SleepingonPlanes

Author: Liza C.

E-mail address:

liza_cameron@yahoo.c

Title:

Sleeping in Planes

Rating:

Teen

Disclaimer: The characters belong to other people; this

is for fun and no money.

Summary: Josh and Donna have a conversation after

Talking Points.

Donna woke with a start. After a moment she realized

the insistent ringing of the phone by her bed is what had

her heart in her throat. She took a deep breath,

glanced at the clock which blinked 11:47 and picked up

the receiver, "Hello?"

"Did I wake you?" His voice was low, and the edge from

earlier in the day was gone.

"Mmmm…yeah." She answered her head beginning to

clear at the sound of his voice. With everyone leaving

for Brussels Donna had been able to leave the office at a

decent hour. She'd been emotionally and physically

exhausted after the tension of the day. It was draining

being mad at Josh, not to mention fighting with him.

After take-out and a bath she'd fallen into bed by ten

o'clock, hours earlier than was normal. "Where are

you?"

"The plane. You know this plane sucks compared to Air

Force One."

Donna did a quick calculation, "You're going to be

jetlagged; you should be sleeping."

"I can't."

"'Cause of the plane?"

"Because I didn't like fighting with you."

She sighed, "Josh, I didn't like fighting with you either…

but I'm able to sleep. In fact I was sleeping… quite

soundly in fact."

"Should I let you go?" His tone was so soft she could

barely hear him.

"No." Her quick response gave away that her

exasperation was an act, "What's bothering you?" She

asked lying back down on the bed staring at the ceiling.

"I'm not really sure."

"Josh…" She groaned.

"I just want to make sure we're okay."

"You know we are."

"I really don't. Things got a little out of hand today."

"Yes they did." She paused a moment before adding,

"I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?"

"Because no matter how frustrated I am or how rude

and dismissive you're being; I should be able to

maintain my professionalism."

Josh laughed quietly, "How did you just turn what

started out as an apology into an insult."

"Did you call me for an apology?" She asked stiffly.

"No, I called to apologize to you."

"Oh." She pulled the covers up around her more tightly

and smiled.

"I take you seriously. If you want to do more I want

that to happen."

"See… I got that when you told me you'd put me on the

Codel. And then I thought everything was okay

between us and I came home and was able to sleep."

"Yeah, but you didn't put 3.3 million Americans out of

work today."

"True. But neither did you. You did your job… well

judging by the bottle of Dom the President sent over."

"Sometimes I wonder if this is the job I should be doing."

If they hadn't been separated by thousands of miles, he

would have seen the shock register on her face at his

admission. She knew he was disillusioned, but she

wasn't used to hearing him question his purpose in the

White House. "What would you do instead?"

"Instead of being the guy the guy counts on…" He

paused for a long moment, "Maybe I should be the guy."

There was silence as his comment hung in the air. She

could hear him breathing, finally she said, "Really?

Because you'd be great as the guy."

"You'd vote for me?" She could hear the smirk through

the phone.

"I'd do more than vote for you. Are you serious?"

"I don’t know. Today just got me thinking about the

future."

"Me, too." She admitted.

He changed the subject and lightened his tone, "I know

we were fighting, but still you could have given me a

heads up on Pierce's new job."

"Yes, I could have." He could hear the smile in her

voice. "And I would have, had you not told me to shut

up right before you went into the meeting."

"Yeah, in hindsight I wish I hadn't done that."

"Maybe you've learned a lesson…"

"Maybe." He conceded; then added in defense, "I didn't

tell you to shut up."

"Close enough." She paused, "Thanks for putting me on

the Codel. I really appreciate this opportunity and

promise to make you proud."

He smiled, "When you get back, I think we'll talk about

reshuffling some of your duties."

"Really?" The surprise she felt was evident in her voice.

"Yeah, it's time… to think about the future… we'll talk."

"Okay… will you be able to sleep now?" She asked

hopefully.

"Yeah," He considered, "I think I can."

"Good then sweet dreams and safe trip."

"Goodnight Donnatella."

"Goodnight Joshua."

The End