Title: Committed -Part III

Author: Christine

Spoilers: The Midterms, general S3

Summary: She’s been gone a week.

Notes: This time, it’s Sam’s turn…

 

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Sam settled into his usual spot on Josh’s front steps and closed his eyes as he breathed in the fresh summer air. Working at the White House, he almost forgot that there was more to life than politics. Sometimes, it took these little get-togethers to remind him.

"Don't sit there." Josh’s harsh broke the quiet stillness. Sam opened his eyes and saw a puzzled Amy about to take the seat directly below Josh.

“What?”

"Don't sit there," he repeated.

"Why?"

"Just don't. Please?"

"Ok." She took a seat a little further down, closer to where Sam and CJ sat.

Before Sam had a chance to explain the significance of everyone’s seat, he heard CJ tell her, "That's Donna's spot.”

"Donna."

"Yes, whenever we escaped from the rules and came out here on the stoop, Donna would sit there next to Josh."

"The rules? When was this?"

"A couple of summers ago," Sam chimed in. "Whenever Donna relaxed the rules enough to allow Josh outside, we would come out here." He missed those days. Not because of Josh’s near death experience, or the subsequent recovery, but because of the camaraderie. It was something that had been sadly lacking between them this past year. Ever since the president had disclosed his MS, the senior staff had been oddly disconnected. On nights like these, he could almost pretend that the previous year had never happened.

"Donna made the rules?" Amy’s nasal inquiry shattered his illusions.

"During my recovery, when she was helping me out at home," Josh answered quietly.

"J? Why was your secretary making house rules for you?"

Sam could sense Josh’s growing frustration with Amy. "First, she's not my secretary, she's my assistant. Second, she's also my friend," Josh told her.

"And the rules?"

"It was just a thing we had. She was worried about me overdoing stuff. So she made up these rules that said when I could work." He glanced at Toby and smiled briefly. "She even restricted who could visit."

"But, J-­"

"Amy, can we drop it for tonight? Please? It's been a long week, and I just want to sit here and relax with my friends."

Sam silently echoed his sentiment. He didn’t want to think about rules and girlfriends and work. He wanted to sit back and enjoy this small moment of quiet with his friends.  Unfortunately, one of those friends was missing and he felt the loss intensely. "I miss Donna."

"It's only for the month," CJ reminded him. "She'll be back at the end of August."

"I know, but it seems so long since we've done this, and now that we are, she's not here. It just doesn't seem right." Donna was the one that had arranged these occasions in the past. It seemed wrong that she was missing this one.

"Sam, her father had a major stroke, and her mother's going crazy with worry. She's their only child. It's natural that they would need her at home. She's lucky Leo gave her as much time as he did."

"You're right,” Sam agreed. It had seemed odd to him that Leo had been the one to inform them of her leave of absence. He turned to Josh. “How did she manage to get so much time off?"

"I don't know," he admitted with a sad smile. "She talked to Leo on her own. Didn't even tell me until the arrangements were made."

"Oh." Josh’s soft confession saddened Sam.

"Yeah. Listen, I'm going in to get some more beer. Anyone else need something?"

Toby stood up. "I'll join you."

When the two men had disappeared inside, Amy turned to CJ and Sam. "What's the deal with Josh and Donna?" she asked them.

Sam looked at her in surprise. He hadn’t realized Amy even understood that there was a ‘Josh and Donna.’ "What do you mean?" he hesitatingly asked.

"Josh. Donna. She's been gone for a week, but from the way he's acting, you would think it's been longer. He acts as if she'll never come back. She's just his assistant, for goodness sake!"

CJ began to explain it to Amy, but Sam tuned out the chatter of the two women. Obviously, Amy *didn’t* understand about Josh and Donna. They were so perfect for each other, so right, and yet they held each other at a distance, never acting on their very obvious feelings. Which had led to Josh dating Amy. It’s not that Amy was a horrible person; she just wasn’t the right person for Josh. Sam doubted anyone but Donna would be.

Sam was so lost in his own musings that he almost missed CJ’s description of their relationship. “They work like a complex machine. And when one isn't here, the cogs don't work right. They don't mesh."

"They're each other's halves," Sam reflected. He realized that he had spoken aloud and quickly tried to back-pedal. "Professionally. I meant that they complete each other professionally."

Amy shook her head at him. "No, you didn't. And that's the problem."

"Amy, we could be wrong," CJ tried to soften the words.

"You're not. I accused him of being hit and run. I was wrong. He's the most committed man I've met. It's just not to me." She stood up from her spot on the stoop. "When he comes back out, can you tell him that I had to go? And that I'll see him around sometime?"

"I’ll tell him you had to leave. As for the other, you'll have to tell him yourself," CJ replied.

"Yeah." Amy started down the steps and Sam and CJ watched her silently go.

“She really didn’t know,” Sam said quietly. He thought that perhaps thinking you had something that you didn’t was even worse than not being able to have it in the first place.

“She really didn’t,” CJ agreed. They lapsed into silence, each reflecting on the events of the evening, until Josh and Toby emerged from the building.

"Where's Amy going?" Josh asked.

Sam spoke before CJ could formulate an excuse. "Home. She had an early meeting tomorrow.”

"Oh." Josh resumed his seat toward the top of the stoop. "So what do you think the weather in Wisconsin is like right now?"

Not surprised by Josh’s sudden shift in thought, Sam automatically replied, "Hot." 

It was quickly followed by responses of “Humid,” and “Sticky,” from Toby and CJ.

Sam leaned back on the steps once more as he participated in a jovial conversation regarding air conditioning. This was good -the four of them sitting together and acting like friends, rather than co-workers. It seemed like the start to a new beginning. And in September, when the air grew cool, he was confident that Donna would join them once more.

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~End~