Back to School (4/7)
The next morning, Donna knocked on Josh's door carrying coffee and
muffins.
"Thank God you brought food," said Josh, once he'd opened
the door.
"Good morning to you too Joshua."
"Well, if you hadn't brought muffins, I'd have been forced to eat the
cold pizza from last night," said Josh, taking the muffins and coffee
from her and heading to the kitchen.
Donna followed, dropping her bag and coat on Josh's kitchen
table. "So, basically all I'm good for is bringing muffins and saving
you from eating cold pizza for breakfast?"
"I wouldn't say that's all you're good for," Josh replied, smirking
before eating half his muffin in one bite.
Donna blushed and smiled, sipping her coffee.
"Come on," said Josh, holding his muffin and coffee and heading out
of his kitchen. Instead of heading to the couch, Josh led Donna out
to the front steps of his building. The leaves on the trees in the
park across from his building were starting to change and it was warm
enough outside for them to sit and enjoy them.
"Wow. You have a great view, Josh," said Donna as she sat next to
Josh on the stairs.
"I know and I don't appreciate it enough, so before we get started, I
thought we'd sit and enjoy the weather."
Donna and Josh ate their muffins and drank their coffee, each amazed
at how comfortable it felt to be together.
Eventually, they moved inside, sitting at Josh's kitchen table and
got started. Josh walked Donna through several of the problems they
did last night, watching her face intently to see if she understood.
Confident that she was comprehending what he was showing her, Josh
gave her some problems to do, which Donna worked through slowly and
diligently, stopping several times to get advice from Josh.
"Donnatella, how are you going to learn if you're always waiting for
me to tell you which direction to go?"
"Joshua. If you don't help me, I'll never get it."
"You already do get it," said Josh emphatically. "Here. I want you to
work on these problems without asking me one thing." He handed her a
sheet of problems that covered all the things that were likely to be
on her midterm.
Donna's eyes widened. "Josh, I don't think I'm ready."
"Of course you are," he said, moving all the cheat sheets and books
out of her way and leaving her alone.
He spent the next few minutes wandering through his apartment,
picking up after himself and making a grocery list, while waiting for
her to finish.
He glanced over to study her bent head. Her hair had fallen along one
side of her face, and she had put the pencil between her lips, while
she ran some numbers on the calculator. Josh studied the curve of her
neck and had to stop himself from walking over and kissing the back
of her neck.
A few minutes later, Josh sat back down next to Donna. He noticed
that she had finished all of the problems and seemed to be proofing
her work.
Eventually, she sighed, closed her eyes and pushed her paper over to
Josh's side of the table.
"All right. These are my best guesses."
Josh smiled at her. "Your best guesses?"
"Um…I meant my best effort?"
"That's more like it," he said beginning to check her work.
Donna put her head down on the table, because she was sure that she
had gotten most of them wrong and she couldn't handle watching Josh's
face as he checked her paper.
"Donnatella?"
"Hhmm?" she asked from the shelter of her folded arms.
"You wanna look up for a second?"
Donna sighed and looked up into Josh's face. He was smiling.
"You got them all right."
Donna's eyes widened. Then she started smiling. "No way."
"Yes, way," he said, spinning the paper so she could see.
"Oh my God," Donna said, eyes widening. "You're not
kidding?"
"Nope," said Josh, grinning.
"Really?"
"Yep. You got them all right."
Her smile widened. "Oh my God. I get it. I really get it," she said,
reaching over and hugging Josh. "You're amazing!"
"So, I've been told," he said smugly, smiling as she laughed.
"Josh, how can I ever thank you?"
"Don't thank me just yet," he said, gesturing to the book. "We still
have two more days to go and you have many more weeks of class."
"But the test on Tuesday night will be just like this, right?"
"Uh huh," said Josh, happy that Donna was so happy.
"So, if I can do these one, maybe I can get those ones too?"
"Definitely."
She smiled again. "Can you make me up another set of problems so we
can be sure this isn't just a fluke?"
"It's not a fluke," he said confidently, already making up some new
problems for her.
"Yeah, well, I won't believe that until I see it," she said, waiting
patiently for him to finish.
The next set of problems were harder, but Donna took her time again,
only getting really frustrated once and panicking, until Josh sat
down next to her and stopped her relentless tapping with her pencil.
"Breathe Donnatella," he whispered.
Donna didn't raise her head to look at him, but she did take a deep
breath and closed her eyes, trying to calm her racing heart. When she
felt calmer and less panicked, she opened her eyes and started
figuring the problem again. Josh squeezed her hand and got up to
walk to the windows, watching the sun begin to set.
A few minutes later Donna had finished and Josh walked back over to
check her work. She'd gotten most of the problems correct again.
There were a few errors, but Josh walked Donna through the problems
and she understood where she had gone wrong.
"I think you're ready," he smiled at her after explaining the last
problem.
"Yeah, well it's easy to work on problems in your kitchen. It's a
whole `nother thing to be in a classroom with a specified amount of
time to finish."
"You'll be great," he said, reaching over to grab her hand. "Just
remember. If you start to panic, take a deep breath and clear your
mind."
She squeezed his hand back. "Oh sure. If I clear my mind, I'll never
get any of the formulas back."
"You will. I know you can do this," he said back, bringing her hand
to his lips.
Donna's eyes widened while she watched Josh raise her palm to his
lips. She smiled, eyes pricking with tears. "Thank you for believing
in me," she whispered.
"I have always believed in you," he whispered back, placing her palm
against his cheek. "Will you stay for dinner?"
"Are you cooking?" she asked, her eyes wrinkling with silent
laughter.
"Are you kidding?" he asked, kissing her palm again, before getting
up and heading into his kitchen where he kept all his take-out menus.
They ended up ordering Chinese food, eating it on the front steps,
watching the sun set. The talk between them was comfortable and
intimate, while each tried to figure out exactly what their new
relationship was.
They cleaned up after their meal and Donna packed her bag to go home,
knowing that tomorrow was a full day of work for them both.
Josh walked Donna down to her car. After she had opened her door and
thrown her bag into the back seat, she turned to find Josh standing
right next to her.
"You're a very good student, Donnatella," he whispered, reaching a
hand up to caress her face.
"I think it's more the tutor than the tutoree," she said
back.
"No. I think it's you."
Donna saw the truth of the statement shining through his eyes. "Thank
you Josh."
"You're welcome," he said, reaching his other hand up to cup her face
between his hands, running his thumbs along her cheekbones. Donna
sighed and closed her eyes at his gentle touch.
"Donnatella," he whispered before placing a gentle kiss on her lips.
Donna reached her hands around Josh's back, tightening her hold as
Josh deepened the kiss. The kiss would have gone on longer, but a car
pulled onto Josh's street, the lights hitting their entwined form,
causing them to pull apart.
When Donna would have pulled back further, Josh held her to him,
kissing her forehead and pulling her into his arms.
"Josh? What are we doing?" she whispered from her place under his
chin.
"What we should have done a long time ago," he whispered back,
pulling her closer.
Donna sighed, content to stay in Josh's arms forever. They fit
together in all the right places and Josh tightened his hold further,
loath to let her go.
"Josh, I have to go," she said, kissing his neck.
"Okay," he said, looking into her eyes when she raised her head. He
saw the questions and happiness mingled in her eyes.
"We have to talk Josh, but I've got this test and…"
"It's okay. We will talk," said Josh, interrupting her. "But, you're
right. We'll wait until after your test."
"Okay, but we'll talk then, right?" she asked, nervous that Josh did
not feel the same way she did.
"Yes. I think it's very, very important that we talk soon," he said,
smiling at her and calming her fears.
"Very, very, hmm?" she asked, a teasing glint in her eyes.
"Oh yeah," he said, lowering his lips to hers again for one more kiss
before she got into her car and drove home.