...CONTINUED FROM PART 1
"Good afternoon," C.J. said as she stepped up to the briefing room podium.
"First, in conjunction with the White House Correspondents' Association, we
have an announcement to make. There are a number of pieces of clothing,
particularly coats, which have been gathering over the last year, both
upstairs and down here in the Briefing Room. Everyone out there who
listens, if they're yours, come and get them by Monday afternoon or they
will be donated to an appropriate charity chosen by the Correspondents'
Association. Secondly--"
"If any of them had money in the pocket it was mine," one of the reporters
joked.
"Sorry Mike. I checked all the coats and they're definitely in style rather
than out of style, so they couldn't possibly be yours. Secondly, in case
you think that comments like that don't reflect my deep and abiding love
for the White House press corps, we will inaugurate our first edition of
Friday afternoon happy hour here in the briefing room today. Please feel
free to come and join us for a cocktail, although you'll have to bring it
yourself."
The press corps laughed appreciatively. "What time will that be?" Steve asked.
"Five o'clock," C.J. responded. "It's just another excuse for me and my
staff to come down and have a good time at happy hour. You're welcome to
come join us. We're going to have to see how this one goes. That's it for
the fun announcements. Now, on to business..."
C.J. glanced surreptitiously around the briefing room, hoping to catch a
glimpse of Danny. She'd thought he might come to the happy hour, but so far
he was a no-show.
"I don't see why I you insisted I come to this thing," Toby grumbled,
stepping up beside C.J.
"Because it's a nice gesture. Because if we can do a little something to
foster good will between this administration and the press it's worth it,"
C.J. retorted.
"Well when you put it that way, I'm *certain* I'm wasting my time here."
"You know, Toby, seldom does a day go by when I don't marvel at your
positive outlook on life."
"And if one more person tries to talk to me about that damn tiger..." Toby
muttered as he stalked off.
Finally, C.J. decided she'd done enough socializing and chose to go on back
to her office. On her way she passed through the press room on the off
chance Danny was there.
Her hunch paid off, because the red-haired reporter was hunched over his
keyboard in the otherwise abandoned office.
"You didn't come to the happy hour," C.J. said quietly, stepping up next to
Danny.
The reporter glanced up at her briefly, then went back to his typing. "I
had some work to do here," he said simply.
"Oh," C.J. remarked. "I haven't seen much of you lately. I'd sort of gotten
used to you showing up in my office unannounced."
"It's been a busy week, I guess," Danny replied without looking up.
"Listen, Danny, I wanted to talk to you about the Asia stuff--"
"C.J., I'm kinda in the middle of something. Can we do this another time?"
"Sure," C.J. said, trying to mask her hurt feelings. "I'll see you around."
Danny watched her leave before turning back to his keyboard.
The next day, C.J. stared restlessly at the piles of paper on her desk.
She'd hoped to catch up on some of her work, but was finding it impossible
to concentrate.
Once again she found her eyes wandering over to the goldfish swimming
happily around in the bowl on her desk and C.J. sighed. She just couldn't
seem to stop thinking about Danny. A few weeks ago she would have thought
she'd be grateful for a little less attention from him. But now that he
seemed to be avoiding her, all she wanted was to talk to him.
Finally, C.J. gave up fighting it and walked into Carol's office. Pulling
open one of the cabinets, she grabbed the file Carol kept for press
clearances. C.J. flipped through it until she found the application she
wanted. Hurriedly, she jotted down Danny Concannon's home address and
stuffed the file back in the drawer.
A half an hour later, C.J. stood uncertainly outside Danny's apartment
door. This is probably a huge mistake, she thought, but what the hell.
Steeling herself, she rang the doorbell.
After a moment, a rumpled and very surprised-looking Danny opened the door.
"C.J.!" he exclaimed.
"Hi Danny," C.J. said, walking past him and into the apartment without
waiting for an invitation.
"C.J.?" Danny repeated uncertainly as he closed the door.
"Listen, I think I know what's been going on," C.J. began.
"C.J., you're in my apartment," Danny said.
"Yes."
"I don't understand."
"I looked up your address, got in my car and drove over here. It's pretty
simple, really."
"You came to my apartment?"
"Oh for god's sake, Danny, can you get over the fact that I'm in your
apartment so we can talk?" C.J. said in exasperation.
"Okay."
"Good. I think I know why you've been avoiding me."
"I haven't been avoiding you."
"Yes, you have. This isn't easy, so can I just get through this without any
interruptions, please?"
"Sorry."
C.J. took a deep breath before continuing. "See, there was this time, not
too long ago, when I was feeling really frustrated and disillusioned by
some of the things I'd had to do for the sake of my job. So I decided to
give this reporter a tip, because I liked him and because I'd had to cover
up something that I thought shouldn't have been covered up."
"You liked him?"
"Yes, but that's not the point."
"Seems like a pretty good point to me."
"Danny--"
"Okay."
"So anyway, I went to this reporter, and I started to give him the tip. But
he wouldn't take it. Do you know why?"
"I don't see what this--"
"He said that if I did it, afterwards, when I remembered that I was a
professional, I wouldn't like him anymore."
"So?"
"You should have taken your own advice, Danny."
"C.J.--"
"You were purposely warning me about Eaton and the Asia appropriations at
the briefing the other day. And now you regret it and you don't like me so
much anymore."
"Let's just say that I finally realized you were right."
"About what?"
"About us. About the fact that it's not a good idea for a reporter to get
involved in a personal relationship with the press secretary."
"Oh."
Danny and C.J. stared at each other for a moment, neither saying a word.
"I don't want to be right," C.J. said finally.
"C.J.--"
"These last few days, when you wouldn't talk to me, I realized how much I
liked it when you flirted with me. I miss it. I miss you, Danny."
"Now you tell me."
"Am I too late?" C.J. asked, stepping towards Danny.
"I'm trying to do the right thing, here, C.J."
"So am I," she said, before leaning in to kiss Danny firmly on the lips.
"You haven't done that in a long time," Danny remarked after their lips
finally parted a moment later.
"I know, and that's a mistake I'm hoping to rectify."
"You mean to tell me that all this time all I needed to do was play hard to
get?" Danny said with a crooked smile.
"Shut up and kiss me."
"Okay."
THE END