Chapter Text
“I’m sorry you want to what?” Josh asked his bosses daughter in disbelief
“I met this really cool girl at school and I think you two would really hit it off and I’d like to set you up on a date. She’s pretty and super smart like full scholarship to Georgetown smart.”
“Zoey” Josh chuckled, “I don’t need any help…”
“I’m willing to bet you haven’t gotten any action since…”
“Zoey” Josh let his face fall into his hands, “I really need the presidents daughter to not talk about action of any kind….”
“So you’ll go?”
“Zoey”
“When’s the last time you went in a date”
“I don’t want to talk about it” he mumbled
“See!”
“I can’t go out with one of your friends, as flattered as I am that you think…”
“She’s not my friend. She runs the knitting club I joined.”
“Knitting club” he raised his eyebrows
“Stitch and bitch” it meets once a week at a coffee bar. Knitting and conversation. Coffee and current events. That kind of thing.”
“And it’s called stitch and bitch?”
“At least I didn’t join the crochet club. They call themselves the happy hookers.”
“What is happening on college campuses?” Josh asked shaking his head
“She also teachers American history at Georgetown.”
“She’s a professor?” Josh asked perking up a little
“Not exactly” Zoey admitted, “shes a doctoral candidate. Shes writing her dissertation. Shes practically a professor.”
“Ok” he relented
“You’ll let me set you up?” Zoey said excitedly
“As long as you promise to never speak of action of any kind again”
“Deal” Zoey practically squealed, “her name is Donna Moss and you’re meeting her at swings for coffee tomorrow night at 10.”
“Tomorrow?”
“I checked with your assistant. You’re free.”
“You checked with my… how did you know I would say yes?”
“I’m very hard to say no to.” Zoey said breezily on her way out the door, “don’t be late.”
“How will I know…”
“She’s tall, blonde and gorgeous.” Zoey patted his shoulders, “can’t miss her.”
The next night Josh stood in the doorway of the coffee shop. Zoey was right. It would be impossible to miss Donna Moss. She sat at a corner table with notes scattered and her laptop open. He found that he was mesmerized by the way she kept tucking her hair behind her ear as she leaned forward to read.
He felt frozen to his spot. Josh lyman, who bent Congress to his will was nervous. Her blonde hair glowed like a halo under the lights as she typed quickly on her laptop. Even sitting he could see her long graceful legs crossed in front of her and he couldn’t stop himself from imagining what it would feel like it have them wrapped around him. She wasn’t his usual type but quickly realized maybe Donna Moss could be his new type.
“Hi” Josh swaggered over and stuck his hand out to introduce himself, “I’m Josh…”
“Hang on” she didn’t look at him for stop typing
“Lyman” he finished and he marveled at the speed in which she typed
“One second” she kept typing and then hit save and closed her laptop
“Ok”
“Sorry” she smiled at him, “you’re late.”
“My watch says I’m right on time” he held it out for her to see
“Then your watch sucks because my phone, computer and watch all say you’re 15 minutes late.”
“Huh” he looked at his watch again and then the clock on the wall
“I’ll forgive you though and do you know why?”
“Because my watch sucks?”
“Because your watch sucks” she confirmed and held out her hand, “Donna Moss”
“Josh Lyman” he grinned and took her hand, “I’m sorry I was late. I hope you weren’t waiting long.”
“Not at all. I made use of the time.” Donna smiled at him warmly and gestures to her piles of papers and laptop, “sorry I was working when you got here. I’m teaching a full load this term including a night class and I have to work on my dissertation whenever I can.
“Don’t be.” he waved off her apology, “it’s actually nice knowing that I’m not the only one still working this late. Most people don’t get it.”
“You just finished too?” She asked him
“Late nights are a hazard of the job.” He shrugged, “can I get you a coffee?”
“Looks like we’re both regulars” she pointed to the barista who was already bringing over their usuals
“Triple espresso with cream and a truly unreasonable amount of sugar and a dirty chai latte.” the barista set their drinks down
“Anyone ever tell you that you’re incredibly judgmental about people’s drink order?” Josh handed her money off the coffees and a generous tip
“Well you do at least once a week” the barista grabbed the money and walked back to the counter
“What’s a dirty chai?”
“Chai tea latte with a shot of espresso.” She explained, “it’s good” she offered him her drink to try
“Damn that is good” he admitted handing it back to her
“Told you” she smirked at him a little.
“How did you end up in DC?”
“Maybe I’m from DC” she raised a well manicured eyebrow
“Maybe” he looked at her intently, “but you’re not”
“You seem sure of yourself”
“I am”
“Im from Wisconsin”
“Seriously?”
“Yes”
“With the cheese?”
“Yes”
“And cows?”
“Got to have the cows if you want to have the cheese.”
“Good point”
“I came here for graduate school.” She said finally
“Georgetown?”
“Yeah, They have a combined masters degree and doctorate degree program that allows me to get them both concurrently.”
“How long does something like that take?”
“If I finish on time it will be 6 years total. Anywhere else and I wouldn’t have finished until after I was 30.”
“A doctorate before 30 is impressive.” He told her while attempting to deduce exactly how old she was without having to ask.
“You know I volunteered for the Bartlet campaign?”
“Yeah?” his hand inched slowly across the table and the tops of her hands brushed against his, sending a shot of electricity up his arm and into his very core
“I was driving back to DC after a particularly disastrous trip to see my parents in Wisconsin. And I was alternating between NPR and like punk to try and stay awake. Anyway NPR was on, it was the primaries and they were interviewing the candidates… he was talking about milk of all things” she smiled thinking about the memory, “something about his genuine desire to help make people’s lives better… this idea that government can be an instrument of good. It got to me. I almost turned around and drove to Nashua then and there.”
“What stopped you?”
“My parents were already pretty pissed at me. If I’d given up a full scholarship to Georgetown I don’t think they would have ever forgiven me” she looked uncomfortable
“So you volunteered in DC?” He asked hoping to change the subject enough to ease her discomfort.
“Yes. Just stuffing envelopes and things like that. They did start letting me write press releases after a while. Apparently I have a knack for it.”
“That doesn’t surprise me at all.” He took her hand gently and looked into her large blue eyes he could feel his heart beating loudly he almost jumped by the sound of his pager going off followed quickly by his cell phone.
“I’m sorry I need to…” he kept holding her hand while he answered his phone. “Josh lyman… yeah… no… they what? When?”
Donna watched as the expression on his face changed from mild amusement to annoyance to anger and then back to amusement again before hanging up the phone.
“I’m guessing that was work?”
“That obvious?”
“A little”
“I have to go back to the White House”
“Yeah. I kind of guessed.” she said, unable to keep the disappointment out of her voice
“I know this doesn’t look great… but when my phone rings at 10 o’clock it’s important.”
“I know” she smiled at him, “it’s really ok”
“I’d like to see you again.”
“I think that can be arranged” she reached into her bag and pulled out a card, “call me”
“I will” he took the card and put it in his wallet
“Ok” she said as she reached into her bag and pulled out her laptop
“You’re still working?” He asked surprised
“Yeah” she started typing again, “i want to walk in the spring graduation which means I need my dissertation in by March so I can complete the oral exam in April and walk by May graduation.”
“What’s your topic?” He grabbed his coat and slung his backback over his shoulder
“Founding mothers: women in the American revolution” she looked up at him to gauge his reaction, “that’s usually when people’s eyes start to glaze over.”
“Not me”
“No?”
“I’m wild about American history”
“Really”
“As long as it’s not national parks I’m good.” on an impulse he leaned down and kissed her quickly on the lips he lingered just long enough for her to put a hand on the back of his neck and pull him in for a second kiss. This one was longer, deeper and left him longing for more
“I’m definitely going to call you” he grinned as he walked out the door
Sam met him as soon as he walked into the west wing.
“I thought it was going to pass?” Sam asked
“It was” Josh answered
“It's in the bag.” Toby told him
“No, Toby, it's not.” Josh opened his office door and surveyed the disorganized mess in front of him and dropped his backpack into the chair
“I just got done with Crane.” Toby told him
“Well, Crane's two hours behind” Jodi explained
“Oh, don't tell me” Toby groaned
“What they attach?” Sam asked
“A land-use rider.” Josh said unable to keep the exasperation out of his voice
“Who?” Sam asked
“Broderick and Eaton.” Josh rolled his eyes
“Broderick and Eaton?”
Yep.
Don't worry about it.
“Big Sky Federal Reserve, Sam.” Josh’s voice started rising, “They want to strip mine the length and breadth of Montana.”
“We don't care.” Sam said dismissively
“We do care.”
“Not today.” Sam told him
“Sam...”
“Since when are you outdoorsy?”
“Please, this isn't about the environment. It's about retribution.” Josh put his hands on his hips and looked up
“Yeah, no kidding.” Toby said
“We need to see the President.” Sam said finally
“Yeah, we need to see the President.” Josh agreed
“Broderick and Eaton?”
“Yep.” Josh answered as they started walking towards the oval
“Hey!” Zoey said brightly, “how did it go”
“Can I talk to you for a second?” Josh walked over to Zoey and Charlie
“Of course” she smiled innocently at him
“you failed to mention that Donna Moss is like 25 years old” he whispered
“She’s 26 actually.” Zoey smirked
“Come on Josh, Age is just a number” Charlie said with a smirk
“Did you know about this?” Josh asked him
“How did it go?” She asked again
“I got paged after 15 minutes”
“You get her number?” Charlie asked
“Yes” Josh said obviously pleased with himself
“Couldn’t have been that bad” Zoey shrugged and Charlie nodded in agreement
“It was good” Josh smiled cryptically
“Josh” Toby called, “are you planning on joining us?”
“Yeah” Josh jogged into the Oval Office and closed the door behind him