Josh's POV
Wednesday morning
What a night! I mean last night we won a second term in the White House. How excited were we? Everyone else was but me, I was a little downhearted. Donna left the party early when all I wanted to do was take her home and have her in my arms, celebrating. But I left her alone, I hope that was right.
I knew, walking into the bullpen, she would already be there. We may have just had a great victory but the world doesn't stop for us. As I approached her desk it wasn't Donna's blonde hair I saw, but the subtle red of Ginger's. "Ginger, where's Donna?" I asked.
"Don't you know?" She asked but when she saw the panicked look on my face she started to tell me. "She took the next few days off Josh. I thought you would know." Ginger finally answered my question.
"She didn't say." I spoke quietly, before heading for the inner sanctum of my office. Why didn't she tell me she was taking days off. I wouldn't have been mad at her. I know she needs time before the trial but I thought she would have been more comfortable here. Guess I was wrong.
After senior Staff I called her apartment but didn't get an answer. Then again, it was still early. Maybe she was in the shower or out for a walk. I'll call her later.
By lunchtime I am still unable to get in contact with her. By now I am really worried, although trying not to show it. I see Ainsley Hayes walking into the bullpen. She's Donna's lawyer so hopefully she'll have some answers for me. "Ainsley, can I talk to you for a minute please?" I remember to add at the end of my question.
"Sure." She answers. She steps into my office and I realise the likeness between her and my beautiful assistant. Though Donna is more beautiful. "What can I do for you Josh?"
"You can tell me where Donna is?" I ask her. My voice is getting louder, even though I don't mean for it to be. She looks a little startled by my voice. "Sorry Ainsley, it's just she disappeared from the party early last night and I haven't been able to get in contact with her. I figured you'd know where she was."
"I do, but I can not tell you Josh. She asked me not to tell anyone. Lets just say, she needed a few days of no one bothering her before Friday. She has a lot on her plate right now."
I understood why she had done it but to leave without an explaination, it wasn't like her. "I suppose, well I'll see her on Friday. Can you tell her that I'm thinking of her?"
"I can tell her that, but you won't see her on Friday." Ainsley tells me. The look on my face must say a lot because Ainsley begins to speak. "She doesn't want anyone from the White House there on Friday. She doesn't want people that she works with hearing all the sordid details and any of it getting out the press. You have to understand that?" I nod my head, even though I am not happy about it.
"Well, can you just tell her that I am thinking of her and she knows where I am if she needs me."
"Will do. See you."
And with that she is gone from my office. 'Oh Donna please be all right.'
Friday morning.
Donna's POV
I am so not ready for this. I am about to head in and face that man. I am about to tell a room full of strangers what he did to me. Have him staring at me the entire time, with those horrible eyes of his. Looking back I don't know what I ever saw in him. Ainsley is standing beside me and I am grateful for a friendly face. She's been great and even brought me a message from Josh. I feel bad for leaving him out the loop but it was something I had to do. I couldn't be around anyone during this week. And that was hard.
Tuesday was such a great day for all of us. We won our second term and there were parties going on all over the place but I snuck out of the White House like a weasel. I didn't want anyone talking to me or getting me to enjoy myself, because I just wasn't in the mood. I hope Josh understand why I did it.
Josh's POV
It's two thirty in the afternoon and my mind hasn't been on the job all day. I just keep thinking of Donna in that courtroom. I wonder if she is all right, has she testified yet, is she in need of a hug? I know the answer to at least two of those questions is no. She isn't all right and she probably needs a hug, but she won't give in and say she need sit. She'll fight on and fight on until she body eventually breaks down. She did it when her father died a few years back. He was her only family she had left but she was a tower of strength. I didn't see her cry until I walked into her family home in Madison Wisconsin. She had told me not to go, but I couldn't do it to her. I couldn't leave her alone in her time of need and that was when she burst into tears. Who could blame her, she had just lost the man she really respected and loved all of her life.
Donna's POV
Today has been horrible. I never want to face that again, but know that I will have to be there in the courtroom until the trial is over. I hope it won't last much longer. I was heading back to my hotel room after driving around for hours when I found myself outside Josh's apartment. I didn't know what had brought me there, well I did but I wouldn't admit it to myself. I just pray that he is in.
Opening the door, his apartment is in silence. The again it is after midnight. I just hope he is home. I tiptoe through to his bedroom and find him face down on his bed fast asleep. I smile before stripping down to my underwear and climbing in beside him. I just need this tonight. I hope he knows how much I need him.
Josh's POV
I am having the most wonderful dream about Donna, when I feel the bed shift and her arms wrap around my waist. "I love you Josh, night." She whispers, trying not to wake me. I can hear from her voice that she has probably spent most of the day crying.
"I love you too baby." I whisper back, for which I receive a bigger squeeze. It's all I need before falling back asleep.