Spoilers: "Elllie"

Disclaimer: The characters represented in the following post do not belong to me. And I gain nothing but a little thrill by doing this.

Archive: Sure! Just tell me where and give me credit.

Note: Alright, this is my first shot at posting anything like this and I have to admit that I'm a little nervous about it. I've had a lot of ideas and posted a challenge once, but have never shared beyond that. Please be kind. Feedback is appreciated.

The Good Part

By Mary Dell

February 23, 2001

It had been a busy couple of days. It always was when Leo was away with the President and Josh was "in charge." And he was so proud of himself that things were running smoothly and we were getting out of the White House by 9 p.m. on a Wednesday night. Like I told him, somebody didn’t get his memo.

Ever since we watched the Surgeon General’s online chat on Wednesday night, things haven’t stopped. After several phone conferences with Leo, everything appeared to be under control. Then the Surgeon General refused the administration’s request for her resignation, followed by the president’s middle daughter, Eleanor, contacting Danny Concanon to give him the fateful quote: "My father won’t fire the Surgeon General. He would never do that." What was she thinking–offering that to a reporter?

So it’s Friday night and I’m sitting next to Josh in the White House Theater watching "Dial M for Murder." Don’t even get me started on why we’re not watching "Prince of New York." That’s another story entirely and is directly related to why Sam went home with a headache a couple of hours ago.

So why am I sitting next to Josh in the White House Theater watching this classic Hitchcock movie, you ask? Well, Josh needed to stick around and see what happened with the Surgeon General. Leo had given her until 8:00 p.m. that night to resign. It was Friday night and the president had convinced Ellie to stick around for the night. The president made a general invitation to the remaining staff that we were welcome to join him for the movie.

Josh asked me if I wanted to stay and watch the movie with him. I like to think he asked because it was Friday night and by asking if I wanted to stay, he didn’t have to ask if I had other plans. I didn’t have plans, and "Dial M" is a classic movie. Besides, there are worse things in the world than sitting next to Josh in a darkened movie theater on a Friday night–even if the President of the United States is sitting several rows in front of you!

*************

They had already started the movie when we got to the theater. As we walked by the refreshment stand, Josh said, "Soda. Popcorn."

I was nearest the soda, so I grabbed one. Josh was nearest the popcorn. "I’d love some popcorn, Josh."

We snuck in the doors and sat on the aisle near the back of the theater. I looked over at Josh, expecting him to hand me a bucket of popcorn. Instead I see Josh holding 1 bucket of popcorn and holding his hand out for "his" soda. "I thought you were getting me popcorn?"

"I thought you were getting me a soda?" he whispered.

"I thought you were just showing me what was available," I replied.

"Donna–"

"Shh. Josh! Can’t we share?" I asked.

Josh smiled and said, "I suppose. You always eat my French fries anyway." He settled the popcorn box on his left leg so I could reach it. I put the soda in the cup holder on the armrest between us. Crisis averted.

I was engrossed in the movie when Josh leaned over and whispered, "This isn’t good."

"What?" I asked.

"The President’s not talking."

"There’s a movie on."

"He usually talks during the movie."

Well, I can’t say I was surprised to hear that. But since this was my first movie in the White House, I wasn’t aware of that little piece of trivia. He’s probably just tired after traveling back in time on his way home from Japan, I thought.

Right about then, I noticed Charlie come in and get the President. I was watching them leave the theater over Josh’s head as I reached for more popcorn. I didn’t notice that Josh’s hand was already in the bucket and our hands touched briefly. I felt a shiver run up my arm and my heart seemed to stop for a moment as I dropped my eyes down to meet Josh’s. At the same time we both whispered, "Sorry," then looked away.

We went back to watching the movie, but then for some reason I was painfully aware of how close we were sitting. Our shoulders were almost touching. I’m not complaining, but I was finding it difficult to concentrate on the movie. Eventually my heart started beating normally again. Whatever I thought might have happened evidently wasn’t what I thought it was. I might as well enjoy the movie. What I didn’t notice then was that when I finally got back into the movie, Josh was watching me–not the screen.

A little while later, the President touched Josh’s shoulder and said something to him. I felt him start at the touch, and then he got up to talk to the President. They exchanged a few words in the aisle, after which I heard the President say quietly, "Sit down. We’re coming to the good part."

I asked Josh what had happened. He explained that the President hadn’t accepted the Surgeon General’s resignation. "Won’t some people think that he did it because his daughter asked him to?"

"Yeah."

He seemed distracted. "What else, Josh?"

He thought for a minute, then said, "The President told me that if I ever have a daughter that I’m going to discover that there are worse reasons in the world to do something."

Josh still looked like he was far away. "Oh," I said as I looked back at the screen.

That’s when he said it. It was soft enough that I might not have heard it if I wasn’t tuned to him. "I hope she has your eyes."

I turned to look at him and saw he was already looking at me and our eyes locked. A million different things were running through my head, starting with "Did he say what I think he said?" and followed closely by "And does that mean what I hope it means?" Unfortunately, sitting in the back of the White House Theater was not the time or the place for any of this. Damn!

I finally had to look away or I was going to explode. I couldn’t stop the thoughts that were circling like a carousel on high speed in my brain. When I broke eye contact, Josh sighed dejectedly and seemed to sink down in his seat.

How do I recover from this? What do I do? Should I push the issue? Should I make a move? It would be so easy to take his hand, but I just couldn’t bring myself to be the one to light the fuse on this…thing…that’s been lingering between us for the last 3 years. That should be painfully obviously, or I would have done something long before now! Then I had an idea.

I leaned toward him and whispered, "Is it cold in here?"

When he looked at me I smiled shyly. His face quickly changed from his dejected look to the full-on dimpled grin that melts my heart. "Come here," he said as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders. He rubbed my arm a little to warm me up, then he pulled me closer to him.

I was conflicted about whether or not I should put my head on his shoulder. My conflict was resolved when his hand lightly stroked my hair. I smiled and laid my head on his shoulder.

We watched the movie for a while before I looked up and said, "Josh, I–"

He squeezed my shoulder and said, "Shh. This is the good part," followed by a light kiss on my forehead.

How could I argue with that? I put my head back down to watch the end of the movie, wondering what would come next.

*************

The movie ended, and the house lights came up slowly. At the same time, the president popped up and said to the room, "Thanks for joining Ellie and I tonight. Hope you enjoyed the movie. Goodnight."

Josh squeezed my shoulder one more time, then stood up and offered me his hand to help me up. As we left the theater, his hand hovered near the small of my back. He was barely touching me, but I knew it was there.

We gathered our things and walked to our cars. As we reached my car, Josh stopped walking and started to say something. Then his face darkened and he said, "Donna? Are you alright?"

I looked down at our shoes and said, "I’m fine–it’s silly, really."

"Donna–"

"It’s just that…I hate going into my apartment alone after a movie like that. I know it’s crazy, but I start wondering if there is somebody hiding behind my curtains, then I can’t sleep, and–"

"Donna, would you feel better if I followed you home and made sure that nobody was lying in wait for you?" There was that grin again.

"Yes," I admitted sheepishly. Then added quickly, "If you don’t mind?"

He spun me around and said, "Get in your car, Donna. I’m right behind you."

*************

I pulled into my parking spot and Josh parked on the street nearby. He caught up with me and we entered the building. I unlocked my door and we walked in, turning on lights and walking in every room.

"Nobody in the shower," Josh called from the bathroom.

"Nobody in the closet," I answered from the bedroom.

"And most importantly, nobody behind the curtains," came the report from the living room.

I met him back by the front door. I was a little embarrassed for having shown Josh my occasional fear of the boogey man, but he was smiling gently as I approached him. I kept walking and threw my arms around his neck. "Thanks, Josh. I’m sorry, I just–"

He wrapped his arms around my waist and said, "Donna. Don’t worry about it. It’s okay." I could hardly hear what he said because his hands rubbing my back distracted me.

He pulled back, but didn’t let go. Our eyes met and this time I didn’t look away. The look on his face made my toes tingle. His hands pulled me back toward him as he leaned in and his lips brushed mine. My breath caught in my chest and time seemed to stop.

He pulled back slightly and whispered, "Salty."

"What?"

"Your lips–they’re salty from the popcorn." There was that grin again.

"Oh. Josh, what are we–I mean, tonight was–"

My words were stopped as he kissed me again. My hands twisted in the curls at the base of his neck as he moved one hand to the back of my head, deepening the kiss. This time, as we pulled away, we were both a little breathless.

Keeping his hand on the back of my head, he leaned his forehead against mine and said, "I should go," yet he made no move to do so. "Donna, don’t worry about tonight–we’ll talk about it tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay."

He kissed me again on the forehead and said, "Sleep well, Donnatella," and turned to open the door.

As his hand turned the doorknob, I said, "Josh–I’ll call you?"

He grinned at me over his shoulder and said, "Yeah. Call me."

I went to the window and watched him walk to his car. He paused and looked up at the window before he got in. I put my hand on the glass. He smiled and waved, then disappeared into his car. I waited until his car was out of sight before I left the window.

I moved through the apartment, locking the door and turning off the lights, and couldn’t help but smile. I could still feel his lips on mine. As I got ready for bed I thought to myself, "That was the good part."