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Josh had messaged Donna quite soon after she expected he'd returned home. As she received the first text, a smile crept across her face. Of course, she had to save his number after she knew it was him. She couldn't believe it, after such a long time she had his number programmed into her contacts again.
She hadn't deleted his number when she left, that had seemed like a horrible thing to do. And it was nice to think that with one push of her speed dial she would have been able to talk to him again. But she had never had the courage to, and by time she did, it was too late. When she got her new phone, she hadn't bothered to transfer numbers, it hadn't seemed needed. She knew no one from her old life anymore, and she guessed they hadn't wanted to hear from her.
There was a time when the name 'Josh' gracing her phone screen meant she had to give up her one free day. But now that was all she wanted. Spending the day in Westport with Josh would have been so out of the realm of possibility just last week, and now it was happening.
Donna looked over Tilly's sleeping frame before turning the lights out and settling into bed herself. Her phone lit up the night stand, and she instinctively reach out to grab it. It was Josh, she should have known. He had always had the knack of getting her just as she was falling into a slumber.
He wasn't calling, which was a relief. Her bed was warm, so there was no way she was going outside in order for her voice to not wake Tilly. He was just messaging her again. Letting her know about the plan for tomorrow.
Sounds great. Thank you for this,
you can't begin to understand how
much this means to me.
Donna replied back. She hoped she wasn't coming off too forward, but then again if she really didn't want to come of as 'too forward' then tracking him down after five years was a bad way to go about it.
No problem. We save each other,
remember.
She couldn't help but think about all the times he had helped her. How many times had she been so close to losing her job, until he intervened. She was always going to be in his debt.
I think the ratio is starting to skew
heavily in your favor.
She really didn't think she deserved Josh's help. After all she was the one who walked out on him, not the other way around.
We don't keep score. It's not 'tit
for tat', Donna.
She loved that he has just said her name, it reiterated the fact that he knew he was talking to her. And of course, he did, but this meant that he wasn't accidentally sending his messages to the wrong person. It'd been known to happen.
You're still my hero.
She typed out. She wasn't sure if she should have sent that, but it was not possible to get it back now. It was late, and she was bold. Not too bold obviously. She'd never been known for being bold, especially when it came to Josh. Back when she was his assistant she had spent a long time burying her feelings. She stopped pretending they were not there years ago. But that didn't mean that they were still around.
It's not heroism. It's called being
your Best Friend. You'd do the same
for me.
When he said things like that, it made her swoon. How could she not? Josh wasn't known for his charming demeanour, but damn could he throw a line.
I wouldn't have had to. You'd
never have left.
Josh didn't reply with the same speed the previous messages had come in at. And Donna grew nervous. Had she said too much? Had she pushed the line? Did he read too much into what she was saying?
Anyway, see you tomorrow.
Good night, Josh
She quickly added. It felt right, cutting the conversation off when she did. This was why you should never communicate through text. Face to face was always better. You could see the emotion, you could see when you had said something wrong, you could quickly fix it with a hug or an apology. How were you meant to fix things through text? A smiley faced emoticon?
Donna tossed and turned as she tried to get to sleep. She had a gut feeling she has made a mistake. But it was too late now. She would scope out how Josh was tomorrow and see if any damage control needed to be done. All she hoped was that she was overreacting.
…
The plan was to meet mid-morning for a late breakfast. Josh had sent her the address for a diner last night, and after a quick MapQuest Donna realised it would just be easier to use the car's GPS. And that was saying a lot because Donna hated that GPS. It always told her the turns to take after she had missed the exit. But it was cheap, and it could help her if she was really in a bind.
Donna again chose something nice to wear, put on a little makeup, all in the aims to impress Josh. She picked out a cute summer dress for Tilly and tied her hair in braids. That was a skill she had learnt since she had become a mother. She'd never been all that good when it came to braiding her own hair, she thought it was too thin, or maybe she never had the patience for it. But Tilly liked when Donna did her hair, she thought it made her look beautiful. Donna thought her daughter always looked beautiful, but she was a sucker for those pleading blue eyes.
It was about an hour drive to Westport, and Donna could understand why Josh was fine driving this distance to work. The traffic was relatively non-existent, and after living in D.C. for so long he was probably relieved to get away from the congestion and daily grind.
Donna pulled up out front of the diner and confirmed that this was the address that Josh had sent her. She had been hoping that Josh would have sent her a reply since last night. But there was nothing. No confirmation, no 'see you soon', he didn't even bother to reply saying 'good night'.
She held Tilly's hand as they walked across the road and then into the establishment. The diner wasn't part of a chain, which was probably why Josh picked it out. It had a homey feel, and Donna felt that the staff would definitely remember their regular's orders. Donna looked around the restaurant, trying to see if she could spot Josh, but he was no where to be seen.
Donna led Tilly over to a free booth. She looked to her wristwatch and noticed there was still a few minutes before they agreed to meet. She was sure Josh would be able to see them when he walked in. Donna passed a menu to Tilly, so the little girl could decide what she wanted. Tilly typically took a while to decide what she was going to have, but luckily there were pictures in this menu to help her out.
A waitress came over to ask if they were ready to order, but Donna explained that they were still waiting for one more. From what she remembered Josh was very rarely late, but then again, he had a damn fine assistant that kept him on a tight schedule.
"Who are we waiting for Momma?" Tilly asked, looking up from her menu.
"The man from last night. He's going to act as our tour guide for the day. And then we can see if we want to move here. Does that sound fun?" Donna asked but wasn't sure how fun that really would sound to a child. It wasn't as if Westport was the new Disneyland or something.
"We're going to move here?" Tilly asked. She still didn't really understand what was going on. She was still trying to wrap her head around not seeing her grandpa again. She liked their life in Madison, she didn't know why they were leaving.
"Maybe, we'd need to find a house first. But it's looking like it's a possibility," Donna explained. Though she didn't feel as certain as she did last night. If you had asked her then she would have believed there'd have been a 95% chance that moving to Westport was what they were going to do, but right now it could have been 50/50. It really depended on if Josh walked through the door.
Just got here. We're in
a booth.
Donna wrote in the quick message she sent to Josh. She couldn't imagine Josh bailing on them, it wasn't in his nature, but could Donna really know who Josh was anymore? And could he even know who Donna was? Five years was a long time to not know someone. And a lot had happened in Donna's life, she could assume just as much had happened in Josh's. He was a teacher at Yale for God's sakes. If she had asked herself back then where either of them would be in five years' time, she sure as hell wouldn't have answered here.
But that was how life worked. If it turned out how you were expecting what was the point of living. She liked how her life had had twist and turns. Though when she was actually going through them they weren't all that fun, but now she could look back on those memories fondly, because they were what made her who she was today. And if she hadn't gone through all that, she wouldn't have Matilda. And she was someone Donna would never give up. For anything.
She looked at Tilly lovingly as she tried to sound out the words on the menu. She was quite smart for her age. She could read and write a large amount of words, and she wasn't set to start school for another year. "She must get that from you," Josh said as he sunk down into the booth across from Donna and Tilly. Donna was beyond relieved that Josh had showed up. She couldn't think of anything more embarrassing then being stood up after everything that's been said and done. "David was always a dinkus in my opinion," he added.
"Who's David?" Tilly asked. And Donna's face told Josh to shut up, and not mention anything about her ex-fiancé. She hadn't told Tilly much about David, didn't see then need to until she was much older.
"Just someone we use to know," Donna quickly said, trying to move the conversation off of that man quickly. "No one important," she added.
"Oh, okay," Tilly said and went back to reading the menu.
"Sorry," Josh mouthed, not realising what he had said was wrong. But he would have thought Tilly knew something about her father. Donna wasn't one to keep secrets like that. "You haven't ordered yet, have you?" He asked.
"No, no yet. We were waiting for you," Donna replied.
"Thanks," Josh said, giving the menu a once over. He came here quite a bit, so he knew what was good, and he usually knew what he was going to get before he had even arrived. But looking at the menu felt easier, like it broke the tension in some way. "You get here okay?"
"Yeah," Donna said, she was going to add on something about not being sure that he was going to come, but she thought that was better kept to herself. He was here now, that was all that mattered.
Seeing that Josh had arrived the waitress came over to take their orders. Going around the table, Tilly ordering last. She spoke clearly and politely, impressing both Josh and the waitress. The waitress then left to go put the orders in.
"What are you, like 12?" Josh joked, he didn't know how smart kids her age were supposed to be, but Tilly blew him away. It really was a testament to how well Donna had raised her, and how she obviously wasn't one of those parents that chucked the kid in front of the TV because they were too busy to care.
"Noooooo," Tilly giggled. "I'm four, almost five," she said as she held up the right number of fingers.
"Really," Josh said kind of shocked. Sure, she looked about the right age, but he just guessed she was more mature than her biological age suggested. "That would mean you were pregnant-" Josh began looking over to Donna.
"Before I left, yes," Donna finished.
"Explains why you were so emotional," he joked, it was his classic foot in mouth type humour.
"Or I, like most people, had feelings. Not everything can be explained away by hormones, Josh," Donna countered. She, along with most of the female gender, was kind of over her emotional state being put down to the chemicals unavoidably flowing through her body. But she knew Josh well enough to know he didn't mean what he said in the typical misogynistic way most men stuck in the 1950's joked about the time of the month.
"I was kidding," Josh quickly said. He realised that he couldn't joke around with Donna like he once could have, they had to get back into that rhythm before that was possible.
"I know, I didn't take offense," Donna replied, she hated the distance that was between them. It was awkward and so unnatural for the both of them. She wished she could snap her fingers and things could return to how they once were.
"When was she born?" Josh asked curiously.
"November 2nd. Bit less than seven months after I left," Donna said, and she could see Josh doing the maths in his head.
"So, it really is almost your birthday, little one," Josh said, turning back to Tilly.
"That's what I said," she replied laughing again. She didn't really know who this Josh guy was, but she thought he was funny, and her mother obviously liked him.
"Five's a big number you know. It uses all your fingers," Josh said, demonstrating with his left hand. "Well, almost," he said sillily holding up his second hand. A smile spread across Donna's face, Josh was so good with Tilly, and he barely knew her. "Is your Mom going to take you somewhere special to celebrate?"
"Are you Momma, please," Tilly said jumping up and down in her seat. "Can we go to Disneyland, or Disneyworld…or or, Disneyland," the child begged. The ads on tv made it look like such a wonderful and magical place, and the moment Donna switched on the Disney Channel she had regretted it.
"Thanks," Donna shot at Josh, it was seething with sarcasm.
"Pleaseeee," Tilly added trying to turn up the cute factor.
"Yeah 'Pleaseeee," Josh mimicked. He liked seeing Donna be put into that position. How could she say no to such an adorable face? And add Tilly to the mix, it should have been downright impossible.
"Please Momma, please," Tilly added for good measure.
"I'll think about it, okay?" Donna surrendered. She didn't like making a scene, and if she said anything that sounded like a 'No' she was scared how Tilly would react, and Josh just seemed to be fuel to the fire.
"Yay," Tilly yelled.
It was at that moment that the waitress bought their food out. "Thank God," Donna said whispering under her voice.
"Here ya go," the lady said placing all three plates down in front of the respective person.
"Thank you," Tilly said, as the pancakes landed in front of her.
"Well, you're very welcome," the lady said, smitten with Tilly, who had already started digging into her food. "Ya'll are a gorgeous family," she added. Donna's eyes bulged out of her head, and Josh tried to hide his amusement. "Enjoy your meal," she said before walking away.
Seeing Donna's face, Josh couldn't help it and broke out in laugher. "Long time since anyone thought we were together," Josh joked. It was the main gossip around Washington for pretty much the entire time that Josh and Donna had worked together there. Lyman and his overly attractive assistant. Only the people who knew them knew the truth of the matter, but it never stopped people from speculating that there was something going on beneath the sheets.
"Just like old times, but now with a kid involved," Donna said, finding the humour. She had been mortified, but that was only because she didn't know how Josh would react. They never openly talked about the rumours that were always circling. It had been easier to just bypass it and focus on the work.
…
"So, where to, Maestro?" Donna asked after they finished their meal and exited the diner. Without even thinking Josh had paid the bill, it was something he had always done when he and Donna grabbed something to eat together. He didn't even blink when he got out his credit card. It really was just like old times. But it made Donna feel uneasy. She didn't want to be mooching off of Josh, she could stand on her own two feet. This was not what she had been referring to when she had asked for help. She knew she just had to think of it as a nice gesture, and nothing more.
"Well, this is actually my neighbourhood, I live a few blocks over, so you'd think I'd know the place well," Josh said. And Donna had a feeling she knew what he was about to say. "But aside from going to the diner, I don't really get out too much," he admitted.
"So, last night, when you told me you were the greatest tour guide in existence, you were lying?"
"Maybe, just a smidge," Josh confessed. He knew Donna wouldn't be too upset. She had even called him out last night on his abilities. Out of everyone in the world Donna was the one who knew him best. Five years of not talking had nothing on their bond. She was once able to read his mind, predict his needs, and was able to declutter the mess that was in his head. He had never met anyone capable of any of that. And probably never would again.
"Mr Lyman, I am shocked," she said feigning disbelief. Of course, Josh didn't know his way around. He was a homebody. When he wasn't at work, he was at home. That's how he had always been, she couldn't picture that changing overnight, or really over half a decade. "It's fine, we're not looking for adventure we're looking for a feeling," she explained. She knew exactly what she was looking for and knew what it felt like, and she was pretty sure that from how breakfast had went, she had found it. There were only a few things that would be able to change her mind about moving here.
"I don't know how to show you a 'feeling', that's not typically something you see," he joked. "How about we just walk around the neighbourhood, and see what happens?" He suggested. It wasn't a great plan of attack for the day, but that's where they were.
"Yeah, okay. I need to get something from the car though," Donna said. "Can you watch her for a sec?" Donna asked.
"Sure," Josh said, and the watched Donna run across the road. Josh rarely talked to children. And aside from being called one constantly, he didn't have all that much in common with them. He wanted to fill the silence, and he asked her the only thing he could think off. "So, Tilly, what do you think of the legislation put forward by President Vinick as a result of his new foreign policy?" He asked looking down at the child, who stared at him blankly. "What even is you Mom teaching you?"
"I know how to do my three times tables, want to hear?" She asked. And if that was true, Josh was quite impressed, he remembered that wasn't something he learned until grade two, and even then, they were hard for him to remember.
"What's 3x7?" Josh asked. It was what he considered the hardest one, so if she could get that one, then the kid was a genius.
"21," she replied instantly, and Josh was surprised.
"Good Job. Do you know anything about politics?" Josh asked, hoping Donna had been doing right by her little girl.
"There's 100 senators, two per state," Tilly spouted.
"And which party is currently in the White House?" Josh asked.
"Republican," she answered.
"And which party do you belong to?" Josh asked, hoping she wouldn't break his heart with the wrong answer. And by God, was there a wrong answer.
"I'm four, I can't vote," Tilly laughed, she really did think Josh was the silliest person she had met.
"But if you had to pick?"
"I don't know," Tilly shrugged. "Democrat?"
"Oh, thank God," Josh said in a quick whisper.
"Please tell me you're not filling my child's head with nonsense," Donna said coming up behind Josh. Josh froze, like he had just been caught by the principal. But what did Donna expect? She left him alone, of course politics was going to come up, it was how it had always been, it's how it would always be.
"I'm not," he answered.
"Uh huh," Donna replied, not believing him. She could just imagine what he had been spouting off. Let him talk long enough and he would no doubt go on a tangent about how the current administration was ruining America and was walking back all the hard work he had done.
"Scouts honor," he said holding up three fingers in their salute. Donna stared him down, until he slowly lowered his hand. Lying was a lot easier with people who didn't know you. "I still wasn't filling her head with nonsense, I just asked her what political party she belonged to," Josh admitted.
"She's four," Donna replied.
"That's what she said," Josh said almost amazed, and Donna couldn't help but roll her eyes.
"So, are you going to lead the way?" Donna asked.
"Let's go," he said, and they began to walk.
Knowing she had to hold someone's hand when they were walking outside, Tilly took a hold of Josh's. Josh looked over to Donna concerned, he had never held on to a child before, he was a little out of his element. Donna looked down at Josh and Tilly's intertwined hands, and a warm feeling flooded over her and she knew she had definitely made the right decision in coming here.
Had to cut this chapter off somewhere, it was getting a bit long. How do you think the rest of the day's going to be? Are you liking the interactions between the three?
Please Review :D