Chapter 3
For the next half hour Josh sat there caught between the intoxicating scent of the woman he loved and Annabeth’s unexpectedly beautiful voice. As he sipped his drink Josh thought he recognized the tune from an old Fred Astaire movie that he had been forced to sit through by both his mother and Donna at some point in his life. He remembered it had a lot of dancing in it. But then again, what Fred Astaire movie didn’t?
Annabeth’s singing had triggered a memory from the period of his recovery after Rosslyn. Josh particularly remembered that he had been forced to watch that movie for the second time with Donna during his rehabilitation.
It was about a month before the midterms, and Donna had finally allowed him out of bed for more than just calls of nature. He remembered being ensconced on the couch in his living room for most of the day and finding that Donna had done something to the aerial at the back of the TV that removed his access to the news. She’d told him she didn’t want him working himself into a frenzy watching C-Span all day and that she would fix it when he was better. He supposed he could have had a look himself to see if he could get it fixed, or at worse called in a TV repair guy, but to be honest, as much as it had frustrated him to be under her thumb like that – it wasn’t a wholly unpleasant feeling either. So instead Josh had spent most of his day reading the pittance of a work load she doled out, and watching ‘Donna Approved’ movies. It had nearly sent him round the bend.
Relief, however, had come sometime around seven when she had arrived on his doorstep with take out. They had shared a light and, in Josh’s opinion far too healthy dinner, and were finishing up with a cup of tea on the sofa in his living room.
No Coffee
You’re a cruel woman Donna Moss. Here I am on the long road to recovery…
Yes – and I want you to stay on that road.
He had smiled. Donna’s determination not to get him coffee was one of the mainstays of their relationship. And so he had suffered in silence and sat there drinking his tea, his legs propped up on the coffee table in front of him, while Donna had sat at the other end of the sofa, her sweat pant clad legs curled up under her, a mug of tea cradled in her hands.
They had bantered about her need to keep his life in order at work, they had made light of it, but in reality her steadiness was a wonderful constant for him. No matter how insane things got, he could always look to find some comfort in the knowledge that Donna was around
And so, although he had whined a bit about being made to watch an old movie he had already seen once, Josh nevertheless settled down to watch it with her. He hadn’t really hadn’t been paying that much attention to it – he was still been getting tired easily, and had been quite content to sit there dozing – when for some reason, he’d glanced over at her and caught some of lyrics of one of the songs at the exact same time. It was as if some sort of universal cosmic timing had set him up, and he watched, bemused, as Donna blew and sipped lightly at the tea in the mug, while Fred romanced Ginger with a song…
The way you wear your hat, the way you sip your tea,
The memory of all that, no, no they can’t take that away from me.Josh had squinted and blinked several times, flicking his glance between the TV and Donna, who seemed oblivious to the correlation.
So when he heard those same words being sung by Annabeth, he immediately took notice.
This time, with Donna cuddled in next to him, he listened. This time he took ALL the words in, and was stunned by how amazingly appropriate the choice of song was.
Josh glanced at Annabeth, wondering if for a split second if she could possibly have read his mind and was singing the song just for him. Instead he noticed that her attention seemed to be taken up solely with Leo who had perched himself at a table right next to edge of the stage. Josh felt his eyes widen in surprise as he realized what he was seeing. Annabeth was singing, and it was to an audience of one. Well, who would have guessed?
The way your smile just beams,
The way you sing off key
The way you haunt my dreams
No, no they can’t take that away from me.Shifting his gaze, Josh stared down lovingly at the woman in his arms. Eight years. That had to be some sort of record. He didn’t quite know where to go from here… this was completely unfamiliar territory. He was really behind the eight ball when it came to starting a serious relationship.
“Donna?”
She looked up at him, a relaxed expression on her face.
“Yeah?”
“What do we do now?”
“In what way?
“What’s our next step?
“I though that’s what you and Leo were talking about.”
“No, not the campaign… the next step, with…. us”
She pulled back slightly so she could turn and look at him more easily.
“You mean you don’t know?” She raised an eyebrow, giving him quirky grin. “I would have thought I made that obvious earlier this evening.” She tapped him playfully on the nose.
Josh knew what she meant – and he was certainly keen to take her up on the offer, but still… he had – reservations.
“I mean, after that…”
“I’m thinking breakfast!”
“Donna!” He sighed in exasperation. “I’m trying to be serious here.”
“That’s pretty boring” she teased with a giggle.
Josh looked down and noticed for the first time that the glass that had held her carnival-style drink was empty save for a couple of cocktail cherries and the little paper umbrella.
“Donna, what was in that thing?” he frowned.
Donna gave him a flirty smile with a slightly glazed look in her eyes.
“I don’t know, but he said it would make my head spin.” She looked at him and rewarded him with a big toothy smile.
“Don’t worry – I’m not as think as you drunk I am.”Josh heard Donna slurring her words and felt his mouth fall open.
Oh my God! Someone up there really hates me!
It was just his luck. He’d finally gotten his act together and she’d gotten wasted!
“This can’t be happening to me,” Josh muttered.
“What can’t?”
“THIS! Geez Donna! I want to…” He was lost for words. “I want…”
“What?” Her voice dropped an octave into a deep throaty purr that did strange things to his knees.
“You… tonight… every night…”
She looked at him for a moment before she threw her head back and laughed.
“What’s so funny?” Josh was very confused
“You, you idiot!” Donna’s voice lost all traces of intoxication. “Did you think for a moment that after what you said before I was going to get drunk tonight?”
Josh stared at the empty glass and back to her twinkling eyes.
“But you said…”
She waved her hand at him.
”When the guy came to replace our drinks while you and Leo were talking I got him to bring me a non alcoholic one back.”
“Oh.”
“So what was your question?”
He paused for a moment, then took a deep breath.
“Where do we go from here? Where do YOU want to go from here?”
Josh watched as Donna’s eyes softened.
“Wherever you go.”
She settled herself back into his side….
“No they can’t take that away, they can’t take that away.
No they can’t take that away… from… me.”No, thought Josh. They can’t.