Title: Goodbye's the Saddest Word
Author: Laura H
Rating: A
Synopsis: Pairing-Josh/Donna. Donna quits her job to move to New York
where she gets what she considers to be a better offer, and this
sparks a wake- up call for Josh who suddenly realizes how invaluable
she is to him. Takes place after "No Exit".

Part 1

"Donnatella!" Josh Lyman, Deputy Whitehouse Chief of Staff, throws
his feet off his desk and calls loudly for his assistant as he tosses
a piece of paper in his hand down on his desk.

His assistant, Donna, enters unenthusiastically from the
Communications Bullpen and casually flicks her blonde hair. " You
bellowed?"

Josh smiles in a way to say he really wasn't laughing. " Cute joke
here."

"What joke?" Donna asks innocently, shifting the folder she has in
her arm.

Josh sits up straight in his chair. "Look, I like a good gag as much
as the next… guy who likes good gag, but today's not the day, okay?
Leo's gonna be pissed me as soon as I walk into his office, which is
supposed to be about now, and I don't need this." Josh is no longer
quite so sarcastic, and it is becoming increasingly evident that he
has lost sleep lately.

Donna exhales deeply. "Need what, Josh? Look, I've got to get back to
work so if there's something I did that you find humorous…?"

Josh stares at Donna for a couple of seconds before blinking, then
realizes she doesn't know what he's talking about. "Okay. Um, this,
this letter?" He picks up the piece of paper he threw on his desk a
few minutes earlier and holds it up high for her to see. "Your…
official letter of resignation?"

Donna stands up a little straighter and resists the urge to fix a
wrinkle in her blouse. "Yes. I thought I'd give you my notice now so
you'd have plenty of time to hire a new assistant."

Josh exhales loudly and smiles shortly. "Yeah, see, this was what I
meant by joking with me this morning."

"Who's joking?" Donna asks, wondering why someone with Josh's
intellectual capacity couldn't grasp the concept of a letter of
resignation. She leans impatiently in the door frame, awaiting when
he would clue in. She had dreaded the moment when she'd have to tell
him that she just couldn't stand to work here anymore, that it wasn't
what she wanted.

Josh looks at Donna again, the slightest bit of fear beginning to
creep into his features. "You mean this isn't one of your sick
practical jokes?"

Donna almost smiles. "No, and I take offence to that. My jokes are
funny."

Josh closes his eyes and slowly and deliberately runs his hand
through his tight curls. " Okay, look, we gotta talk. I mean, we
gotta have a serious talk."

Donna straightens up and moves away from the door frame. "Okay, but
you've got to go to Senior Staff now."

"I've suddenly got more important things on my agenda." Josh stands
up and staggers for a second. It is obvious he is tired and his
troubles have just quadrupled since the only women he had ever cared
about had just spontaneously announced she was quitting.

Donna steps out of the office and into the corridor and Josh follows
her. " Josh, if you don't go to Staff and face Leo after what
happened between you and Russell last night, I wouldn't be surprised
if it's you that has to draft a letter of resignation."

Josh groans loudly. "Okay, I'm going. But don't you go anywhere. As
soon as I get back we're gonna talk about why you suddenly decided to
dump my ass."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Leo McGarrey, The President's Chief of Staff, removes his glasses
and glances at the people in front of his desk. "Anything else?" He
asks slowly, his eyes scanning a piece of paper in his hands.

"No!" Josh answers too loudly, running his hands down his face and
slumping in his seat on the over-stuffed couch in the office. It was
overly evident that he wanted to get of there as soon as possible.

Everyone turns to him. Leo simply stares.

Toby Ziegler, Communications Director, who is standing in front of
Leo's desk, turns to Leo. "Yeah, the meeting with the President and
the Space Exploration and Research Club?"

"No." Josh states at Toby's question.

Toby turns to Josh, very irritated. "Excuse me? Do you have a problem
with me bringing that up?"

Josh sighs, too tired to give a damn. "No, I have a problem with you
guys putting a bunch of dorky high school crackpots on the
President's agenda."

The Whitehouse Press Secretary, CJ Cregg, isn't the only one to glare
at Josh at this point. " Excuse me Josh, but you wanna be the last
one in this room to talk right about now, okay?"

Josh can feel every eye boring into him and the room seems to be
swimming. He attempts to hold his head on straight. Everyone seems so
tense. What the hell had he said to the Vice-President last night
that had made his staff so upset this morning? It takes him a few
seconds to remember. " `Kay, um, would anyone mind if I just went
back to my office and shot myself?"

"No, not at all." Leo says in all seriousness.

Josh just stares at his boss in desperateness, ready to hurl at any
moment. This was not his best morning.

Leo rolls his eyes at Josh. "Go on, get out of here. I'll come talk
to you later."

Josh pushes himself off the couch and has trouble making it out of
the room. "Thanks." He mumbles.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" CJ asks, watching Josh leave the
room like a wounded animal.

"Beats me. Let's hope he was stoned last night and we have some
excuse to give Bob Russell." Toby replies. "Okay, the meeting…"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Josh had taken a couple of pills Donna had handed him after she had
taken his temperature, and now he was leaning back in his chair and
finishing the glass of water he had taken the pills with.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Donna asks sympathetically.

Josh gulps and puts his feet up on his desk. "Yeah, these should
help."

Donna looks concernedly at Josh. "Were you drunk last night?"

Josh shakes his head.

"High?"

"Donna, I was meeting with the Vice President, you think I wou…?"

"I was just wondering. You're out of it." Donna sits in a chair in
front of Josh's desk.

Josh slumps in his seat. "Let's hope I'm coming down with mono or
something."

Donna watches the look in Josh's eyes. He wasn't sick. "What happened
last night?"

Josh sighs deeply. "I was stupid, that was what happened. I said
stupid things because I'm stupid. And because I suddenly realized our
time here is just about up, and for some reason I got jealous and
that may have come out."

"And that's why you told Russell you'd never support him, because you
were too loyal to Bartlet?"

"No, I told him WE'D never support him `cause we were gonna find a
decent Democrat and get him elected if we had to comb the entire
country side. And we'd do it for the sole purpose of kicking his ass."

Donna's eyes raise. "Sounds like you were channelling Toby there.
Only, Toby would never have said that to the Vice President of the
United States. No wonder Leo's pissed. " But Donna did feel bad for
Josh. It wasn't really his fault. The Vice President was popular and
didn't deserve to be. And their President was almost through his
second term, and everyone, including herself, was wondering what they
were going to be doing in the next two years.

Josh sets his glass down and looks at Donna. "Why do you wanna leave
me?"

Donna looks almost pleadingly at Josh. "I don't want to leave you,
Josh. It's nothing personal, except that, yeah, it is."

"Donna…" Josh is becoming impatient again. He doesn't want the only
assistant he's ever had to leave him.

Donna licks her lips. "Okay, well, it's just, I've been here six
years and it seems like nothing's changed. I haven't grown, Josh. The
pay's fine, so don't think I'm being greedy or anything. But, I, I
want to do something more meaningful and go to a place where I can be
recognized and praised for my work. I know you appreciate me, but
let's face it, Josh, you don't always show it. I'm just tired of it
all. I don't want to be a secretary anymore. I don't want to be your
assistant anymore. I'm not happy here."

Josh stares at Donna, wondering how he could have missed all the
signs. Had she always felt this way? "What? Uh, okay… Well, why don't
we negotiate? What do you want?"

She couldn't tell him what she really wanted from him. It was the
same thing she wanted six years ago when she had walked up to him and
introduced herself. She wanted him to care about her half as much as
she cared about him. He was so passionate about what he did and she
loved being a part of that and a part of him, but it wasn't enough.
She wanted to be a part of his personal life. But she was sick of
playing cat and mouse. It was time to move on. " There's no room for
negotiation, Josh. I'm leaving. I've got a place already set in New
York. I'm going to work for a non-profit, non-government, non-
partisan organization that works to get equal representation for
women in the Senate and Congress, and get them elected in their local
offices.."

Josh is momentarily taken aback. "You mean you've got another job?"
Suddenly he feels like he's back in the 7th grade and Debbie Fisher
just cheated on him.

"Proportional Rep wants me in three weeks." Donna states, watching
Josh's face fall.

"Proportional Rep?"

Donna rolls her eyes. "Yes, Proportional Representation, to get equal
representation for women. I just explained that to you. And if this
about timing, I'm going to help you hire and train a new assistant,
so don't worry about that."

And just like that his world falls apart at the seems. The room
starts spinning wildly and the ceiling slowly caves in. Hot flashes
scorch Josh's body and he can't hear Donna ramble on about someone
she knew who would make a great assistant for him. The next thing he
knew he was on the floor, grabbing the tie that seemed to be choking
him. And within a second Donna was bent over him, feeling his
forehead and calling for someone in the hall to call an ambulance.

Part 2

CJ walks casually into Josh's office from the Bullpen and knocks on
his open door to get his attention. "Hey."

Josh looks up from the thick wad of paper he's reading. "Hey, what's
up?" He looks a little strained.

CJ steps inside. "I got you that thing you wanted." CJ indicates the
folder in her hands. "What are you doing?"

Josh picks up the booklet and leans back in his chair. "Going through
Donna's letter of acceptance that she signed nearly six years ago,
her job description, all that stuff, tryin' to find a legal reason
why she can't quit."

CJ smiles, coming closer to Josh's desk. "Ya know, that won't work.
Instead of finding reasons for her to not go away, you should be
looking for good reasons for her to stay, or ways to convince her to
keep her job. I mean, if you want her that badly." She sits in the
chair in front of Josh's desk and proceeds to make herself
comfortable, obviously glad to be off her feet.

Josh looks carefully at CJ, intrigued by her suggestion. He sits up a
little straighter and sets the booklet down. "What do you have in
mind?"

CJ shrugs. "I dunno, Josh. But give her what she wants; Better pay,
benefits, take her to more functions of ours. And it wouldn't kill
you to tell her how much you appreciate her now and then… Look, she
and I talked about this."

Josh rolls his eyes. "Yeah, I know, and that's why she's quitting and
leaving me in four days. I've been trying for weeks now to subtly
convince her to stay, and it's all your fault because you told her
she could do better and she had to leave me… for some reason." He's
practically pouting at this point.

CJ mocks Josh by pouting, as well. "Awe, does baby Joshie want me to
give him a cookie and make it all better?"

"No, I want you to tell me how to get her off that plane to New York
next Tuesday." Josh says in all seriousness.

CJ sighs, standing up. "Look, as long as you know that this isn't my
fault, Josh. Sure I may have encouraged Donna to pursue whatever
makes her happy, but believe it or not, I didn't do it to make your
life miserable. So suck it up or get the guts and go after her. It's
about time."

Josh watches CJ place her hand on the door frame. He takes what she
said into consideration. " She wants to hear that I appreciate her?"

"That and much more." CJ says as she walks out of the room, leaving
Josh more confused than ever.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~
Donna walks into Josh's office a few minutes later. Josh doesn't look
well, still. The last two weeks have been rough on him, and things
have been awkward between them. She feels guilty. She's the one
that's been causing him to have these stress attacks. He looks pale
and like he hasn't ate or slept in days.

"Hey. Do you need anything before I head out?" Donna practically
whispers. She feels so guilty for leaving so early.

Josh shakes his head, trying to concentrate on getting ready for the
speech the President was due to give in an hour. "No, you're done.
Have fun packing."

"Josh…"

"I'm fine." He says automatically, honestly not wanting Donna to
worry about him.

Donna steps forward. "You sure you're gonna be okay tonight?"

Josh looks up to Donna. " I promise not to mix the blue pills with
the yellow ones." He smiles, and Donna physically relaxes.

"Okay. Good. I'll see you in the morning. You are feeling better
these last couple of days, right?"

Josh nods. Just as Donna is about to walk out, he calls her
back. "Hey, Donna. You know that I never meant to hold you back in
this position, right? I mean, I just feel bad. I wish you hadda said
something sooner. But, I know you'll do great at this new job, too."
The last line kills him to admit. He knows she can do whatever she
sets her mind to, but secretly he wishes he can just keep her here.
How can she not be apart of his life?

Donna takes a step into the room. "Josh, I'm not doing this to hurt
you. It's just something I need to do for me. And it's not like we'll
never see each other. I'll call you as soon as I'm settled. And Maria
will make a great assistant for you. Things will work out, you'll
see."

"She's too ambitious. I don't like Maria." Josh declares.

Donna smiles affectionately. "Goodnight, Josh."

Josh clears his throat. "Hey, Donna. No one will be able to hold a
stick to you. You're the greatest. I'm just sorry I didn't say it
more often."

Donna winks. "Just look forward, Josh, not backward. Have a good
night." And she's gone, and Josh is left to once again ponder over
how he only has four days to buck up and convince the woman he's
crazy for that he was willingly to do whatever it took to keep her
around.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~
Donna had promised herself that she wasn't going to regret this
decision. This was one time where she wanted to do something for
herself, something on her own. She was taking the biggest risk of her
life, and it felt good to be so independent. But she had this
sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach every time she heard a
siren wail and it reminded her of what the streets of New York were
like. And she felt plain guilty whenever she looked at Josh's pained
and guilt-ridden face. It wasn't his fault that she hadn't spoke up
and addressed her needs to him, and it certainly wasn't his fault she
was in love with him and in desperate need of getting over him. CJ
was right; she had to get away from Josh Lyman. Closure would be best.

But as she made her way across her room, placing her personal items
carefully in their designated boxes, she becomes increasing aware
that she was going to be leaving behind everything she knew and
loved, and she feels a deep sense of home-sickness. She walks over to
her dresser and out of the corner of her eye spots the snapshot in a
frame of her and Josh at the Administration's re-election
celebration. She can still remember how thrilled, energized and
excited they were. Josh has his arms around her in the pose and he's
happily kissing her on the cheek, but still looking at the camera.
She smiles for a second before the memories begin to fill her mind
and hot tears start to sting her eyes. She slowly begins to sob
against her will and then she brings the picture over to her bed with
her and flings her self down on the bed.

She can't stop crying hysterically and she begins shouting at no one.
She's at loss for words to describe how she feels. If it weren't for
her inability to express how she feels for Josh and get over it, she
wouldn't be in this position. "Damn you, Josh! DAMN you!!! Why can't
I… why can't I… why can't I just…. Just…. Erggg!" Donna violently
throws the photograph across the room in her rage of bitter emotions
and it instantly shatters when it collides with a wall.

Donna calms herself after she realizes what she has done. She hadn't
wanted to do that. That's her one nice memento of Josh. She is
momentarily stunned, then the emotions build up again and her lips
start quivering and she starts to bawl again. "Oh, Josh." And she
decides then and there that she is going. No second guessing, no way
to guilt her into staying. Life went on, and she just had to realize
that hers wasn't going to include Josh Lyman.



????????????
#Part 3

Josh jolts awake from yet another vivid dream. The doctor had warned
him about occasional insomnia associated with his constant stress,
but this was getting ridiculous. He was sweating and breathing
heavily and a sense of panic filled him. He had been dreaming about
Donna. In the dream she had left for New York and he hadn't told her
how much he loved her, or found a way to make her stay- to show her
how much he cared about her. Her new job turned out to be everything
she had ever wanted, and she never once agreed to see him again after
she left. She had met someone else and instantly fell in love. The
said stranger had whisked her off to a New York City penthouse, given
her everything she had ever wanted, married her, and they raised
children together. And Josh spent every night alone, depressed and
needy, never having got the chance to say the words "I love you" to
the only woman he had ever wanted to say them to. And the only thing
he had to say it for it all was that it was his own damn fault.

Josh collapses against his pillows, wondering when it had gotten this
bad. Wondering when and how he was going to work up the nerve to tell
her before his worst nightmare came true. Luckily his alarm rings and
provides a moment's distraction. Time to get up and move on with the
day. But today was Tuesday, and it wasn't going to be a typical, non-
typical, hectic day in the West Wing of the Whitehouse for Josh,
because he was supposed to take Donna to the airport and say the
final goodbye.

No matter how hard he had tried, nothing he had done had convinced
Donna to stay. She was on a voyage of self-discovery, and for some
reason Josh had gotten the feeling that she wanted to be far way from
him anyway, so he had no choice today. So now he was just supposed to
take her to the airport, wish her a wonderful future life and pick up
the remains of what could only be considered a shattered life. How
could he possibly do anything different at this point?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Toby….Toby?" CJ gently pokes Toby's back, but he appears to be
sleeping at his desk.

CJ laughs and lets out a short snort. "Toby!"

Toby jolts into unwelcome consciousness. "What the hell are you
shouting for?" Toby grumbles as he lifts his head up, looking gruff
and dishevelled.

CJ proceeds to laugh. " Still hung over from the going away party for
Donna last night, Pokey?"

Toby sighs, blinking hard and forcing the pounding out of his head. "
Please, CJ, for a little while you're gonna wanna speak very quietly
around me."

CJ crosses the room and stands in the door frame, preparing to
leave. "Alright. But you gotta come to Senior Staff now."

Toby shakes his head. "You were drinking pretty well last night, how
is it you're so perky?"

CJ smiles proudly. " I have a naturally sunny disposition. That and a
well-formed alcohol tolerance-comes from being in federal politics.
C'mon." She motions for Toby to follow.

Toby lazily and reluctantly gets out of his chair and follows CJ out
of the office and out of the Communications bullpen.

They make their way to Leo's outer office where Josh is standing
waiting for the meeting to commence.

"Hey," CJ greets.

Josh curls a lip to indicate a salutation.

CJ raises an eyebrow. "Okay. Good to see my guys are on the ball
today. What's up with you?"

Josh stares at his feet. " Maria brought me decaf coffee and a donut
this morning. DECAF and a DONUT! What does she think this is, Canada?"

"Josh…?" CJ looks at Josh like he's a little bit crazy.

"Decaf and a donut, CJ." Josh stresses the `de' in decaf.

CJ rolls her eyes. "Yes, Josh. I realize that must have been very
traumatic for you. God knows you could use a little less caffeine.
So, it was this girl's first day on the job, cut her some slack."

Josh sighs, rubbing his temple. " And it's Donna's last morning here."

"Ah, so the donut seems small in comparison…" Toby remarks
sarcastically, feeling the need to join the conversation.

Josh grits his teeth, not impressed with Toby's comment.

CJ watches the two men. "You taking her to the airport?"

Josh nods, going back to staring at the ground.

CJ places a hand on Josh's shoulder comfortingly. " It'll be okay,
Josh. You'll still get to see her occasionally. You guys'll keep in
touch."

Josh looks up at CJ doubtfully.

Margaret clears her throat and stands up and moves in front of her
desk. " You can go in now." She looks from CJ to Josh to Toby.

CJ looks toward the door. "Thank you, Margaret. Let's get in the
game, boys."

Everyone makes their way into Leo's office.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Josh drives in silence, pretending to be concentrating on the road.

Donna seems to be noticing Josh's lack of conversation. "Josh, you're
not saying anything…" She was trying her hardest not to feel guilty.
She was so set on doing this, and Josh's stone face pretending to be
brave was not going to upset her. She just felt lonely sitting there
in the car as he drove her to the airport where she would get onto
the plane that would take her out of D.C forever. Well, she'd come
back to visit, but it would never be the same.

"I have to concentrate." Josh offers, his eyes not wavering from the
fixed target, the road in front of him. "Dupont Circle's a hell of a
place to be this time of day."

Donna looks at Josh carefully, a little concerned. "Josh, we were on
Dupont Circle five minutes ago. We're nearly at the airport, now."

Josh slowly turns to Donna, embarrassed. "Right. I know. I was just…
Explaining that there's traffic."

Donna nods, not convinced that Josh isn't hung over from the going
away party the Administration had thrown her. It had been a blast,
but Josh had left early. Everyone had given her cute little gifts,
things to help her on her way, things for her apartment or work.
Everyone, even Leo, had seemed sad to see her go. But no one had been
as upset as Josh was. Someone had taken him home early, Donna had
noticed. She hadn't even had the chance to say goodbye.

But he seemed through with talking about it, which was probably for
the best, in her opinion. She was sick of having to say no to him.
Telling him that she just didn't want to be here anymore. Well, not
that she didn't want to be here, just that she wanted and deserved
more. Her leaving wasn't up for debate, and it was certainly too late
to discuss now. They were about two minutes away from the airport and
the short plane ride to New York.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Okay, you got everything you need?" Josh asks, appraising Donna as
she stood in front of him in the boarding area of Terminal 3 at the
airport.

Donna nods, swinging her carry-on over her shoulder and avoiding
looking at Josh for what would inevitably be the last time she did as
her boss.

Josh nods back, studying Donna as if it were the last time he was
going to see her. "And all your stuff's gonna be sent to you?"

"It's already on its way." Donna assures.

Josh nods again. "So, you're good to go? You don't need anything?"

I need a whole hell of a lot of things, but I can't tell you that,
Donna thinks to herself, her knees starting to shake slightly. Was
she really about to do this? Was she really moving to New York by
herself, and leaving Josh? She has to fight back a tear that is
threatening to surface. She gulps and forces herself to shake her
head in response to Josh's question. Now was not the time to break
down and cry. She had to be strong. She didn't even know why she was
suddenly feeling so insecure. Why couldn't she pull herself away from
Josh Lyman?

Gently taking her elbows in his palms, Josh smiles sincerely as he
supports a slightly frightened looking Donna. " I'm gonna miss you,
ya know. It won't be the same around here without you."

Donna catches her breath in her throat and smiles cautiously as she
pushes him away slightly. "Josh, please don't do this. You've tried
begging, making me feel guilty, but don't flirt with me. I have a
plane to catch." It only scared her because she knew it wasn't
flirting, it was chemistry. She could feel his cold hands on her
forearms and the hotness of his breath. She could see his desperate
eyes and his heart beating rapidly beneath his dress shirt, revealing
that he was just as nervous about her leaving as she was.

Josh's eyes look hurt now. "Donna, I didn't say that to try to get
you to come back." He speaks honestly and wonders if she'll ever
trust what he says. Probably not because he can never seem to find
the words to say what he feels. But suddenly they start to resound in
his head…

"Then why did you say that?" Donna inquires, searching Josh's eyes,
but knowing already that he is being honest.

Josh licks his lips, knowing that what he is about to say and do can
alter his life forever, can either make him or break him. But he had
to do something. " Because I meant it. Because I will miss you. And
not just because you're the best assistant anyone could ask for, but
because you're the most incredible woman I know and you never cease
to amaze me. I just, I just feel so horribly bad that I cannot
express in words how bad I feel about not giving you everything you
wanted over the years. I should have been more attentive, paid better
attention, and not taken you for granted. But more importantly, I
should have told you a long, long time ago how beautiful you are to
me and how much I, I care about you and want to be with you. I know I
don't deserve another chance, and that you're leaving partly because
I've been the biggest jerk ever, but please, do me one favour. Don't
leave here thinking that I don't think the world of you, Donna,
because I do. You gotta know that you're everything to me… Okay, I
just had to say that. Okay?" Josh has settled down now from the
anxiety he had at the beginning of his little soliloquy.

Donna is in complete awe. She cannot recall a single moment where
Josh has strung together so many words about her consecutively, let
alone talk about her that way and express his feelings toward her.
Suddenly she was very grateful for his arms supporting hers because
it was becoming increasingly evident that she wasn't going to be
moving anywhere any time soon. "Okay… Josh?" She can barely speak.

Josh smiles and is glad that he has managed to move her in some way,
but he is not gloating about it. " I just wanted you to know that
before you left so you'd return my calls and everything." He smiles
and pauses for a moment. " You have to get on the plane."

Donna looks over her shoulder. She and Josh haven't let go of each
other. " I know." She turns back to him and looks saddened.

Josh grimaces. "I don't want you to go, but I know it'll be great for
you. Proportional Rep can use you. You'll do good work there."

"I can also do good work for the Leader of the Free World." Donna
points out with a half-smile.

Josh's eyes travel from Donna's eyes to her feet and back to her eyes
again and he lets out a small sigh. "You know there will always be a
place here if you wanna come back."

Donna smiles coyly. "What if I don't want to go in the first place?"

Josh smiles. "You gotta at least give it a shot."

Donna nods reluctantly and lets go of Josh after what has seemed like
hours. She winces at the loss of contact. "You're right. But I'll
call you."

Josh takes a step back. "Okay. Take care of yourself. Watch out for
all those guys who try to steal your money, and come back to visit
soon."

"I will. Goodbye." Donna smiles reassuringly, prepping herself for
leaving. For a moment there while she was standing with Josh it had
seemed like he was making their time stand still, like they had
eternity together. But now the clock was ticking again.

"Bye." He bends down to place a gentle friendly kiss on her lips, but
it ends up being more like a plea to stay. Josh pulls Donna into his
arms and she willingly follows. The clock was stopped again. Time was
standing still for a little longer, and their eternity could continue
as they proceed to explore the regions of each other they had been so
tempted to for so long.

The End

    Source: geocities.com/ww_executive_branch