"Abbey." His voice brought her out of yet another daydream as they danced.
"Hmm?"
"What are you thinking?"
"I'm not thinking anything, that's the beauty of this moment. Don't ruin it."
Don't ruin it? He had to ruin it! If he didn't speak to her…surely he would lose her. Or would he lose if he DID speak?
"Women are so confusing," he whispered.
Abbey lifted her head from its resting spot on his shoulder, a look of amusement plain on her face. Oh, no. Had he said that outloud? Oh, no. Oh, God…
"Really," she said.
"What? No…I…"
She shrugged.
"You're right. Women are confusing. Thanks for noticing, we so enjoy being enigmas."
"Abbey, I didn't mean…"
"For the love of God, stop apologizing and making excuses for yourself. I don't know where you get that from."
"Yeah, well, you try impressing a father who doesn't like you, who never liked you, and beats the crap out of you when you don't apologize."
Oh, no. Not again. Why was it that he never managed to say the right thing in front of her?
"Jed…"
"No, don't say anything, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything."
"Again with the apologizing. You really have to cut that out."
"Or else what?" He challenged.
"Or else this evening isn't going to turn out the way you planned."
His eyes widened.
"What!"
"You think I'm not onto your little scheme, Pope Bartlet, but you're wrong. It seems you have misjudged me. I'm a very smart girl, you know, and I happen to be very perceptive."
He tried to speak, but the words wouldn't come out. This was probably lucky.
"You think that one dance with you is going to make me realize how bad a boyfriend Ron is. You think that if you pick the right song, it's going to make my knees go weak and keep me coming back for more. You think that if you play your cards right, you can make me forget everything that means anything to me. Well, let me tell you something, buddy. I'm not exactly a wide-eyed doe lost in the woods. I have ambitions, see. There is no way in hell I'm going to give it all up on account of one ridiculous weekend in Martha's Vineyard! And anyway, what the hell makes you think that…"
Before she could finish her sentence, Jed suddenly leaned in and kissed her. Their feet stopped all movement and they stood still in the middle of the dance floor, completely unaware of their surroundings. Jed had never felt more determined, and even as Abbey tried to struggle at first, she soon found herself surrendering entirely to his touch. However, their moment was shattered when Ron grabbed hold of Jed's shoulders and pulling him off of his girlfriend.
"Ron!" Abbey cried.
"Don't worry," Ron said, his tone angry and cruel. "It's not him I'm after now."
He grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the restaurant, and all the way back to the yaht. Jed stood watching with Leo, Jenny, and Amanda, all of them stunned by the events that had just taken place.
"What do you think he's gonna do?" Jenny whispered to Leo.
"He's not going to hurt her, is he?" Amanda asked.
"Nah, Ron would never hit a girl. He's angry, no doubts there, but he's all talk. I reckon Abbey's in for one helluva lecture tonight," Leo answered.
They all turned to look at a very astonished Jed.
"That was smooth, buddy," Leo commented.
"Yeah, I'm like 007," Jed said, not looking at them. "Let's go."
When they returned to the yaht, they knew Ron and Abbey had beat them to it for they could hear them screaming at each other from inside their room. Leo, Jenny, Amanda, and Jed waited on the deck, out of ear shot, to see what would happen next. About an hour later, Ron emerged from the room and joined them on the deck, frustrated and frazzled.
"Ron?" Leo said.
"Tell the captain we gotta go."
Leo nodded.
"Ok."
He got up in search of the yaht's captain. Meanwhile, Amanda noticed Ron narrowing his eyes at Jed. Amanda jabbed her cousin in the ribs, and he looked up at Ron as well.
"Ron, look, I…" Jed began.
"Yeah, I don't want to hear it. It's done now. Abbey and I are going back to Boston and that's that."
His heart sunk.
"She's going back with you?"
"Damn right she is. Soon as this yaht docks, we're taking the first train to Boston."
"She wants to go?"
"Look here, Bartlet, she's my girlfriend. She made a mistake, she didn't want to hurt you. She's just thoughtful like that. Doesn't mean she's ready to run away and elope with you or anything," Ron said.
"I…I didn't think it did, I just…"
"Ok, I've had enough of this. I'll talk to you all later."
He stood and went back under, to his room.
"I have to get her back," Jed whispered to himself.
"What? Jed, don't tell me you're going to…"
"Amanda, I've made it this far. I'm not backing down now."
"Oh, good lord, will this never end? She's going back with him, Jed. She's made her decision. Don't force her into loving you."
"That's not what I'm doing. That's what Ron's doing, and I'm not going to let him," Jed insisted.