A Promise Kept - A Josh and Donna Story
By Jenny
Disclaimer: All characters of The West Wing belong to Aaron Sorkin, NBC,
Warner Bros., etc, not me. I just like writing about them. :)
Notes: This is a response to the Josh & Donna challenge about either Josh or
Donna or both ending up in jail. I don't know a whole lot about Washington
DC, the police departments, or being arrested or being in jail, having never
been arrested or in jail or in DC before, so any discrepancies are because of
little knowledge on my part. I was planning on this being a short story, but
you know what? I decided to split it up. :) So this is just 2 or 3
chapters... I really hope you like this story, since it is my first West Wing
Fan Fiction. :)
A Promise Kept - Chapter 1
Donna sighed as she entered the DCPD. She walked over to the window, and as
she waited for someone, she remembered the phone call she had received just
half an hour ago.
*****
"Joshua Lyman's office, Donna speaking," Donna professionally answered the
phone. She was just leaving to go to lunch with a friend.
"Donna, I'm so glad I caught you, I need your help."
She recognized the anxious and hurried voice of her boss on the line. "What
could you possible need from me just as I'm going out to lunch?"
"I need you to, um, come pick me up."
Donna was curious. "Why? Where are you?"
"I'm at, um, 560 Colorado St," Josh replied, sounding sheepish.
Donna thought for a moment. "The police station?" She could almost see Josh
meekly nodding his head. "What are you doing there?"
"Calling you."
"Jo-oo-osh..." she said, exasperatingly.
"Alright, I might've ran a red light."
"They put you in jail just for that?
"No, they put me in jail because in addition to that, I had invalid tags on
my license plate and three outstanding speeding tickets," Josh told her
hurriedly.
Donna sighed and rolled her eyes. So much for a lunch break. "How much?" she
asked, not sure if she really wanted to know the answer.
"$375."
"JOSHUA!!!"
"I'll pay you back," Josh promised, "just come and get me." After a moment,
he added, "Please?"
"Fine," said Donna, "but you owe me big time for this one, Josh."
*****
"Excuse me, miss, can I help you?" A police officer was waiting to help Donna.
The young woman shook out of her reverie. "Yes, I'm here to bail out Joshua
Lyman. He telephoned me about half an hour ago." It had taken Donna 15
minutes longer to get there than it normally would've, but considering it was
lunch time and she had gotten a ride from a friend, she wasn't too upset.
Besides, the longer Josh had to wait for her, the more grateful he'd be to
her.
"And you are?"
"His assistant, Donna Moss."
"Please fill these out, Ms. Moss." The officer handed her a clipboard and a
pen.
After Donna completed the forms and paid Josh's bail, she followed another
officer to the temporary holding cell where Josh was being kept.
Josh looked up when he heard the hallway door open. He jumped up and rushed
over to the bars when he saw Donna coming. He was grateful to see her, but
the look on Donna's face told him that she didn't feel the same way.
"Donna! Thank goodness you're here," Josh said as the officer unlocked the
cell. "I owe you for this, Donna."
"Yeah," Donna said pointedly, "you owe me a lot more than lunch, $375, and $2
worth of gas. You also owe my friend Wendy lunch, since she's the one who
brought me all the way out here on *her* lunch hour."
"Don't worry, I promise I'll make it up to you - to both of you."
Meanwhile, a couple of the other guys in the holding cell were softly
whistling and saying, "Hey," and "Hi there," to Donna.
"Hey," Josh said, rolling his eyes at them. "Back off."
The men raised their eyebrows, but abided by Josh's request. One of the men
said, "Sorry, man, didn't know she was taken." He grinned and winked at Josh.
"It's not that," Josh said, glaring at him, "it's just... shut up!" The guys
were chuckling at him. Josh was tired, but you could see him blushing a
little. He had already been there for over half an hour - half an hour longer
than he ever wanted to be there - and didn't want to stay any longer.
Donna, who had just smiled and been good natured about the whole
conversation, changed the subject. "Let's go, Josh."
Josh collected his personal belongings. As they walked out the building and
down the back stairs to the garage to Josh's car (Donna had pulled some
strings and was able to keep his car from being held for the typical 24
hours), he said, "Well you handled that well."
"Handled what well?" asked Donna, not really caring.
"Those guys back there," Josh said, nodding his head in the way they had just
came and unlocking the doors.
"I'm used to it," Donna told him, semi-kidding and not wanting the
conversation to go any farther. "Let's get in the car," she said as she
climbed in.
Donna got in right away and closed the door. Josh, having gotten a peculiar
look on his face after Donna said she was used to it, was a little slower.
Josh got in the car, shut his door, and put on his seatbelt. "So," he asked,
trying to be cheerful, "where am I taking you to lunch?"
"The White House," Donna responded dejectedly. "You have a Senior Staff
meeting in less than 40 minutes, and believe me, in this traffic, it'll take
us that long to get back."
"Not the way I drive," Josh said, grinning at her.
Donna stared coldly at him. "Joshua, if you even *think* of - "
"Hey," Josh said, laughing quietly at her. "Don't worry, I was only kidding."
"It wasn't very funny," Donna said evenly.
Josh saw that she was not amused by his humor and stopped smiling. "Sorry,"
he said. "To the White House it is then."
As Josh put his keys into the ignition and started the car, he looked over at
his assistant. Donna had turned away from him and was looking forlornly out
the passenger side window. Her head rested in the palm of her right hand, her
elbow was propped up on the window sill, and her blonde hair fell neatly
around her shoulders.
"Hey." Josh reached over and put his hand on Donna's knee, causing her to
turn her head and look at him. "I really am sorry for ruining your lunch, Donna.
I'll make it up to you, I promise."
"Sure Josh," Donna replied, turning back to the window.
"I will, I swear, believe me."
"I believe you, Josh."
But Josh knew she didn't mean that, and he knew she had a right not to
believe him. He'd taken away her lunches, evenings, and weekends often
enough, but he really would make it up to her this time. Since he couldn't
think of anything to say to convince her, he sighed inwardly, and they rode
back to the White House in silence.
----------
As Josh and Donna entered the building, Donna walking slightly ahead of Josh,
they met up with Sam, who was on his way to the Senior Staff meeting.
"Hi Donna, hey Josh. Where've you been?" Sam asked, skeptical at the sight of
them walking in together. He had always thought there was something between
them, but didn't know for sure.
"I was... uh..." Josh tried to stall for time.
"He was unavoidably detained," Donna answered for him as she walked past Sam.
"Yeah, I was unavoidably detained," Josh echoed. "Can you excuse me for a
moment, Sam? Thanks. I'll see you in Senior Staff in a few minutes."
Josh hurried to catch up with Donna, leaving a perplexed Sam in the hallway.
He met up with her at her desk, reviewing the messages.
"Go home," he said.
"Excuse me?" asked Donna, somewhat offended.
"Take the rest of the day off."
Donna looked at Josh like he had just turned into a purple alien with a pink
nose and three green eyeballs sticking out of the top of his head. "You're
giving me the afternoon off? Are you okay, Josh?"
Josh grinned at her reaction. "Well, I'm better than I was in jail, and I'll
be even better if you come - hungry - to my apartment around 7:30 tonight."
Donna raised her eyebrows at this. "Are you inviting me over for dinner,
Josh?"
Josh smiled and shrugged. "Yeah, I guess I am."
Donna thought about it, but not for long. An afternoon off, and a free dinner
- with Josh? Who could say no? She smiled as she replied, "Okay. I'll be
there."
"Okay, great." Josh smiled back at her, then headed for his meeting.
"I'll get Ginger to take my place this afternoon," Donna called to Josh's
back.
"Thanks!" Josh waved his arm, acknowledging her but not turning around. "See
ya later!"
Donna smile grew wider. A free afternoon, dinner with Josh... maybe he'd keep
his promise after all.
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