A Friend in Deed
Epilogue:
Epilogue:
The pounding on the door increased in intensity, but Donna continued
to ignore it, just like she'd ignored the ringing phone all
afternoon. There was no doubt in her mind who was knocking. It had to
be Josh. He had left message after message asking her to pick up the
phone and offering to explain about the transfer request, but she was
in no mood to talk to him. He was just upset that she found out
before he had a chance to smooth things over with her.
The hot bubble bath and ½ bottle of wine she consumed had done
nothing to improve her depression, so she sat on her couch in her
robe, her eyes swollen from crying. She hadn't worked out a plan yet,
but she would. She had the entire weekend to come up with a plan and
planning was something she excelled at.
The knocking started again. Donna couldn't take it anymore.
"Go away Joshua, or I'm calling the police." She yelled at the
vicinity of the door.
"It's not Josh; it's Ben."
"Is Josh with you?" There was a brief scuffle in the hallway before
Ben answered.
"No…"
"Go away, Ben, and take that immature cretin of a friend of yours
with you."
"Donna, I sent him away. Just let me in for a minute. I want to make
sure you're okay. This is all my fault, anyway. I'm the one who
suggested the transfer to Leo."
That got her attention. She walked unsteadily to the door and checked
through the peephole. The only figure there was Ben Abrahms. He gave
her a half hearted smile as she opened the door and let him in.
"God, you look like hell." He commented as he gave her a hug. "Thanks
for opening the door. Just so you know, Lyman is waiting downstairs
in the entryway having several farm animals…Come sit down with me a
minute."
He pulled her arm until she sat next to him on the couch.
"Josh did not request that transfer, Donna, Leo-"
"Leo did it for Josh or Josh requested it himself. What difference
does it make? Obviously, one or both of them think-" she broke off.
"No, it was my idea; or at least my suggestion. When I met with Leo
McGarry today I suggested that it would be beneficial to you and Josh
if you weren't in a direct report position with one another."
"Why would you do that? I know I shared my feelings with you, but I
was dealing with it just fine. I was being professional; so was Josh!"
"Yes, but neither of you wanted to be; at least not all the time.
Josh cares about you just as much as you care about him, but you were
taking your cues from him and he would never indicate anything as
long as he was your direct supervisor. It crossed too many lines for
him. And that's not even counting the fact that he's still not sure
how you really feel about him and what you want in this relationship."
"But now we can't work together anymore. What if he doesn't want more
in our relationship? At least before I got to work with him everyday,
talk with him, eat with him. Now what?"
"Now you need to talk to Josh." Ben was asking her permission to let
Josh in. She slowly nodded her head and Ben got up to go to the
door. "Don't waste this opportunity, Donna. I leave D.C. tomorrow.
I'd like to see my friend happy before I go."
Less than a minute later, the door slowly opened to admit Josh to the
apartment.
"Hey, I brought some coffee over from Starbuck's, but it's probably
cold by now."
Donna took both coffees from him and walked to the kitchen where she
put them in the microwave. Josh followed behind her.
"I thought YOU requested the transfer." Josh admitted
quietly. "That's when I realized how much you meant to me. I thought
my chest would explode. All I could think was that I'd finally hurt
you enough times that you couldn't stand to work with me anymore."
"When I got back from lunch and saw the transfer paper, I thought you
didn't want me near you. You pushed me out the door with Ben, and
then pushed me out of your department too."
"Donna, I swear, that's the last thing I wanted. I talked to Leo
after I saw the paperwork. He said we can and should still work
together. We make too good a team for this administration. He's just
changing who you report to so we would have some options…if we wanted
them." Josh hesitated.
"And do you…want options, I mean?" she raised her eyes to meet his.
Josh leaned forward and kissed her, letting his lips and hands answer
her question. After a few minutes, Donna pulled back from him.
"Just so there's no additional misunderstanding; that was a yes,
right?" she clarified.
"That was a definite `yes'." Josh told her earnestly. "So, you'll
accept the transfer?"
"I don't know…is there a raise involved?" Donna teased.
"I can say with great relief that the subject of pay is between you
and your new boss, Leo McGarry."
"I can see there may be more than one advantage for you in this new
arrangement."
"I certainly hope there is more than one advantage for both of us."
Josh replied as he took her mouth in another kiss. Their kisses
became more passionate and Donna began moving them toward her bedroom
as she removed his tie and unbuttoned his shirt.
They didn't leave her bedroom for the rest of the weekend. Even Ben,
who was indirectly responsible for their current circumstances, only
got a phone call saying goodbye, and a promise to help him move when
he got back to D.C.
Monday morning, the Deputy Chief of Staff came into the West Wing and
everyone in the bullpen stopped to gauge his reaction. Sitting at
Donna's desk was a temp and the sight of a temp at Donna's desk was
normally enough to send Josh Lyman into orbit. Everyone prepared to
take cover.
"Good morning, Beth, thanks for stepping up and helping out today.
I'm going to warn you that you're going to think your name is Donna
by the end of the day, but don't take it personally. I just need a
little adjustment time." Josh smiled and continued walking to his
office. "Can you bring me my schedule for the day and the files for
my meeting with State?"
Sam, who had been part of the throng in the bullpen watching the
proceedings, almost fell off the desk he had been sitting on. He
followed Beth into Josh's office and heard him thank her before she
returned to Donna's desk.
"Who are you and what have you done with Josh Lyman?" Sam asked.
"Morning, Samuel, isn't it a glorious day?" Josh responded. "What do
you mean who am I? Don't you know your best friend?"
"I thought I did, which is why I bet $20 bucks you'd blow a gasket
when you saw the temp here this morning."
"She's not a temp. Well, hopefully she's not a temp. She's Donna's
replacement."
"Okay, now I know something's wrong `cause you just send the
words `Donna's replacement' with a smile on your face. What gives?"
"Donna picked her out personally and Donna knows what I need, so I'm
sure it'll be fine." Josh assured him as he went through the first
file Beth had given him.
CJ walked into Josh's office while Sam was digesting this information.
"Hey Sam! Josh, I just got back from Donna's office and she's all
settled in, but I thought it would be nice if we took her to lunch as
a sort of congratulations thing. What do you think?"
"I think that it's sweet you want to congratulate her for snagging
one of D.C.'s most eligible bachelors Ceej, but shouldn't that be a
girls only thing?" Josh joked.
"Donna snagged a- Donna snagged Ben?" Sam was still confused and got
his head cuffed by CJ and calculator chucked at him by Josh.
"What? Isn't that who Donna has been dating?"
"Maybe earlier last week, but that's over now." CJ said matter of
factly. `Walk with me and I'll catch you up on our way to staff."
Lunchtime found Josh, Donna, CJ, Sam, and Toby at a nearby restaurant
celebrating Donna's new position. Josh watched Donna carefully as
they lunched with their friends. There was a glow about her, and
despite what people said about his ego, he knew it wasn't all about
their new relationship. He had been in the room with her when she
called Leo to assure herself that her new responsibilities had truly
been earned. It took Leo over 20 minutes, but when Donna hung up the
phone, she tackled Josh onto the floor and had her way with him, so
he assumed Leo answered all her questions to her satisfaction.
Yes, it was different with Beth, but she had a good sense of humor, a
strong work ethic, and best of all…legible handwriting (though he
wouldn't be mentioning that to Donna; he wasn't a complete idiot).
What he had with Donna now was more of a partnership: at home and at
work and that was worth breaking in 100 new assistants. A flash in
his face brought him back from his reverie and he saw that Sam had
snapped a picture of he and Donna with his cell phone.
"Planning on selling that to the tabloids?" Josh teased. "If you need
some extra cash, you should just ask me."
"What would tabloids want with a picture of you two?" CJ
asked. "There's nothing newsworthy here."
"Well there is the fact that I'm a very eligible bachelor here in
D.C.-" Josh stopped abruptly as CJ kicked him and Donna elbowed him
at the same time.
"Yeah, but you still don't know when to keep you mouth shut." Noted
Toby. Sam was still fiddling with his cell phone and Josh realized he
was sending the picture to someone.
"Who are you sending that to, Sam?" he asked his friend as he made a
grab for Sam's phone.
"Just a mutual friend in Philadelphia. I promised him an update." Sam
smiled and Josh did too.
"That's okay, I guess…" Josh allowed
"Oh and your Mother too." Sam added laughing.
"Sam!" Josh exclaimed as his friends laughed at his expense…
The End.
