"Hey, Will, what're you doing here?" CJ asked as she leaned against the doorjamb to his office.
"I just got back from a date."
"Oh? Seems a little early to end a date," she commented as she glanced at her watch.
"It is," he agreed, "but since the woman I was with had to leave early, I thought I'd come back here to finish up a few things. What are you doing here?"
"Same as you � finishing up a few things. I was just leaving a note for Toby when I saw your light." CJ walked further into the room and settled into a vacant chair. "So who was the disastrous date with?"
"I didn't say it was disastrous."
"You didn't have to. Just the fact that you came back here indicates that the date was less than stellar."
He sighed. "You're right, it wasn't stellar. She's interested in someone else. I think I was just a poor substitute for Mr. Right."
"You're kidding! Who was it? Wait � was it Blair from the Counsel's office? I heard she just broke up with-"
"It wasn't Blair."
"Meg from Political Affairs?"
"Not Meg."
"Pam?"
"Uh-uh."
She shot him an exasperated look. "There's no way I'll be able to guess unless you give me a hint."
"CJ, why are you so interested? It was a bad date. It's over. Let's move on."
"No, let's not. You were on a date, which is more than I've had in the past year. I want to hear about it."
He tried to change the focus of the conversation. "You know, Danny would go out with you in an instant-"
"No. I'm not dating any reporters," CJ answered flatly.
"I'm just saying�"
"Don't."
"Ok."
They sat in uncomfortable silence for a few moments before CJ spoke again. "Sue in Human Resources?"
"CJ!"
"Sorry." There was another pause and then she asked, "Beth?"
Will sighed. "You're not going to give this up, are you?"
"Nope," she grinned.
"It was Donna Moss," he mumbled.
CJ let out a loud guffaw. "Excuse me? I could have sworn you just said Donna Moss."
"I did. And what's so funny about that?"
"But Donna's� she's� don't you know about Josh and Donna?"
"*Now* I do," he grumbled. At CJ's continued look of disbelief, he added, "Look, when I first started here, I noticed a vibe, but no one else mentioned it. After a while, it just sort of faded into the background. After the incident on Inauguration night, I thought maybe� but the next day it was business as usual. I figured it was all just my imagination."
"Nope."
"Well thanks for the news flash," he drawled.
"The idea of you choosing Donna to ask - it's just so ridiculous. Didn't you ever notice that she rarely dates anyone who works in the White House?"
"I thought she was reluctant to mix her personal and professional lives. I had no intention of making this the romance of the century. I just thought it would be nice to go out on a date. I don't know a lot of women in DC," Will elaborated. "And didn't she briefly date that navy guy who worked in the basement?"
"And he promptly got transferred to Italy!" CJ exclaimed. "Not that I think Josh had anything to do with that, but�"
"You're saying Josh *threatens* anyone who tries to date her?"
"I wouldn't go that far. I'm just saying that not many men are willing to brave Josh's wrath by asking her in the first place."
"You know, you should probably warn people about that before they make fools of themselves. Now I'm going to be glancing over my shoulder constantly, expecting some sort of retribution from Josh."
CJ stood up. "I wouldn't worry too much about it," she reassured him. "I think Josh has finally come to some revelations of his own � Donna won't be dating other people for much longer." She gave him a wry smile before walking out the door.
"CJ?" Will called to her before she left the bullpen.
She peeked her head back into his office. "Yes?"
"Is there anyone else I should be warned about?"
"Ed and Larry," she tossed back at him with a grin.
He could still hear her laughter long after she had disappeared from view.
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