Chapter 4
Ok – so she had to admit, it was a cruel trick to play on Josh. But he really did have it coming. Working Josh into a frenzy wasn’t particularly hard these days because he was so tightly wound all the time, but he needed someone to remind him to laugh occasionally, and she had elected herself to that position. She allowed herself a small smile. The melodious sound of the piano combined with Annabeth’s lovely voice had leeched all the tension from Donna, and for the first time in a long time she felt GOOD. And it felt good to feel good. It was like a warm glow that started somewhere deep inside her and gently radiated a life affirming warmth throughout her body. Of course this could have something to do with the alcohol she had consumed earlier in the evening… but it was more likely due to the fact that Josh had his arm around her shoulders and was gently rubbing his thumb in small circles on the crest of her arm as they sat drinking in the music like a fine wine.
Josh, stroking her… She could have purred… in fact at one point she was pretty sure she had. This crazy rollercoaster of a day hadn’t ended so badly after all.
Donna was feeling pretty content with the way things were going when nature called. Actually it screamed. The three fruit ‘mocktails’ and the wine she had consumed earlier had finally hit, and she made a move to get up.
“What’s up?”
“Nothing.”
Josh watched her as she started to stand up.
“You leaving?” Traces of concern lit at the corners of his eyes.
“I have to step out for a moment.”
He started to rise.
“I’ll come with you.”
She put her hand on his shoulder.
“No, you won’t”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t think you’d be very welcome.” She raised both her eyebrows and cocked her head in the direction of the restrooms.
“Oh.”
“Yeah, ‘oh’. I’ll be back in a minute.”
“Not likely.” Sarcasm tinged his voice as Josh he started to take a mouthful of his drink. She retorted by sticking her tongue out at him and was rewarded with the sight of him snorting most of it back into the glass.
“Try and be a gentleman and get me a hot chocolate, would you?” Picking up her bag from the table she headed towards the door.
Annabeth was still thoroughly enjoying herself up on stage with the young pianist. She watched as Leo, smiling like the cat who got the canary, got up from his table and headed over towards Josh.
Donna was about halfway across the dance floor when she heard her name being called softly. Turning she paused and smiled, allowing Helen to catch up with her.
“Are you…?” Helen nodded in the direction of the ‘Restroom’ sign.
“Yeah.”
“Good, I’ll go with you,” she said, falling into step with Donna
“Where are the boys?” Donna asked as they reached the door to the restrooms. ‘The boys’ was the name several of the female staffers used for the plethora of Secret Service agents that were on the Congressman’s detail.
“Oh, lurking somewhere I guess.”
As if on cue, a dark suited figure emerged from the shadows near the entrance to the restrooms. Donna and Helen both let out an involuntary ‘squeak’.
“Rodney!” Helen exclaimed.
“Sorry, ma’am” the agent replied.
“Sorry, my foot!” She grumbled to Donna as they passed Rodney.
“They enjoy doing that far too much!” she said as she pushed the swinging door to the restroom open.
Donna was washing her hands when Helen stepped out of the cubicle behind her.
“You and Josh seem… cozy tonight.” Helen commented cautiously as she reached over to pump some soap into her palm.
Out of the corner of her eye, Helen saw Donna make a grab at the tap mixer to turn it off, but in her surprise, twisting it in the wrong direction and sending a jetstream of water up over the edge of the bowl. Jumping back to avoid an unfortunate water mark, Donna managed to lean over and turn the tap off correctly.
Helen eyed the younger woman in the mirror. She’d heard the rumors that ran around the office. She ignored most of them, simply putting them down as office gossip from busybodies who should be doing better things with their time. Of course the comments were always passed behind the behind the backs of those involved and were never made with earshot of any of the senior members of the campaign staff. It had come to Helen’s notice however, when she had inadvertently been witness to one particular slap-down by Annabeth and Edie; two young female staffers… or ‘kittens-in-heat’ as Edie had called them – were getting a bit mouthy about how quickly up the ranks Donna had come. The two girls had been moved to another part of the campaign shortly thereafter.
Helen didn’t pay any attention to that sort of water-cooler gossip anyway. She trusted Donna; she had proven herself to be bright, savvy and honest – yes she really liked Donna.
But, despite all that, there was definitely ‘something’ between Donna and their campaign manager. At first Helen couldn’t quite put her finger on it. It was like they were both dancing around something... was it a past relationship that had turned sour? No… she would have heard about that… It was only after talking to Leo that she gained an understanding of the situation between Josh and Donna – which was why she was rather pleasantly surprised to see them so close tonight. Helen would be the first to admit she liked a good, soppy love story as much as the next girl. It was often a long time between campaign stops, and the odd Harlequin romance was as good a way to occupy herself. But she was nonetheless pleased to think that there was a budding romance here – and God knew, Josh needed to lighten up a bit!
“You look good together.” Helen stated simply as she washed her hands.
Donna eyed her suspiciously for a moment before she seemed to allow herself to drop her guard.“Yes…” she hesitated, turning to look at herself in the mirror, resolution and contentment plain on her face. “Yes… we do… we are.”
Helen’s first comment had come as a bit of surprise. Donna didn’t think she was being that obvious, but Helen was an astute woman… and, well, a woman. She supposed that of anybody in the room, Helen would be most the likely to have seen what was going on. At first, Donna’s natural reaction was like any other time, her body tensed up and her heart started racing… she had been caught out. But then Helen had finished the comment. You look good together – and she’d realized that for probably the first time it was OK to admit to this… whatever it was. They did look good together. Donna felt as though a weight had lifted from her shoulders – for first time she was free to be openly in love and it felt wonderful. Looking in the mirror she saw a different woman looking back at her – not Donnatella Moss the political player, but Donnatella Moss, woman in love… and she liked what she saw. Will had been right – it might be weird, but it wasn’t inappropriate.
A movement in the mirror caught Donna’s attention, and she noticed Helen moving behind her. The congressman’s wife arched an eyebrow and smiled an enigmatic little smile as she moved over to open the door. Donna felt her own smile form on her lips as she followed her back out into the Lounge.
The seating arrangements had apparently changed slightly during their absence. Josh and Leo had both migrated over to the Congressman’s table and whatever they were discussing – they were rather enjoying it.
The two women walked across the dance floor towards them. Leo was obviously regaling the Congressman with some anecdote from the past, and judging from the half-grin-half-wince on Josh’s face, she was pretty certain that it involved him. Donna watched as Matthew Santos face went from stunned amazement to open mouthed amusement. As they approached the table Donna heard Leo say –
“…gushing from the head wound you just received from a stampeding herd of bison…” Josh sniggered and joined in the final part of the quote.
“…you’ll do the press briefing!”
The two men looked at each other and started to roar with laughter and Donna couldn’t help but notice how incredibly… well… hot… Josh looked right at that moment. Casually lounging at the end of the booth, a ginger ale in one hand, his dress shirt open, his tie hanging limply around his neck – Josh looked the most relaxed she had seen him in ages. His face scrunching up as he laughed, his nose wrinkling in that exceptionally adorable way of his, and of course – the dimples were out in full force. Damn… he must have been an adorable baby, Donna though absently.
“Honest to God Leo, I thought he was going to pop me one right there and then…”
“What’s all this then?” Helen said in a mock ‘mother’ tone. “I thought I’d set the rules out over shop talk for the night?”
Matt laughed and reached out a hand towards his wife.
“Leo’s just telling old war stories honey. We didn’t break your rules.”
Josh stood up to let Helen sit down next to her husband, and moved over to Donna’s side.
“Thanks Leo!” he grimaced.
“A secret plan to fight inflation, though?” Matt raised his eyebrows.
“Yeah – I still get an e-mail once a month from Sam about that one!” Gesturing towards Leo, he smiled at Donna. “He brought out all my greatest hits!”
Donna bit the inside of her cheek before speaking.
“Letting Josh within fifty yards of any media is a guaranteed recipe for disaster,” she giggled.
“Hey! I’m not the one who went toe to toe with a chicken on national television, Ms Moss!”
“I still owe you for that one!”
Josh’s boyish grin grew wider.
“OK – after the election we’ll get together and settle up accounts.”
He glanced over his shoulder at the stage where Annabeth was still having a whale of a time singing her heart out. She had moved on to a song that Donna instantly recognized –it had been used in Peters Friends a british "dramedy" she owned.
Some day, when I’m awfully low,
When the world is cold, I will feel a glow,
Just thinking of you, and the way you look tonight…Josh took Donna lightly by the hand, leaned over and whispered –
“Come dance with me.”
Donna felt her legs turn to water at the low velvet tone in his voice.
Like a wallflower being led onto the floor for the first time, Donna allowed him to guide her out into the middle of the dance floor.
Tenderly, Josh drew her into his embrace. He pulled her close to him, wrapping his right arm around her waist, catching her right hand in his left. Lacing their fingers together, he dropped a light kiss on her knuckles before pressing their hands to his chest. Donna leaned into him, dropping her head onto his shoulder.
They stood there swaying gently to the music. Donna inhaled deeply, wanting to savor everything about this moment, to commit everything to memory. The rigors of the day had all but erased the smell of the cologne Josh would have put on that morning, leaving behind a lingering hint of its former potency tempered with the tantalizing scent that was all Josh.
Donna sighed contentedly, and snuggled in closer, wishing the night would never end.
Even the song was perfect for the moment – right down to the fact that his wrinkled nose did touch her heart. It was as if Annabeth had chosen to sing it especially for her.
“…keep that breathless charm, won’t you please arrange it,
for I love you. Just the way you look tonight.”Amen sister, Donna thought to herself.