Disclaimers: The West Wing and it's characters are the property of Aaron
Sorkin, Warner Brothers and NBC. No copyright infringement is intended. No
profit is being made from this. The song "In Another's Eyes" is the
property of Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood and their respective record
labels. No copyright infringement is intended there either.
Rating: PG
Author's Notes: Yet again I would like to thank Kat and Lin for beta reading
this. Oh, there will be four stories in this series, this is the second.
In another's eyes
I can do no wrong
He believes in me and his faith is strong
I'd never fall or even compromise
In another's eyes
There are times that it seems strange to have someone to come home to. Even
after four months of marriage, CJ still wasn't certain she was used to it.
She wondered if she ever would get used to it. She had spent so many years
of her life alone. Now she wasn't alone anymore. Danny was a good husband,
kind, considerate, in truth she wondered if she could ask for a better
husband. He had quickly learned that there were times when she needed some
space. It shocked her sometimes that he had no problem giving her that
space. He was able to immediately tell when she needed it.
She was happy, or at least she told herself she was. It wasn't that she was
really unsure of how she felt. She knew she wasn't unhappy, so the only
other choice had to be she was happy. Her friends thought she was happy.
Danny thought she was happy. So they all had to be right. She was a happily
married woman, or at least that was the aura she gave off.
There were times that the depth of Danny's feelings frightened her. He
loved her so much. She was close to perfect in his eyes. Maybe that was what
scared her the most, not that her feelings were not as deep as his, but the
perfection he saw in her. She wasn't perfect, in fact nothing could be
further from the truth. CJ felt that he was putting her on a pedestal.
Invariably, she would fall from the pedestal someday.
In another's eyes
I'm afraid that I can't see
This picture perfect portrait
That they paint of me
They don't realize
And I pray they never do
Cause everytime I look
I'm seeing you, in another's eyes
He would still take the letter out and read it occasionally. He tried not
to, but sometimes at night when he had consumed either too much, or too
little alcohol, he would take it out and read it. Sometimes he wondered if
he should just burn the damn thing. One night he had even held it to a
flame, but he couldn't bring himself to allow the flames to consume her
words. So he continued to read it occasionally, and curse himself for not
reading it earlier.
He would not, under any circumstance, interfere in her marriage. It was
something he could never do. Truthfully he hoped for her sake, that it would
be successful. He didn't want her to go through the same things he had
suffered when his marriage to Andi had failed.
He was watching her across the room. There was a state dinner that night,
and Danny was there with CJ. It was the first time since the wedding that he
had observed them together. Even with the knowledge he had, he was certain
they were happy. They appeared to be at least. He watched as Danny got up
and left the table. Toby walked over to the table.
"Are you having a good time?" He asked CJ.
"I think you know the answer to that." She laughed.
"It's not exactly a requirement to have fun at these things, is it?"
"No, it's not. Sit down."
He did. "Does he miss this place?"
"What?" She asked.
"Does Danny miss the White House?"
"Sometimes I think." She smiled. "He went to say hello to Katie and a
couple of others actually."
"That's nice." Toby said as he started to get up.
"Why did you come over here, Toby?"
"To say hello."
"We work together. You saw me less than two hours ago in a staff meeting."
"Yeah I know." He said as he left.
She watched him go, feeling a little conflicted. She didn't know why he had
really come over to her. There were times that she wondered if he had read
the letter she had written to him. He had never mentioned it to her. It was
always possible that the letter had been lost in the mess that was Toby's
desk.
And what they don't see is killing me
And it's a blessing and a curse that love is blind.
Shortly after their marriage, their had developed a pattern. Danny would
sit in the kitchen working on his stuff, while CJ would sit in the den
working. Occasionally she would go in and talk to him, and he would do the
same with her. She walked in one night to find him starring at his
computer.
"What's wrong?" She asked.
"The computer is messed up. I don't know what it is but I can't get it to
work right."
"You need to get that editorial finished, don't you?"
"Yeah, I don't want to go back to the office, but I guess I'll have to."
"You could use my computer."
"CJ, your computer has stuff on it I'm not supposed to see, but thanks
anyway."
"I wasn't talking about the White House one."
"Oh?"
"I was talking about my personal one."
"Okay."
"It doesn't have anything White House related on it."
"So, you're saying I could use it?"
"Yes."
"Okay."
"It's in the hall closet."
"I'll go get it." Danny said.
It was nearly two hours later when CJ walked into the room again. Danny
was sitting in almost the same position as earlier.
"Please tell me you haven't screwed up my computer too." CJ laughed.
"No." He said not looking up.
"Okay, what's wrong?" She asked noticing something in his voice.
"Nothing." He said a little too quickly.
"Danny." She said as she walked up behind him. Although she didn't mean to,
she gasped when she saw what was on the computer screen. It was the letter
that she had written to Toby. A letter she had never intended Danny to see.
When he turned around and looked at her, she could tell she had fallen from
the pedestal she had believed she was on.
The end.