* * * “A New Dawn: Part 1“ * * *

"And did you know, Josh, that there are 60 species and over 8,000
varieties of grapes? It's true. Grape growing or viticulture, as it's
known, extends back to Egyptian times that date from 2400 BC. Grape seeds
have even been discovered in Egyptian tombs with mummies. But what I find to
be most interesting is-..."

President Josiah Bartlet's sentence was interrupted by a nearly stifled
groan from his Deputy Chief of Staff, Josh Lyman. Josh was slumped down in a
chair, with his eyes squeezed shut and his fingertips methodically rubbing
his temples.

"Am I boring you, Josh?", the President questioned.

Josh's eyes slowly opened and he managed some tired, insincere words. "Of
course not, sir. You know of my fondness for grapes. Who knew they had such
a history?"

Jed Bartlet grinned and shook his head. "Well, if you are that interested
then I think it only right of me to continue. Now where was I? Ah, yes.
What I find to be most interesting is-..."

The President was once again cut off in the same spot, as Josh suddenly
leapt to his feet. He rubbed at his face, while pointing to the door.
"Although I have found this discussion to be completely engrossing, sir, I
must be going. I have a meeting that I just remembered."

The President hid his smile and raised one eyebrow. "A meeting? With
whom?"

Josh's brow furrowed, as his overworked mind searched for an answer.
"With Senator...Senator...You know...The one...The one with the lopsided
ears."

Bartlet laughed and waved a hand. "Go ahead, get out of here."

Josh breathed a sigh of relief and practically ran out of the room, while
muttering a quick, "Thank you, sir."

Josh closed the door behind him and held up a halting hand to Sam Seaborn
who stood in his path, on his way to see the President. "Fair warning, you
are about to learn more about grapes than you could ever, ever want to know
in your entire time on this earth. If you value your sanity, you'll turn
back around and run for your life."

Sam laughed and patted Josh on the shoulder. "Thanks for the warning, but
just yesterday I survived a talk on the history of the walnut. I think I can
withstand just about anything after that."

Josh shrugged and watched as Sam disappeared behind the door. He had not
walked two feet from the door when he heard his assistant, Donna Moss',
insistent voice coming towards him. He placed a hand to his face and let it
slowly drag down.

"Josh! What has kept you so long? It's already 8:00 pm and you still
have a stack of papers a mile high on your desk that need to be read through
before tomorrow morning's staff meeting."

Josh sighed. "You know what, Donna? I no longer care about those papers.
I have just spent an excruciating, coma-inducing hour with the President
learning about grapes, during which I spent most of my time surveying his
office for any sharp object that would adequately serve the purpose of
jabbing my eyes out and putting me out of my misery. So, would you please
just leave me alone!"

Donna's eyes narrowed at him. "Oh, I see. The President has tortured you
for the last hour, so now you've decided that I should be as miserable as
you. Is that about right?"

Josh nodded. "Pretty much."

Donna shook her head at him, her eyes flaring a bit. "Well excuse me for
trying to be a good assistant and making sure that her boss is prepared for
the next day. It wouldn't kill you to act like you appreciate me every once
in a while, you know."

Josh jammed his hands into his pockets with a roll of his eyes. He was
in no mood for this. "I appreciate you, Donna. I appreciate that you nag me
more than my mother ever did."

Donna shook her head at him. "I should have known better than to even
try." With that, she turned on her heel and headed back to her desk.

Josh closed his eyes and sighed. He instantly felt bad for the way he
had treated Donna. Usually, she had the ability to deal with his mood swings
like no one else, but he thought that maybe he'd been a little too harsh with
her this time. She was invaluable to him and he realized that maybe he
didn't always make her feel that way. He decided to apologize to her. Josh
walked over to her desk and sat down on its corner.

"Donna," Josh stated.

Donna responded without looking up from her paperwork. "Yes, Joshua."

"I just wanted to say that I may have possibly acted like a jerk before."

Donna shook her head and looked up at him. "Was that supposed to be an
apology?"

Josh forced a smile and nodded. "Yeah, it was the best I could do. I'm
not really good at the 's' word."

Donna spoke as she shuffled a pile of papers in front of her. "Hm,
considering what a jerk you can be, I would have thought you'd be an old pro
at saying the 's' word by now."

Josh was taken aback by the harshness with which she said her words. Her
criticisms of him were usually done in jest, but this one was clearly not.
He spoke softly to her, as she lifted her eyes to him. "Is that really how
you see me?"

Donna removed her eyes from his. "Let's just forget it, okay? We've both
had a long day and it's probably just our fatigue talking."

Josh slowly lifted himself off of her desk and nodded. "Yeah, okay. I
guess I'll see you tomorrow then."

Donna nodded without a word. Josh was about to walk away, but then
stopped himself. He spoke softly to her, his head down. "I do appreciate
you, Donna. I hope you know that."

Josh then turned around and walked to his office. Donna's head lifted
and her eyes followed his figure until his door had shut behind him. Then she
slowly began to shuffle the pile of papers she'd already shuffled numerous
times.

*-*-*-*-*

Josh strolled into work the next morning hoping that everything between
him and Donna was back to normal. He always had enjoyed their playful banter
and he didn't want things to change between them because of how inconsiderate
he could be.

Josh had just passed Sam's office, when Donna approached him and began to
walk beside him, with pad in hand.

"Good morning, Josh. You have a 9:30 meeting with Senator Mitchum to
discuss his thoughts on the Health Care proposal."

Josh nodded, running a hand through his hair. "Mitchum...Is that the one
with the lopsided ears?"

Donna shook her head, as she made notes on her pad. "No. You have a 1:00
lunch with Senator Collins to discuss the Education budget proposal for the
new year."

"Collins? Is he the one with the lopsided ears or the crooked nose?"

"Crooked nose," Donna answered, while making a check mark on her notepad.

Josh nodded at her, as she finally looked up at him. "Okay, thanks."

Donna wrinkled her nose at him and waved her hand in front of her face.
"Oh Josh, your breath."

Josh's eyebrows raised in confusion, as he brought his palm up to his
mouth and huffed into it. He shrugged at her. "What?"

"Did you have garlic for breakfast or something?" Donna asked, while
taking a step back from him.

"No."

"Well, your breath smells like you could ward off about a thousand
vampires."

Josh smiled. "Good, I know quite a few in Congress who'd love to sink
their teeth into me."

Donna laughed, her eyes brightening. Josh happily nodded, as he began to
see that things were back to normal between them. He snapped his fingers as
he remembered where he'd had the garlic. "Oh, that's right. Last night for
dinner I had garlic bread. But I've brushed, flossed and gargled twice since
then."

Donna shook her head at him. "Garlic stays in your intestinal tract,
Josh. All of that doesn't help too much."

Josh shrugged. "Well, give me one of those mints in that tin I sent you
for Assistants' Day, it's better than nothing. I wouldn't want to offend
people with my breath when I could do a much better job with insults."

Donna shook her head at him. "You didn't send me a tin of mints for
Assistants' Day, Josh. You told me to send myself a tin of mints from you
for Assistants' Day."

"And what? You never received it?"

Donna let a small smile escape. "Actually, *you* decided that you were
being much too cheap and *you* instead gave me this beautiful bracelet."
Donna held up her wrist, showing him the bracelet.

Josh shook his head at her. "I did, huh? Looks like I am one generous
guy."

Donna nodded with a grin. "You can be."

"Correct me if I am wrong though. Didn't that lovely bracelet cost a
significant amount more than that tin of mints would have."

"Yes, but you realized that I am worth every penny." Donna smiled widely
at him, as their eyes met.

Josh nodded and spoke softly. "You're worth a whole lot more than that."

Donna's eyes raised in surprise at his comment, while Josh quickly shut
his mouth. He hadn't meant that to sound the way it probably had.

He rubbed at the back of his neck and began to backpedal into his office.
"Okay, well, I have to be getting to work. I guess I'll just have to live
with my breath for now, unless that bracelet has the power to eliminate bad
mouth odors." Josh spoke nervously, as a little chuckle escaped at the end of
his sentence. Donna only laughed and shook her head.

Once inside his office, Josh closed the door and ran a hand through his
hair. "What was that?"

*-*-*-*-*-*

Josh opened the door to Sam's office, walked in and plopped down in the
chair across from him. Sam was busily typing on his laptop and had not yet
acknowledged him. Josh decided to speak first. "Hypothetically, if one was
to invite a female friend slash coworker with one on a weekend trip, might
that female friend take it as some sort of come on or just a friendly trip
between friends, as it is intended?"

Sam looked at his friend over his laptop. "It's been my experience in
working with hypotheticals that they are almost never hypothetical. So, who
are you going to ask?"

Josh looked down at his hands. "I didn't say I was going to ask anyone.
I was speaking hypothetically."

Sam nodded. "Okay...Hypothetically, who are you going to ask?"

Josh shook his head and lifted himself out of the chair. "You know what,
just forget it. This was a bad idea. It would be a very bad idea to do
this."

Sam sighed. "Josh, just sit down and tell me what's going on."

Josh did as he was told and proceeded to talk. "Well, there's this thing
this weekend. Every year, my college buddies and I go up to a ski cabin that
my friend, Mike, owns. The three of them all have wives, so I usually just
end up bringing whatever girl I am seeing. So, I invited Cynthia-..."

Sam interrupted Josh's sentence. "Cynthia...That's the one with the big
hair, right?"

Josh shook his head. "She doesn't have big hair."

Sam nodded. "Well, she doesn't have average size hair."

Josh shrugged and rolled his eyes at Sam. "Do you want to hear what I
have to say or would you rather compare the hairstyles of all the woman in
Washington, D.C.?"

Sam smirked at Josh. "Continue."

Josh nodded and began again. "I invited Cynthia, but she had to cancel on
me. So I was thinking about inviting Donna instead."

Sam's eyebrows raised. "Donna, your assistant Donna?'

Josh sighed loudly. "Yes, that Donna."

Sam smiled and jumped up from his seat. He raised his arm and put his
palm up to do a high-five.

Josh looked at him in confusion. "What are you doing?"

Sam spoke slowly, suddenly feeling a bit ridiculous. "I was going to
high-five you. Isn't that what guys usually do when one of them finally goes
for it with a girl?"

Josh's eyes widened in surprise. "What? I am not 'going for it' with
Donna. What gave you that idea?"

Sam lowered his hand and sat back down at his desk. A slow smile spread
across his face. "Ah, so this is what denial looks like. I've always
wondered."

"What are you talking about, Sam?" Josh asked him.

Sam grinned, leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on his desk. "I
am talking about you and your obvious feelings for Donna. You've got it bad,
buddy."

Josh shook his head in amazement. "You are insane. Donna and I are just
friends. I only wanted to invite her because I thought it would be fun and
to make up for the jerk I've been lately. There are no 'feelings'."

Sam smiled at Josh. "You really don't see it, do you? You fell for that
girl the minute you met her. Everyone here knows that but you two."

Josh covered his face with his hands. "Everyone knows that? How is it
possible that everyone knows something about me that I don't even know?"

"Because we can see what you refuse to." Sam stated matter-of-factly.

Josh stood up and began pacing. "No, no way. We are just friends...I am
her boss, she is my assistant. We can't stand each other half the time. I
don't feel that way about her and I know she doesn't feel that way about
me...And even if I...I did, I would never risk losing our friendship over
something that would never work. You know what? I am going to prove it to
you. I am going to prove that we are nothing more than friends by asking her
on that trip. We will have a fun, purely platonic time and you'll see just
how wrong you are."

Sam slowly shook his head at his friend and asked seriously, "When are
you going to stop running, Josh? You've run away from every serious
relationship you've ever had and I don't even know why. Sooner or later
you're going to have to stop and face whatever's chasing you."

Josh looked at Sam a little perplexed and began to open his mouth to say
something. He then thought better of it, closed his mouth and left Sam's
office without another word.

*-*-*-*-*-*

Sam's words kept rolling around Josh's head, but he decided to ignore
them. What did Sam know anyway, he thought. Sam thinks everybody is in love
with everybody, he reasoned. He remembered the time Sam thought the girl at
Starbucks liked him because she gave him more change than he was owed. There
was no way Sam was right about him and Donna. Josh was determined to prove
him wrong.

He walked to his door, opened it up and stuck his head out. "Donna, could
I see you in here for a minute, please?"

Donna nodded and walked into the office. Josh closed the door behind her
and gestured at the seat in front of him.

Donna stood her ground. "Josh, I have a million things to do. If this is
about the bracelet-..."

Josh shook his head. "It's not about that. Just sit down, please."

Donna reluctantly sat down, a little concerned and confused. Josh never
told her to sit down unless it was bad news. She stared at him, waiting for
him to start.

Josh nervously wrung his hands, as he tried to force himself to begin.
He didn't want her to take this the wrong way. "Donna...I just wanted to
know...I was wondering...Would you like...Uh-..."

Donna was beginning to become impatient. "Josh, will you just spit it out
already? Countries have made peace pacts faster than you can utter one
sentence."

Josh swallowed hard, calming himself a bit. "Okay...Donna, would you
like to go to a ski cabin with me for the weekend? Just-..."

Before Josh could continue, a surprised Donna interjected. "You mean as
your date?"

Josh sighed. He knew she'd take it the wrong way. "No, not as my date.
Just as my friend. I know you learned to ski last winter, so I thought you
might like to go. It's just two friends going to a cabin to have some fun
with my college buddies and their wives." Josh finished his sentence with a
halfhearted joke. "I'd ask Sam, but he can't ski."

Donna hid her disappointment well. Josh only wanted her as a companion
on the trip. Most likely, she was just the consolation prize because one of
the girls he was dating couldn't go. Donna had come to expect this of Josh
and had even begun to accept it. They would never be more than friends and
coworkers. Josh didn't see her in that way. He was completely oblivious to
any feelings she had for him. He never noticed that she hung on his every
word, that she regarded him as the most intelligent and wittiest man she had
ever met...He never noticed and he never would.

Donna smiled weakly at Josh and nodded. At least she would get to spend
time with him outside of work, she reasoned. "I'd love to go with you, Josh.
Thank you for asking. When will we be leaving?"

Josh tried to contain his smile. An incredible happiness overcame him
when she accepted his invitation. He was suddenly very eager to spend some
time alone with her.

Josh quickly pushed aside the new feelings, not knowing what else to do
with them. "Great, that's great. Okay, well we'll leave tomorrow night after
work. I'll pick you up around 9 pm. I know that's kind of late to be
leaving, but all of my friends are heading up there right after work
and they hold normal work hours." Josh finished with a smile that
Donna returned.

Donna stood up and said, "I'll be looking forward to it." Then she
exited the room.

Josh closed the door behind her and leaned his forehead against it.
"What is going on with me? Oh good, now I'm talking to myself...I must be
going crazy."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

9 pm the next day arrived quickly and soon Josh was pulling up in front
of Donna's apartment building. The short trip from his house had been quite
an adventure. The snow that had begun to fall lightly around 4 pm, was now
falling hard and in a steady stream. Josh saw Donna coming out of the
building carrying a large suitcase. He ran over towards her and quickly took
the suitcase from her hand. The heavy suitcase hit the ground with a thud,
almost taking Josh's arm with it.

He winced in pain, as he looked up at her. "What do you have in here?
Half of the nation's defensive arms?"

Donna smiled at him. "No, just the bare essentials. If it's too heavy
for you, Josh, I can carry it."

Josh smirked, as his wounded male ego emerged. He slowly straightened. "I
can carry it. It's just a suitcase. You carried it, I am quite sure that I
can carry it."

Josh tried again to pick up the suitcase, as his face reddened and his
cheeks filled with air. He exhaled loudly and then tried again. Donna tried
her best not to laugh at him. "Do I have to remind you of the fact that you
ask me to open up your macadamia nut jars. I am stronger than you, Josh."

Josh looked up at her with an absurd expression. "You are not stronger
than me, Donna. I just ask you to open up the jars because you are my
assistant....That's what assistants do, they assist."

Donna rolled her eyes and rather easily picked up the suitcase that he'd
been struggling with. "Well, then let me assist you. Will your overgrown ego
be sitting in the back, because I don't think there's enough room for the
three of us up front." Donna gave him a quick smile before walking ahead of
him.

Josh called out to her. "You'll be riding in the back if you keep it up."

Donna laughed and continued to walk. Josh caught up to her side. He
positioned his hands at her elbow. "Be careful as you walk. It's getting
pretty slippery out here." Donna looked over at him and their eyes met for a
split second. She was the first to look away and then Josh turned his eyes
to the ground.

They reached the car and, with Donna's help, Josh placed the suitcase in
the trunk. He quickly ran over to the passenger side door, almost slipping
as he did so. He opened the door and gestured for her to enter. She smiled
at him and uttered a soft, thank you."

Josh closed the door, took a deep breath and went to get into the
driver's seat.

-*-*-*-*-*-

Josh and Donna had been driving for a bit when she turned to him. "So
where is this cabin?"

Josh kept his eyes on the road, as he struggled to drive in the falling
snow. "Up on Big Bear."

Donna's eyes lit up suddenly. "Big Bear? Really? My family used to go
up there all of the time when I was a little girl."

Josh smiled at the excitement in her voice. He glanced at her
momentarily. "You would vacation up there?"

Donna nodded. "Kind of. Every December, my whole family would rent a
cabin up there and celebrate Christmas together. And I do mean my whole
family. It was me, my brother, my sister, my parents, my grandparents, and
all of my aunts, uncles and cousins. It was very crowded, but I've never had
so much fun in my life."

Josh grinned at her. "That does sound like a lot of fun."

Donna nodded, her eyes still bright. "Oh, it was. We would stay up late
and tell ghost stories or play games. We always played Monopoly. We had to
team up because there were so many of us, but I always insisted that we be
the thimble. I don't know why, I just liked it. My team never won though. I
never wanted to put hotels on our properties. I always felt like the people
who lived in the houses would be sad because we'd be forcing them to move."

Donna blushed a little as she realized how ridiculous that sounded. Josh
looked thoughtfully at her. He always knew she had the biggest heart of
anyone he'd ever met. She was even concerned for nonexistent people, who
lived in fake houses.

Donna spoke softly. "I know how stupid that must sound-..."

Josh shook his head, stopping her mid-sentence. "No, it doesn't. It
sounds like you, Donna...It's sounds sweet."

Donna looked away from him, fully aware that her face was now bright red.
She decided to change the subject. "My cousins, siblings and I would also
play outside in the snow, build snowmen, have snowball fights. Then we'd
come inside and my grandmother would have hot chocolate and Kit Kat bars, my
favorite, all ready and waiting for us. We used to make sure that all of us
had the same number of marshmallows in our hot chocolate. If we didn't, then
my grandmother had to add more until we were all equal. The best part of
all, though, was the fire we used to build. We'd all snuggle up in front of
the fire and roast marshmallows until we went to bed...It was so wonderful."

Josh's mind had stopped on the word fire when she had said it. He never
could hear that word without thinking of the tragedy that had taken his
sister all of those years ago. He shook his head to clear his mind and spoke
softly. "It sounds like you have a great family, Donna. You're very lucky."

Donna nodded and turned to him. "What about you, Josh? Did you ever go
anywhere special on vacation as a kid?"

Josh slowly nodded. "Every summer, we'd go up to our house in Rhode
Island. We'd fish, sail, and swim. We always had a great time...But we
stopped going there after-..."

Josh stopped abruptly, the memories suddenly flooding his thoughts. Donna
knew nothing about his sister's death or that he even had a sister. She
looked at him with concern. "Josh, what's the matter? Why did you stop? You
stopped going there after what?"

Josh snapped free of the memories and looked out at the road, as his grip
tightened on the wheel. "Sorry, I just lost my train of thought there for a
second. We stopped going there after...after my family sold the house."

Donna looked unconvinced by what he'd said, but decided to let it go.
"Well, that's too bad, Josh, but at least you have your memories from that
time."

Josh nodded and smiled slightly. "Yeah, I do."

To be Continued...