Calling The Question

by: Evelyn

Josh looked at his watch for the fiftieth time, literally counting the seconds until it was 8:30. CJ had made him promise that he wouldn’t call Donna in Wisconsin until it was at least 7:30 her time. Wisconsin was an hour behind DC and he’d been checking the clock ever since 5:00.

The night before, he’d called the airlines from Donna’s apartment and discovered that a plane had left from Reagan at 7:45, arriving in Madison at 10:30. Using his White House connections, he confirmed that Donnatella Moss had been on that plane and that she’d bought a one-way ticket. With that, he drove CJ home, and finally ended up in his apartment. He’d spent the next hours flipping through the channels, throwing out the Tahitian decorations he’d stuffed into his closet months before, as well as the bottle of rum he’d bought that stupid night, and finally ended up staring at the ceiling in his bedroom for two hours. Finally, at 6 he got up, dressed, and went into the office.

Donna had wandered into her mother’s bedroom at 6:30 and crawled into bed. Donna had then described in detail what had been happening between Josh and her for the past six months. She haltingly told her mother about the episode with Cliff, the diary fiasco, and Josh’s role in saving her. She talked about the subsequent estrangement, Amy, the dot.com job offer, and the gradual, but definite reconciliation she thought she and Josh had been making until last night. She told her mother about Josh’s efforts to fix the citizenship snafu, and then the memo he’d written on behalf of Molly Morello, her favorite teacher. When the phone rang at 7:30, Donna froze. She looked at her mother and shook her head. “I’m not here.”

Carolyn looked at her daughter and said, “I don’t want to be your middle man.”

“I’m not here, Mom. I don’t want to talk to him,” and with that she got up and walked out of the bedroom.

Carolyn picked up the phone on the third ring. “Hello,” she said.

“Mrs. Moss, this is Josh Lyman. May I speak to Donna, please?”

“I’m sorry Josh. Donna can’t come to the phone,” Carolyn answered.

“Can’t or won’t, Mrs. Moss?” Josh asked.

Carolyn looked up and saw Donna standing in her doorway, shaking her head no.

“Won’t,” she answered simply.

Josh thought for a moment, and then said, “Would you give her a message for me, please. Would you tell her that I’m sorry.”

“I’ll tell her,” Carolyn said and hung up.

“He says he’s sorry.”

“I’m sure he is,” Donna said. “But you know what, Mom. It’s not enough. I don’t want ‘sorry’.”

“Ok, what do you want?” Carolyn asked.

“I want...I want...” Donna hesitated, then stopped, like she’d changed her mind about what she was going to say and instead said, “I’m going over to the University. Can I borrow your car?”

“Sure,” Carolyn said.

Donna went to get dressed when the phone rang again.

“Hello,” Carolyn answered.

“Mrs. Moss, it’s me, Josh. I’m sorry to bother you. But could I ask you to tell Donna that I’m sorry about the coffee. I didn’t want the coffee last night and. I actually don’t think I’ll ever drink coffee again.”

“You want me to tell Donnatella that you’ve given up coffee for good?” Carolyn asked.

“Yes, tell her that,” Josh pleaded.

“I will,” and Carolyn hung up the phone.

Donna came to her mother’s bedroom door and looked at her expectantly.

“He said to tell you that he’s sworn off coffee forever.”

“That’s just as well. He drinks too much anyway,” Donna said. “I’m leaving now. I’m going to stop at the Career Services office and see what kind of campus jobs are available. I should be back in two hours.”

Carolyn nodded and picked up the morning newspaper. Fifteen minutes after Donna left, the phone rang again.

“Mrs. Moss, it’s Josh,” he began.

“I’m sorry, Josh, but Donna’s not here,” Carolyn said simply.

“Not there, or still won’t talk to me?” he asked.

“She’s not here, Josh,” Carolyn paused for a moment and thought carefully about what she wanted to say.

“Donnatella went over to the University. She’s picking up the course catalog and stopping at the Career Services center to ask about campus jobs.”

There was silence on the other end.

“I see,” Josh finally said quietly. “Tell her, tell her...”

“Tell her what, Josh?” Carolyn asked pointedly.

There was silence and finally Josh whispered, “I don’t honestly know what to say, Mrs. Moss,” and hung up the phone.

Carolyn looked at the phone and shook her head. “You are an idiot, Josh Lyman.”

Josh stared into space for a few minutes. He looked down at his desk and saw his coffee mug. He picked it up and hurled it against the wall.

Chapters - 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Sequel - Like A Bad Penny

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