The Voicemail

Chapter 2

"Pass the wine," C J commanded from the armchair. "We need to get drunk."

Donna smiled and slid the bottle across the coffee table. Her own glass was still half full. C J's was empty. C J grabbed the bottle and poured herself another glass.

"To Leo!" she thrust the glass into the air, a little too fast and ended up with red wine dripping down her arm. "Oops."

"Where are the paper towels?"

"On top of the fridge."

Donna got up and scurried to the kitchen, returning with the roll of paper towels. "Here."

C J quickly mopped up the wine from her arm, and the table, before it ended up all over the rug.

"Maybe I've had more to drink tonight than I realized."

Donna laughed. C J picked up her glass again. "Let's try this again. To new beginnings!"

"Yeah…" Donna raised her glass halfway.

"What's got you?"

"Oh…nothing. I'm just tired."

"So, have you been offered anything yet?"

Donna shook her head.

"Well, its only been 3 days. That'll come. Are you concerned?"

"Not really. Charlie thought I should be, but I reminded him of the three days thing."

"He tends to want answers to these things right away. He was pushing me to start looking through the pile of job offers already too."

"He means well. I'm not worried."

"Where do you think you'll end up?"

"Well…"

"Honestly."

"I have a meeting with Mrs. Santos on Monday."

"You want to work for the First Lady? I would have thought you'd want to be in the West Wing"

"Well, I don't know if its my first choice, but I think it's a good place for me."

"How so?"

"Well, Helen and I had a very good rapport during the campaign."

"So you're aiming for her Chief of Staff?"

"I think that's what we'll be discussing on Monday, yes."

"That would be a great job for you."

"You really think so?"

"I'm just surprised. But yes, I think that you've grown so much, and this will let you have a more active part in policy than anything you'd end up with in the West Wing."

"Yeah…"

"Sounds like you haven't totally convinced yourself."

"I haven't," Donna admitted, gulping down the rest of her wine, and pouring another glass. C J watched her with interest.

"What's got you stuck?"

"I don't know."

"Yes, you do."

"No, I don't. I have no idea what I'll be offered in the West Wing…"

"What do you think?"

"What do you think I'll get? I don't think I'd be ready for press secretary. I don't have anywhere near the amount of experience you had."

"There's always deputy press secretary, or somewhere in the press office at least."

"Yeah."

"Those aren't so bad. Deputy press secretary would be a great job for you. But do you want to get out of press?"

"Well, most of my experience is not in press…I like it… but I don't know. Press is about all I could do in the West Wing. I really don't have much experience taking charge of anything…"

"I disagree."

"What have I taken charge of?"

"Josh."

"I never took charge of Josh."

"Yes, you did. His office would have fallen apart without you."

"Yeah, well, that's completely different. You're the one who said that I needed to think about my own career, and—"

"I'm just saying. You're incredibly organized, and on top of things, and have nine years of experience working for a very difficult person, and you've grown by leaps and bounds since you left the White House. I think you're ready for more than you realize."

Donna looked down into her wine.

"Have you and Josh talked about this?"

Donna shook her head.

"Donna, he sees how far you've come. He does."

"I know."

"What's wrong then? Is Josh the problem? Is he the reason why you're considering the First Lady chief of staff?"

Donna didn't answer.

"Have you two been having more 'odd moments'?"

Donna looked up at C J.

"Donna?"

"I guess."

"I had a feeling something was up when you asked me to stay here. I guess I figured that you'd just stay with him. You've stayed there often enough in the past. I was surprised, is all."

"I just asked you first. Josh was kind of surprised too. I think he assumed I'd stay with him too."

"Really? He assumed? What's been going on that he would assu—"

"Nothing," Donna answered, a little too quickly. "You assumed too."

"Donna, I'm not trying to push, but its obviously bothering you."

"It's hard to tell what's going on since Leo died."

"But things have changed?"

"Yeah."

"For the better?"

"I think so. I guess I just can't tell if it means anything or its just comfort for now…"

"Are you and Josh finally sleeping together?

"Finally? What do you mean by finally?"

"Donna."

"Yes."

C J smiled. "It only took you two nine years to figure it out. That's what I mean by finally."

"I wouldn't say we've quite figured it out yet."

"How long has this been going on? Was this the 'odd moment' you told me about a few weeks ago?"

"No. That…that was the first time we kissed. I'd come into his room with really good poll results, and he kissed me in celebration. Then we pulled back for a moment, and then he really kissed me."

"Which was a good thing?"

"I thought so. It was weird though. That's the place we've always danced around."

"When did the sex start?"

"C J!"

"Well?"

Donna laid back on the couch, and sighed. Her cell phone fell out of her pocket. It was blinking. "It was the night before the election."

"So this is very recent."

"Yeah."

"And you'd only slept together once before Leo died and it got even more complicated."

"Twice, but, yes—"

"Twice? The night before the election and?"

"The middle of the afternoon on election day."

C J grinned. "Did it stop after that? Were those the only two times?"

"No, I've pretty much spent every night with him since."

"Every night? But how you've been talking it got weirder at some point"

"Election night, after Leo died, he was a mess, and I just held him, but every other time its been just sex."

"So that's why you didn't assume you were staying with him?"

"Yeah. I thought he'd be weird about it. Turns out he wanted me to."

"He did? Did you want to?"

"I'd already asked you. I didn't know how to explain why I'd changed my mind."

"Donna, you should have gone there."

"Trying to get rid of me?"

"Not exactly."

"What exactly?"

"Well, you've shared, so I'll share. I could have gotten laid tonight too."

"Danny?"

"Are we that obvious?"

"Yes. But I'm not one to talk about not being obvious."

C J laughed. "Oh well, girls night it is. This has been a very interesting discussion. Oh! Your phone is blinking."

"Oh. That's weird, it didn't ring."

"My apartment gets bad reception."

Donna clicked to listen to her voicemail.

"…uh…hi…its me…I'm,…uh,…just calling to say hi…see how you're doing…I…I'm a little lost…I don't know…it sounds stupid…never mind…have fun at C J's…"

"Is it Josh?"

Donna nodded.

"I'm walking home now…I miss you…I wish I had found the right words earlier…You should have just told C J…Fuck, I don't care if C J knows…I guess…No, I don't care…she can know…its not like this is just going to go away…right?... God, I'm bad at this…"

"Booty call?"

Donna shook her head. "He's a mess"

You know, I was just looking at the White House…and I thought…God, how are we going to do this without him?...I don't know if I can do this…you're the only one…who I could tell that to…I'm rambling…

"He's rambling"

I'll let you go now…enjoy C J's…"

"He told me to have fun here."

"That's nice of him."

"I really wish you were here…I don't know what it is…I'm all over the fucking place…you just ground me…"

"Awww…"

"What?"

"Shh…"

"I kind of need that tonight…I need you…yeah, I guess I do…I ne—"

"Oh!" Donna's eyes were tearing up

"What's wrong?"

"He got cut off mid-sentence."

"What did he want?"

"Me. He wants me. He said he…needs…me. I…I'm going to go, C J, I need to…" Donna stood up and put on her coat.

"Go then!"

"I'm sorry I ruined your night."

"The night is young."

"That it is. Thank you C J."

"Follow your intuition about the job. Working for the First Lady would be a great place for you."

Donna smiled, and walked to the door. C J picked up her phone to call Danny.