Chapter Text
“I don’t know what to tell you, Josh…”
Josh groaned. “I want you to tell me that you’re working on a fix!” He shouted down the phone.
“I can do a lot of things, Josh, but I can’t change the weather,” Caroline replied and Josh could almost hear her smirking as she said it.
“Are you sure that every flight is cancelled?” Josh asked again as he pinched his forehead in frustration.
“Yes,” was Caroline’s clipped response.
“How about if I got a rental and drove to Chicago?”
“You’re gonna drive to Chicago in the middle of a blizzard?” Caroline laughed. “You?” she said incredulously. “Joshua Lyman?” she teased.
“Well, if it would get me outta freakin’ Milwaukee…” Josh sighed and rubbed his tired eyes.
“O’Hare has cancelled all flights too,” Caroline replied, with a slight tilt of amusement in her tone.
Josh groaned. “Seriously?”
“Look there’s a big snowstorm on its way. My advice to you would be to hunker down and pray you only have to spend one night in Midwest.”
“I wasn’t even supposed to be in the Midwest!” Josh shouted in response, possibly a little too loudly as he felt some of the eyes in the crowded bar turn to him.
“It’s not my fault that your flight got diverted,” Caroline rebutted. “I don’t control…”
Josh cut her off. “The weather,” he rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I got it.”
“Just stay put in Milwaukee,” Caroline advised. “The snowstorm will blow over and I’ll have you on a flight home tomorrow morning.”
“You better,” Josh warned as he toyed with the peeling label on his beer bottle.
“In the meantime, deal with the nice hotel room that the airline has put you up in and stop calling me to complain,” Caroline told him firmly.
“I’m not complaining, I’m simply ensuring that you have all the details of my predicament,” Josh said matter-of-factly.
“Would you stop being such a whiny child about this?” Caroline told him exasperatedly. “My kids are better behaved than you.”
“Your kids aren’t stranded in Milwaukee during a blizzard, Caroline!” Josh groaned.
“Goodbye Joshua,” Caroline groaned and hung up the phone.
Josh let out an infuriated sigh before picking up his beer from the counter and chugging it back. “Can I get another?” he asked the guy behind the hotel bar.
“You sure you need it?” A voice behind him asked. Josh looked over his shoulder and saw a young blonde watching him from a booth. “After that lively performance, I think maybe they should be cutting you off,” she grinned.
Josh smirked as he took in the attractive young woman speaking to him. “Hey, I’m clearly not having the best day, okay?” he told her.
“Yes, I’m well aware of that. In fact, I think everyone in the bar knows that all too well,” she raised her eyebrows at him coyly.
Josh felt his cheeks flush a little, he rubbed the back of his neck and shot the woman an apologetic look. “Sorry, I can get a little…” he paused, stuck for words and shrugged at her.
“Uppity?” she suggested, a wide smile spreading across her face.
Josh watched her keenly as she sipped her wine. “I was gonna say animated,” he told her with a grin.
“Right,” she smiled. “Still, probably not the wisest move to start dissing the city you’re stuck in, in front of the locals.”
Josh picked up his fresh beer and took a long drink. “It’s a hotel bar,” he told her after a beat. “I didn’t think there would be many locals around.”
The woman shrugged, “Well, I’m here,” she smiled.
Josh stood up from his stool and walked towards her booth. “I’m Josh, by the way,” he offered her his hand.
“Donna,” she told him as she placed her hand in his.
Josh glanced at her empty glass. “Can I buy you a drink, Donna?” Donna hesitated and cast a look around the bar. “Sorry,” Josh offered hastily. “You’re with somebody…” he began to retreat to his seat at the bar.
Donna shook her head. “No, I’m not…” she trailed off before looking him straight in the eye. “A drink would be great,” she smiled.
Josh paused. “Okay, um, white wine?”
“Yeah, just whatever,” she nodded, and Josh turned to get the bartender’s attention.
When he returned with her wine, Josh took a seat opposite Donna in the booth and suddenly felt incredibly awkward. The pair eyed each other nervously before Donna took the plunge and broke the silence. “I was waiting for someone,” she explained. “But I think I’ve been stood up.”
“Seriously?” Josh was taken aback. “Someone stood you up?” he exclaimed.
“Hey, buddy, keep it down, unlike some people I don’t need this whole bar knowing my business…” Donna whispered.
Josh chuckled. “Sorry, I just…” he shook his head. “Whoever stood you up is a total idiot.”
“Yeah, well, I’m the idiot who waited for them for…” she glanced at her watch. “Almost an hour now,” she shook her head in disbelief.
“Sorry,” Josh apologised again. “That’s really shitty.”
“Maybe it was the storm,” Donna shrugged and took a sip from her glass.
“Maybe,” Josh agreed, but he wasn’t entirely convinced.
“Was that your wife on the phone?” Donna asked.
“Huh?” he replied, confused.
“Caroline. The woman you were speaking to.”
Josh laughed and shook his head. “No, no. Absolutely not!” He grinned. “She’s my assistant. I’m not married.”
Donna tilted her head at Josh. “Is it really so funny that I would assume she’s your wife?”
“Well, the image of Caroline kicking your ass for insinuating such a thing is rather funny,” Josh replied and Donna narrowed her eyes. “She’s like 50 and has a bunch of awful teenagers,” Josh explained.
“And you’re like, not 50?” Donna smirked.
Josh raised his eyebrows at her. Christ, did she really think he was that old? He paused for a moment to take her in – she had piercing blue eyes, straight blonde hair, and a smile that just about knocked him off his feet. But, god, she was young. “How old are you?” he asked as he took a sip from his beer.
“I asked first,” she grinned as she clutched the stem of her wine glass.
Josh rolled his eyes and groaned. “I’m not 50,” he maintained.
“49?” Donna smiled broadly, her eyes sparkling with amusement.
“You really know how to make a guy feel self-conscious about his receding hairline…”
“Your hairline isn’t receding.”
“This bar has soft lighting,” Josh deadpanned.
“You were telling me how young you were…” Donna ribbed.
Josh bit his lip. “I’m 36,” he told her, honestly. “Well, about to be 36.”
“Is that why you’re upset about being stranded in Milwaukee? Are you missing your birthday party?” she joked.
Josh laughed. “I’m missing a bachelor party in Seattle, actually.”
“Really?” Donna’s eyes widened. “That’s why you’re so aggrieved? No night of debauchery for you…”
Josh grinned at the flirty banter. “I feel like you know so much about me now, Donna. It’s an uneven playing field," he told her with a glint in his eye.
“You want to know how old I am?”
Josh nodded. “I also have other questions…”
“Shoot,” she challenged him.
“Okay,” he smirked. “Age, occupation, marital status...hometown.” He listed the questions on his fingers.
Donna laughed. “Is this a census?”
“I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours,” he told her cheekily.
“I already know most of yours,” she taunted. “Unmarried, almost 36-year-old, important enough to have an assistant named Caroline.”
Josh chuckled, “Okay, okay, you got me, now out with it…”
Donna shook her head playfully. “Fine, if you insist,” she grinned. “24, in college, newly single, and I grew up in Madison.”
Josh felt himself swallow uncomfortably at Donna’s age disclosure and the college revelation. “College?” he heard himself ask.
Donna shrugged. “I dropped out,” she looked down at her wine glass and shook her head wearily. “I stupidly put my boyfriend’s education ahead of my own, and well, it didn’t work out so great. So, I’ve gone back to school.”
“Right,” Josh furrowed his brow, he wasn’t expecting such an honest answer, it was quite refreshing really. “That’s the ‘newly single’ story then?” he asked.
“Uh-huh,” Donna looked away and took a sip of wine.
Josh rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly he felt uncomfortable and sleazy in the knowledge that he was drinking with a 24-year-old college student at 10 pm on a Friday in a Milwaukee hotel bar. “What are you studying?” he asked in effort to make conversation.
“Politics,” Donna replied. “I’ve just started my junior year.”
“Politics,” Josh echoed.
“Heard of it?” Donna smirked.
Josh smiled. “I live in DC,” he explained.
Donna raised her eyebrows. “Democrat or Republican?” she quizzed.
“What do you think?” Josh threw back the rest of his beer and tried to catch the bartender’s eye.
“Democrat,” Donna said confidently.
Josh turned to look at her and raised his eyebrows mischievously. “Was it my hatred of the Midwest?”
“Something like that,”
“I’m getting another drink. You in?” Josh asked.
“I think this is my round,” said Donna as she fumbled through her purse.
“You think I’m gonna let a college student pay for my drinks?” Josh stood up and fished his wallet out of his pocket.
“Chivalrous,” Donna remarked. “Maybe you are part of the GOP after all?”
Josh rolled his eyes. “I just mean that I’m working full time and you’re in school…”
“I work full time,” she corrected him and Josh looked at her expectantly. “As a waitress,” she continued.
Josh bit his lip. “Six-figure salary, I presume?”
“Are you trying to belittle me?”
“Donna, let me pay for your damn drink,” Josh sighed and ran his hand through his hair.
“They’re about to kick us out anyway,” she motioned to the bartender.
“Why?”
Donna narrowed her eyes. “Well, it’s late and a blizzard is about to roll through...”
“What? It’s barely 10.30.” Josh shook his head in disbelief.
“This is a hotel bar in Milwaukee, not some fancy DC establishment,” Donna reminded him. Josh groaned and sat back down in the booth in defeat. “And when the night was just getting interesting...” Donna lamented.
“Which college are you at?” Josh asked.
“Marquette,” Donna smiled. “What do you do in DC?”
“Marquette’s a good school,” Josh absentmindedly drummed his fingers on the table.
“It’s fine,” Donna replied. “Are you going to answer any of my questions?”
“Yes,” he told her with a smile.
“So?” Donna folded her arms and raised her eyebrows. “Your job?”
“Um, it’s hard to explain,” he began.
“I’m sure I’ll cope,” Donna grinned.
“I’m a political advisor. I oversee domestic policy stuff…” he paused. “Do you really want to talk about work?”
“We can talk about something else, if you’d like,” Donna tilted her head. “Where did you grow up?”
“Um, Connecticut,”
“That’s all I get?”
“Westport, Connecticut.” Josh expanded.
Donna smirked. “Figures,” she told him.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Where did you go to school?” she asked, ignoring him.
Josh gritted his teeth. “Not Marquette.” Usually, Josh would brag about his Ivy League credentials, but he could already tell that wouldn’t impress Donna. In fact, it would probably do the opposite.
“No shit,” Donna laughed.
He shook his head in faux annoyance. “I went to Harvard,” he paused. “Then Yale,” he took in Donna’s wide grin. “Don’t say it,” he warned.
Donna threw her hands up. “I wasn’t gonna say anything!”
“I could sense it,” Josh grinned at her.
"I wasn't," she insisted, but her wide smile said otherwise. "And you're not married?" she asked as casually as she could.
"No," he smiled.
"What's the story there?"
"No story," Josh bit his lip.
"You're not in the midst of a messy divorce? You don't have a long-suffering woman back in DC pining for you?"
"No and no. Just a long-suffering assistant, but she's certainly not pining," he replied.
“Hey folks, we’re shutting up shop down here,” the bartender interrupted them. “Might be time to call it a night. That snow’s coming down pretty heavy out there.”
“Right, thanks,” Josh bit his lip and looked across the table at Donna. “How far away is your place?”
“Wow. That’s presumptuous.” Donna laughed.
“I wasn’t presuming anything!” Josh insisted. “I meant will you be okay getting home…”
“Relax. I’m screwing with you,” Donna stood up and grabbed her purse. “I can catch the bus home,” she checked her watch. “But I’ve gotta leave right now if I’m gonna make it.”
Josh stood up and followed her out of the bar and into the hotel lobby. “The bus?” he asked. “It’s late. And it’s snowing.”
“I’ll survive,” Donna assured him.
“You should get a cab,” he told her. “There’s a whole rank full out front,” he grabbed his wallet from his suit pocket. “Here, I’ll give you some cash.”
“Josh,” laughed Donna. “That’s not necessary.”
Josh thrust a twenty at her. “Don’t take a bus,” he insisted.
Donna paused and looked down at the cash in his outstretched hand. “You’re very sweet,” she told him sincerely.
Josh grinned. “It’s my penance for insulting your fine city.”
Donna laughed and threw her head back, then glanced around the hotel lobby. The grand entrance was relatively empty, aside from some other ejected bar-goers who were slowly making their way to rooms. “Josh?” she asked.
“Yeah?”
“Does your room have a minibar?” Donna asked boldly.
“Um,” he paused and bit his lip.
Donna smirked at him. “This is the part where you lead me to the elevators,” she whispered, leaning towards him.
Josh caught a whiff of her perfume and looked at her wide-eyed. “Donna…” he began.
Donna watched him nervously. “Sorry,” her cheeks flushed. “I got this all wrong.” She started hurriedly pulling on her coat.
“No!” exclaimed Josh, a little too loudly. “No, not at all,” he assured her, reaching out to grab her hand. “I just…” he squeezed his eyes shut. “I’m a lot older than you, and…”
“You’re not that much older than me,” Donna told him, she squeezed his hand in reassurance.
Josh took a breath. “My room has a minibar,” he confirmed.
Donna smiled. “Okay.”
“Okay.”