* * *
The banging on his door was startling in and of itself. It was after midnight – no one in his right mind would be banging on his door that late. Well, Josh would. But – Josh was here next to him in bed, so it wasn’t him doing the pounding. Sam got up and pulling on a pair of sweatpants – hopping down the hall to answer the door before his neighbors decided to get him evicted. It was then that he heard the voice – the voice that spelled his doom.
“Sam!” There was that unmistakable North Carolina drawl of a woman who had never even met her right mind. “I know you’re in there. Your car is downstairs. Open up and let me in – I have to talk to you right now.”
As if the fact that she was pounding on his door after midnight was not a clear sign that she thought she needed to discuss something with him immediately. “I’m coming Ainsley – just give me a minute – would you?”
“I don’t have a minute, Sam. You’ve got to open the door right now.”
Sam had taken the extra few seconds to slip on a t-shirt, and now felt ready to open the door. “Hello, Ainsley. To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit at something after midnight?”
Ainsley rapidly moved past him into his apartment. “Sam – where is your bathroom?”
Without thinking, he pointed down the hall toward his bedroom – the hallway door to his bathroom had gotten stuck again, and the super hadn’t yet had time to fix it. Since his only visitor – ever – was Josh, Sam hadn’t really cared. He was also still half-asleep, so it hadn’t occurred to him, yet, that Ainsley was going to walk right past Josh – asleep (or maybe not so much) in his bed on her trip to the bathroom.
Of course, the room was dark – with only a sliver of light coming from the hallway, and Ainsley wasn’t always the most observant woman, so there was a chance – a slim one – that she wouldn’t notice. On the way in, Sam had gotten lucky – he thought – because she gave no sign of noticing who his bed partner was. Then he saw the light go on in the bedroom, and he knew it was all over.
He debated, momentarily, just walking out the front door of his apartment to the street below and standing in the street to wait for an on-coming truck to hit him. It sure as hell would be easier than what was about to happen. He had thought Mallory was a difficult conversation, but at least that relationship had clearly been over. This thing he had with Ainsley, though, was just – weird. No other word for it – weird. It was kind of a flirtation, but then not.
It wasn’t that he was interested in Ainsley that way but it was fun flustering her – and besides, he really wanted to get back at her for the whole Capitol Beat debacle. Which, truth to tell, wasn’t her fault, but still, she did it. Sam decided to settle in a chair in the living room and let this play out however it was going to. Even though he was the advocate of “no unnecessary risks,” short of quickly shoving Josh under the bed, there would be no way to prevent Ainsley from discovering his relationship with Josh, so if he could have some fun with this moment – why not? He heard the bathroom door open, and he waited.
Didn’t take long. “What the hell?” That was Josh.
“Uh – Josh what are you – oh my god – no don’t tell me.” That was Ainsley.
And still, Sam sat in the living room. Then he heard, “No – Josh. Please, don’t get up.” And Sam tried to stifle a laugh, since he knew that Josh was, in fact, wearing something – though he couldn’t remember precisely what at this moment. And then, “I’m just – I’m just gonna go – go now, in fact.”
And as easily as that, Ainsley had found out. Now the questions were: what would she do with the information and what did she think she knew. She rounded the corner into the living room and studied Sam carefully.
“Why are you staring at me,” Sam asked, “Do you think you missed some sign or something?”
“No – that’s not it at all. I just thought you were smarter than this,” Ainsley said sadly.
“Smarter than what, Ainsley? What are you trying to say?” Josh had entered the room also in sweatpants and a t-shirt and was suddenly furious.
Sam had never seen Ainsley back down from a fight, and yet she was backpedaling quickly, “I didn’t mean it that way. I just – what about the President?”
“You’re a Republican -- you don’t like him, remember?” Josh said snidely. “You should be jumping up and down and calling all your little friends or something. Another scandal in the White House – you should be assured victory now.”
“Josh – cut it out.” Sam ordered. “Ainsley, sit down and let’s talk about this. Besides, I want to know what you needed in the first place.”
“I had an idea about – you know, I don’t remember anymore, but I also needed to use the facilities and I didn’t think I could wait until I got home,” Ainsley murmured.
Sam grinned, “Got more than you bargained for stopping here, didn’t you?”
“Well, yeah, a little. I mean, you could have warned me.”
“Or me,” Josh added turning his rapidly diminishing ire on Sam.
“Hindsight is a lovely thing, isn’t it? The only plan I came up with involved shoving Josh under the bed, and I don’t think he’d fit,” Sam grinned at Josh’s indignant look, “Seriously though, Ainsley. We really haven’t told anybody –“
“The President knows Sam. I think we’re quickly moving beyond the haven’t told anybody part to there are some people who don’t know yet part,” Josh chided – remembering how scared Sam had been then, and seeing how relaxed he was now gave him faith that Sam was really in this for the long haul.
Ainsley gasped, “The President knows? Does Leo?”
“Well, no. And we’re trying to keep it that way – at least for now,” Josh said.
Ainsley looked between the two of them, “I know something before Leo does? I feel so privileged.”
“Let’s think about how you came by this information. You invaded my apartment – after midnight to use my bathroom and discovered – well – our relationship. Since I doubt Leo has the same small bladder, or the same determination to encroach on the privacy of others, I don’t see that obtaining this information is something you should be proud of.”
“All the same, Sam – I’m reveling.”
“Do me a favor and revel somewhere else – I want to go back to bed,” Sam said shortly. He was rewarded with a leer from Josh and a blush from Ainsley, who quickly made her apologies and left.
*****The Next Evening******
“Uh, Josh?” Sam peered into the bedroom and couldn’t seem to find his missing lover. He’d been in the apartment not even five minutes ago, and now nothing. Sam shrugged and figured that Josh was being Josh – he’d turn up eventually.
About fifteen minutes later, Sam heard what he thought was Josh’s voice coming from the bedroom, but Josh couldn’t have gotten in there without passing Sam in the living room, unless –
Sam went back in the bedroom and looked under the bed, “Oh for god’s sake, Josh. What are you doing under there?”
“You said I wouldn’t fit – I wanted to prove you were wrong,” Josh said.
“And you’re still under there because –“
“I can’t get out,” Josh said looking extremely embarrassed.
“I see. And what do you expect me to do about it?”
“I suppose helping me out from under here is out of the question.”
“Depends – what are the magic words?”
“Please?”
“Not exactly. Why are you under the bed again, Mr. ‘I’m a Fulbright Scholar and you aren’t’?”
Because I wanted to prove you – oh, I get it,” Josh said followed by a long sigh, “You were right and I was wrong.”
“Hold on a second – I’m going to need you to repeat that for posterity,” Sam said with a laugh as he ran out of the room to grab his tape recorder out of his briefcase.
“SAM! This isn’t funny. Get me out of here,” Josh ordered trying to sound authoritative, but ultimately only sounding pathetic.
“I’m going to get you out of there, Mir, but I don’t get opportunities like this very often,” Sam was still chuckling.
After a few more minutes of enjoying Josh’s predicament, Sam extracted him from his position under the bed. Shortly after that, Sam found himself in his own sort of predicament – but he wasn’t complaining.
END