Green and Plum Eyed Monster
The Congressional Gala was like a sea of black tuxedos set against a frosty white backdrop. A military band was playing standards, suitable for both dancing and listening, quietly from one corner. People were mingling, chatting their way from one side of the room to another. Others were dancing the night away on the dance floor. Juliana was almost giddy as she entered the Gala. She felt like a little girl who had finally been allowed to go to the party with the grown ups.
Since Josh had declined the chance to bring Juliana as his date, Juliana had propositioned a friend of hers at the last minute. She knew that her date would raise eyebrows throughout the beltway, but she wouldn't have it any other way. Secretly Juliana had hoped to garner some attention when she walked into the Gala wearing a stunning plum silk dress, strapless and hugging her body in all the right places before cascading down in a billowing train, and on the arm of a popular congressman.
Earlier in the week, Juliana had been drinking her morning mocha latte when Congressman Mark McCormack had come over with his coffee. She and Mark knew each other from various meetings and committees on the hill and their shared love of South American history and antiquities. Mark had wandered over to discuss a gallery collection at a local museum, and it was then that it occurred to Juliana that he would be the perfect date for the Congressional Gala. Juliana knew that Congressman McCormack had a girlfriend, although she lived halfway across the country in Arizona, so it would be obvious to Mark that it would be a date of friendship and convenience. What really made the arrangement interesting was that Mark was a Democrat.
Jules was enjoying Mark's company. He was quite the gentleman, and they were having a wonderful time together. Juliana and Mark made the appropriate social rounds of the night, chatting and talking with other congressmen and important fundraisers.
After saying hello to CJ and Toby, Mark asked Juliana to dance. The two glided across the dance floor, as if they were Fred and Ginger.
"I feel pretty lucky tonight." Mark admitted as they danced.
"Oh? And why is that?"
"Don't play cute with me, Juliana. You know why."
"Humor me." Juliana said as she giggled.
"I'm at the Congressional Gala with someone who was recently cited as one of the most beautiful people on Capitol Hill. If I'm not careful, my girlfriend is going to get jealous." The congressman smiled as he spoke, and Juliana understood that it was all in good humor.
"It is hard to hide my beauty." Juliana boasted in an overly dramatic way. Both she and Mark laughed and continued to dance. As the song ended, Mark's attention was focused somewhere away from the dance floor.
"Uh, Jules? I think the President is looking this way."
"Really? He must be admiring my beauty too." Juliana joked.
"No. Seriously. He has an expectant look on his face. It's starting to make me nervous." The congressman had turned to stand next to Juliana and directed her attention to the other side of the room where President and Mrs. Bartlett were standing.
The Bartlett's were about the only two people with whom Juliana had not spoken tonight. Although Juliana wanted to dance and have fun, she remembered that first and foremost, her job was to promote her boss and ingratiate herself upon as many people as possible. The only other person that Juliana hadn't spoken to all night was Josh. She had seen him off and on – he always seemed to be staring at her.
"Well, if he's making you nervous, we'd better walk over there and see what the President wants." Juliana looped her arm through Mark's and they strode across the room to speak with the President.
"Good evening sir. Good evening Dr. Bartlett." Juliana greeted the president and his wife. Congressman McCormack echoed Juliana's greetings.
"Juliana! Hello!" President Bartlett greeted warmly. "Congressman McCormack. Mark, how are you tonight?"
As the congressman responded to the president, Juliana turned to the first lady. "Dr. Bartlett, those were wonderful remarks that you gave in your interview yesterday."
"Oh, you can't give her credit for all of that," President Bartlett interrupted with a chuckle.
"Jed!"
"Hush, Abbey." Then turning back to Juliana, "She must get her talent from a wonderful mentor, or husband."
"Or speechwriter." Abbey deadpanned.
"We don't see you in the west wing enough Juliana. I miss our late night chats."
Juliana could see that the president was enjoying himself and taking pleasure in giving her a hard time.
"With all do respect sir, we've never been known for our fireside chats. And I believe that some of the congressmen with whom I work might have a problem with me getting cozy in the west wing."
"So does this mean there's no chance of regular scrabble matches?"
"I'm afraid so sir."
Both Mark and Juliana noticed Abbey nudge Jed and followed their gaze to the other side of the room. The group caught a glimpse of Josh over at the bar, glowering at Juliana. Even from this distance and caught in the midst of conversation, Juliana could tell that he wasn't happy.
"Since scrabble is out of the question, maybe you could tell me this Ms. Wexler." The president said, turning his attention back from his deputy to Juliana.
"Anything, sir."
"Why is it that my deputy seems chained to the bar? And is constantly staring over here and seething?"
"Your guess is as good as mine sir. It could be that he's jealous that I look so wonderful in plum silk. Or he might have an aversion to people who work for Republicans."
Abbey, Jed, Mark and Juliana all laughed. The group broke apart, with the first couple wandering on and Mark sweeping Juliana to the dance floor.
From the bar, Josh watched Juliana waltz in circles around the dance floor, her dress forming waves of plum silk billowing behind her. Josh tipped his glass back and finished his cocktail. As he threw the glass back to the bar, he could hear the clink of ice against the glass. The four drinks Josh had had tonight didn't serve to help his mood any. Watching Jules across the room, all Josh could feel was an uncertain mixture of anger, frustration, jealousy and fascination, each emotion surfacing separately.
"Ask me to dance." Josh heard lightly whispered in his ear. Josh turned to find Juliana, picture of elegance, standing with him.
"Where's your beloved congressman?" Josh sneered. "Won't he miss his arm candy?"
"Ask me to dance, Josh."
Impulsively, Josh placed one hand firmly on the small of Juliana's back and while taking Juliana's hand in his other. Josh powerfully guided Juliana to the dance floor.
"Careful." Jules said in reply to Josh's firm grip. "I might break."
"You're the one who wanted to dance." Josh shot back, whirling Juliana in a circle and then pulling her close. She could feel his breath on her skin as he exhaled angrily and smell the alcohol on it too.
"I wanted to dance with Josh. Not his evil twin. What's going on?"
"What do you mean?" Josh continued to sway and guide Jules around the dance floor to the tempo of the music.
"You haven't left the bar all night. You're three sheets to the wind, if not four. You're cranky, blaming me for something and it's so obvious that the President of the United States asked me about it."
"Yeah, well, you waltz in here on the arm of that guy."
"He's a respected congressman Josh."
"God! Can't you see he's using you? He wants a good photo op." Josh's words almost slurred together with the effects of his four drinks. Through a haze, though, Josh couldn't help but notice that his tantrum was collecting spectators. Josh lowered his voice to continue. "He's parading you around like you're his possession or some call girl he hired to make him look good." Josh practically hissed as he finished his sentence. Juliana paused her dance step for mere milliseconds as a look of shock passed over her face. The hitch was only noticeable to Josh and a few senior staff spectators who had been watching with interest. Juliana took a deep breath and smiled a large, forced smile.
"Thank you for the dance, Mr. Lyman."
Juliana broke the embrace that Josh had held her in to dance, turned on her heel and left the dance floor. Many people couldn't help but notice that as soon as Juliana cleared the dance floor, her pace quickened and she fled the room. Josh was still standing, slightly shocked when Sam grabbed his elbow and pulled him out into a hallway.
"Hey!" Josh sputtered as he tried to keep up with Sam's quick pace and tight grip.
"What was that?" Sam demanded. "What's wrong with you? If you said something to…"
"Me? What's wrong with me?" Josh yelled, arms flailing wildly. "You make a scene of dragging me out of a room and you ask what's wrong with me? Nothing's wrong with me, but doesn't it bother you, Sam, that your sister is being paraded around by a congressman? She's being used to better someone's portfolio!"
"No," Sam snarled. "What bothers me is that you're making a scene and that you're jealous."
"I am not jealous."
"You're so fucking jealous that you can't see straight."
"What the hell are you talking…"
"Are you still dating my sister?" Sam growled once more.
"I don't need this." Josh sighed as he stumbled off, away from Sam knowing he couldn't handle this argument anymore. To Josh it seemed that the hallway was curving and careening, and it was quite a relief when he finally made it to a door that led outside. Upon throwing the doors open and stepping into the cold, winter air, Josh took in a deep breath and ran his hands through his hair. Josh tugged at his tie as he walked a few more steps out onto the balcony. Josh's thoughts were interrupted by Juliana's voice.
"I hope you didn't come looking for me." Juliana's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "I'm not some jilted, sappy girl who needs to be checked up on."
"No." Josh grumbled. "Seriously, I was hoping the air would help to sober me up." Juliana brushed past Josh, walking towards the door.
"Wait." Josh said. Juliana paused and turned to look at Josh, giving him an expectant look.
"Why? You compared me to a cheap hooker before. I'm going inside to find my date for tonight. Someone who values me somewhere over an hourly rate." Juliana turned and walked to the door. She had one hand on the door handle when Josh spoke again.
"I'm drunk and I was out of line."
"Damn straight." Juliana turned around again, this time crossing her arms over her chest and rubbing her bare arms and shoulder in response to the icy, winter air. "If this is an apology, it's got to get better than that. I get apologies of that caliber from interns with bad acne."
"I'm sorry. I was out of line."
"And?"
"I was jealous, and did I mention that I'm drunk?"
"You're wasting my time."
"Jules, wait." Josh sounded almost panicked as he called after her. "I was jealous and so I said things that were hurtful and offensive. I was jealous that you came tonight with Mark McCormack."
"I offered that privilege to you first, if you'll think back, and you not so politely declined." Jules waited for Josh to speak, but when he looked down at his feet with his hands stuffed in his pockets and said nothing, she continued. "I have a brilliant mind, Joshua Lyman. But you baffle me, sometimes. Tell me this, does the President trust you?"
"Of course he does. Why?"
"Does he trust you to be professional?"
"Yes!" Josh said with exasperation.
"Are you confident of that? Because my employers trust me and have confidence in me to be professional and to do my job."
"And? Your point is?"
"My point is that the people I work with trust me to, no they expect me to act professionally, and they have faith in me to do so, even if I'm involved with someone who works on the other side of the aisle. If the president and Leo trust you, then what's the problem?"
"I don't have a problem."
"Liar." Juliana threw back at Josh. She had walked close to him. Even out in the outside air, he could smell her perfume. "You told me yourself that you were jealous tonight. But you can only blame yourself. You had a problem with escorting the Majority Leader's Chief of Staff to a congressional event. You. Your problem wasn't with me, it's with my job title. And that's fine. It's okay that it makes you feel nervous and like you're compromising your party. But don't go off and sulk because of the choices you made."
"Are you done with your speech?" Josh asked sneeringly.
"Yes."
"I'm sorry." Josh said. Shoving his hands back into his pockets and looked down at the ground, he hoped this would show his regret and endear him to Jules all at the same time.
"God. You don't even have a reason to be jealous!" Juliana shoved Josh in his shoulder, quite forcefully, and Josh looked up. He could see from the look on Juliana's face that she was over what had happened between them. Josh knew that Juliana felt this was his problem to deal with and she was leaving it up to him. "Mark McCormack has a girlfriend in Arizona that he's been dating for over 6 years! They're practically engaged. And, anyway, I asked him here tonight."
"Really?" Now Josh was beginning to feel even more foolish.
"Yes."
"Oh." Josh thought for a moment. "I guess now would be a good time to tell you that I yelled at Sam, too."
"Did you not like Sam's date either?" Juliana teased.
"I wish it were that easy."
"You need to talk to Sam. You need to explain about what's going on."
"What are you, my life coach?"
"Josh, I'm not going to let you destroy everything in your life for me."
"Yeah. I know what I have to do."
"I'm cold." Josh looked at Jules, a little stunned.
"Okay, that came out of nowhere."
"What did you expect? We're outside, I'm in a ball gown, so naturally I'm cold. Let's go inside."
"Do I get a dance?"
"Are you going to sling me around the dance floor like before? Or are you going to be a little bit gentler?" Juliana was standing her ground, unwilling to move until she had more of a commitment out of Josh. Josh who was sobering up a little was moving slowly towards Juliana. Without a word, Josh took Juliana's hand, guided her inside and out onto the crowded dance floor, firmly wrapping one arm around her waist and pulling her body close to his.
"Okay," Juliana acquiesced. "I'll admit it. You're a good dancer when you want to be." Juliana smiled as Josh whisked her around in small circles. Josh was about to say something when Donna walked quietly up to the couple.
"I don't want to interrupt or anything, but Congressman McCormack asked me to tell you, Juliana, that he had to leave. Something came up that he needed to take care of, and he asked me to tell you." Donna fidgeted uncomfortably. She looked uneasy with dealing with Josh and Juliana when Josh had his arms wrapped so tightly around her.
"Thanks, Donna." Juliana said, quickly giving Donna an out and a chance to walk away. She had been able to read Donna's body language, just like she could feel the holes that Sam's eyes had been boring into her ever since she and Josh started dancing.
"Well, it looks like I'm without a date." Juliana said with a theatrical sigh.
"There are many places in this world where I'm well-known for being a good date, you know." Josh boasted.
"Those rumors are still yet to be confirmed." Josh whirled Jules around in another as she finished her sentence.
"Well, if you'd stop playing around we could confirm them."
"Shut up and dance." Juliana feigned an annoyed look. Juliana continued to follow Josh's lead and waltz around the room.
A while later, both Josh and Jules were getting tired. They had spent the last 20 minutes or so talking with CJ and Senator Matt Skinner. Suddenly, Juliana found herself fighting the urge to yawn, something that didn't escape Josh's notice. Josh quietly whispered in Juliana's ear, and the duo politely excused themselves from the group.
Juliana and Josh momentarily headed in different directions, each to get their coats. The agreement had been to meet just out front when they were both ready to go. Juliana was heading toward the door, about to walk outside, when Sam called out to her.
"Where are you going?" Sam didn't sound like he was asking out of concern, instead he sounded like he was accusing Juliana of something.
"Home. Though I might stop for a diet coke on the way." Juliana said flippantly. She almost didn't stop to talk to Sam, but he grabbed her wrist as she walked by.
"You can't leave here with him."
"Who are you talking about, Sam?" Juliana knew the answer to this question, but she wanted to make sure that she and Sam were on the same page.
"You can't leave with Josh."
"I have news for you Sam, I can leave with whoever I want."
"No, you can't." Sam had lowered his voice and sounded very serious. Juliana on the other hand was getting rather annoyed and her voice also reflected this.
"It's not like I'm eloping with him." Sam visibly cringed at Juliana's witty remark. "Congressman McCormack had to leave and Josh was kind enough to offer to take me home." Jules paused for a moment in order to gauge Sam's mood. "I can be with or go home with anyone I want. Josh Lyman included."
Sam had been staring at Juliana the entire time she spoke. It wasn't until she finished her last words, however, that Sam realized Juliana had shifted her gaze in back of him. When Sam turned to look over his shoulder, he saw Josh standing a few steps behind him. Josh attempted a smile, which came across as a flat line across his lips that curled up on either end.
"Sam." Josh said as he walked past.
"Josh."
"Sam, have a good night." Juliana said warmly. Juliana turned and walked out the door with Josh. Josh was careful not to put his arms around Juliana or his hand on her back as they walked away from Sam.
Juliana couldn't really remember the drive home or how they got into her home, but she did how Josh had comforted her about Sam's reaction. She could remember his every word, soothing her and reassuring her. When they got inside, Josh stood in the doorway for a while, unsure about whether or not Jules wanted him to come in or not. Juliana paused in the living room, her coat half off, and looked at Josh with a peculiar look on her face. She simply walked over to Josh, firmly grasped his hand in hers and shut the door behind him. When she turned around to make sure that Josh approved of her decision, he leaned in and his lips connected with hers. While Josh's lips explored Juliana's, his hands explored her body, deftly unzipping her gown and shedding it on the floor of her bedroom. Juliana made quick progress with Josh's tux and just as mysteriously as they arrived at Juliana's home, Josh and Jules appeared in her bedroom.
They stood at the foot of her bed. Jules examined ever inch of Josh's body using her hands and her lips. Her tongue worked its way from one part of Josh to another.
"I want a turn." Josh said in a husky voice.
Josh wanted to kiss her everywhere at once. He wanted to feel her, taste her, be inside of her…all at the same time. This led to a frenzy of movements.
"Josh?" Jules managed, the desire in her voice mixed with a bit of confusion.
Josh slowed down, realizing he was rushing for nothing. He swayed closer to Jules, until every part of their bodies, from breasts to stomachs, were pressed together. Josh's tongue traced her collarbone and his hands swept over her hips, making her panties pool around her feet.
Josh was still exploring Juliana's body as they fell on to the bed. He let his hands rest on her perfect hips to steady Jules as he sunk into her. Their passion finished, Juliana drifted off to sleep, still entwined in Josh's body. Josh watched her momentarily, reminding himself how lucky he was to be here with her, before succumbing to sleep himself.
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