Supreme Assistant:
Donna sat on the top of her desk, and watched the TV screen in the
bullpen as President Bartlet announced the future Chief Justice and
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. She got that giddy feeling
inside when she thought about her role in the whole adventure. Sure,
Josh figured out the details, he usually does, but the actually premise
came from something she’d told him. That means the first female
Supreme Court Justice owed just a little bit of her current title to Donna.
This was every bit as exciting as helping Senator Stackhouse with his
filibuster.
Josh bounced into the bullpen and sat next to Donna on her desk. “Look
what we did.”
“What you did.” She corrected him.
“I did put all the pieces together, that’s true. But if it hadn’t been for you,
E. Bradford Shelton would be nominated for the bench and we’d be
worried about what might happen when we lose Ashland.”
Donna’s inside turned gooey at his compliment and her face blushed.
She got up off the desk and packed up her bag before he noticed and
teased her about it. “I assume we’re done for the day…I mean night?”
“Absolutely not.” Josh contradicted her. “We have a date tonight; for
drinks and celebration.”
“We do?” Donna confirmed.
“Yep!” Josh said, again bouncing on his feet. “Let’s go.” He offered her
his arm.
Donna smiled broadly and took his arm. They looked happy and relaxed
as they left the White House, but no one could tell the nerves each of
them were feeling inside. Donna was concerned about the word date.
Josh had never used it in relation to them before. Was she blowing it out
of proportion, or did it have a deeper meaning as she hoped? Josh was
nervous because he’d made a decision today. He was going to tell
Donna how he felt about her…once he’d had a couple fortifying drinks.
*******************************************
He took her to a different location than they would normally frequent
with friends from work. Josh didn’t want to be interrupted with work or
anyone related to work. This was going to be about him and Donna. No
more blurring the lines. It was a dark, quiet, hole in the wall with a cozy
atmosphere. Josh had done his research.
“Could we have a bottle of Chardonnay? The 1995 Louis Latour Corton-
Charlemagne Grand Cru please.” The waitress raised her eyes at the
mention of the expensive wine but nodded her head. “And an appetizer
too. What are you hungry for, Donna?”
“I don’t really know.” Donna admitted as she tried to hurriedly peruse
the menu.
“We have a fabulous cheese fondue served with toasted bread that
would go nicely with your white.” The waitress suggested. Josh
shrugged and looked at Donna.
“Sure. Thanks.” Donna told her.
Once the waitress had left them alone, Donna turned back to Josh.
“When you said we were going for a drink, I thought you meant the Hawk
and Dove.”
“The Hawk and Dove is for ordinary after work drinks. We put two
Supreme Court Justices on the Bench today, Donnatella. That calls for a
whole different level of venue.”
“Okaaaaay.” Donna looked around the restaurant. “This is a nice place.
How’d you find it?”
Josh hesitated. Amy had found the place, but he didn’t think it would be
wise to mention that at the moment. “A friend told me about it.” He
hedged.
Donna thought his hesitation was a little suspicious, but she let it go.
“Well, it’s very nice.”
The waitress returned with the bottle of wine. Once they both had a
glass Josh proposed a toast. “To Justices Lange and Mulroody.”
“To the first woman Chief Justice.” Donna countered and they both
drank. “Mmmm…this is wonderful.”
“It ought to be at $150 a bottle.” The waitress noted as she set the
cheese fondue in front of them. Donna’s jaw dropped.
“Joshua!” Donna chastised him with a loud whisper.
“I told you; this is a special occasion.” Josh replied calmly and took
another sip. It had a rich smoky flavor and he was already feeling its’
effect; that made him frown until he remembered that he hadn’t had any
lunch. He decided to dig into the fondue.
“But $150 dollars?” Donna was clearly questioning his sanity.
“Would you relax?” Josh insisted and took another sip of the wine. It
was addictive really; just like Donna’s smile. He wanted to see it again;
now.
“Did I tell you Debbie squirted water at me?”
“What? Why?”
“Apparently Toby and I were getting a little too loud with our argument
about Mulroody and Debbie use her plant sprayer thingy and shot water
all over my face.”
Donna laughed. “Did that shut you up?”
“Hell, yes.”
“I’m going to have to get me one of those.” Donna deadpanned.
“Oh, no. You don’t need to spray water at me to get me to shut up.”
“I beg to differ.” Donna argued. “Plus, it would be handy to shoot water
at you when you order me to work late.”
A thought came to Josh and he couldn’t close it down so he had to ask.
“Do you mind so much? Working late, I mean.”
“I guess not. It just seems like sometimes late work nights happen to
coincide with evenings I happen to have plans.” She said pointedly.
Josh smirked. “Funny how that happens…Maybe we should get a
Federal grant to study that phenomenon.”
“Or you could just let up on the sabotage and let me go out once in
awhile.” Donna suggested.
“Okay.” Josh agreed and filled both their glasses again.
“Okay? Just okay? You’re never that agreeable, Josh.”
“I think it’s a great idea if you get to go out once in awhile. But I get to
pick who you go out with.” Josh proposed.
“Let me guess; groups of women.”
“No…” he smiled at her with his dimples and she felt her face flush.
“Not with Congressman Skinner or any of his…associates.” Donna said
firmly.
“Your charm and beauty would be wasted on them.” Josh agreed. “Don’t
worry I’ve got a great idea. You trust me, don’t you?”
“Not even a little bit.”
“Have some of this bread and cheese.” He dipped a piece of bread into
the cheese and held it to her mouth. When her lips closed over the
bread Josh almost moaned out loud.
“Mmmm…It has a little kick to it; rich and just a little spicey.” Donna
laughed. “God, I sound like I work for the food network.” She made fun
of herself and finished her glass of wine.
“That one job I wouldn’t think to put you in.” Josh teased.
“Where would you think to ‘put me’ Josh Lyman?”
“My first choice would be at a desk next to mine, but second choice
would be behind the podium in the White House Press room.” He told
her and she almost bobbled the wine she was pouring.
“Press Secretary? Are you kidding me?”
“Deputy first, but you could handle Press Secretary. I don’t think there’s
much you couldn’t handle.” He said sincerely and Donna felt like she was
trapped in his eyes. They had a message in them, but she wasn’t sure yet
what it was and she was afraid to guess.
“You taught me everything I know.” She said quietly and focused on the
tablecloth. Josh tipped her chin up with two of his fingers.
“I’ve never been a patient teacher, Donna. What you’ve learned has
come from your hard work and inquisitive nature.”
“Is that your way of calling me nosey?”
“That’s my way of calling you bright and talented.” And again, Donna was
floored by his compliment and his intense gaze.
“Would you mind writing that down for me?” Donna tried to joke her way
out of it. “I’d do it, but I’ve been told my writing is illegible.”
“What kind of idiot told you that?” Josh joked back as he lost his nerve
and the moment of truth at the same time. He took another fortifying
drink and let out a calming sigh.
“How did your meeting on the trade deal go?” Donna asked.
“Fine. We should have a final agreement in a few days. Let’s not talk
about work.”
“No talk about work? Who are you and what have you done with Josh
Lyman?” Donna accused.
“I’m just a guy sharing a drink with a beautiful woman.” Josh said simply,
pleading with her with his eyes to read the subtext here and meet him
halfway.
“Josh? What is this tonight…with the expensive wine and all the
compliments?” Donna was so nervous about his answer her voice
cracked a couple of times getting the question out.
“I wanted to…we’re always so busy at work…I never get a chance…”
Josh broke off in frustration that he wasn’t able to speak coherently.
What good was it to have a 760 verbal score if, when it really mattered,
when you were really counting on it, it bailed on you?
“You’re making me pretty nervous over here Joshua.” Donna told him.
“I’m sorry, that wasn’t my intention. Just forget it. It’s not important.”
Josh felt the moment slip away once again. Donna nearly rolled her eyes.
For someone with as much confidence as Josh exuded, she’d have
thought he could just say whatever it was that he wanted to say.
They both sipped their wine and ate their cheese fondue in silence for a
couple minutes.
“Is this about Hoynes?” Donna ventured.
Josh choked on a mouthful of bread. Once he swallowed, he choked out
“Excuse me?”
“The book he’s releasing is a prelude to announcing his run for the
Presidency, right? I thought maybe he’d asked you to join him and you
were trying to tell me we wouldn’t be working together anymore.” Donna
was feeling a little weepy and she preferred to believe it was a direct
effect of the wine and not the idea of Josh leaving her; Josh leaving the
White House.
“No.” Josh leaned closer to her. “I couldn’t, under any circumstances,
work for John Hoynes again. And I can’t imagine circumstances that
would cause me to leave the White House, but I swear if those
circumstances did come up, you’d be the first person I’d discuss it with.”
“I don’t know what I’d do if you left.” Donna admitted and Josh felt a
surge of hope again.
“You won’t have to find out.” He promised. “It’s far more likely that you’ll
get another offer and leave me. There hasn’t been a week that’s gone by
that someone in the West Wing or on the hill hasn’t threatened to steal
you from me.”
“Josh…”
“Seriously. You’re an awesome assistant; a supreme assistant.” He
chuckled at his pun.
“Are you trying to get out of your promise to let me have a social life
once in awhile?” Donna asked.
“I told you I’m fine with that.” Josh reiterated.
“As long as you pick the guy?”
“That’s the deal.”
“And you already have this paragon of virtue picked out?”
“In fact, I do.” This was it, Josh could feel it.
“Well what if I want some input in this decision?” Donna challenged him.
“What kind of qualities are you looking for Donnatella?”
Donna leaned her head back and closed her eyes as if imagining her
dream man. “Let’s see…he’d have to be witty, intelligent…passionate
about his work…He’d need a strong sense of family and loyalty…I’d like
someone who wants to improve things for the next generation and
would see me as an equal partner in a relationship.”
Josh was transfixed by the sight or her lips moving and had to shake
himself out of his reverie. “That’s quite a list; anything else?”
“Lately, I’ve been thinking it would be a great bonus if he had brown
eyes and dimples.” Donna admitted and opened her eyes to meet Josh’s.
He slowly leaned down toward her until his lips touched hers. He’d a
quite a bit of wine, but the electricity traveling through him was from
being intoxicated by Donna. After years of dreaming of this moment, he
was finally kissing Donna. The kiss lasted forever before they had to
come up for air.
“Can I bring anything else for you?” the waitress broke in.
“No, I’ve got everything I need right here.” Josh told her without
breaking eye contact with Donna. This was one of the best days of his
life and it looked like it would only be getting better.
The End.