk. "I need Donna a minute."

"What's up?" she asks when we get about twenty feet away. I don't let go of her hand, which is primarily for beefcake #2's benefit, but is also rather nice to hold on to.

"What? Nothing."

Now she's looking at me like I've completely lost my mind, which isn't far from the truth. "Then… why did you drag me over here? Didn't you need something?"

"Right. Yes, of course. I needed…" what did I need? What the hell did I need?

"Josh, you're acting so weird." She actually looks worried about me. Not pissed, just worried. She's so sweet. No wonder I love this woman.

"I just…" what? I just what? "I'm going to need some research done when we get back to the office." Research? On what?

"Ok, I can do…." She's still talking, but something just caught my eye, dragging my attention away from her. Something amazing! Something spectacular! Something that I couldn't have hoped for! It's like an answer to my prayers, a gift from the Almighty, a dream come true. Life is good. Life is great! Life is more than I could have hoped for! I… maybe I should've seen this coming, but I don't even care that I missed it. I just care that it's happening. Right now! My life is taking a turn for the better. YES!

"Josh? What are you staring at?"