February 2000
I finish tying the back of my bikini top and look in the mirror. After a short debate with
myself, I pull out the ponytail and let my hair fall down on my shoulders before
shaking it out. I’m on a deadline here. It is almost 2:00. I have free time from 2:00
until 4:00. Except that as we all know, Josh will not be able to stand having any free
time so he will choose instead to come up with work for me.
I have a plan however, to distract him from his plans and see about pushing him into
my plans. There’s been an unusual…something… between us and I intend to test the
limits on that today. Once and for all I am going to determine if Josh’s feeling for me,
and he does have them, are simply of the overly protective, big brother sort, or
something else.
I hear a knock at the door and check the clock; yep, 2:00 on the dot. I gather my
courage and open the door to face Josh Lyman in nothing but a skimpy bikini.
“Uh…uh…” Josh’s 760 verbal skills seem to have escaped him. Hmmmm…
“No way in hell are you interrupting my tanning time, Josh.” I declare.
“But…I’m bored, Donna. I have nothing to do for two hours. I was counting on you
to…entertain me.” His eyes keep wondering and his speech is definitely off.
“Well if you want me to entertain you it will have to be done poolside. I’m tanning.”
“In that?” His voice got all high and squeaky there.
“It is traditional to tan in a bathing suit. Yes, Josh, in this.” I announce and I can
actually see him swallow. “You can come with me, or go bother Sam.”
“You. I mean I’ll come with you.” He garbles out and follows me down to the pool
deck. Interestingly enough, he doesn’t walk by my side and put his hand on my back
as he usually does. He stay stubbornly two steps behind me the entire time, even
when I slow my pace. Hmmm…
Our time poolside is equally interesting. First, Josh removes his shirt so he was
wearing only his shorts. How can a man who works in an office nearly 20 hours a day
have a body that looks like that? Oops, he catches me looking at him. Oh well, what’s
a woman to do?
Ed and Larry stop by to ask if I’m going to the fundraiser that night. Duh! They must
know that already.
“Well, we’ll see you there.” Ed says. He keeps sending these nervous glances over at
Josh. “We’ll have a drink.”
“Okay.” I nod. They walk away and I watch them retreat, looking back at me a few
times.
“That was weird.” I mention, propping myself up on my elbows for a second and
watching them walk away.
“No, it really wasn’t.” Josh replies dryly.
“They, like, never talk to me, unless they need something from you.”
“You’re not usually wearing that bikini in the bullpen.” He says and motions to my
swim attire. Hmmm…
“Are you bothered by my bathing suit?” I grin.
He leans up on his elbows and looks over at me. “Why the hell would I be bothered
by it?”
“I don’t know.” I shrug. “They’re the second ones to stop over here.”
“Yeah, it’s getting annoying.” He says, and drops back to his spot.
“But, YOU’RE not bothered by it.” I laugh, lying back down.
“Of course I’m bothered by it!” He squeaks sitting up and taking off his sunglasses.
“You’re my friend, I don’t like seeing you treated like a piece of meat. Not to mention, I’
m also your boss, and it’s up to me to keep your work environment safe.”
Wow. Hmmmm….
It COULD still be a protective type thing. I decide to press further and wait for my
chance. When we get to the topic of Al Keifer, I lose my patience.
“Forget Al Kiefer.” I say waving my hand. “What are you doing with me anyway? Why
aren’t you going to find Joey Lucas? She’s staying in this hotel.”
“I don’t think Joey’s into me.” He says like he’s and eighth grader at lunch with his
friends.
“She so is, Josh.” I continue.
“How do you know?” He asks propping himself up on his elbows again.
“Girls pick up on the signals.” I say enigmatically. “I can tell when women are hitting
on you.”
“I didn’t think you paid that close attention.” He smiles like he’s caught me in
something.
I look over at him, up and down before I lay back down. What did that mean?
“You should be using this time to find her.” I try again.
“I like using this time to lie next to the hottest girl in the hotel.” He says, lying back
down.
“Joey might look better than me in a bikini.” I suggest/
“Donna, nobody looks better than you in a bikini.” He shoots back. WHAT??!! I open
my mouth to reply but sleazy Joe from advance interrupts up. Damn him and his
timing. By the time Josh finishes brushing him off, the moment is lost.
He does make me promise to stay away from guys like Joe; which is promising, but he
doesn’t comment any further on me or on Joey. Maybe things will become clearer at
the fundraiser tonight. Hmmmm…
Okay, I don’t want to say the fundraiser was boring, but aside from a moment with
David Hasselhoff, it was a total drag. Why? Because Josh spent time flirting with Joey
Lucas. I guess I have my answer, it just wasn’t the one I wanted.
The problem for me is that it’s getting harder and harder to hide how I feel about
Josh. Obviously, although he enjoys flirting with me for fun, he is interested in Joey.
He wouldn’t pursue her right in front of me if he had those kind of feelings for me. So
all I can do at this point is try to help him hook up with Joey. No matter what, Josh is
my friend, and if being with Joey will make him happy, then I will help him with Joey.
That’s what I’ll do. It feels good to have a definite answer to all the questions I had
about Josh’s feelings for me. It feels good to help my friend find a healthy relationship
with a nice woman that I like. It’s all good.
Then why do I feel so bad? Hmmmm…