"Hello, Donna."
I look up to see the smiling face of my best friend's fiance standing in the doorway of the staff breakroom.
"Sam! Hi!"
"Have you seen her?" He stares down the hall, looking for Joan, and I can see the hope on his face that she'll have a few minutes to spend with him. The two are crazy about each other. It's adorable, really. Sam is head over heels for her, and she thinks he hung the moon. They're the perfect couple.
"She's just finishing up with a patient. She'll be here any can come in to wait for her," I gesture to the table. The breakroom is otherwise unoccupied, but it doesn't feel uncomfortable. Sam has always been friendly to me, and with as much time as I've spent with Joan over the last 18 months, I've gotten to know him too. He's a good guy.
"Oh!" Sam perks up, looking over to me. "I hear you're going back to school for your BSN. Congratulations, Donna. That's excellent."
"Thanks," I smile a bit shyly. I only received my acceptance letter yesterday so I'm a little bit surprised when Sam mentions it. I haven't even told Chad yet.
"I also wanted to tell you how much I appreciate your help last week with the wedding invitations. Things were busier than usual for me at work. It means so much to both of us that you'd spend your evening stuffing envelopes."
"Happy to help," I respond sincerely. I've spent a lot of my free time running wedding errands with Joan, as any Maid of Honor would, and it never goes unnoticed by Sam who is quick to offer a thank you, though it really is unnecessary. It's been quite fun for me.
It's then that I hear what can only be described as a commotion heading towards us from down the hall. I immediately know what that means. Sam's brought company.
I glance across the table and Sam cringes slightly when he realizes that his best friend and soon to be brother in law is shouting into his cell phone in a hospital corridor. And using some very pointed language in the process. Sam shakes his head slightly in mild annoyance, but mostly tunes out the noise behind him.
As if on cue, Joan enters the break room from a side door and Sam's face lights up at the sight of her.
"Hey there, JoJo," he stands and crosses the room in quick strides to meet her, wrapping his arms around her and thoroughly kissing her hello. It's only a quick second before they're pretty much all over each other.
I try not to impede on their private moment but it's difficult to ignore. They're like something out of a romance movie, whereas my love life currently resembles something closer to a documentary on the Hindenburg explosion. We've reached the point of the zeppelin take off, and the passengers on the film reel are enjoying leisurely cigarettes as they float along to meet their fate. I guess that little analogy explains why I haven't told Chad about nursing school yet.
"Well I've lost my appetite." The statement pulls me from my thoughts as I turn my attention to the source of commotion from the hallway who is now standing at the end of the break room table, a borderline disgusted look on his face.
Sam and Joan take their time unlocking their lips before joining us at the table where Josh has unceremoniously deposited two large, greasy bags of food.
"I didn't expect to see you today," Joan leans in close and straightens Sam's tie. This is my first indication that this visit wasn't scheduled.
"Yeah. Well. Read this." Josh states without preamble, dropping a file folder onto the table between Joan and I as he digs into the bags of food.
"What is it?" Joan opens the folder and pulls out two large documents held together with binder clips.
"Medical jargon," Josh explains around a mouth full of fries as he pulls his meal from the first bag. "It was revised by a Republican committee member though, so I just automatically assume they're trying to screw me with my pants on and I'm not going to let them get away with it. I'd ask the First Lady to look at it but she's out of town and I'm desperate. The italicized portion of the document is the language changes they've proposed during revisions, and the notes in blue pen are mine."
"I would have never guessed," Joan snarks under her breath. "What's the second document? It looks the same."
"Yeah." Josh confirms. "But I want two opinions. It's for her." He nods towards me as he roots through his pants pocket for a couple of quarters and then stands to quickly buy a sofa from the machine directly behind us.
"Me?" I question.
"She has a name." Joan states, lightly reprimanding him.
"That is, if you don't mind, Donna." Josh's tone softens considerably as he slides back into his seat and addresses me, a drastic change from the way he speaks to his sister.
"Oh. Umm, Okay." I hesitantly pick up a document and begin to read over it carefully as I scoot my bag of baby carrots out of the way. The table quiets as Joan begins to read, with Sam looking over her shoulder and I start on the document as well.
"I, ah, brought you one too."
I look up to see Josh handing me a burger wrapped in foil, a softened expression on his face.
"Oh. Thank you." I take it, somewhat surprised by his gesture.
"I didn't know what you'd want on it, so I hope lettuce and tomato are okay? That's what those two ordered." He gestured towards Joan and Sam.
"Perfect. Thanks." I unwrap the sandwich as Josh places some fries between us and then peels back the buns of his burger for what can only be described as a quality check. He stares at it closely, examining a heavily charred patty loaded with ketchup before nodding slightly as indication it was somehow acceptable and returning it to the buns and beginning to eat,
I reach for a few fries out of the paper cup between us.
"Hey! You're stealing my fries." Josh announces.
I blush a bit. "Sorry. I thought they were for everyone."
I hear a thunk sound from under the table and Josh yelps a bit when Joan clearly kicks his leg.
"Don't be an idiot," Joan tells him without looking up from he reading.
"I was only kidding," Josh assures me with a smile, pushing the fries a little closer to me.
I don't know him very well, but I've met him a few times in passing. He'll occasionally be along for the ride when Sam stops by the hospital, and one night about six months ago we all ended up at the same bar with Sam's friends. I had to leave fairly quickly, though. Chad was ready to get home.
While I haven't spent an extended amount of time talking to him, Josh's reputation precedes him. Ask almost any woman in DC and they'll know who he is. He's like some larger than life political mind but with a fanclub of women who constantly throw themselves at him. It would be hard to believe if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. Women even approach Joan in an attempt to befriend her and get access to her brother, a maneuver that does not play well with Joan.
And while Josh certainly seems to be powerful, it's the ladies man thing that I don't quite understand.
I mean, he's certainly attractive in his own disheveled way. And he's got an amazing smile. But every time I see him the man is tripping all over himself. He's always wearing a rumpled suit and typically he's running 30 minutes late and shouting at someone on his cell phone.
Still, he seems like a nice guy. According to Joan, the legend of Josh Lyman when it comes to women is simply that: legend. To her, he's just her dorky little brother. And while I certainly don't look at him that way, I don't exactly see the man that's described in the papers. Still, it's not a stretch to think that all of the women in this town are chasing him. He's all swagger and ego and frankly, kind of a mess. But there's something about him that endears me to him, so I give him a little smile and go back to reading my copy of the bill.