Donna arrived at Sam's early with bags of food and was impressed to find Josh was earlier still.

"Hey Donna! Excited?" Josh buzzed after Sam had guided her to the kitchen.

"Yes, Joshua." She muttered, shaking her head slightly in disbelief at his enthusiasm.

"So, CJ will be there now and Toby will soon be here all agitated because his girlfriend has a hot date." Sam almost sang. "Are we mean people?"

"Not at all." Josh said with a smile.

"We need this. No, deserve this." Donna added. "They shouldn't have kept their relationship a secret from us."

"True." Sam agreed.

They made their way into the living room and sat down for final discussions.

"We're going to start off with infrequent mentions about the date. You know, get him going." Josh told Donna.

"Right, in that case…" she pondered momentarily. "I'll suggest that maybe CJ was reluctant to go on the date and see how his reaction is."

"Excellent!" Sam piped up; Donna had to admit she was rather happy with the way her plan was continually received.

"Reckon you'll get much out of him?" Josh wondered.

"Toby won't be as hard to crack as you may think." She said pointedly.

"Yeah?" The guys asked in unison to which she merely nodded.

"I heard him on the phone to her before."

"Saying what?" Sam asked.

"One of the things getting me through this is the idea that he may completely fall in love with you on this date but there's nothing he can do about it." Donna quoted with a grin.

"Oh man, that's real ammunition right there." Josh commented.

"I know, we can't pull out big guns like that yet though," added Sam.

"I think it's so cute." She gushed, but was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Toby's here!" Sam exclaimed and the trio exchanged excited grins.

CJ walked nervously into the restaurant and observed the surroundings to seek out her date. Luckily, a guy stood up with a grin as he noticed her, so she assumed she had placed Mark.

"Hi, CJ?" he graciously smiled as she walked to the table.

"Hey, Mark. Nice to meet you." She replied as she sat across from him.

"Sam's told me a lot about you." He said and she took a moment to take in his appearance: definitely handsome, but in her eyes no match for the brooding looks of Toby.

"Likewise." She said softly and glanced around the restaurant, "this place is lovely."

"I know," Mark replied and handed her a menu.

They ordered food and a shared bottle of wine - CJ choosing a chicken dish while Mark opted for the lasagne.

One thing she had been worried about was excruciating small talk, but fortunately Mark was quite the conversationalist.

"I bet you don't really see much of the outside of the White House." He had started and she inwardly groaned initially, but he then continued, "I mean there's all these people out there, right? They're like "oh my god the President lives here" but they don't realise how much of the workings of the US government goes on behind those immaculate white walls."

She chuckled slightly between sips of wine. "No, not really. I think people aren't as dumb as they're given credit for. Yes, we have politically apathetic people in this country but not everyone's completely oblivious. Besides, DC is a tourist city for thousands every day, of course not everyone's going to be aware of the political machinery that goes on. Hell, I don't think I realised just how much gets done in the White House before I started working there."

"You're only saying that so I'll vote for Bartlet next election." He smirked.

"I am not." She contended with a grin.

"Please, you're practically throwing propaganda at me."

"Yeah, you don't want me in political propaganda mode," CJ laughed, "I have to be pretty neutral on a day to day basis for the press, but I'll give the boys a hard time when I'm passionate about something and it could be completely indoctrinating to someone who isn't as clued up as they are."

"The boys?" he questioned.

"Sam, Josh, Toby. Even Leo."

"Right," Mark nodded, "How did you get onto the campaign in the first place?"

CJ, about to tell the story of Toby bringing her on, gulped the rest of her wine because she knew a story based around him would be hard to remain dispassionate through.

"Toby! Hey!" Sam opened the door to reveal Toby standing holding a crate of beer. "Planning to get drunk tonight?"

"No Sam, I thought we could build with them," he deadpanned as he walked in.

"Hey, Toby," Josh and Donna smiled in unison and he nodded before going to the kitchen to place the beer in Sam's fridge.

"So CJ should be on her date now, right?" Josh called through to Sam, who was preparing snacks in the kitchen where Toby stood.

"Yeah," he yelled back, subtly trying to observe the deepening frown on Toby's face; he really wasn't doing a good job of concealing his displeasure.

Toby padded into the living room to join Josh and Donna, Sam close behind, and sat in a chair across from them on the sofa.

"Are we watching the game then?" he asked, noticing the blank TV screen.

"Oh yeah, sure." Josh turned on the TV with the remote next to him, the game close to starting.

Sam observed Toby take a swig of his beer, and nodded towards Donna with a smile; she was going to be spending the duration of the game watching his mannerisms, how often he would look at his watch etc. as the night continued to bother him.

"I've known Toby Ziegler for years and years," CJ began with a smile, "we worked on campaigns together in New York and Chicago and LA - everywhere really."

"I didn't realise you'd known him for so long, you weren't all just thrown in together unknowingly then?"

"No, no. Leo brought in Toby who brought me and then Josh who brought Sam."

"So you knew Toby…" Mark pondered and gestured for her to continue.

"A long time and he was, well still is, my best friend, even though at the time I'd moved out to LA and he was on the east coast." She paused for a sip of wine, "One day I got fired from Triton-Day, a PR firm, and came home practically blind. I'd lost my glasses so I was stumbling around my back yard and I knew someone was there. I was freaked out but it turned out to Toby so I calmed down, but then I fell in my pool."

Mark began to laugh, earning a mock scowl.

"He eventually asked me, when on dry land so to speak, to work for the Bartlet campaign because Leo liked my Emily's List efforts and because you'll find no bigger fan of my work than Toby. I flew out with him to New Hampshire the next day and 3 years later here we are."

"And you're incredibly happy in the administration?"

"Watch it, you're turning into a reporter. But yeah, so much." CJ grinned.

The game had been on for about a quarter of an hour and so far, Toby had remained relatively normal but Donna was eager to start subtle hints and inquisitions.

"Sam, we have set CJ up with the right guy haven't we?" she spoke up innocently.

Sam turned to her, Josh remaining surprisingly neutral between them. "Mark's a great guy. Why, are you worried?"

"No, you're right he does seem like a great guy but you know it's CJ and we can't have her settling for second best."

Toby's eyes flicked upwards from the screen at these words, immediately wondering if they would consider him the best choice as her boyfriend, not that it really mattered.

"Oh, exactly," Sam agreed with a smile.

They left their comments for a while as to maintain a lack of suspicion, watching the game and both Toby's behaviour which unfortunately continued to remain peaceful and unaffected.

"So you told me how you got started with Bartlet, what have been the highlights?"

"The highlights?" CJ repeated to Mark.

"Yeah, the high points so far."

"Oh. Well getting elected definitely." She smiled at him. "The campaign itself was incredible," she continued, choosing to miss out the part about all the sex with Toby across the different states once his divorce had finalised.

"How about since getting elected?"

"Mendoza." CJ beamed.

"That was an impressive feat."

"Of course, if people knew the amount of sleepless nights Ziegler had over that one."

She chuckled; remembering first-hand how many nights he had been awake lying beside her or pacing one of their bedrooms trying, and failing, not to wake her up.

"I can imagine. The whole lot of you though, great work." Mark said compassionately.

"Thanks." She replied. "Tell me about you then, what's your life like?"

Sam and Josh went into the kitchen, leaving Donna alone with Toby and the perfect opportunity for probing.

"I don't know if she mentioned anything to you but I got the impression that CJ was reluctant to go on this date." She related to him.

Toby looked at her. "Really? She seemed pretty excited to me."

"I think she was, but there was definitely an air of hesitance." Donna explained.

"How so?" He enquired.

"CJ isn't really one to date, and it was rather out of the blue."

She could see him ruminating over how to compose his response as he scratched his beard. "No she doesn't tend to date these days."

"So what do you think?" Donna pressed.

"Would CJ have been reluctant?"

"Yeah."

"I honestly can't say." Toby told her with a wave of his hand. She realised that maybe she had underestimated his ability to remain calm about this.

Sam returned into the living room with Josh close behind.

"Did Donna ask you if CJ was reluctant to go on the date, Toby?" Josh asked and Donna was about to scold him with her eyes until she realised they must have been doing some planning of their own.

"Yeah." Toby replied simply.

"I think she was right." Josh exclaimed but received only a glare so continued. "She hasn't been out with anyone recently, so maybe she was worried about how to be around him or whatever. Especially as it's a set-up."

Donna and Sam both wore similar proud grins as Toby went slightly cold in expression. "Did she say that to you?"

"No, no. Just my intuition."

"Mine, actually." Sam piped up.

"You set it up, Sam." Toby reminded him.

"So, he might be right." He contented.

"I don't know why she would worry about anything like that." Toby muttered rather quietly. "She's a great people person, he'll love her unless he has some sort of issue."

Josh glanced with raised eyebrows at Donna at his admission. They were really getting an insight into the way Toby saw CJ and it was rather sweet how he was being subtly emotive.

Sam was the one to reply: "You're right, CJ's going to have him captivated."

Surprised at the remark and on his part, suggestive delivery, Donna agreed with a nod but Josh chose a verbal agreement.

"I mean I don't know about you guys, but a date with CJ would definitely enchant me."

Both Sam and Donna smirked as Toby scowled; Josh suddenly became afraid.

"Don't tell her I said that by the way." He mumbled nervously realising that Toby didn't receive people talking about the woman he was with very well. Sam had learned that the hard way when Andi was still around.

"I won't, Josh." He said although the others knew it would most likely be a topic discussed between them that night.

"6 sisters? That must have been fun for you." CJ laughed as Mark recounted childhood anecdotes.

"They adored me, what can I say?" Mark shrugged light-heartedly.

"I had 2 brothers and that was enough for the opposite gender for me." She stated,

"You seem to be comfortable around men now though, working with them all the time." He contested.

"I've grown to realise I get on better with men than women, in most cases anyway."

"Romantically too?" Mark said, teasingly.

"Yeah, I mean I…" she stopped when she realised she couldn't talk about Toby. Why had this become so hard? Had she always felt the need to talk about him constantly to others? "…I've been lucky and I've been unlucky."

"Me too. I had one long relationship out of college but she left me for my cousin." He explained.

"Oh wow, ouch." CJ replied. "My break-ups have never been that bad. I drove a boyfriend's Porsche into a lake once."

Mark began to laugh, "Lost him then?"

"Yeah." She giggled.

"What's your best relationship been then?" he asked her and she really stopped in her tracks this time.

"I wonder what being on a date with CJ is like though." Josh thought out loud an hour later, a beer away from drunk and bored of the game.

"Still on this, Josh?" Toby spoke up, his voice agitated.

"Look, I'm just curious." He defended.

"You've known CJ forever, what's she like on a date?" Sam wondered innocently and Donna began to wonder if they were coming on too strong.

"The two aren't automatically correlated."

"So you don't know?" Josh pressed.

"I never said that." he said with a slight smile into his beard and the other three exchanged glances of similar bemusement.

"What?" Sam asked, shocked.

"Toby's known her for years, obviously they've had many dinners together. Right, Toby?" Donna commented innocently, as not to rouse suspicion.

"Right, Donna." He responded calmly.

Josh and Sam excused themselves again, which left her the chance to question him properly.

"You're a little unhappy about the date aren't you?" she pondered.

"Why would you suggest that?" he asked, eyes on the TV.

"You're not snapping, which suggests you're trying to put your focus into something other than thinking about something else."

"And the something else is CJ on a date?"

"You tell me."

"Donna," he sighed. "I don't know what you know, but unhappy isn't the right adjective."

"Okay..." She replied quietly, internally ecstatic with the Ziegler equivalent of a confession.

CJ's date was drawing to a close and Mark suggested he drive her home.

"I brought my own car." She told him.

"Come on, you can pick it up tomorrow." He said softly and she couldn't quite refuse his accompanying smile.

"Okay."

They drove back to her apartment in silence, until he pulled up at where she had directed. No games, her and Toby's place.

"I had a really good time tonight," he told her as they stepped out of the car and he began to walk her up the steps to her apartment.

"Me too," she replied happily.

"We can do this again?"

"Perhaps." She said, not wanting to let him down but knowing it wasn't inevitable.

Mark suddenly leaned in to kiss her: his hands on her back and mouth soft on hers. She responded quite passionately, though initially shocked.

Neither of them noticed Toby stepping out of his car onto the sidewalk. Nor did they see Donna's parked car a little way down the street filled with the three shocked faces of Josh, Donna and Sam at this occasion.

Once Toby had announced he was going home, the trio had waited minutes before jumping into Donna's car to follow him, eager to see if something could trigger a desired reaction. This, however, was not quite was they had anticipated.

CJ pulled away from Mark, letting go of his jacket lapels, and noticed Toby stood at the bottom of the steps and groaned. Mark was unaware until Toby spoke up.

"Hi, CJ. How was your date?" he asked anxiously.

"I'm sorry, am I in the middle of something here?" Mark wondered.

"No, no." Toby assured him, "So, CJ?"

"It was nice." She said hesitantly, worried at how she couldn't predict Toby's mood.

Mark observed Toby's face. "Are you sure, man?"

"I'm just a friend." Toby told him, and CJ could sense the cold in his voice.

"I think you should leave." She announced to Mark quietly, who nodded in response.

"It was lovely to meet you CJ, I'll have Sam give you my number." He waved as he left and Toby and CJ were left alone.

"I guess the date was wonderful if you're making out with the guy on our front steps." Toby muttered, running a hand over his head in exasperation.

"Toby, it's not how it looked. It was for appearances sake." She defended.

"I really hope you're telling me the truth." CJ was shocked at the way his voice conveyed so much sorrow as opposed to anger.

"God, I am." She murmured and wrapped her arms around his waist, looking into his eyes.

"Good." He replied, and kissed her forehead gently, only to be broken out of the moment by Mark.

"What the hell? You told me I wasn't in the middle of something. You could've waited until I drove off!"

"Oh god." CJ and Donna unknowingly muttered in unison; Toby began to fume while Josh and Sam became incredibly animated.

"Look, Mark…" CJ began, "this was a set-up."

"But you're with someone?" Mark started in frustration but then stopped, calmer.

"They," he gestured towards where he had noticed Donna's car parked, "don't know?"

"What?" Toby asked in confusion but then noticed the three staring faces. "Shit, CJ."