About six to seven hours later..............3 p.m.
Donna was told that her attorney was there to talk to her. She walked into the
room and saw a happy Sam sitting at the table.
“Sam, what’s going on?” Donna asked because she hadn’t expected to see him
for quite awhile.
“Good news. Steven Gabriel confessed to the crimes and said that you had no
part in or no knowledge of the crimes he committed in your name. Your record
is going to be wiped clean. You are in the clear.” Sam told her with a smile
on his face.
“How did this happen?” Donna asked, confused by what had happened.
“Well, Leo and the rest of the staff talked to some people and you pretty
much can figure out the rest.” Sam said.
“Oh my gosh. Leo and the rest of the White House senior staff had to bail
out and rescue the deputy chief of staff’s assistant because she has terrible
taste in men.” Donna said, clearly upset by the events of the day.
“It’s ok. The president understood that you didn’t do anything wrong. He
couldn’t help out, but he was very concerned and told us to take care of this
matter. The staff knows that you didn’t do anything wrong. This certainly
wasn’t your fault and no one thinks that. You are still employed by the white
house. You don’t have anything to worry about.” Sam said.
Detective Parks walked into the room to escort Donna downstairs, so she could
get changed and released from jail.
Donna was surprised to see Josh and Sam both waiting for her. She didn’t even
know that Josh was there.
“Our first stop is going to be taking you home because you need to take the
day after what has happened.” Josh said.
“No, I need to get back to the office. You have meetings this week that I
need to get you prepped on.” Donna said, without hesitation.
“Donnatella......” Josh started in, but was stopped before he said anything.
“It’s the middle of the day and we can still get a lot done during this
afternoon. I’m ok. I’m going to be fine.” Donna said with a certainty and
finality in her voice that warned the guys to leave her alone and let her deal
with the thing in her own way and time.
Donna and the guys went back to work. Carol, Ginger, Bonnie, Cathy, and
Margaret all stopped by Donna’s desk to give her their support for what had
happened that morning. They were all so sweet.
Donna finished getting the used files back to the right spots and getting out
files for the next day. Even though Josh had told her to go home hours ago,
she felt that she had to stay and make up for the time that she was gone.
Needing a break, she walked into Josh’s office and sat down in his chair. Her
taste in men was always coming back to haunt her. Steven Gabriel had dumped
her after she wouldn’t sleep with him and he had literally made her life a
living hell. Dr. Freeride had taken her for a ride during the time of her life
where she was supposed to be having fun. The tears started falling and Donna
didn’t stop them.
As Donna went into Josh’s office, Sam was headed for the operations bullpen
looking for her. He was in a great mood because his meeting with Senator
Williams regarding the education bill went well and wanted to share his victory
with her-she had given up her free weekend to help him and Josh gather research
for it.
Sam heard sniffling sounds coming from Josh’s office and quietly opened the
door. He saw Donna sitting in a chair crying her eyes out. He felt so bad for
her. Donna had been humiliated beyond words in the workplace. It would take
more than having the charges dropped to make her feel better.
Donna heard the door open and looked up to see Sam. She knew that she was a
mess, but he didn’t say anything. He walked over to her, pulled her out of the
chair, and gave her a big hug.
Donna let herself melt into the hug. He was a friend who understood her.
Donna was so thankful for Josh and Sam today. They hadn’t let her fall and
these were the kind of people who would never let that happen.
Sam had done much more than be a friend to her today. She definitely had to
show him some gratitude and thanks for what he had done for her. He believed
in her without even knowing the truth, he had never asked her or even doubted
her for a minute because Sam knew her so well. That was a real measure of the
friendship that they had. Maybe she would invite him over to the apartment for
a home cooked meal and talking.
“Hey, do you want to have dinner with me tonight?” Donna asked through the
tears streaming down her face.
Sam had to pause for a moment. Was Donna really asking him to dinner? The
woman that he had been interested in for a very long time. Sam knew that Josh
and Donna had some serious subtext going on in that relationship and didn’t
want to intrude, but Donna had asked him and not Josh over for dinner. He
already knew what the answer was. He wasn’t going to miss his chance with
Donna.
“Sure, I’d love to have dinner with you.” Sam said and gave her a smile.
“Then let’s get out of here. We will need to stop at the store and get
supplies. My working weekend didn’t leave time to get to the grocery store.”
Donna said as she grabbed her bag and wiped away the last of her tears.
“That’s fine.” Sam said and escorted her out to the parking lot.
“Which car should we take?” Donna asked.
“How about mine? I can swing by in the morning and give you a lift to work.”
Sam said.
“That’s fine.” Donna said as Sam guided her to his suburban tank.
Donna’s ringing cell phone brought the conversation to a halt on the way to the
grocery store.
“That was my roommate. She wanted to remind me that I was supposed to pick
up cat food at the store.” Donna said.
“Uh, Donna?” Sam asked.
“Yeah, what?” Donna asked him back.
“You do know that I am allergic to cat hair, right?” Sam asked her.
“No, I didn’t.” Donna said with a feeling of dread coming over her.
“Yeah, I puff up really bad and have a hard time breathing.” Sam said,
almost apologetically.
“Well, I still want to make you dinner because you have been a really
supportive friend to me through everything that has happened.” Donna said, the
tears threatening to fall again at this disappointment.
“We can always go back to my place. It is clean, I think and there are no
cats around.” Sam said, trying to lighten the darkening mood in the car.
“That would be great. Hey, there’s the grocery store.” Donna said, happier
than she’d been all day.
Sam whipped the car into a parking space and followed Donna inside. Sam was
amazed at the woman before him. She knew what she wanted and had the cart
filled up with goodies before he knew it.
“Twinkies?” Sam asked with a smile as Donna began unloading the cart at the
register.
“It’s dessert.” Donna said.
“So this is what I get for dessert tonight, huh.” Sam said with a smile.
“You might just get a little more than Twinkies.” Donna said, in a joking
tone.
“I can pay for the groceries tonight.” Sam said.
“No way. This was supposed to be my treat.” Donna said in a firm, don’t
argue with me tone of voice. Sam ignored the tone and continued.
“I’m the guy. I’m supposed to treat the girl.” Sam said.
“Well, some of this stuff isn’t for you and that’s why I am not letting you
pay tonight, but next time is a different story.” Donna said with a smile and
turned to talk to the cashier.
He couldn’t believe that Donna said that there would be a next time. He would
definitely be looking forward to that. Sam watched the woman in front of him.
Yeah, he hoped that he would get more than just Twinkies for dessert. He was
hoping for at least a full bodied kiss and then some, but he wasn’t going to
force her into doing anything that she wasn’t comfortable with. She had just
gotten out of jail and was angry and upset, but trying to hide it. Sam knew
that she hadn’t talked to anyone about the experience and he also knew that
Donna would explode if she didn’t talk about it. Sam didn’t want to have to
deal with another Josh-like episode coming from Donna. He didn’t think that
anyone would be able to handle the experience again. Sam was hoping that he
could get her to open up and face the demons inside or at least suggest that
she talk to someone who could help her deal with the day’s events.
Donna was finished paying for the groceries and looked at Sam who was lost in
thoughts of his own. He was a great guy who deserved more than just a thank
you dinner for what he had done. He had never let her lose hope and was type
of friend that would try to help her out in any way that he could.
Sam loaded the groceries in the back and began the drive home. He had noticed
that Donna had been quiet on the way over. Sam decided that he would keep an
eye on her and make her laugh that night.
“Where’s the stuff? I’m ready to make you a dinner that you will never
forget.” Donna said.
“I doubt that it will be something I could forget.” Sam said. laughing.
“Just what’s that supposed to mean?” Donna asked, waving a wooden spoon at
him.
“Josh told me about your brownie making trials.” Sam said as he lightly
bumped into Donna while he was reaching into a cabinet above her head for a
bowl.
Donna was quite tempted to bump him back and watch him lose his balance and
probably fall, but she didn’t.
“It wasn’t my fault that my roommate switched the sugar and the flour
canisters.” Donna cringed at the memory of the brownies she had made for Josh.
“Of course it wasn’t your fault.” Sam said with a smile as he reached in
front of Donna for a knife.
Donna decided to get a little even and batted his hand with the wooden spoon.
He pulled his hand away and looked at her. She gave him her best innocent look
and batted her eyes.
Sam knew that he was going to start something with this girl, right here and
right now. He grabbed some flour and threw it at her. Most of the flour
landed in her hair, turning the blond strands into a coated white mess. Donna
got her revenge by throwing lettuce leaves that hit Sam in the face. Sam
grabbed for the nearest thing, which was a tomato. He looked at Donna, she
looked at him, and then he made his move. He grabbed her around the waist and
started rubbing the tomato in her face. Donna was giggling and laughing so
hard that Sam tightened his grip on her waist to keep her standing up. Donna
stopped laughing when she got the clue that they weren’t just having fun
anymore and that the feeling in the room had changed dramatically. She was the
one who called for a truce and they both cleaned themselves and the kitchen as
best they could and went back to fixing dinner.
They both worked on preparing this meal having fun and joking around. Once it
was finished, Sam helped Donna set the table and put the food on the little
card table that Sam used for a dinner table.
“Here’s to good food and good friends to share it with.” Sam said as he
raised his glass of root beer.
“Here’s to friends that are there for you no matter what happens.” Donna
said raising her own glass of root beer and clinking it with Sam’s.
“Let’s eat.” Sam said.
Donna ate, but most of her energy was on watching Sam. She had never paid
attention to how handsome he was because she had only thought of him as a
friend before. Donna had also never seen him this relaxed. Most of the smiles
and spark in his eye was from getting Senator Williams to support the education
bill. Donna had never told anyone that she loved to work with the guys. They
always considered her “one of the guys” and never turned the tables on her
because she was a girl. That was one of the things she loved about her job and
the guys.
Sam looked at Donna and wondered where she had been all of his life. He was
having more fun with her than anyone he had dated in the past. Donna was
simple and fun, she didn’t expect fancy dinners out or tickets to the best
shows. Donna would rather spend time making him dinner than sitting in a five
star restaurant. That was one of the things that he loved about her. There
were no overblown expectations.
“So should we move onto the entertainment portion of the evening?” Donna
asked with a smile.
“We have entertainment?” Sam asked her back with a smile on his face.
“We got movies from the store.” Donna said.
“Okay, cause I thought you were going to change into a Catholic school girl
uniform.” Sam said.
“You and Josh can not spend anymore time together.” Donna said laughing too.
“What are the movies?” Sam asked.
“We got the quintessential 80’s flicks.” Donna said.
“How old were you in the 80’s?” Sam asked.
“Only a few years younger than you. I got ‘The Breakfast Club’ and ‘St.
Elmo’s Fire’. Which one?” Donna asked.
“The Breakfast Club.” Sam said as he took the video from her and popped it
into the vcr.
Sam left Donna watching the previews as he shut off the kitchen lights. He sat
down on the couch next to her, leaving space between them.
Donna noticed that he didn’t sit directly next to her and left some room
between them. He could be so sweet and considerate.
They both watched the movie, shouting out things about bad hair and
unbelievable situations that the characters found themselves in. Donna
couldn’t remember when she’d had such fun time watching a movie from the 80’s.
Sam couldn’t stop laughing and even got Donna to join him. She needed
something to make her laugh and forget the hellacious day she’d had. Somewhere
during the movie, Donna had scooted closer to Sam and he had positioned them so
that he was able to wrap his arms around her.
Donna felt so safe and happy and comfortable in his arms. She wondered what he
would do if she turned and kissed him. Donna didn’t kiss him because she
wanted him to make the first move and didn’t want to screw up what needed time
to build up.
Sam sat there in his own little world thinking about things. Holding Donna in
his arms seemed like the natural thing to do. He wanted so badly to kiss her,
but he didn’t because it had been a bad day and this wasn’t just going to be
about comfort.
“Hey, it’s time to get you home.” Sam said as the movie ended.
“Yeah. It’s going to be a long day keeping Josh from killing Republicans
over the education bill.” Donna said as Sam unlocked the car doors.
“What time do I need be to be at your apartment in the morning?” Sam asked
as he pulled up in front of her building.
“You don’t have to do that. I can walk to work.” Donna said.
“What time do you have to be there?” Sam asked her again.
“At 6:30.” Donna said.
“I will be here at 6:15 to pick you up. There is no reason that you should
have to walk to work that early in the morning.” Sam said stopping by the door
of her apartment.
“Thanks for having dinner with me, even though it took a detour and thank you
for helping me out and supporting me today.” Donna said.
“Dinner was fabulous and you don’t have to thank me for being your friend and
believing in you.” Sam said.
Sam reached over and pulled her into a hug and gave her a kiss on the forehead.
“See you in the morning.” Donna said as she let herself into the apartment.
Sam waited for her to go into the apartment before he left. The dinner and the
movie had been a great way to end a day that could have ended in so many other
ways.