Saturday, October 26th
**********
“Josh, don’t forget to change your clock tonight,” Donna called to him as she got ready to leave.
“Why?” He emerged from his office and leaned against the doorjamb as he watched her organize her desk in preparation for the next day. “We’re not going back to Indiana again, are we?”
“What?” She looked at him in confusion.
“The time change thing – It’s not because of something in Indiana, right?”
“No, Joshua,” she answered patiently. “It’s just Daylight Saving, and this is the same discussion we go through every year.” She paused momentarily and then added, “Though it’s interesting that you mention Indiana, since they’re one of the few states that don’t participate.”
“Huh?” He almost missed what she was saying as his thoughts strayed to their time in Indiana.
“Indiana, Arizona and Hawaii don’t participate in Daylight Saving Time. And until Congress passed the Uniform Time Act, each state got to decide when Daylight Saving started and ended. It made telling time in early spring and fall very interesting.”
“But we’re only talking about changing time by an hour tonight, right? Not two or twenty?” he asked, barely able to hide the smirk on his face.
“Yes.”
“And it’s the whole country?”
“Honestly Josh! Weren’t you just listening? Yes. Except for the states I mentioned earlier. And a few of the US territories, like Samoa and Puerto Rico.” Josh looked impressed at her knowledge. “Fall back, spring ahead. Haven’t you ever heard that phrase?”
“Yeah, but I’m just a little paranoid after the whole
Indiana thing.”
”You think?” she asked sarcastically.
“Are you *mocking* me?”
“Quite possibly.”
“Just for that, you have to spend the extra hour tonight with me.”
“There’s a surprise,” she deadpanned.
“Ah, but Donna, I haven’t even told you what we would be doing,” he told her, just a little hurt by her attitude.
“Working?” she guessed.
“Well, I was going to suggest some time away from work, but since you don’t seem interested…” Actually, he had been about to ask her to stay a little later to help with the health care research, but her hopeful look when he suggested some time outside the West Wing quickly made him change his plans. Donna deserved a little fun time, and he was determined to give it to her.
“Oh no! I’m interested.” She smiled up at him impishly. “Are you treating?”
He gave a long-suffering sigh, but the twinkle in his eyes softened his words. “If I must.”
**********
“Ice cream?”
“Yes.” Josh handed the chocolate vanilla swirl cone to Donna and accepted a plain chocolate one for himself from the clerk.
“I just didn’t think you were an ice cream cone kind of guy,” Donna told him.
“Why Donnatella, I didn’t think you noticed,” he declared in mock surprise. She rewarded him with a light punch on the arm, as they started to stroll back to the White House, chatting amicably about all sorts of things. They were deep in a discussion about Sam’s renewed friendship with Mallory, when Donna involuntary shivered from the cold ice cream.
“Hey, are you cold?” Josh asked with concern. He started to take off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders. “I know it’s a little bit chilly for getting ice cream, but I thought it might make a nice break from work.”
“It’s a very nice break,” she agreed. “And this” – she plucked at the lapel of the suit coat – “is warming me right up.”
“I can’t believe it’s the end of October already,” he commented softly, his thoughts focused on another late night occasion, when he had offered her warmth on a cold wooden bench near a fountain. They had come full circle from that time, from friends verging on the edge of something more, to distant co-workers and back to friends. He wondered briefly if it was possible to regain that closeness that had almost been lost, then realized that with the election so close, it was best that avenue of thought not be explored. He had his best friend back, and that was all that mattered. Anything else would happen with time if it were meant to be. He’d learned that lesson the hard way with Amy, that feelings couldn’t be forced.
“Josh? You ok? You sort of spaced out for a few minutes
there.”
He mentally shook the images of that other October away. “Yeah, I’m just thinking about the election. It’s less than two weeks away and we still don’t know for sure what the hell is going to happen.”
“He’ll win,” Donna assured him. “He’s got you and Toby and Sam and Bruno. He’ll win.”
“And if he doesn’t?”
“Then we’ll move on to the next thing. It’s as simple as that.”
“We?”
“You can’t possibly think that I’d abandon the Beltway to Josh Lyman without supervision, can you?” she asked, teasing him out of his glum mood.
“No, I didn’t think you would,” he chuckled as they approached the White House gates. “Go home, Donna. Get some sleep and I’ll see you on Monday morning.”
“You don’t need me here tomorrow?”
“Nah. There’s nothing dire that needs to be done. Enjoy your extra hour.”
She removed his borrowed jacket and handed it to him.
“Goodnight, Joshua.”
“’Night,” he replied. And as he watched her walk away from the gate, he smiled, thinking that she was right. They would win. And he and Donna would regain their natural closeness and rhythm, too. It was simply a matter of time.
I got my information about Daylight Saving Time from the
2002 World Almanac, but you can also find some nifty facts about it here.
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