A Friend in Deed Chapter 7:
{Okay, to anyone who doesn't like this, blame Rick who insisted on
seeing the dark and dreary world of Donna Moss as Josh is getting
himself drunk with his pals.}
Donna watched through Josh's office window as Sam and Josh left the
building. She had overheard them making plans to meet Ben and Chris
at the Hawk and Dove. A few days earlier, she would have been invited
to go along with them and she would have been thrilled to spend her
precious free time sitting next to Josh and monitoring his alcoholic
intake. Now everything was different.
Josh had certainly dropped the harsh manner and cold attitude since
their chat in Leo's office, but things were far from back to normal.
Josh took great pains not to be alone with her and made sure not to
touch her in any way at all, not even placing his hand on her back as
was his habit as they walked through the West Wing.
Donna thought about going home once Josh had left with Sam, but the
truth was she had nothing to do at home. It was relatively early for
a Thursday and Josh had already told her not to come in over the
weekend; he would manage okay without her, he insisted. This was yet
another sign that he was trying to distance himself from her. Anyway,
with nothing to do and no one to do it with, she was in no hurry to
go home. She decided to start researching the questions Margaret had
just dropped off from Leo.
By 11:30 she had put together a pretty comprehensive report on the
questions Leo had for Josh and she decided to leave it on his desk.
Margaret was on the phone, but motioned for Donna to go on in to
Leo's office. Leo looked up when she came in and looked at her with a
puzzled look on his face.
"What are you doing here so late? Josh said the plan was to head to
the Hawk and Dove about 5 hours ago. I only wish I could have gone
too, the majority leader is giving me a migraine."
"I think it was just meant for the guys tonight."
"No, he asked CJ and Carol right after staff."
"Shut up Leo." Margaret demanded as she came into his office with
papers to sign.
But the warning came to late as their meaning hit home for Donna and
Leo.
"I'm just heading home, Leo, and wanted to give this to you before I
left. I didn't really feel like drinks with the boys." Donna hedged.
"Is this the stuff on welfare reform?" Donna nodded. "Thanks. That
was fast."
"No problem."
"But if the idiot boys are out on their own, who is going to make
sure they get home safely and without, you know, getting arrested?"
Margaret asked.
"I'm sure they'll be fine. Goodnight Leo, goodnight Margaret."
Donna got into her car to head home, but on the way, discovered she
had instead driven to Josh's neighborhood. What if Josh drank too
much and had trouble getting home? What if he and Sam got some crazy
notion in their head and had no one sensible to talk them out of it
or bail them out afterwards? Surely, it wouldn't hurt anything to
drive by and see if his light was on.
When she drove by his building his light was off. That couldn't be
good. Josh's sensitive system couldn't handle drinking for this many
hours without severe repercussions. Just as she was debating calling
him on his cell, a cab pulled up and Josh, with the help of his
friend Ben, disembarked and stumbled up the front stoop. For a
moment, Donna was tempted to get out and help. She knew where the
Advil was and she knew how to work his coffeemaker. It would only
take an hour or so….No, she was going home.
Why was this so hard? She'd been in love with Josh since the day she
met him and he took a chance on hiring her. This chemistry between
them had been bubbling below the surface since that very first day.
Why was it so painful now? Was it simply that they had admitted their
awareness of their feelings? No, Donna thought, it was because they
admitted there was no where to go with their feelings. As long as it
had been under the surface, officially unacknowledged, she could
trick herself into believing there was a future for them. Once it was
spoken out loud and they admitted there was no way they could develop
their relationship while they worked at the White House, she could no
longer pretend.
There was something to be said for living in a dream world, she
thought, as she drove home.
Chapter 8