The Ball: Part Two
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When the alarm went off, she threw out her arm, hoping she would hit the clock on her nightstand and stop the ringing. After a few tries, she succeeded.
"No...I just need a few more minutes..." she groaned into her pillow, but she picked her head up and squinted at the clock: 5:30 AM.
Then, she realized that she could hear breathing nearby. And it wasn't her. She turned and looked at the other side of the bed. There, she found Josh-sprawled out next to her and sleeping like a baby.
"Oh yeah. I need a few more minutes," she said, and pulled the covers up over her head.
~~~~~
The next time Donna opened her eyes, she was facing Josh, who was still asleep. Sunlight was bursting through the mini-blinds. She rolled over to look at the clock, but with a yelp and a thud, she landed on the floor.
"What? What is it?" Josh asked, instantly awake.
"I'm, uh, down here," she called up to him.
"Oh, hey," he said, peering over the edge of the bed at her.
"What time is it?" she asked, craning her neck to check the time, "10:30? It's 10:30?? How the hell did we oversleep like that??" She untangled herself from the blankets and rushed out into the hall.
A moment later, she reappeared, waving her toothbrush at him. "How did you end up in my bed?" she asked through a mouthful of toothpaste.
"What?" Josh replied, unable to understand her.
She ran off again. He heard her spit and rinse. Then she was back, still waving her toothbrush.
"How did you end up in my bed?" she asked again.
"Oh. I had to go to the bathroom."
"And you ended up here?" she gestured at the bed.
"I got lost. I figured it could wait. Hey, your bed is really comfy," he told her, bouncing a little.
"It's down there," she directed, pointing down the hall.
She went into the kitchen to make some coffee. "We are dead meat," she grumbled under her breath.
A minute later, Josh joined her, dialing the cordless he had picked up from her room.
"Who are you calling?"
"Leo."
"Leo?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
"Leo McGarry, please," he said into the phone. While he waited, he held his hand over the mouthpiece and spoke to her. "I'm trying to get us out of work," he grinned.
"Josh! It's the first day of the President's second term!"
"Don't worry, we won't have to go."
She rolled her eyes at him.
Finally, Leo came on the line. Donna sat at the kitchen table, listening to Josh's end of the conversation.
"'Morning, Leo. (cough) Yeah, actually, I'm pretty sick. (sniffle) I don't know what it is, but I feel horrible. I don't think I'm going to make it in today. (cough) Oh, Donna's not there yet either?" he winked at her, "Maybe I should check on her--oh. But--Leo, why--okay. Bye." He hung up the phone. "I guess we do have to go."
Donna got up, poured two steaming cups of coffee, and sat back down. Josh dialed another number.
"You're not going to drink it?"
"Yeah, I'll get to it. Thanks."
"Hey Charlie, it's Josh. Yeah. Okay," he said into the phone.
While he waited (much longer this time) he cradled the phone with his shoulder and stood behind Donna, running his fingers through her hair.
"What are you doing?" she laughed.
"Getting the tangles out." he told her.
"Oh. It feels nice," she said and wrapped her hands around her coffee.
Finally, the man in charge answered his phone. Josh almost dropped his.
"Oh, hey, Mr. President, um, Good Morning! Oh, he did? Yeah. Are you sure? It's not a problem? Alright. Thank you, sir. Have a good day."
"I can't believe you called the President to try to get out of work," she laughed in disbelief.
"Well, it worked. We don't have to go," his last statement had a singsong tone to it.
~~~~~
A half-hour later, they were sitting on the couch eating pancakes that Josh had made.
"I didn't know you could cook," Donna mumbled through a mouthful of food.
"What?" he asked in pretend shock, "I live by myself, you think that means I eat takeout every night?"
"Um...yeah."
They sat chewing in silence as Josh kept his thumb on the remote, channel surfing.
"Oh, hey, wait, stop there!" Donna exclaimed as CNN flashed onto the screen. "They've got footage of the Balls last night!"
They watched as the channel showed clips of all five Inaugural Balls from the previous night.
"There's us," Josh said softly as video played of couples dancing to "At Last" at the Smithsonian.
"That's so weird. Oh man, you can see my socks!" She said as she watched Josh spin her around.
"I don't think anyone who's watching is looking at your feet," he told her before shoveling another forkful of pancakes into his mouth.
"That's true. Hey, I'm on TV, I can't complain," she smiled.
They watched for a few more minutes as two anchors discussed the events of the day before.
Then, she turned to him and said, "Hey, Josh?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you remember anything you said last night?"
He looked at her, puzzled. "You mean at the Ball?"
"Um...yeah." she confirmed, looking away.
"I remember." A long pause. Then, "I meant it, you know."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I really do."
"Love you too, Josh."
He put down his plate and reached for her hand. She turned hers over to accept his, and they sat together, watching the TV but thinking about other things.
The End.
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