Title: Turn Back Time (3?)

Author: Cheryl A

Rating: Teen

Genre: Angst/Romance (A/U)

Feedback: ; I love it and love to hear what other's think of my story 

Special Thanks to my beta Elizabeth who has helped me so much with this story!

Seven Months Earlier

It was 2 weeks until re-election day and everybody was feeling the crunch, but none more so than Josh. It was Friday and Leo had given everybody that weekend off to re-charge their batteries since they hadn't had a Saturday off for the last four months with the campaign in full swing. But unlike everybody else Josh couldn't take a day off, being on the road the last week had put him immensely behind issues he needed to take care of in Washington. Even though he really didn't want to he knew that if he was going to accomplish anything meaningful tomorrow then he was going to have to ask Donna to sacrifice her Saturday off as well.

"Umm.. Donna… I want to first start off by saying; this is not what it looks like." Josh stated as his best sympathetic look.

Donna bit- her lip slightly as she knew that look and a phrase very well and wondered what favor Josh was going to ask of her now just as she was getting ready to leave and enjoy her first weekend off in a long while.

"What is now Josh?… I know that look….It's never a good thing." Donna shot him her all-knowing glance knowing how many past dates she had to cancel in the past when Josh starts off by saying that 'it's not what it looks like' .

Josh bit his lip too knowing that Donna had a strong idea of what he was about to ask her, "Well… you know you mentioned you were getting your nails done at the spa in morning with the girls and then having lunch with some gomer from legislative affairs."

"Yes I do Josh, I have been looking forward to it for weeks… and his name is Scott and he is not a gomer, he's a very nice and patient guy who I've postponed my date with eleven other times to accommodate your wacky schedule. Do you know many men would wait this long for a date? Not many." Donna whined knowing full where this discussion was headed and that it was futile for her to argue with him.

"Well, let's see how Scotty copes with an even dozen, I need you to let him know that you can't make it because I need you here in the office with me tomorrow." Josh said nervously awaiting Donna's reaction.

"NO! JOSH! This is our first Saturday off in a long time! I can't remember the last time I went out on a date or even just had a relaxing night with a home cooked meal, my favorite movie on the TV and a normal conversation that has nothing to do with politics." Donna whined even though she knew it would do her no good.

"Well then maybe date attempt number thirteen will be your lucky one?" Josh smirked as he flashed his dimples and continued to tease her, "Wow Donna.. for him to hold out for a date for that long, he must be desperate or expecting something in return from you."

Josh scrambled to the other side of his office before Donna had a chance to slap him on the head with the stack of papers in her hand.

"You're terrible you know that? Any other assistant would not hesitate to slap a sexual harassment suit on that smug little face."

Josh stepped closer to Donna, "Well you're not just any other assistant are you?"

Donna felt herself grow red in embarrassment to his statement and shook her head.

She knew she and Josh didn't have a typical boss/assistant relationship by any means. But it seemed only recently they were getting closer and closer to acknowledging the elephant in the room and recognizing the feelings hidden just beneath the surface.

Slightly embarrassed Josh retreated back, "Anyways, I'm sorry you have to cancel your plans, but let's say I make it up to you."

Donna intrigued, smiled at him curiously, "Alright go on, I'm listening."

"If you spend the day with me tomorrow helping me cut through the mountain of work that has grown exponentially on my desk in my absence this week, I'll invite you over to a home-cooked dinner and relaxing evening at Casa de Lyman."

Donna looked at him in disbelief, "When was the last time you cooked anything that wasn't micro-waved or ready to eat in three easy steps?"

Josh pretended to look offended, "I can cook! Let me prove to you! You want a nice evening I'll give you one. It'll just be the two of us and I promise we won't talk shop."

Donna grinned, the idea of spending an evening with Josh away from work sounded almost too good to be true, "You're on buddy, a home cooked meal and no discussion of politics for an entire evening by Josh Lyman. This I have to see."

"Jeez Donna, you act like me providing you with a relaxing evening is equivalent to hell freezing over." Josh said feigning hurt over Donna's apparent disbelief.

"Seriously Josh, in the entire 5 years I've known you I don't think I've ever seen you truly relaxed. I don't think it's in your nature."

"Well there's a first for everything now isn't there? " Josh said mockingly.

"Alright Boss you have yourself a deal; I'll see you tomorrow morning at 9am sharp."

Donna softly said as she gathered her stuff and Josh smiled as she walked out the door.

Once she was out of sight, Josh immediately picked up the phone to call his mother.

"Hi mom… It's Josh…. Umm I kinda agreed to cook a home cooked meal for Donna and I have no idea what I got myself into…. "

3pm the next day

"Wow, see that was not too bad, it's amazing what we can get done without any distractions." Josh stated amazed that they both had completed everything he had set out to complete today and did so in record time.

"Well that's what happens when every other member of Senior Staff is out enjoying themselves on this beautiful Saturday afternoon while I'm stuck here with my slave-driver of a boss." Donna teased.

"Hey, hey… I don't think Leo gives Margaret a beautiful flower arrangement every year on their anniversary and I certainly don't think Toby has ever agreed to cook a home-cooked meal for Ginger or Sam has ever given Cathy a 2 hour spa treatment complete with a manicure and pedicure."

"Well you've never…" Donna started to say before Josh presented her with an envelope containing a gift certificate to the most expensive DC day spa.

"I'm sorry you had to cancel your date and I'm sorry you missed hanging out with the girls this morning. Hopefully this makes up for it. And don't you dare say I'm not a thoughtful boss ever again."

Donna was overcome with emotion; this was so nice of Josh. It had been a long time since she had a massage and after the last 4 years she's had she could definitely use it.

"Thank you so much Josh, I don't know what to say." Donna said speechless.

Glad that he succeeded in surprising her, "Well you have some time, why don't you go the day-spa right now since we are just about done here today? But don't forget you have 7:30 reservations at Casa de Lyman where rumor has it the cook will be preparing an authentic Italian dish.

Impressed Donna smiled back and replied back in a sultry voice, "I can't wait."

Josh beamed with delight, and told her to enjoy her surprise spa session as he thought to himself 'the surprises his darling Donna were just beginning'.

7:25pm

Ever since Donna left Josh had been scrambling to put the pieces of his evening together. His first stop had been the grocery store, where he picked up the ingredients he needed to put together his culinary masterpiece which after much discussion with his mom had been decided on being Spaghetti and Meatballs. She chose this dish for Josh because it was the easiest dish for her culinary-challenged son to make. She was quite aware that he had a bad habit of over-cooking anything he touched which could explain his preference for hamburgers to be burnt like hockey pucks. However, in this case his mother specifically warned him not to let the pasta boil for too long or else it would get soggy and turned to mush and the meal would be ruined. He brushed off his mother's advice, it was just spaghetti, where you just put the pasta in water and let it sit there for a period of time to cook. How hard could that all be?

The next stop was to the local video rental store since Donna mentioned yesterday that she wanted to curl up on the couch and watch her favorite movie, which to Josh's displeasure was Disney's Lady and the Tramp. But he remembered Donna has made plenty of sacrifices for him, so he could force himself to sit through a 90 minute animated feature about two dogs falling in love and thought of curling up on the couch with Donna was a comforting thought. He was proud of himself too, he even managed to find the soundtrack on sale and picked it for some mood music.

Lastly he stopped at the local Pottery Barn as he had to invest in a table cloth and maybe some candlesticks and a vase for his bare dining room table. He felt so oddly out of place in the store, it was much too feminine for him. Luckily he was able to find all the items he needed in roughly the same location probably to make it easier for the poor saps like him just eager to get in and out of the store quickly with the supplies for a romantic dinner as quickly as humanly possible.

As he let his pasta come to boil, he gently stirred his meat sauce. This isn't so bad he thought; he knew a Fulbright scholar like himself could figure this cooking stuff out. It's a piece of cake and doesn't know why the women in his life make sure a big deal about cooking.

Since his meal was still cooking he took the opportunity to set out his last minute arrangements. He put the DVD in his player and plopped the CD in his stereo system and pushed play. He carefully lit the silver candle sticks he arranged on the table and smoothed out his red and white checkered tablecloth similar to ones in all the Italian restaurants in the movies. As he placed the single rose in the small vase he had at the center of the table he thought to himself, if Donna isn't impressed by all this then there's definitely no hope left for him.

As he finished placing the table settings symmetrical on the table, he was startled by a knock on the door, it was Donna and she was five minutes early.

When he opened the door he was amazed at how beautiful and relaxed Donna looked. She was wearing a light pink sweater with some form-fitting jeans that made her look very attractive, even more so than usual. Her nails were done in a French tip that complimented her sweater and it was obvious that she had enjoyed her time at spa.

"Good Evening." Donna said breaking Josh from the trance he was in.

"Good evening to you Ms Moss. Please come on in, our dinner is almost ready." Josh said as invited her in and pulled out her chair like a true gentleman.

As she looked around his apartment she was amazed at all the effort Josh had put into this evening. Not only was his apartment spotless for once but tonight would be the first time they had ever used his dining table that was normally littered with clutter from the office.

She remarked to herself that Josh had definitely had gone shopping as she was sure prior to today Josh never owned a tablecloth much less candlesticks and a vase. She smiled as she imagined Josh shopping at Crate and Barrel or Pottery Barn knowing he'd be so lost and out of place, like a fish out of water. She also was surprised at the cute little touches Josh had done to make this evening special, the music on the CD was from her favorite movie, "Lady and the Tramp,." The song currently playing was 'Bella Notte', which the song playing during her favorite scene when Lady and the Tramp share their first kiss a midst their romantic spaghetti dinner over a midnight sky. Even though Donna knew it was just a cartoon, it was her all time favorite movie moment, and she thought how she wished romantic moments happened like that in real life.

'Oh this is the night, it's a beautiful night
And we call it bella notte'

The song played as Josh poured them both a glass of wine before returning to the kitchen to attend to his creation. Donna giggled, she was amused by Josh's appearance, he was wearing both an apron along with a floppy hat.

She was thoroughly enjoying her glass of wine, when she heard Josh curse obscenities from the kitchen as she thought to herself that couldn't be good.

She laughed as Josh threw down his chef's hat and walked out from the kitchen with a dejected look on his face. In his hand was a serving platter that from afar appeared to be mountain of some yellowish Jello-type goo, but upon further inspection Donna realized it was the spaghetti but it was all clumped together.

"Josh what happened?" Donna teased enjoying that vindication she had knowing she was right about Josh's culinary skills. After all, who can really mess up spaghetti?

"I guess I over-cooked it." Josh remarked as he stuck out his bottom lip in an attempt to garner sympathy for his failed cooking attempt.

'Look at the skies, they have stars in their eyes
On this lovely bella notte.'

"You think?" Donna smiled while Josh shot her another puppy dog look indicating his ego had taken enough of a beating today between his visit to the Pottery Barn Store and the spaghetti goop that lay in front on them.

"Well at least we have some wine." Josh remarked as he poured each of them another glass, at least he couldn't screw up that.

For the next few hours time seemed to come to a standstill as they both regaled stories of their past and laughed at each other's past misfortunes, stories they were sure they wouldn't be sharing if they were sober. But with Donna not having at anything to eat all day and Josh with his sensitive system it didn't take long before they were both pretty drunk.

Donna and Josh both laughed hard as Josh shifted his stories to Sam's misfortunes and how he has always had a hard time judging women. He tells Donna about how the first woman Sam slept with turned out to be a lesbian who left him the next morning to reunite with her estranged girlfriend, which had turned out to Sam's last girlfriend who had refused to sleep with him, and at least he knew why now.

As the movie played Josh and Donna continued to laugh, as he sat across from her at the table a realization suddenly washed over him. For the first time in a long while, he really felt relaxed. Although he mentioned this was going to be a relaxing evening for both of them, he didn't quite believe himself. But he honestly couldn't remember the last time he felt this good inside. Sure he had been drinking, but he knew couldn't dismiss these feelings as stemming completely from the alcohol, as he knew deep down they had been brewing inside him for years.

'Side by side with your loved one,
You'll find enchantment here'

Donna wiped a tear from her eye as she came to a similar realization. When Josh told her he planned a relaxing evening for them, she had her doubts. Sure he messed up the dinner, but the company he was providing more than made up for it. For the first time she could honestly say Josh looked relaxed and she asked herself when the last time she enjoyed herself as much as she was now. Certainly she had never had a date go this good, she stopped herself as she thought, 'A date? Is that what this is? Am I on a date with Josh?'

The night certainly had the making of a date with the candlelight, romantic music, flowers and the wine. Not wanting to process what it all means right now, she came up with an evil idea.

"Josh, I think you dropped something on the floor." Donna remarked.

Josh whose drunken state made him a pretty gullible target, bent down to investigate what he dropped on the floor while Donna reached into the spaghetti goop and grabbed a handful while Josh was not looking.

He snapped his head back to the table confused, "Donna I didn't fi…." He was stopped mid-sentence as a handful of spaghetti goop slammed across his face and dripped back down to the table as Donna laughed hysterically like a child.

"Well the food shouldn't go waste." She teased as Josh took his turn and reached in the sloppy mess to get an even larger handful for himself, not wanting to be one-upped by Donna.

"Oh really Ms. Moss, aren't you the playful one tonight?" He said as he launched the mess at her, only for her to duck causing him to miss and hit the wall instead.

Donna stuck out her tongue, and teased. "You can't catch me…" as she ran to the other side of the table.

Before he knew it they were having an all out food fight and running in circles trying to avoid each other. His once spotless apartment was now covered in the spaghetti mess, but he didn't care as he couldn't remember the last time he had time much fun. It wasn't very long until both Josh and Donna were covered in the sticky mess, but it didn't bother either of them in the slightest.

Soon they were down to the last handful of the goop which was in Josh's possession. As Josh prepared to pelt her with the spaghetti one last time, Donna ran quickly around the corner of the table to avoid Josh's throw, but in the process she tripped on one of the chair legs and nearly fell. Luckily Josh ran to catch her and found himself in a situation holding her close in his arms, with their lips just mere inches apart as they stared in each other's eyes as the tension mounted.


'The night will weave its magic spell,
When the one you love is near!'

As he held on to her tight, he lightly took his other hand and brushed her face as he removed a small remaining strand of spaghetti that was stuck to Donna's cheek. A spark of electricity surged through both of them when his fingers touched her soft face. Even though it was cheesy and he probably would never do it if he was sober Josh found that he couldn't pass up the moment. He placed the straggling piece of spaghetti in his hand and placed it in his mouth and lowered himself slightly to see if Donna would take the bait. She slowly grabbed the other side with her lips and both gradually consumed the spaghetti creation as they found their lips coming closer and closer together.

Finally their lips met and not needing anymore foreplay, they devoured each other and the hunger that had grown from the lack of a real meal seemed to transfer into hunger for each other. They could not keep their hands off each other, both feeling they need to explore, touch and memorize everything about the other. Finally getting to experience first hand what they had only imagined for so long. They rapidly discarded articles of clothing as they clumsily stumbled their way into the bedroom.

Josh untangled himself from Donna's embrace and lifted his hands to softly touch Donna's cheeks as he gazed into her eyes looking for affirmation that she was feeling what he was feeling and that this is truly what she wanted. She returned his gaze and the love they felt for each other shined through the darkness as she lowered her lips to kiss his palm. Not wanting to waste another moment he met her lips again and lowered her onto the bed where they spent the remainder of the evening making sweet passionate love to each other as the CD came to a stop and the music faded in the background…

'Oh this is the night, and the heavens are right!
On this lovely bella notte!'

Credit to Disney for the Song