Title Clubbing Part Seven Saturday evening seven days later Once inside the club, Leo walked over to the bar. Hearing his name Josh looked at Leo, saw his nod, and walked over to David. ‘Hi.’ ‘Josh. How are the fish?’ Josh smiled. ‘Fine thanks.’ ‘Edward, do you know if anyone’s a doctor?’ ‘Are you unwell Leo?’ ‘Nah. Not me.’ ‘Young Joshua.’ ‘Yeah. Kinda.’ ‘Stephen is a psychiatrist. I’m not sure, but he can probably point someone out.’ ‘Thanks.’ Taking his drink, Leo moved along the bar. ‘Stephen, a word?’ The younger man got up and followed Leo to the far corner of the bar. ‘What can I do for you Leo? Ian’s not been up to anything, I hope?’ ‘No. I wanted to talk to you about Josh.’ ‘Your new kid?’ ‘Yeah.’ ‘What about him?’ ‘Not much. He’s scared of silence.’ ‘Oh.’ Leo frowned. ‘I was hoping for a little more help than that.’ Stephen smiled. ‘Invite me to dinner. I’ll make sure I have an opportunity to talk to him.’ Leo put his hand on the other man’s shoulder. ‘Thanks. Appreciate it. You free tomorrow?’ ‘Yes. Er, does the invite extend to Ian?’ ‘Yeah. And Edward and David if he’s free.’ Stephen looked across to where Josh stood, the tallest and oldest of the group of four. ‘The kids’ll have a good time.’ Leo nodded. ‘I’ll ask Tom if he’d like to bring Harry.’ ‘Great. We haven’t got together for ages.’ Slyly, he added: ‘I could bring the cards.’ Leo scowled. ‘I lost over two hundred dollars last time we played.’ ‘Maybe you’ll win some of it back.’ Leo’s shoulders sagged. ‘Okay. Just talk to Josh.’ ‘Yes Leo.’ ************** Edward and Tom had other engagements for Sunday evening. Stephen hadn’t. But it wouldn’t have mattered if he had. Like Edward and Tom, he would have cancelled them. Being invited to dinner by Leo McGarry was not something you turned down. ‘Josh, help me with the food please.’ Stephen interrupted Josh as he was helping everyone off with their coats. Leo nodded and Josh walked into the kitchen. ‘What are you kids going to be doing?’ Josh had already planned his evening. He had board games, videos and the menu from the local pizza place. ‘Monopoly. National Lampoon. Pizza.’ Stephen laughed. ‘And I have pretzels and a pack of cards.’ Josh looked round. There didn’t seem to be too much to do. He opened a couple of packets of snacks, then stopped. ‘What can I do?’ ‘Leo says you were concerned when he left you last Sunday.’ Embarrassed, Josh shook his head. ‘It was nothing.’ ‘Josh.’ Stephen’s tone was similar to Leo’s when he knew Josh was hiding something. Josh wondered for a moment whether they all learned at a class somewhere. ‘Look, what happened…it’s…I don’t want to talk about it, okay?’ Gently, Stephen said: ‘No, not okay.’ ‘Is that what this is about? This evening is for my benefit? Leo told you about what happened and now you’re here to try and help me? Well, I’ve had enough help thanks. And I still have nightmares and I still can’t bear silence. So thanks, but no thanks. I don’t want your help.’ ‘Josh, come here. Now!’ Leo’s angry voice came from the bedroom doorway, and, torn between not wanting to talk to Stephen and not wanting to be yelled at by Leo, Josh didn’t move. ‘Now!’ Slowly, Josh followed Leo into his bedroom, flinching as the door slammed. ‘How dare you speak to one of my guests like that! Who the Hell do you think you are? He was trying to help you. Get out there and apologise before I send your friends home and lock you in the bathroom until we’re done playing.’ Josh couldn’t believe what he was hearing. ‘Leo, you’re not serious! Okay, so I snapped at Stephen, but…’ ‘I’m gonna count to five. If you’re not back in that kitchen apologising, you’re going in the bathroom.’ Josh didn’t move. ‘Leo!’ ‘One.’ ‘I could just leave.’ ‘Two.’ ‘What would you do? Wrestle me to the ground?’ ‘Three.’ ‘You’re not my father!’ ‘Four.’ Josh pulled the door open so hard it banged against the wall. Stamping into the kitchen, he saw Stephen waiting for him, arms folded, eyebrows raised. Barely politely, Josh snapped: ‘I’m sorry.’ ‘For?’ ‘What?’ ‘What are you sorry for Joshua?’ Josh felt about two inches tall. And about ten years old. He was forty, and Deputy Chief of Staff in the White House. Jeez. He dragged himself back to the present, and decided to get this over with as quickly as possible then get into his room and enjoy the rest of the evening. ‘I’m sorry for being rude.’ ‘And?’ Josh frowned. ‘Er…’ He looked up and saw Leo in the bedroom doorway. ‘I know you were only trying to help.’ ‘So?’ ‘I’ll find some time next week to come and talk to you.’ ‘Good. Now help me with the drinks.’ As always, there was no alcohol in the apartment, and the cider and other soft drinks fought for space on the kitchen table with the coffee pot. Josh turned from the table and almost walked into Leo. ‘Where are you going?’ ‘To my room.’ ‘No. Sit here.’ ‘What?’ Leo’s face darkened and he nodded at a wooden stool set a couple of feet back from the table. ‘You can sit there or in the bathroom. So?’ Barely restraining his anger, Josh climbed onto the stool and sat looking at the people around it. ‘Turn round.’ ‘Leo, you…’ ‘Now!’ Slowly, Josh turned until he was facing the kitchen doorway. He was tempted to simply get up and walk out, but he knew someone would be in his apartment, and he didn’t have enough money for a decent hotel room. And he wouldn’t put it past Leo to have him arrested if he was found walking the streets. ************* At the end of the evening, Leo closed the door on the last person to leave. Then he turned to Josh who stood a couple of feet behind him. ‘If you ever behave that badly again, I’ll beat the life out of you.’ ‘Leo, you can cut the crap. You don’t have an audience for your macho ‘I’m in charge’ display now.’ Barely controlling his temper, Leo hissed: ‘Go to bed Josh. Now.’ ‘No.’ ‘Then get out. And this time, don’t come back. I thought you understood the rules. If you were just playing at them, going along with it, then we’ve both wasted enough time. Well?’ ‘Are you insane and I never noticed it? You can’t control another human being. I thought it was a bit of fun. But tonight you were different.’ Leo looked at Josh in amazement. ‘Fun? Please tell me you’re joking.’ ‘No. I thought the club, and all the stuff about slaves and masters was some kind of weird role-play game.’ ‘Game? Do you really think being completely responsible for another person is a game?’ Leo shook his head slowly. ‘It’s not like being responsible for a speech, or a rally, Josh. You can’t delegate, or just do it when you feel like it. It’s a 24/7 thing. No sick days, no vacation time, nothing. Just day after day.’ ‘And you were going to do this for me?’ ‘Yeah. I thought you understood what was going on.’ Josh was feeling light-headed, and dropped onto the couch. ‘Not until now.’ Leo leaned on the doorframe. ‘Days like this I wonder why I ever gave up drinking.’ Josh looked at Leo for a few seconds. ‘David, and the others. They really are slaves.’ Leo nodded, not trusting himself to speak. ‘And you really are important.’ Leo laughed hollowly. ‘Yeah.’ ‘I feel sick.’ Only half-joking, Leo threatened: ‘You throw up on my couch and I really will beat the life out of you.’ After a couple of minutes, the nausea lessened and Josh looked up, wishing he didn’t feel so terrible. Leo was looking directly at him. ‘I’m not doing the ironing.’ Leo shrugged. ‘The state of your clothes, you wouldn’t get the chance. Now go to bed. We’ll talk in the morning.’ Josh pulled himself to his feet and walked unsteadily to his room. ‘And I’m not calling you ‘Sir.’ Leo’s voice carried through the half-open door. ‘Master is more usual.’ Ignoring Josh’s muttered sarcastic retort, Leo went to his own room and dropped onto the bed. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the pile of bills which represented his winnings from the evening. He sat for some time until Josh knocked. ‘Can I come in?’ ‘Yeah.’ Josh looked at the pile of money. ‘So the evening wasn’t a complete washout then?’ Leo followed Josh’s gaze. ‘Yeah Josh. It was.’ ‘Leo, I’m sorry.’ ‘Yeah kid. Me too. I’ll get your apartment freed up tomorrow.’ ‘Are you throwing me out?’ ‘Josh, I don’t need a room-mate.’ ‘Could I just start small and sort of work up to the slave stuff?’ Leo sighed. ‘You have been Josh.’ ‘Yeah, but that was when I thought…’ ‘It was a game.’ Staring at the floor, Josh whispered: ‘Yeah. Leo, please don’t throw me out. I want to stay. I’ll try and behave better. Please?’ Leo rubbed his eyes, wishing he was less tired. ‘Soon as we can, we’ll take the week off and stay home. And we won’t start small. If you’re not ready now, you never will be kid.’ Josh wondered why the momentous decision he was about to make felt so insignificant. Then he realised Leo was right. Although he’d been treating it as a game, he’d actually been living the life Leo was offering for several weeks. ‘What will we tell everyone?’ ‘Nothing.’ ‘Won’t they find out?’ Leo shook his head. ‘How?’ ‘If they come to my apartment?’ ‘We’ll say you got bored of living alone and decided to keep me company.’ ‘There’ll be gossip.’ ‘Which we’ll stamp on.’ His last objection taken care of, Josh dropped onto the bed beside Leo. ‘How much did you win?’ Leo flicked through the pile of money spread between them. ‘About five hundred dollars.’ ‘Are you gonna make me sit on the stupid stool all the time?’ ‘If you behave badly.’ Not wanting to dwell on the subject of his behaviour, Josh said suddenly: ‘I’m hungry. I didn’t have anything to eat.’ ‘There are some sandwiches and stuff in the kitchen.’ Josh wrinkled his nose. ‘Leftovers?’ ‘Yeah. After your behaviour, what makes you think you deserve anything better?’ Josh wandered into the kitchen and pulled a couple of sandwiches onto a plate. Grabbing a can of Diet Coke, he walked back into the sitting room. He was about to sit down when Leo’s voice stopped him. ‘Floor.’ ‘What?’ ‘You can stand up or you can sit on the floor. I’m still cross with you.’ Josh contemplated the choices then he lowered himself onto the floor next to Leo’s feet. He ate slowly, sipping at his drink. Leo got up and came back a short time later with a glass and a handful of napkins. ‘Here. Just cos I’m mad at you doesn’t mean you have to make a mess.’ Getting up a few minutes later, Leo ruffled Josh’s hair. ‘Don’t go straight to bed. Go for a walk or something. If you try and sleep now you’ll just get indigestion. If you leave the apartment, take your key. I’m going to bed. Realising he was at least part-way out of the doghouse, Josh replied automatically: ‘Yes Leo.’ On to the next part Home Send me feedback on this fic Return to the X-Files Fic Index Return to the West Wing Fic Index