Title: Joshua
Category: Romance/Humor/Drama
Rating: PG-13
Summary: What happens when Josh finds out that he shares the same first name with Dr. Freeride?

Disclaimer: Not one inch of the West Wing belongs to me, not even a molecule of the air they breathe
Author's Notes: Feedback the best stuff on earth

Chapter 9

Donna had been staring at her computer screen for half an hour. Actions and words had left her the second she clicked on the e-mail and read its content. He wanted to meet…after all this time of not talking to her he wanted to meet. The problem was she didn't know if she wanted to see him. He had hurt her in more ways than she ever imagined possible and the last time they saw each other…she didn't even want to think about.

But why shouldn't she take this meeting? He was offering to pay for dinner and he said he just wanted to talk. It was a free meal and if he offended her she could just say what she's wanted to say to him for the past several years. So, this is a beneficial situation in either light. The biggest problem would be getting out early from work. She'd have to handle Josh the right way if she wanted to get some time off. With her mind decided she headed to his office. His back was angled towards the door as he typed on his laptop. Hopefully it was an e-mail to his mother, she kept reminding him to write one all week.

"Hey." Her voice cut through the smog that filled his head and he paused tumbling the "hey" over in his head. This wasn't her 'normal' hey, this was her 'I need something' hey.

"What's up?" Josh swung around in his chair, making sure to look unassuming. She walked further into the office and sat in the guest chair letting out a sigh. "Hard day?" he asked.

"You have to promise me something," she said staring at him, making sure he understood through her eyes that this was serious. He raised his eyebrow but his face became solemn.

"What do you need?"

"Ok, my ex-boyfriend--" Josh's face contorted and then his jaw hardened and his eyes darkened as he interrupted.

"Dr. Freeride." Donna nodded her head slightly as she continued.

"Yeah, well, he wants to get together—"

"A date!" Josh's voice became high pitched and Donna slightly flinched. "Why would you go back out with that…that…that GUY!"

"I'm not…" she sighed. "I'm NOT going back out with him. We're simply having a meal together. He has some things he needs to discuss with me. I need off tomorrow night." His head was already shaking by the second word of the last sentence.

"No."

"Josh," she said exasperated. "You can't…"

"I'm your boss, I can." She stared at him quickly reformulating her thoughts. He was acting like a jerk and now she needed to handle the situation differently.

"Josh. I may be your assistant but I'm not your little sister and you don't have the right to mess with my life. I'm a strong woman who needs off tomorrow night and you're going to give it to me, because if you don't I will make your life a living hell." Josh began to open his mouth but Donna held out a finger. "And don't think I won't because I can easily do it and I will have no problem with it." He heaved a sigh.

"Fine. Give me a call when you're done with dinner, you're probably gonna have to come back here to help me out on HR 573." She knew this was the best outcome she could hope for.

"Thanks, Josh," she said as she stood up.

"Yeah, yeah" he said shuffling through some papers on his desk. "Can you get me the memo about the thing, Leo needs me to brief him."

- - - - - - - - - --

Josh stared at the phone for about the millionth time that night. He looked at the clock. It's been two hours since she left to meet him. What could possibly be taking so long? He worked it out in his head and thought that he had given her a spacious amount of time. Hellos – 1 minute. Order drinks – 2 minutes (if deliberations). Drinks delivered, order dinner – 5 minutes. Time between ordering and delivery of dinner – 20 minutes. Time to eat dinner (including appetizer) – 40 minutes. Cleaning of plates and ordering of dessert – 8 minutes. Delivery and eating of dessert – 15 minutes. (The possible) after dessert drink – 20 minutes. Goodbyes – 5 minutes. A total of 116 minutes.

That leaves her with four minutes. In that amount of time it is possible to call your boss and see if he needs help on the upcoming House bill. Where was she? Josh began tapping his pen against the desk. He had to be able to do something. He couldn't read through HR 573 again. That would just be suicide. Farm subsidies aren't the most thrilling thing that the Deputy Chief of Staff has ever come across. He turned his chair around and looked out the window. A few scattered tourists were still walking around the White House even though the sun had set hours ago. At least Josh thought it was hours ago, he wasn't sure. The last time he had made it out of the White House during daylight was…

The phone rang, throwing him out of his reverie. He spun in his chair, letting it get halfway through the second shrill before putting the receiver to his ear. "Hello."

"Hey Josh."

"Donna, what took you so long?"

"I just got out. I called you before I even got near the metro."

"He's letting you walk to the metro alone? He didn't offer you a ride?" Josh asked. He couldn't believe the audacity that this guy had. He sure as hell didn't deserve--

"Actually, he's right next to me," she answered with a smile in her voice.

Josh swallowed, hard. This guy stopped for a beer when Donna was in a car accident and now he was walking with her to the metro.

"I need you to come in right now."

"Josh?"

"It's really important. Tell what's his face that you had a pleasant evening or whatever but that the White House needs you."

"Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, I just…get here as soon as you can." He hung up the phone and couldn't believe that he had just…done whatever the hell he had just done. There was no name for it, or at least that's what he tried believed.

- - - - - - - -

Donna rushed through his office door.

"Did we lose Hafferty?"

"What?" Josh knocked his feet from his desk and looked as if she had just told him a herd of gorillas had stormed Panama. "What are you talking about?"

"You said to get over here as soon as possible. What's wrong? What happened with the bill?"

"Nothing. Nothing happened with the bill. Calm down there, killer."

"Then what did you call me back for that was so important?"

"Because I didn't think…I figured you didn't want to be with Freeride anymore."

"It was a fine evening, Josh." Underlying hostility filled her voice and it set him off.

"Oh, I'm sure it was." The sarcasm and disgust was flowing through each syllable, fueling the fury that filled his voice. "How many drinks did he feed you to try and get into your pants, Donna? Because you know that's all he wanted. He wanted to come down here and try to screw you. You must be quite good in the bedroom if he traveled all the way for a fuck. But I'm sure you've had enough prac--"

A shattering smack stopped the flood of words leaving his mouth and his fiery gaze landed on her eyes.

"Don't you ever talk to me like that," she said with a deathly quiet air. "I don't care if you're my boss, you don't have the right.

"But Joshua does?" The anger splashed out of his mouth, soaking her.

"What?"

"Joshua, you know, Dr. Freeride. He got to talk to you like this. You've told me the things he's said and yet here he is in DC taking you on a date. If I had known that's all it would take to get in bed I would have done it a long time ago." She stared at him.

"I'm going. Goodnight, Joshua," she spat, grabbing her jacket and purse. Her heels clicking against the floor as she defiantly walked out of his office and away from his jaw clenched, brow furrowed face.

When she finally left his line of vision Josh let out a rush of air and sat down, leaning his head back against the padded chair. "That didn't go so well."

A/N: Sorry this took so long to post. It took a ridiculous amount of time to fix my computer (it had to be sent back twice, damn you HP/Compaq…speaking of which does anyone know what the best type of laptop to get is?). Anyway please leave feedback, there are only one or two more sections left (I think). Thanks for reading, you guys are awesome!