Author: coffeeplease
Rating: R, sexual content
Category: Romance, fluff, comedy
Spoiler Info: Up to King Corn
Disclaimer: John Wells, Aaron Sorkin, WB and NBC take
note... I have nothing but a half-eaten muffin to
offer you. Please don’t bring out the whip.
E-mail address for feedback: jamhandy1@...
Archiving permission: Sure, just tell me before you do
Notes: This is a happy piece of fluff. Dates and
street names, I’m not sure about, but you get the
general idea. Lots of fanfics have brought them back
to the old HQ in New Hampshire. I didn’t mean to hop
on anyone’s ideas. Let me know what you think.
Apologies to all Lawrence Welk fans.
“Meet me at the old Barlet For America headquarters in
three hours. Josh.”
That was the text message that brought Donna Moss to
“Grandma’s Attic: Antiques and Eccentrics” on the
corner of Smith and Maine. She stood outside the
window, woefully undressed and shivering. Perhaps “at”
had actually meant “in” and she was developing
frostbite for nothing. Then again, Josh Lyman would
join the Republican party before he set foot in an
antiques store, nostalgia or not.
He came up from behind and she saw his reflection
before he spoke. “I don’t know what to make of our old
headquarters being a place for antiques and
eccentrics.”
“It wasn’t a place for antiques and eccentrics during
the campaign?” She didn’t yet turn around to face him.
“Sure. I’m a priceless antique whose value will only
appreciate over time and you’re a charming eccentric
that someone keeps in their attic.” He grinned widely
and his tone was flirtatious. “And we won’t even get
into what Toby is.”
“Josh!” She turned around and lightly poked him in the
chest. “I’m freezing out here, let’s go inside.
Unless....” She hesitated. “Unless this is more of an
I’ve-only-got-a-few-minutes thing.”
Josh’s face became serious. “No, I’ve got time.
Cleared my whole afternoon.”
Donna smiled. “You know how to do that?”
“Sure,” Josh shrugged his shoulders and they walked to
the door. “I mean, I can’t make coffee and I’m not
wearing matching socks and I left half my campaign
materials in an IHOP in Charleston, but I think I’m
still ahead of the learning curve.”
He opened the door for her and she stopped for a
second. “You sure you want to go in here? I know how
you feel about antique stores...”
“Why not? We’re doing nostalgia here on all fronts.”
“Oh-kay. Just try to, you know, not break things.”
She entered and he followed her in. The place smelled
a bit musty, but not overwhelming. Mozart was playing
on a small radio by the cashier; it sounded distant
and tinny. Only a few people milled around the various
knickknacks, old books and velvet pictures of clowns.
There was a huge stack of Lawrence Welk records right
by Josh. He shuddered inwardly.
“We’ve literally entered my grandmother’s attic,”
Donna whispered and he could tell she was not too
taken by the merchandise, either.
“My grandmother had better taste,” Josh whispered
back.
“Are you insulting my grandmother?”
“Did she watch Lawrence Welk?”
Donna saw the stack of records. “You have a point.”
They walked around the store for a moment, pretending
to browse, Josh a step behind Donna, not looking at
any antiques or eccentrics. He was studying her hair,
her ears, the curve of her hand and was trying not to
be nervous. So far, it was going well.
Donna picked up an orange statue of either Paul Bunyan
or Sitting Bull, it was hard to tell. “It looks like
it’s made out of cheddar cheese.”
“You would know these things.”
“Ah, the six hundred and seventy-second Wisconsin
crack in almost eight years.”
“But I have yet to say anything about Bingo Bob, that
should win me points.”
“You just called him ‘Bingo Bob’”
“Yeah, but I’m sure his wife and immediate family call
him that, too.”
Donna grinned weakly. She put the statue back on the
shelf.
“You don’t really believe in him, do you Donna?”
Josh’s expression turned serious. “I mean... it’s not
the same for you with him as it was for Bartlet, is
it?”
She looked as if she was about to affirm his question,
but then she looked down at the floor. “I really don’t
think we should talk about it.”
He reached out to touch her arm and then drew his hand
back quickly, not wanting to push his luck. “It’s not
like I’m going to tell Will Bailey or Matt Santos or
anyone, Donna.”
“I know,” she said quickly and looked up at him and
her smile jolted him like electricity. It was real and
warm and just for him. She then was looking over his
shoulder. “Look what they have where Toby used to be.”
Josh turned his head, but Donna was already walking
towards the table filled with every kind of baby
apparatus made in the last hundred years. Antique
bottles, frilly Confirmation dresses, old
pacifiers....
“Why would anyone want something that some kid sucked
on for two years?”
“That, I don’t know.” Donna picked up a very tiny pair
of knitted baby booties. “These are adorable.”
“I don’t think they’d fit you.”
For the second time that day, she poked him and said
his name in mock exasperation. Josh welcomed any touch
he got. She put down the booties and picked up a dirty
lace bonnet. “You’d have to wash this about a hundred
times before you’d see my kid wearing it.”
“It’s kind of...” His mouth had become very dry at the
mention of “her kid.” “Kind of... sissy-like, don’t
you think? The kid would get beat up.”
“I don’t think babies beat up other babies.”
He cleared his throat. “Maybe in your neighborhood,
they didn’t. I come from the mean streets of
Connecticut.” Donna chuckled a bit.
They were silent for a moment, Donna looking through
the baby things, Josh avoiding touching any of it.
Partly out of fear of petrified baby drool from the
twenties and partly because babies and Donna had come
together a bit too often in his thoughts over the last
few years and he would very much like not to put the
cart before the horse. They hadn’t even kissed yet.
“Interesting that this at Toby’s old desk,” Josh said
after a moment.
“It’s symbolic,” Donna pawed at a baby poodle skirt.
“He did often act like a big baby.”
Donna rolled her eyes at Josh. “I mean, it’s symbolic
because he was the first one out of all of you to
procreate.”
“The President and Leo have kids.”
“You know what I mean, Josh.”
He did, but he didn’t know where this conversation was
heading and the horse may very well trample the cart
if he didn’t watch his tongue. And stop thinking of
what he’d like to do with his tongue. “Yeah.”
“It’s kind of odd, isn’t it?” Donna started to step
away. “Toby being the one with kids. He wouldn’t be
the one I would have thought back when we were here.”
“Who would you have thought?” Damn tongue.
“Sam.”
“Oh.”
“Then you, of course,” Donna spoke a bit too quickly.
Babies and Josh did weird things with her tongue, too.
“I was obviously a bit petrified to think you might
have them with Mandy Hampton. They’d have great
political skills but no tact and probably scream at
inhuman decibels.”
“I picture Mandy being one of those mothers who eats
her babies.” Josh began walking towards his old
office.
Donna raised an eyebrow, but followed him towards the
enclosed space. There were watercolors of cats, some
looking very abstract, covering the glass and someone
had installed saloon doors to the modern door frame.
It looked.... very bad. Grandma’s attic meets a John
Wayne film meets an insurance office.
They both stopped in front of the doors and took a
deep breath. Josh glanced over. Suddenly, nothing was
funny anymore, not even Mandy eating her children. He
took another deep breath.
Donna looked outside at the snow beginning to fall.
“You got my e-mail?”
“Yeah,” Josh spoke barely above a breath. “Thank you
for replying to me.”
To: “Donna Moss” <donna_moss@...>
From: “Joshua Lyman” <lyman921@...>
Date: Thurs, Feb 1, 2006 02:34:10
Subject: Eight years....
Donna,
It’s not yet our anniversary, the one you like to
celebrate in February. And, even though flowers might
be difficult this year, being as I don’t know where
you’ll be, I will e-mail you on the correct date. I’ll
probably e-mail you before then, or, I don’t know, as
often as it takes for us to get this resolved.
Obviously, you know that I am a gigantic coward and I
am e-mailing you instead of calling or talking to you
in person. And I am a gigantic asshole for not trying
to do this sooner. But I don’t think things between us
have EVER been has tense as they were in that Holiday
Inn in Iowa. I didn’t know it was going to be.... like
that.
You seem to be absolutely furious with me and while I
don’t understand why or what I did, I do understand
why you left. Really, I do. You needed to grow and you
weren’t going to do that being my assistant. You
needed more challenges and opportunities and
responsibilities. You DESERVE and have EARNED all of
that. Never think I don’t realize that. I always knew
you were never going to be my Mrs. Landingham or
Margaret, following me from job to job. I knew you
were destined for more.
But you also deserve to know that my holding on to you
like I did and blowing off “our talk” and all the
rest... it didn’t have to do with your filing skills.
It was personal, Donna. I didn’t want to lose
Donnatella Moss; it had nothing to do with keeping a
faithful assistant. I wanted you with me, for many
reasons that I need to tell you in person. When you
were my assistant, I saw you everyday. Now, I barely
see you. And I hate it.
You may not even read this, you’re so pissed at me. At
least, I think you are. I don’t really know. I do know
that I want us to be friends and I want us to
communicate and when I see you in an elevator, I don’t
want the silence to be so thick it chokes us. I think
after eight years and everything that has happened, we
owe each other and our relationship a chance to work
things out.
One more thing, and then I’m done with girly emotions
this evening:
I miss you.
Josh
To: “Joshua Lyman” <lyman921@...>
From: “Donna Moss” <donna_moss@...>
Date: Fri, Feb 2, 2006 09:15:00
Subject: RE: Eight years....
Josh,
I really don’t know what to say (or write) in return.
I agree with you that things are tense and they really
shouldn’t be and we do owe each other and our
relationship more then almost knocks on hotel doors.
(I was looking through the keyhole. How well I know
you.)
Josh, I don’t think you did anything wrong besides
take me for granted. For many years, I was content
with my job and the status quo, but then I wasn’t and
I knew that the idea of me leaving scared you. It
scared me, too. Who was I in the world of politics
without Joshua Lyman? I had to go find out. I had to
do it. I’ve spent far too much of my life being in the
shadow of a man. And although you are so much better
then the men who came before you, it’s time for me to
grow up.
There are things I need to say to you in person, too.
Things I’m scared to say. But I imagine it wasn’t easy
for you to write that e-mail and I’m very glad that
you did. I feel much better already about our
relationship. It’s been hard for me, too. I miss you
very much.
Donna
Without saying another word, Josh barged into his old
office, the wood door swinging back towards Donna. She
was about to follow him when she heard him bellow.
“DONNA!”
The clerk in front lifted her grayed head and glared
and the old man in the corner fingering an old scrap
book looked like he was about to have a heart attack.
Sheepishly, Donna pushed on the panel and entered.
“Joshua, you don’t have to yell.”
“Donna, look... what they’ve turned.... our office
into.”
“It ceased to be our office seven and change years
ago, Josh.”
“Donna, they’ve... turned my office....”
He was flabbergasted. She was extremely amused by the
situation.
“This seems to be where they put the porn section.
Definitely wasn’t in my Grandmother’s attic. Do you
think this qualifies as “antique” or “eccentric”?”
Josh turned to face her. “Donna, look over where we
used to keep the files on potential VPs. There is a
picture of a man... doing....”
Donna tilted her head up. “Yeah, I don’t think that’s
really legal.”
“Ya think!!”
“That sheep doesn’t look so happy.”
Josh ran his hand over his face. “You’re entirely too
smug about this.”
“Josh, the man and the poor animal are long dead. You
won’t find anyone who will prosecute. And yes, it’s
gross, but not all of it’s bad. Look, over where the
mini-fridge used to be... it’s a table with.... oh
my.”
A smirk the walls had seen a million times before came
to Josh’s face. “Guess the shoe’s on the other foot
now.”
They walked the short distance to the table. “They all
seem rather big, don’t you think, Josh?” Donna reached
her hand out to touch.
“Don’t touch them, Donna. Really. Do not touch them.”
“I’m sure they’ve been washed, Josh.”
“Don’t care, don’t care, I’m still feeling very
disturbed.”
“It’s just porn, Josh. And... some equipment.”
“It’s my great grandfather’s porn, Donna. And it’s in
my old office. This office, where powerful people made
important decisions that have affect the world in more
ways that we can calculate.”
Donna smirked. “You know, you think finding the sheep
picture would have deflated your ego just a tiny bit.”
Josh’s eyes changed color a bit and he suddenly seemed
very somber. He waited to speak until he had her eyes
in his. “I gave you my ID badge in this office, Donna.
And that has affected my world in more ways that I can
calculate.”
Suddenly, Donna’s heart was pounding in her ears and
her palms felt like they were dripping on the floor.
“It made my world, Joshua.”
He stepped a bit closer to her. Over his shoulder,
Donna could see a very old photograph of a
bare-breasted woman and a Rudolph Valentino-esque man
embracing passionately. It looked like someone had
poured olive oil all over the man and put baby powder
all over the woman. Her eyes flickered back to Josh
and she saw all kinds of erotic images, none of which
involved salad dressing. He had never quite looked at
her that way before.
He could see the snow falling through the cracks
between the cat pictures. He groaned inwardly as the
owner’s bad pun with the “cat” pictures occurred to
him. But then he straightened his vision and all there
was was Donna. And though her eyes and face had
changed, grown older, she still caused all the blood
in his veins to boil and his heart to catch fire. He
could think of a bunch more romantic girly clichés,
but he’d rather focus on her. And for the first time
in their relationship, there was no line that couldn’t
be crossed. They were free. She was right, it was
scary. But also wonderful.
Josh found of his voice and let the words come out of
his mouth. “I want to kiss you, but not in front of
the dildos.”
Donna’s eyes widened and for a second, he felt that he
had made a horrible error. Then she threw her head
back and laughed. He just stared at her for a second,
then he let his dimples begin to show.
“That’s quite a line, Joshua.”
“Thanks, use it on all the ladies.”
Donna smiled somewhat bashfully. “Yeah, I think, um,
kissing amongst these eccentric antiques would be a
bit strange even for us.”
Josh started to pace where his desk used to be. “I
can’t believe they did this to my old office. I had a
whole plan, Donna. Almost as elaborate as my nine
point plan for Santos. We would come here, we would
talk, we would get everything out in the open, I would
bring you in here and then we would, you know.... talk
more about certain things... maybe... I dunno...
admit....some....things...and then I would, you know,
kiss you. I thought it would be romantic, our first
kiss, the old office, old things, new things...”
“You had a plan,” Donna couldn’t help but smile and
gently nod her head.
“Yes!” Josh ran his fingers through his hair.
“A nine-point plan, three of the points being,
talking, admitting and kissing.”
Josh stopped and looked back at her. “Well, for the
plan to work, the points would have to happen in
sequential order.”
“Did you stay up nights in Holiday Inns in Des Moines
thinking up this plan?”
“I stayed up nights thinking of kissing you.”
Suddenly, the room was spinning again. Donna felt a
jolt go through her system. Her voice was soft when
she spoke again. “And did that just happen in Des
Moines?”
“No, that’s happened in most of the fifty states,
Germany and probably a few other countries. And, of
course, it happened all the time in D.C.” His voice
was raspy and he was moving towards her again.
Donna took a deep breath. “Josh, maybe the office is
different. But we’re different. We’ve got more scars
now, ones you can see and ones you can’t and you have
less hair.” He chuckled at that. “And maybe a
prehistoric porno section in a bizarre little store
isn’t where either of us pictured it happening, but
we’ve both just admitted, well you just admitted and
now I’m admitting, that we’ve wanted this to happen
for a long time and I’ll throw you one even bigger and
tell you that my feelings for you are more then
friendship and have been for a long time. I mean, it’s
not ideal, but I don’t think we should let the dildos
get us down.”
Josh paused his steps and Donna was almost about to
throw herself out of the room and out of the store,
when he began to laugh. She covered her face with her
hands, but couldn’t stop herself from laughing,
either.
Donna was just about to brush a tear away from her eye
when she felt Josh move her hands away from her face.
Before she could register anything else, his lips were
on hers and their hands were woven together. It
started off extremely gentle, almost shy, but just as
suddenly, their hands broke apart and she cupped his
face. He pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around
her waste and their mouths opened to each other.
Soon, they were pressed together as firmly as humanly
possible and their lips were dancing madly with each
other, their tongues freely exploring. Although
Donna’s eyes were closed, she almost saw the picture
in the corner of the man and the woman. She knew that,
even with more clothes, her and Josh’s kiss was
better. But then her mind went back to Josh and his
lips and hands.
They broke apart hesitantly, drawing on each others
lips until they knew they had to stop before they
started creating their own porn section.
Josh stared into her eyes. “My feelings go well beyond
friendship, too. Well, well beyond.”
Donna felt relief, but she knew there was still more
to say, more to admit. “I didn’t want to leave you.
The job, yes, but not you.”
“I was hurt, because I thought you did. I thought...
you didn’t love me anymore.” Josh realized what he
assumed and his eyebrows nearly touched his hairline.
“I, I, I didn’t mean....”
The almost-girl Josh gave an ID badge to eight years
ago would be flustered, but the woman before him was
not. “Of course I still love you.”
She had never quite seen joy in Josh’s eyes like she
did at that moment. It wasn’t there when Barlet won,
either time, it wasn’t there when bills got passed or
judges appointed, or even for Mandy or Amy. She was
sure the joy was mirrored in her own eyes.
“And I love you, Donnatella Moss. I’m sorry I didn’t
get to say it before now.”
She took his hand again. “You did, in other ways,
Josh. You did.”
His eyes got serious again. Josh didn’t really know if
he was dreaming or not at this moment. He had been so
petrified and now it all seemed so simple and easy.
Like he had sweated it out eight years for nothing.
Well, an improper relationship between a boss and his
assistant wasn’t nothing, per say, but his largest
fears had been quelled. “Well, we’ve talked, admitted
and kissed, not in the correct order, but I’ll let it
slide. What should we do now?”
“Hmmm... what are the other six points in your plan?”
The last point in the plan is on Toby’s old desk, Josh
thought, but his tongue was too busy begging to go
back into Donna’s mouth to cause trouble. “We’ll get
to them eventually.”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“It’s a large and complicated plan, Donna. Many ins
and outs. You may need to make note cards.”
She kissed him lightly. “I don’t work for you anymore,
Joshua.”
“Thank God,” he pulled her into another embrace.
To: “Donna Moss” <donna_moss@...>
From: “Joshua Lyman” <lyman921@...>
Date: Fri, Apr 23, 2006 10:02:32
Subject: Red Lights
Donnatella,
Happy not-anniversary! I know you guys are sucking it
big time now that we’ve hit our stride (come on, you
can’t expect me not to gloat a bit, I gotta be me),
but I’m sure you’re cheered by a mean man who can read
a calendar, but still has trouble with the coffee
maker. (Once we are living together, coffee should be
your responsibility. Trust me, you don’t want it any
other way.)
Last night on the phone was amazing (even though you
only think you are being funny by making those sheep
noises). I hope no one was recording it, although we
could blow all that crap in my old office away with
our lovemaking. You don’t think they put porn in my
White House office, do you?
It is, however, no substitute for the real thing and I
am looking forward, to put it mildly, to Tuesday when
I can hold you and kiss you and make love to you and
express all kinds of girly emotion. And I’m taking you
out to dinner.
The subject is “red lights” and its because I’ve been
thinking of something you said to be years ago, about
how you wouldn’t stop for them if I had been in an
accident. And I’ve been thinking that I gave you so
many red lights over the years, including trying to
keep you tethered to me as an assistant and you didn’t
stop. You didn’t stop loving me, even when I gave you
a thousand reasons not to love me. I was stupid, I was
being a silly little boy because I was scared.
Emotions this strong are new for me, Donna. Well, now
they’re about eight years old. And I’m learning to
stop acting like an eight-year-old.
Well, I’ll keep the girly theme a-going. I love you, I
love you, I love you. Top that, sheep-girl.
I miss you. I’ll call you at two pm today.
Joshua
To: “Joshua Lyman” <lyman921@...>
From: “Donna Moss” <donna_moss@...>
Date: Fri, Apr 23, 2006 11:55:09
Subject: RE: Red Lights
Joshua,
The sheep noises are funny, Josh! Well, maybe its a
bit of sadistic humor, because I know it makes you
uncomfortable. Stop picking on Bingo Bob!
The phone is great, but you’re right that it doesn’t
compete with the real thing. I’m sure our lovemaking
would definitely top anything found in that old Barlet
for America office. Especially that night in Chicago.
Well, in Atlanta, too. And in Houston, after we had
dinner with the Santos’ and found that beautiful
park.... you really are quite the outdoorsman, Josh.
And no, I doubt C.J. and Toby have filled your old WH
office with porn.
I would never stop at red lights for you, Joshua, but
I know that you wouldn’t stop for me, either. We were
both afraid. Don’t put all the blame on yourself. I
did plenty of things the last eight years to push you
away, too. And you never stopped loving me either.
That’s why its so strong and powerful and real to us
now that we’ve come to the place where we are.
I love you more then anything I’ve ever loved in my
life.
And I will make the coffee, but I will not bring it to
you.
I miss you, love you, look forward to your call
Donnatella