Blind Date (3/10)
The next morning an opportunity quickly presented itself that would
allow Josh to save Donna from the blind date. Turns out that in
addition to handling the Breckenridge confirmation, Leo wanted Josh
to court the senators who might give them the most trouble. Since one
of them was vacationing outside of Richmond, Josh made an appointment
to meet with him early Saturday morning, which would require driving
down this evening. There wasn't a legitimate reason for Donna to come
with him. Well, no reason other than keeping him company during the
drive and saving her from a boring date.
Donna was already at her desk when Josh walked in. "Morning Donna."
He swung around her desk, grabbing her coffee and heading into his
office.
"Hey! I happen to know that there's a Starbucks right around the
corner from your house and that there is a coffee pot not 10 steps
from your office," she said, as she followed him into his office with
schedule in hand.
"Yes, but Starbucks won't sweeten my coffee the way I like it. Which,
incidentally, is the way you like it. Plus, I'm a busy man and since
my assistant can't be trained to bring me my own coffee, I'll just
have to settle for hers," he said as he took his suit jacket off and
began rifling through the piles on his desk.
"Yeah, well one of these days, I'm going to break myself of my
caffeine-addiction and not get coffee in the morning. What will you
do then?"
"Well, you'll be of no use to me then, so you'll have to go."
Donna pulled an affronted face and huffed. "Well, in that case, I
might just toss your pager into the pond out back." She pulled the
device from her suit jacket pocked as she sat in the chair in front
of his desk.
Josh reached for it. "I knew you would have picked it up. I was
looking for it and you last night, but you were both no where to be
found. I figured you had done your secondary job of picking up after
me."
"And what exactly is my primary job function?" Donna asked, holding
the pager out of his reach.
Josh sat down and rested his elbows on the desk. "To make me look
good."
"And I do this job how well?"
"Very well."
"And you will show your appreciation how?"
By kissing you senseless was his first thought. A blush crept up his
face.
"Joshua?" Donna asked in mock-teacher tone.
"I will put in for your raise."
"And?" she asked, tossing his pager up and down in her hands.
"I will never, ever drink your coffee again," he replied, while
sipping from her cup. "Starting Monday." He smiled.
She smiled back and tossed his pager to him. "Do you want to tell me
what this meeting is with Breckenridge this morning? Margaret sent me
an e-mail asking me to put it on your schedule."
Josh leaned forward in his chair, remembering the meeting. "Leo asked
me last night to head up Breckenridge's confirmation."
"Wow. Congratulations. He's going to sail through, you know."
"Well, thanks. That's what I thought too, but there's a snag."
"A snag?"
"Yep," replied Josh, leaning back and studying Donna's face. "He's
been quoted on a book jacket sayiing that the U.S. should compensate
the descendants of slaves for all their work."
Donna watched Josh's face for a minute. "That's a pretty tough issue
to get around. It's not going to go over really big with some of the
southern senators."
"Tell me something else I should know."
"Well, how many hours do you want me to block off around the meeting?"
"A couple. Maybe. I don't know."
"Josh what's wrong?" Donna asked, seeing the reluctance in his eyes.
Josh ran a hand through his hair. "I'm not sure I'm comfortable
talking to a black civil rights lawyer from Georgia about this issue.
I'm a white Jewish guy from Connecticut."
"Josh, you'll be fine. You're a professional and so is he. Don't make
it a personal issue and don't get all riled up on behalf of the
entire United States," she said as she snagged her coffee off his
desk to take a sip.
"You're right. You're right," said Josh, settling back in his
chair. "I'm still nervous though."
"Josh, talk to him about it. Understand his point of view. Not every
candidate you put before a selection committee is going to let the
White House speak for them, as evidence by Associate Justice Mendoza.
Don't expect him to squelch his beliefs in order to make your job
easier."
As usual, Donna had gotten to the heart of Josh's problem. He was
impressed and so grateful that this woman worked with him.
He reached for her coffee again. He looked her in the eyes. "Thanks
Donna. I knew you'd understand."
"Following the twisted, strange path of your brain is also part of my
job, isn't it?" she asked, tilting her head.
"Just for that, I have a favor to ask."
Donna straightened in her chair, eyes suspicious. "What kind of
favor."
"You brought it up actually. There are some senators who are already
making noise about his nomination."
"So?"
"So, I need to go make some house calls."
"No way, Josh."
"Come on Donna. There's only one so far and it's only in Richmond.
Tonight and tomorrow and you're done."
"And why exactly do you need me with you?"
"Well, besides keeping me from passing out from boredom at the wheel,
I thought it would be fun."
"Fun? You thought it would be fun? You do realize that tomorrow is
Saturday right? The weekend? You've probably heard of it and probably
enjoyed it before you started working here."
"Donna, don't make me give my 'the White House doesn't close on the
weekends' speech."
"Yes, please spare me that one," she replied sarcastically.
"Did you have something better to do this weekend?" he asked, hoping
she would be eager to get out of her date.
Donna looked like she was going over her weekend in her mind. "I do
have a date," she said, gauging Josh's reaction. She didn't know what
she was looking for in his expression, but she wasn't disappointed
when Josh winced.
He didn't mean to wince, but thoughts of Donna out with fawning,
drooling, pawing men gave him a start. He tried to cover it with a
smile. "A new victim?"
She laughed. "Honestly, Josh. Don't ask," she replied. She made up
her mind. Spending a weekend with Josh was much better than the
unknown that might await her with Hamilton. "It's fine. I'll cancel.
Or actually, I'll have Margaret cancel." She smiled thinking of her
friend's reaction.
Knowing full well what Margaret had to do with it, but not wanting to
let on that he'd heard their conversation last night, he asked, "What
does Margaret have to do with it?"
"Doesn't matter," she said, gathering her things and coffee. "You'll
let me know what time you want to leave tonight?"
He smiled back at her. Even though she'd agreed to go with him, Josh
didn't want her to be mad at him. "Donna? You're not mad are you?"
She sighed and leaned against the doorjamb. "Angry at you for ruining
what could have been a blind date that led to true love?"
Josh laughed. "It probably would have been more like a torturous
evening with a man with poor hygiene and a lisp."
Donna laughed with him, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. "You're
probably right," she said as she turned and headed towards her desk.
Now that Donna was going with him, Josh thought he'd feel better than
he did. Although he was glad to have gotten her out of a blind date,
he was disturbed by her sad countenance. And now that she was going
with him, what was his role in making her eyes light up again? Was
there a line in the sand between "just friends" and "something more?"
And would he be willing to cross it when the time came?