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3 Hour Tour
by: Sophia
Character(s): Josh, Donna
Pairing(s): Josh/Donna
Category(s): Romance
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: Don't be silly... they aren't mine! None of them are mine.
Summary: For the Blackout Challenge. It seems too sappy to be straight PWP. Part 4 of the By The Numbers Series
Spoiler: At least up to Red Haven's on Fire. Please read with caution.
Author's Note: I dedicate this to everyone who emailed me after '500 Dollars'. Thank you!!! You guys make me want to right more. But most of all this is for Shelley who makes me want to write better.
Written: September 17, 2003
Feedback: I live for feedback. I crave feedback. I need feedback. Please give me feedback.
"Listen, I don't think you understand. She is the Press Secretary to the President of the United States. I am the Deputy Chief of Staff. We need a room." CJ is more visible than I am. I'm smart enough to know if this guy recognizes anyone in the candlelight bathing the front desk it's going to be this Amazonian who speaks for our administration, not me.
"I'm very sorry, sir, but I don't have any available rooms, and with the blackout such as it is, there isn't anything I can do for you. The ballroom is still reserved for the function you were to attend. Your group is welcome to wait there." This guy's not helping me. I don't want to sit in a huge ballroom with
a bunch of lobbyists and Democratic supporters who all want to talk to me about something I probably don't want to talk about. Damn, there has to be something I can do to fix this.
Just as I'm about to hit melt down, I hear a soft voice behind me. "There is a suite under the name
Donnatella Moss. The confirmation number is 77453289. It was verified this morning with a V. Santos at the front desk." Donna has a suite? Why does Donna have a suite? This was just supposed to be an evening thing. We were supposed to be home by 11:30pm. We had a schedule; Donna worked it all out. But she got a suite.... Was she planning something for us? Because I stocked the refrigerator at the condo with champagne, strawberries, whipped cream and hot fudge. I had plans too. I just wanted to be home to act them out. So why didn't she tell me we were going to stay in New York overnight?
"Yes, Miss Moss, here is your room key. I'm afraid with the blackout the elevators aren't running. Will you be able to walk up to the 11th floor?" He hands Donna an old fashioned key, no key cards for this hotel.
"Yes, we'll be fine. Is there lighting in the stairwells?" Donna is taking this whole fiasco in stride and I'm very grateful. She always gets stuck on these adventures when we travel outside the DC area.
I'm beginning to think I should stay within a 50-mile radius of the White House at all times.
"The emergency lights are working. Thank you for understanding." And he was off to help other customers.
Donna makes her way to the stairwell the desk clerk pointed out to begin the walk 11 flights up to the room we aren't supposed to have.
We all walk quickly to catch up to Donna. In the darkened lobby, I take my time watching the sway of her
hips and listening to the swish of her gown as it moves in tandem with her stride. God, I am so lucky. Why do we have to be here with CJ, Will and Amy? Why can't it just be Donna and me? This would be a much better
experience with no one else around.
Will is the first to speak as we start up the first of 11 long flights of stairs. "Donna, I thought we were just supposed to attend the fundraiser and go home tonight. Why did you book a suite?" Will's gaze slides from the back of Donna's head to me, and then to CJ. He's trying to figure out the same thing I am. I can't wait for the answer.
"Well Will, let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, I went on a little day trip and it turned in to a 3-hour tour, if you get my meaning."
"Indiana," I say, finally understanding Donna's reason for booking a suite. It's just in case of
emergency.
"Yes Josh, Indiana. I refuse to leave things to chance after that little excursion. Leo lets me pre-book rooms everywhere he sends me now. It's the only way I'm willing go anywhere anymore. Margaret
said Leo personally called to reserve a room for me in Cambridge the night of Rock the Vote just to ease my mind on that trip."
Amy and Will must already know the Indiana story because they don't ask for clarification. We're all so
grateful Donna had this safety net for us we don't question things any further. By the 6th flight
of stairs I'm starting to get cranky, even though I managed to stay behind Donna during the entire climb. Watching her hips sway isn't nearly as enjoyable as it should be because I get the feeling Amy is staring at my ass as she walks behind me.
"Explain to me again why we're here?" I manage to keep my voice just this side of a whine but seriously, why am I stuck here? How did this happen?
"Because there was supposed to be an important Democratic fundraiser tonight. It's Friday, after
a light week, so the White House sent some of its best and brightest to fly the administration flag. But mostly you're here because Leo told you to go and since he's your boss, you thought it would be a good idea to agree." She's such a smart ass. I actually love that about her.
"But what about Toby? Why isn't he here? He's from New York." Bantering takes my mind off
the fact that we're still climbing stairs.
"Josh, he has newborn twins!"
"No, that's not it. I think he knew there was going to be a blackout and he just didn't want to get stuck in it." I could see it, couldn't you?
"And what are you going to do now that you've figured out his nefarious plan?" Donna asks over
her shoulder as she opens the door to the 11th floor. Thank God, we've made it at last. I don't know how many more stairs I could climb.
"Don't you two ever shut up?" Amy speaks for the first time since we were in the lobby.
"Yes, we have our moments of silence. This isn't one of them, if you were wondering." Donna has gotten to the point where she's done taking shit from Amy. I don't blame her. Waiting for the announcement
is hard enough, keeping our hands to ourselves in public, sneaking around so we can spend our nights together. Add to that Amy's bitchiness; and it's understandable why Donna is a little snappy. CJ seems to be okay with it.
"You know, I'm starting to find it very comforting. Josh and Donna are bantering and all's right
in the world. It's kind of like an odd sort of white noise." I think Will just moved up from usher to groomsman.
"Yeah, it's White House noise." CJ laughs at her own joke as Donna opens the door to our
suite. I laugh in spite of myself and head straight for the mini-bar. Hey, we have to drink this stuff before it gets warm.
####################
Thank God for Donnatella Moss. I have no problem believing she rented a room 'just in case'. My young friend has learned quickly that it pays to be prepared for all disasters because they tend to come straight at us.
The original plan was for Josh, Will and I to fly up for the New York DNC fundraiser and fly back that night. Then the First Lady added Amy Gardner to the mix. When the President told Leo that Amy was going too, Leo walked right over to The Operations bullpen and said, "Donna, you are going to New York tomorrow with Josh, CJ and Will. Knowing them they'll get into trouble. I'm trusting you to make sure that doesn't happen." And then he walked away. And he did it all without prompting from any of us. It was a
classic 'Leo as father figure' moment, protecting all of us while still trying to appear gruff about it.
When we found out about Amy, it all made a little more sense. Josh told me what Amy said to Donna. On the
one hand it made me angry, but at the same time I kind of wanted to see what Amy was going to do. Not the right attitude for a Press Secretary to have, but it's like getting to watch a soap opera up close and personal.
So I'll say it again, thank God for Donna. Because of her, we at least have a room. So we can have a little privacy, which is important because with Josh, Donna and Amy all together, I'm sure this is going
to be a 'bumpy night'.
####################
I'm sitting in New York, in the middle of a blackout, with the Press Secretary to the President of the United States, the Deputy Chief of Staff, the Deputy Communications Director and the First Lady's Chief of Staff; as God is my witness, if I get caught with my hand down my boss's pants while his hand is up my dress, I'm blaming Leo McGarry.
I knew this trip would come to no good.
I knew there was something wrong when Leo told me I was going. Josh was supposed to go and I was going to
spend the night doing laundry and shopping and accomplishing all the things
I've stopped doing in my spare time since my spare time is now spent having sex
with Josh. Then Leo said I was going
and I knew something was wrong. Boy
was I right. We've been so lucky
avoiding Amy, and now here we all are.
Great.
Josh is trying to make it better, getting everyone drunk, sitting as
close to me as possible. We're in the
semi-dark on the couch. Everyone is
settling into some serious drinking.
I'm sipping my beer when I feel Josh's hand run over the skirt of my
dress. As he works his hand under the
hem, I drop my hand to his lap and carefully unbutton his pants. During a particularly loud comment from Amy
I manage to unzip his pants and slip my hand into his boxers.
We can't do that much. Getting
him off would be too messy to cover up in a room full of coworkers. It's not like we could say it was beer. I doubt anyone would buy that. So I stroke his semi-hard cock, fingering
the head, brushing the length, but when he gets too eager I pull back and rest
my hand against his thigh. Every time I
move my hand away he leans closer to me.
After a moment his muscles relax, as if any touch is welcome.
Josh has been
just as evil... but far more insidious.
He keeps running the back of his index finger beneath my garter. Back and forth, slowly, hypnotically. Josh is the only man I know who could get me
off just by touching my thigh. Oh God,
the air in my lungs is getting heavier; I have to bite my lip to keep from
making a noise. I can't do this here;
we can't do this here.
It may be dark
enough to allow a little exploration, but this is insane. It's not dark enough for this to be totally
safe and if we get caught... you know what I don't even want to think about
that. So I remove my hand from Josh's
lap and pull his away from my legs.
After some quick clothing adjustments we lean tight against each other,
accepting that we have to wait. It's
not like we haven't waited before.
Apparently I have very good timing, because Amy just went to the window
and opened it. She let in a welcome
breeze but also enough light that everyone in the room would have seen us.
I look over at Will who is sitting in the armchair across from us
staring at his drink. He drinks
tequila. Who would have guessed? And at the rate he's going, he should be
drunk in about 30 minutes. I'm guessing
this whole situation is making him uncomfortable. Poor guy. I doubt this is
what he signed on for.
####################
I keep having one thought run through my head. It's been the same thought since January. 'I was only supposed to help with the State
of the Union.' Whenever things get
strange, whenever I get into these situations, all I can think is 'I was only
supposed to help with the State of the Union.'
And things don't get much more bizarre than sitting in an 11th
floor suite, in the middle of a summer blackout in New York, with this
group. For the last hour, we've been
drinking from the mini bar because Josh says we need to drink everything before
it gets warm. And everything is getting
warm. No electricity means no lights but
it also means no air-conditioning and no fans.
So it's getting very hot in here.
Oh man, Amy just opened the drapes.
Good thing Josh and Donna stopped their heavy petting in time. I don't want to guess what Amy would have
screamed if she'd seen them. I didn't
actually see them myself but I'm not stupid.
If I were dating a woman as gorgeous as Donna, I wouldn't want to take
my hands off her for a second, no matter who was in the room. The restraint they show every day is
amazing.
Oh no. Amy is starting to shed
her clothes saying, "It's too hot to wear all this taffeta." But it's really just an excuse to strip for
Josh in the soft light of the sunset. I
must say, Amy is a beautiful woman, but then so are CJ and Donna. So I don't know what she's trying to
prove.
We all turn to CJ, looking for the answer as to what to do. She looks at me, then at Donna, and finally
at Josh. "You know what, Amy has a
point. It's hot. I'm assuming no one went commando
tonight." We all shake our
heads. "It's hot guys, it's
getting dark, take off whatever you feel comfortable taking off." And with that she stands up and unzips her
dress. WOW!!! Underneath the beautiful blue gown is some of the most amazing
lingerie I have ever seen in person.
She is wearing a deep blue corset with black lace, black lace underwear
and black stockings held up by the garters attached to the corset.
"Oh, you're wearing the corset I gave you for your birthday. So do you like it?" I don't know if I can handle a conversation
between two women I work with about lingerie while they are in their lingerie. So I take another slug of tequila. This is not my idea of fun.
####################
I can't believe Amy just stripped in front of us. Actually, you know what, I can. What I can't believe is that she thought she
could command the room. I mean she has
some nice underwear on, you know from the average male perspective, but it's
just a half bra and a g-string. There's
no mystery. There's nothing to it but
silk and skin.
Now that I'm thinking about it, I would have a totally different
reaction if it were Donna. But then
Donna's body looks stunning in everything from my old Harvard shirts to the
Versace dress CJ lent her.
Okay, now CJ just took her dress off.
Wow. That's some underwear. I'm impressed.
"You bought CJ underwear for her birthday?" That's kind of cute and funny, very Donna.
"Well, we had a big old girls-only lingerie party for CJ's last
birthday. We all tried to out do each
other in getting her the coolest thing ever.
I got her that corset and, in case you were wondering, I didn't win the
coolest gift prize." Donna is
smiling at CJ and the two of them are completely ignoring the mostly naked
woman by the windows. Actually we all
are.
"Wow, a lingerie party?
That must have eased the pain of turning 30 quite a bit for you Ceej." I love joking around with CJ. Sometimes she makes me miss Joanie just a
little bit less.
"Don't be patronizing, J; you know how old CJ is." Amy definitely does not understand when to
keep her mouth shut. Or as Donna would
say, she keeps her mouth shut but that doesn't stop words from coming out.
"Amy, don't presume to know how I feel about anything Josh
says." And on that scathing note
she turns to me, "It was one of the better parties I've ever been to. Donna does organize the best birthday parties."
"You remember that party she threw for Bonnie last year? With the parrots?" Last year was the first year Bonnie couldn't
take a vacation for her birthday, so Donna created this amazing Caribbean
themed party that had gold doubloons, this incredible jerked chicken, and these
talking parrots that sang sea shanties.
It was hilarious, Bonnie said it was better than being there and she
really seemed to mean it.
"That was one of my better ones.
Hey, Will, when's your birthday?"
Donna is standing up and moving over towards CJ.
"October but I don't celebrate." Will is shaking himself out of his coat, tie and button down
shirt, both he and I have maintained our trousers and I can't help but wonder
if it's for the same reason.
Camouflage. Because being in a
room full of women in their underwear can be dangerous.
"Well you do now. CJ would
you unhook me, I can't get out of this thing by myself." Donna turns her back to CJ and faces me with
her hands on her hips. As CJ eases the
hooks on the halter-top dress Donna has on, it starts to loosen around her
ribs. CJ finishes with the hooks and
Donna slips the halter over her head and lets the dress crumple to the
ground. She steps out of it, picks it
up and drops it on top of CJ's gown on the side table. She's standing there in a lace teddy of pale
lavender and I'm wondering how I'm going to breathe.
"I can't help but think that this is how so many porn movies
start." Will is obviously drunk
now. I may not know him that well but I
don't think he would say that sober.
"It does have a distinctive Randy Spears / Savannah kind of feel to
it." How the HELL does Donna know
the names of porn stars?
"Except I don't think any of us are likely to blow our brains out
over a car accident." That's it...
CJ and Donna know way too much about porn stars.
"How the hell do you two know that much about porn
stars?" There has to be something
about blackouts that makes it okay to have this conversation.
"Well Josh, you can't work in Hollywood without running across a few
porn stars... and Savannah's story made a very odd 'E True Hollywood Story'. But Donna, Donna learned porn in
school. What was the name of that
class?"
"'Feminism and Pornography - Women's Studies 135', I took that my
first semester at college. 8am, Monday
Wednesday Friday. It was a very
enlightening class." Donna and CJ
are grinning at each other in the fading light.
"Your first semester? Was
that also your only semester or did you drop out after a full year?" Amy gets snarky when she doesn't get her way
but that was a low blow even for her.
But then she's drinking straight vodka, warm. You have to want to get drunk pretty bad to be willing to choke
down that swill.
"No, I completed 2 full years before I dropped out." Donna looks at Amy as the last of the light
fades from the window. She's not
backing down.
"You know I never understood that, you're so smart. Why did you quit?" Will doesn't know the story. God, Donna hasn't had enough to drink to
deal with this. But there's nothing I
can say to that.
"I ran out of money. There
was no college fund and I didn't qualify for enough financial aid. My boyfriend convinced me that if I helped
him through med school he would turn around and put me through college. But then he cheated on me and I ended up
here." I hate hearing that
story. I hate that she won't tell me
Freeride's name. But I do like that she
has taken to referring to him as Dr Freeride.
Still, the situation sucked and I wish I had known her then so I could
have helped her.
"You should sue him for breach of promise. Get your money back." Will is curling up in his armchair with one
arm under his head and the other across his stomach. "I could help you if you wanted to do that." Then he drops his head and starts to
snore.
"I think it's just sad that you threw your life away for some
man. I mean now what are you going to
do?" I wonder how much of that
bottle Amy has finished off. She's got
a good tolerance but she's got to drop soon.
God I hope she drops soon.
The bottle tips from Amy's hand
as she lolls back in her chair. CJ goes
to check. "Passed out cold. Thank God." Then she looks at Donna and me.
"Will and Amy are both passed out.
I am going to go into that room over there, close the door and go to
sleep. You two are going to be very
careful not to wake anyone or leave any proof that you were anything other than
completely professional. As long as I
don't wake up, I am going to choose to believe that. Goodnight."
With that she pulls her dress from under Donna's and drags it behind her
like a matador's cape. Then she pulls
the bedroom door closed and Donna and I are alone with our two passed out
co-workers.
"So, Josh, want to tell me why you pushed everyone to clean out the
mini-bar and then sat there nursing one beer all night?"
I smirk at her in the dark.
"Come into the bedroom and I'll show you why." I pick up my coat, take her hand and lead
her to the other bedroom, pausing only to close the door behind us.
####################
"Admit it Josh. You got
everyone else drunk so they would pass out and we could be alone, didn't
you?" I don't need him to answer,
not when his lips are touching with soft wetness down the side of my neck and
over the tops of my breasts, dragging his tongue across my skin in between
kisses.
Then he stops and presses his nose to mine and says, "It was a good
plan, wasn't it?"
"It was a very good plan.
You should be rewarded for coming up with, and acting out, such a
brilliant plan." While he's
pulling his undershirt over his head, I unbuckle his belt and unzip his pants,
pushing them and his boxers down his legs.
His cock is semi-hard already.
I have a wicked idea.
"Josh... come here."
In the dark I lead him to the bed.
As he sits down, I lean over and whisper in his ear. "Just sit there and feel me." I take his hands and run them from my
shoulders down my breasts and over my stomach.
I love the way he touches me.
With every other man I've been with, I always worried what they thought
about me, about my body. I worried that
I wasn't enough. But with Josh, my only
worry is that we'll wake the neighbors.
His fingers glide over the lace of my teddy and I swivel my hips. Josh opens his knees and lets me in. I pivot and turn in the dark so that I am
facing away from him. Note to self:
remember to give Josh a lap dance when he can see what I'm doing. I bend forward at the waist as his hands
slide down my back to my ass, where he takes some time fondle and squeeze,
softly at first and then harder.
"Oh Josh, mmmm, ahhh."
I can't think of anything to say.
Everything is hazy when Josh touches me. All I can think is MORE.
My fingers reach for the zipper hidden at the front of my teddy. I start to pull it off my body and Josh
drags it the rest of the way down my legs.
Then his hands come to rest at my waist and he pulls me back into his
lap. I can feel his lips on my
ear. He whispers to me. He knows how his voice gets me hot. The Declaration of Independence never
sounded this good in school. With one
thumb he starts rubbing my clit roughly, while the other hand comes to my
mouth. He's rock hard beneath me and I
swivel my hips to give him some friction but his hand holds me in place. He runs the thumb of his other hand across
my lower lip and when I open my mouth to him he slips his thumb in.... I bite
down on it as my orgasm rockets through me.
I hope I didn't hurt him, it was either that or wake CJ and we can't do
that.
"Donna?" Josh stands
me up and turns me to lie down on the bed.
I look up in the darkness where his voice came from. "Lay there, I'll be right back."
"Where are you going?"
He's leaving me naked in a hotel room in a blackout? Where the hell is he going?
"I have to go grab something, I'll be right back." I hear him fumble around for his boxers and
go out the door. In a minute he's
back.
"Lay on
your stomach for me Donna." Okay
this is new, but I'll try anything once.
Then I feel cool liquid being poured down my back. Ahhhh, that's definitely new. I feel the sting of... is that alcohol? I can smell the oak and a kind of peppery
sweetness. As the air hits the liquid,
it cools and the skin around starts to feel hotter.
"Joshua, what are you doing?" I whisper to my lover in the
dark.
Before he answers, I feel his ever so slightly rough tongue slide across
the small of my back where the liquid collected. "I just want to try this.
Do you mind if I drink whiskey off your body?"
Oh God no, why would I mind something so sexy? "Go right ahead... just touch me."
We lie in the dark licking at each other. Getting hotter and hotter.
But I forgot something.... We weren't supposed to be here all night. We were supposed to go home.
"Josh.... Josh... Wait! Do you
have any condoms with you?" Please
say yes, dear God, please let him have condoms.
"Yeah, in my jacket."
He had thrown his jacket across the bed when we came in. He pulled it closer and got the condoms from
the inside pocket. " Always
prepared."
"Oh, God, now Joshua. I want to feel you inside me NOW!" He quickly sheaths himself and I crawl over him. First I lower myself onto him and rock back and forth with the same evil rhythm he used with his finger on my thigh. He pulls me tight against his chest and even in the dark I can feel his eyes staring into mine. I wonder if we'll always have this intensity as I move my legs from his sides to behind his back and push into him hard. Harder, harder, I want to take him as deep as I can. My rhythm becomes erratic as
I feel Josh's hands all over me, my breasts, my back, my hips. He moves me with him as he whispers in the
darkness words like 'inamorata' and 'eternity'. When we make love, Josh speaks to me of forever, our forever. He pulls one of my legs up and over his shoulder and suddenly he's on top of me. I arch, I stretch, I fall, he catches me. We are both trying to stay as quiet as possible but it's so hard when it feels this good. When I finally release it's like the sun went supernova and there are not words. Which is a good thing because if there were I would have shouted them so loud we would have woken up people in China.
I lean in to capture Josh's release in my mouth; then I collapse against the pillows.
I feel Josh leave the bed. I'd care where he was going, I'd care what he was doing, but right now I feel like a warm marshmallow. Mmmmm marshmallows. Smores... I think I'd be hungry if I weren't so tired.
I'm almost asleep when he comes back into the room. "Mmmm what did you do with the condom?" Logistics. People always get caught because of logistics.
"I wrapped it in toilet paper and put it in the bathroom trash." He lies down behind me and
wraps me in his arms. I love sleeping with Josh. I feel so safe and loved. I sleep so well. And I need all the sleep I can get if I am going to deal with getting us all out of here tomorrow.
####################
Oh God my head. What was I thinking last night? Oh yeah, Amy stripped, Josh and Donna were trying to keep their hands to themselves... it was so uncomfortable, I thought getting drunk was the answer, but now I am paying the price. I peer out of one partially opened eye and see Amy still passed out. The sun shining through the window tells me it's morning. Ack. Morning breath.
"Will?" Someone is talking to me. I roll my head to the side and see Donna kneeling next to me. "I brought you some aspirin and water and there are toothbrushes and toothpaste in the bathroom through there."
"Josh is right, you really are an angel," I tell her as I take the gifts she's brought me. When I open my eyes all the way to take the pills and water, I notice that she's wearing Josh's dress shirt over her underwear.
"You're sweet, Will. But let's get a move on. The sooner we all get up the sooner we can go home. The power came back on and the airports are starting to move."
"How did this become my life? I was only supposed to help with the State of the Union." I swallow the pills and guzzle the water.
"Well I don't know how you got here Will, but I fell in a pool." CJ is awake and still wearing that corset thing. Agh my head hurts. I close my eyes and throw her my dress shirt, which she puts on.
"Thanks."
"All I did was I answer a phone." Donna takes the glass from me and sits down on the sofa.
"What are we talking about?" Josh wanders out in his boxers and undershirt. He glazes at Amy's still passed out figure and drops a kiss onto Donna's forehead.
"Will wants to know how he got here. And since we can't answer for him, we were just telling him how
we got here." I want someone to smile at me the way Donna smiles at Josh. I wonder if she has a sister.
"I got on a train. I think that's how I got here. Sort of seems like a lifetime ago." Josh looks over at me for the first time. "Will? You don't look so good, can we get you something?"
"Well I still haven't got a clue as to how I ended up here but I got some good friends out of the deal, so I'm gonna let it go. I'm gonna go brush my teeth and leave waking her up to you guys." I stumble in the direction of the bathroom Donna pointed towards and brush my teeth until they feel clean again.
When I get back to the main room, Amy is still asleep in her chair. Everyone is staring at her. I think they may be trying to will her awake. "Uh, guys? What are you doing?"
"Trust me on this one, Will. You don't want to be the one to wake up Amy. She's not very nice in the morning." Josh grimaces as if he's remembering what it was like waking up next to this woman.
"Josh, I don't mean to be rude, but I don't think she gets any nicer as the day goes on." I've
had a few encounters with Amy Gardner and the only thing I've learned is to try to avoid them in the future.
"I like Will, I'm glad we're keeping him." Donna smiles at me and I have to laugh. I wonder what kind of party I'll get for my birthday. "But we can't just sit around waiting for her to wake up. We should be doing something."
"Well it's not like we can do yoga here." There's an inside joke there because Donna just blushed crimson.
CJ turns to me and says, "Don't ask."
"Well, I don't do yoga anyway. I do Tai Chi." Everyone turns to stare at me. "What?
Everyone has to have a way to relax."
"I have always wanted to learn Tai Chi but I never got around to it. Can you show me?" Donna and CJ both stand up and start moving small pieces of furniture to create some space. "You don't need a lot of room for it, do you?"
"No, not really. Do you guys really want to do this?" I can't believe they want to learn this.
"Why not? We don't have anything else to do unless you want to get on the phone and deal with Toby long distance." Josh has a good point there.
"Okay - the first thing to focus on in Tai Chi is your breathing." I spend the next 15
minutes walking them through the most basic of the basic movements. It's fun. Donna picks it up pretty quickly then she helps Josh get the hang of it. CJ's a natural.
"I have to have good control of my breathing for the briefings. If I get out of breath the
reporters think there's something wrong."
We're all joking and laughing when Amy finally wakes up. Josh is right. She's not a morning person. "What the hell are you people doing?"
"Tai Chi." Josh has his knees bent and is working his hands from one side to the other, trying to match his breathing to his motions.
"Is the power back on? Can we get the hell out of here?" She's stumbling around picking up her dress and her shoes.
"Yes, the power's on. We can leave as soon as you're ready." Donna has her hip against the arm of the sofa. She looks pale and stunning with Josh's dress shirt open just enough to see the pale lavender lace of her teddy.
"Why the hell didn't you wake me? Get me out of here." She pushes past us to the bathroom and slams the door.
"I'll tell the airline we are ready for the next available flight. Looks like it's time to go
home." Donna walks off to find the room's phone. God this has been an adventure. What was it Donna called her trip to Indiana? Oh yeah, a three hour tour. God I hope I'm not Gilligan.
The End?
See the Sequel: Dinner at Eight
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