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 "Rose Bouquet" is the property of
Phil Vassar and Arista Nashville. It was written by Phil Vassar and Robert
Byrne. No copyright infringement is intended here either.
Rating: G
Summary: Toby remembers a day that was happy, but in the intervening years
has become sad for him.
We were somethin' you and me
Yeah we had 'em rollin' in the aisles
We got it right once, didn't we
We had our shot and missed it by a mile
Forget the bitter end
Can you remember when
He walked into the apartment and set his briefcase down. He looked around
the still darkened apartment. He had always heard that it was a sign your
house was a home, if you didn't need the lights on to find your way around
it. He didn't need a single light to find his way through the apartment, but
he turned one on anyway. This day was never an easy one for him, today he
and Andi would have been married ten years.
He didn't know why he let it cross his mind, but Toby had been thinking
about their wedding all day. He picked up a framed photo. He didn't have to
look at it to know what it was, he and Andi on their wedding day. It almost
hurt to think about how happy they had been on that day. He closed his eyes
and could almost picture them dancing at the wedding.
We sang, we laughed
They all watched us dance
They circled around us
And toasted to forever
We played to win
We never gave in
And we threw it all away
Like your rose bouquet
He could remember holding her tightly in his arms at their wedding
reception. Toby wondered if he had even been as happy as he was then, or if
he would be as happy again. He looked at the wedding band, which was still
on his finger. He had not taken it off since the day Andi had slipped it on
his finger, not even during the five intervening years since their divorce.
It was ironic that he had worn the ring as a divorced man, almost as long as
he had worn it as a married man. He twisted it around on his finger. Maybe
the timing was a sign, maybe it was finally time to take the ring off.
Passion flows like a long white gown
But it ain't easy to keep your love alive
We hoped each other would come around
We'll use the lessons for better luck next time
But how sweet it was back then
Do you remember when
For awhile, they had been very happy. Then things had started to change.
They had started to fight more often, and the fights were lasting longer.
They had tried to work it out, but in the end that hadn't worked. Toby and
Andi finally decided it wasn't working, and it would be better to end the
marriage. He could only hope they both had learned from the experience. It
seemed that Andi had, but he wondered if he had learned anything.
We sang, we laughed
They all watched us dance
They circled around us
And toasted to forever
We played to win
We never gave in
And we threw it all away
Like your rose bouquet
He was putting everything into a box. Maybe it was time to pack the
memories up. It was perhaps time to move on. He looked at each photo as he
put it away. Once he had finished with them Toby took an envelope out of the
box. He starred at the ring on his finger. He wondered if he would be able
to take it off. It had been on his finger for so long. It was completely
possible that it would be stuck on his finger. He pulled slowly at it. It
wasn't easy, but eventually the ring came off. He rolled in around in his
finger for several minutes. It was strange not to feel the ring on his
finger. He was certain he would get used to it's absence, just as he had
gotten used to it's presence. Toby dropped the ring in the envelope and
then placed the envelope in the box. He put the box in the back of the
highest shelf in one of the closets. It was time for him to move on.
The end.