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Chapter 2

End of May/Beginning of June-Donna is 2 months pregnant

Donna's POV

It's here. The day Josh has been dreading for a week. Mandy is meeting up with the campaign tonight and of course Josh and she are going out to "catch up." She's been in the West doing whatever it is she does. I don't really care enough about her to notice. Josh has been angry all week with almost everybody. He is dreading this. Other than the fact that it was blatantly obvious, my suspicions were confirmed when he told me the other day. See, I said he had been angry with everyone, everyone but me. In fact since my little confession last week he's been even nicer than usual. I don't think it's so much because I'm pregnant, but more about the fact that I let him know something extremely personal, that I trusted him enough to let him in.

We've been hanging out more the last two weeks. We've always hung out, but it seems like we're becoming more like friends and less like boss and assistant. We'll hang out in his hotel room or apartment, rent a movie and just talk about anything and everything, He's really opened up to me these two weeks and I know that is hard for him.

This is how I know he is dreading tonight. In one of our late-night discussions the subject of Mandy came up. He told me that he doesn't really know why he's with her anymore, that the only reason he hasn't broken up with her is because of the sex. Now I know he's a man, but I really didn't need to know that.

All they do when they are together is fight. They don't talk, they don't go out. She didn't even go with him to his father's funeral. She sent a brief, informal card. Not even a card. It was on ripped notebook paper. This didn't seem to bother him.

I know it's not my place, so I bit my tongue when he asked what I thought about her. Truth is I really dislike her. She is so wrong for him, and they don't seem to have any sort of connection beyond the sex. He doesn't deserve that. He deserves so much more, a woman who'll love him and be there for him on an emotional level as well. I…

"WILL SOMEONE GET ME THOSE DAMN NUMBERS?"

Well, apparently the prospect of sex tonight is doing nothing for his mood. He's been yelling even more today. It's been getting worse as the day wears on.

"Josh, I really do not think yelling is going to get you the numbers any faster. They're not ready yet." I tell him, trying to keep my voice calm and understanding. He looks at me for a second before breathing deeply.

"You're right. I know, sorry." He concedes.

"Josh!" And here she is. I look at Josh and he looks like he wants to die. I have a feeling this relationship is over.

Mandy makes her way toward him, completely ignoring me and walking into his office.

"Come on in." He mutters.

Josh's POV

I don't know why I'm still with her. Apparently, Donna doesn't either, if her silence on the subject is any indication.

"Hello Joshua." I hate the way she says my name, like she knows something I don't know and is gloating. Why am I with this woman again?

"Mandy."

"It's been awhile." Yeah, no kidding. Does she not realize I can read a calendar? I've been dreading this day for two weeks. I'm going to break up with her tonight. I have to do this; she makes me miserable. I'll just wait until after the sex, I am a man after all.

"So when were you going to tell me you've been screwing your secretary?" Or maybe not.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I'm mad now. I cannot believe she brought Donna into this relationship from hell. Donna has nothing to do with our downfall; this was coming long before Donna even showed up here in February. "You leave her out of this!"

"Well, I think if you're cheating on me, I have a right to know." Ok, this is going to end now.

"First of all Mandy, I'm not cheating on you. I don't cheat. Even though this has been over for months, I haven't even thought about sleeping with another woman. And second of all, this has nothing to do with Donna, and you will not bring her into this. She's my assistant and more importantly, my friend. I can trust her and she's there for me when I need her. That's a hell of a lot more than I can say for you."

I think I may have stepped over a line now because she looks like she has just been slapped.

"This is about your father's funeral isn't it? Josh I told you I couldn't just drop everything. I'm trying to get a man elected!"

"I never asked you to drop anything Mandy! All I needed was for you to talk to me, to listen. And I'm doing more to get Governor Bartlet elected than you." I don't even know what she has been doing with this campaign, but I don't let her know this. "I think it would be best if you just left Mandy. This is over, why drag it on any longer?"

She looks at me briefly before storming out of my office.

I take a few deep breaths. I feel much better now that this is over. We got kind of loud; I hope Donna didn't hear much of our fight. I don't want her feeling bad about being my friend. I poke my head out of my office, she's not at her desk and I don't see her in the area. She must have been running an errand for me. Good, at least she didn't have to hear this.

Donna had made herself scarce once Mandy entered Josh's office. Everyone in the office knew to keep their distance when she came around. She took the opportunity to grab a bite to eat for dinner and make some copies for the staff. She was worried about Josh, but was trying hard to not think about it. That's what she was doing when Josh found her, staring intensely at the copier.

"Is the copier trying to tell you something Donna?" Donna jumped at his voice.

"Josh! You scared me. You really shouldn't sneak up on people."

"I'll remember that for next time." He promised.

"No you won't. You'll forget as soon as this conversation is over."

"You're right. I will." He laughed.

She took the lull in the conversation to observe him. He seemed really good. Like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He must have broken up with Mandy. Either that or he had really quick sex in his office.

"So it's over, for good this time." Donna looked at him, not sure where to take this conversation.

"I'm sorry?" She offered hesitantly.

"No you're not," He smiled, "and neither am I. It's been over for a long time. I'm glad that I finally broke free."

"Me too. She wasn't good for you. You're a great guy. You deserve so much more."

"Thanks." He said softly. They looked at each other for a minute, beginning to see something between them, but before it could get any deeper, Donna snapped them out of it.

"So, did you need something? I was just doing some copying." She stated, effectively changing the subject.

"Yeah, I was just wondering if you wanted to cut out of here early, maybe go catch a movie, get some dinner?"

"Yeah, that's cool. I already ate something, but you know me, I can always eat."

He smiled at her. "Okay, I'll just let Leo know we're heading out for the night. Finish up here and I'll meet you back at my office." With that he turned and headed down the hall.

TBC…