The Tension and The Spark
Part 4
by Karen H and Paula J

Staring at the clock in headquarters, Joey took a deep breath as she checked her watch and got her paperwork put together to begin dividing up the convention volunteers. Today the convention in Boston officially started. Media and delegates were gathering from around the U.S. to hear daily speakers, each leading up to the “main event” on Thursday night, but the experience was bittersweet for Joey. Part of her was glad things would be non-stop busy the next few days. Her mind had been more than occupied lately with Dawson. When he walked her home they decided to be friends, but that was so much harder than she thought. All weekend her mind was racing with thoughts of him, him sitting on her couch as they worked on the slogan, him standing in her kitchen helping her with dishes and him filing through her CD’s as they tried to still work. And that kiss…stirred something in side of her, yet she knew they had to stay friends. They already possibly ruined their friendship by sleeping together right away…and if there was…something else there, then it would still exist even if they just were friends for a while. Thing was, that wasn’t what she totally wanted.

“Okay everyone, it’s eight a.m., let’s get seated and talk about assignments for the convention,” she said loudly as people anxiously herded to their seats. “I have a list of who will be assigned to what location in the Fleet Center and a map to help you find your designated location. Please wait until I have finished before asking any questions.”

Meanwhile at the Fleet Center, Dawson was on his second cup of coffee for only eight a.m., running around with the producer and the manager of the facility, trying to make sure everything was ready. Volunteers would begin showing up shortly and Dawson knew mountains of work was waiting for him at the office. For the next few days his workload would double, split between the office in the evenings to catch up on his day work and then days at the Fleet Center overseeing and managing everyone working on the convention.

“Patrick everything is running smoothly here, I think once I check in again with the producer and the media relations rep, we should be fine for now,” Dawson said, trying to hide his yawn while he talked on his cell phone, taking another long drink of coffee. “Yeah I’m heading back to the office after this for a few hours so I can be here all night tonight.”

He stopped talking immediately when he saw a tall woman with long, dark hair walking with a crowd of people through the main doors. For a second his heart stopped when he thought it might be Joey bringing over the volunteers. Craning his neck to get a better look, feeling his heart race increase, he frowned when the woman turned and it wasn’t her. Joey. Even the idea of his mind going there was dangerous. They were friends, or that is what he tried to convince himself was true. Friends, why did he even agree to this? He couldn’t be her friend and think of her in a platonic way when every thought of her made him go nuts. Remembering back to the kiss they shared outside her door was too much for him to analyze and would only lead to another cold shower.

“Dawson?” Patrick spat in the phone, also feeling the stress of the convention starting.

“Yeah sorry, I ah, yeah I’ll be in shortly, things are wrapping up here,” he stammered, collecting himself before motioning to an aide to get him another cup, this time of decaf.

Later at the office, Joey sighed as she made her way to the copy room. She had tons of packets put together for volunteers and just her luck, she was missing an insert, which would take most of the afternoon to create, copy and then put in each packet and run over to the convention center to deliver.

As Joey waited at the photocopier on her handouts being copied she closed her eyes, wondering if she'd make it through the day. She'd been so lost in thought that she hadn't even heard the door open, hadn't even heard his approach. It was only when he'd wrapped arms around her waist from behind and she'd inhaled the familiar scent of his that she knew he was there.

"Hey you." He said in a husky voice against her ear before he moved her hair out of the way and over her other shoulder, allowing him access to her neck.

"Hey yourself." She moaned as he began to suckle on the pulse point of her neck, as his hands trailed up her sides. "I was just thinking about you." She informed him as his hands cupped her breasts through her white blouse.

"I've been thinking about you all day too." He began as she turned to face him, putting her hands on his shoulder as he toyed with the top button of her blouse. "Ever since I saw you talking to Jon earlier. You leaned over your desk and I have quite the view from my office."

Her hands moved down his arms and back up his clothed chest. "Tell me what were you thinking about?" Joey asked, biting her lip.

"I think I'm going to have to show it, telling you won't do it any justice." He replied pushing her against the photocopier as his lips began an assault on hers.

He quickly undid the top few buttons on her blouse and she tugged at the button and zipper on his pants, neither seeming to care that anyone could walk in the room at any moment. She started to undo the buttons on his shirt as he pulled up her skirt and kissed her neck before undoing the front clasp on her bra and sucking on one of her nipples causing her to moan. Joey threw her head back as he swirled her tongue around the nipple as her hands moved to his hair. Dawson began to stroke her through the skimpy fabric of her lace bikinis and Joey could feel his obvious arousal pressed against her hip.

Dawson pushed the skimpy underwear down her body and Joey stepped out of them as she tried to push Dawson's boxer shorts off his hips. She tried to bite back a moan as she felt a few of his fingers enter her. Everything started to go hazy and she knew she wouldn't last much longer so she stilled his probing hand.

"Dawson..." she uttered, her breathing already quickened.

His eyes moved to her flushed face and he saw the lust in her eyes. He placed his hands on her hips and she placed her hands on his shoulders as he lifted her slightly off the ground. As he entered her she lightly bit him on the shoulder in an attempt to muffle her moaning and after adjusting to his length inside her she thrust her hips against his, hooking a leg around him. He covered her mouth with his own, allowing his tongue to enter her mouth as they continued to move against each other.

A loud bang from out in the hallway suddenly brought Joey back to her senses. She felt slightly disorientated and it took her a moment to realize where she was and that the copies she was making were finally finished. Grabbing the papers quickly, she waved as Jon entered the room, giving Dawson’s office a curious look as she walked by. Cheryl was getting ready to knock on the door as Joey passed and she couldn’t help but roll her eyes as Cheryl checked her breath before entering.

It seemed so real, she thought to herself about to leave the room. Maybe too real. After opening the door she clapped eyes on the door to Dawson's office and noticed the blinds along the glass wall were closed. I wonder if that's sound proof, she thought walking down the hall.

Meanwhile, Dawson was trying to focus on the desk full of paperwork he had in front of him. Groaning privately he began to work, willing himself to focus just on what was in front of him. He couldn’t help himself before and looked over occasionally at Joey. She looked as stressed as he was, which was to be expected. He wanted to enjoy the sight of her more…in a friendly way of course…but people were swarming around her desk.

As Dawson sat trying to concentrate on his notes he found his mind wandering to earlier, when he'd seen Joey talking to Jon. She looked so good and when she leaned a certain way he could see her bra.

They'd agreed to keep things platonic and professional, both having a specific job to do, both needing to focus. But that appeared to be easier said than done. At least for him.

Dawson brushed one of his hands through his hair and looked at his notes again. "Just get this done and then go back to the hotel, where you won't be reminded of her". He tried to tell himself, knowing he'd probably be thinking about her there too.

He had finally managed to get passed reading the first two paragraphs (something he'd been struggling to do) when his office door opened. Hearing something in front of him, he looked up to see Joey closing the door behind her, turning the key to look the door.

Cocking an eyebrow at her questioningly as she approached his desk, her hands moving to the top button on her blouse.

"I've tried to keep this professional," she began undoing the button that held the material together just about her cleavage. "But I can't seem to get whatever I'm working on done." She continued to undo the buttons as she neared his chair.

Joey pushed his chair away from the desk a little. "What are you proposing?"

"That you help me get this out of my system." She replied as she slipped out of the blouse and undid the zip on the side of her skirt allowing it to fall at her feet and she stepped out of it.

Her eyes never wavering from his, even as his appeared to move down the length of her body and back up again. She perched herself on the edge of his desk, slipping her shoes off and placing a foot on his lap as she reached over to undo the buttons on his shirt. As she started on the next button of his shirt she moved her foot, stroking him through his pants. A small moan escaped from his lips, even though he had known where her foot would end up.

Joey pushed the shirt off of his shoulders and took his hands, placing one of them on her breasts while she sucked on one of his fingers.

"What about getting it out of my system?" Dawson asked, moving forward in the chair.

"If we have to do it again, we will." She replied, moving her foot again before extracting it from his lap. "Just have to repay the favor, it's what friends do."

He rose from the chair and as she started to undo his belt he lowered the straps on her bra. He kissed her shoulder as he moved to undo the front clasp and she undid his zipper and button. With a mischievous grin on her face she rubbed her knee against his erection causing him to take a sharp intake of breath while he squeezed her breasts.

She ran her hands up and down his chest before gently stroking him through his boxers while Dawson cupped her ass and pulled her almost to the edge of the desk.

"What if this doesn't work?" He whispered in her ear as she pushed his boxers down and he licked her ear, sending a shiver down her spine.

He stepped out of his boxers and she wrapped an arm around his neck, relishing at the feel of her naked flesh against his. "We keep trying until it does." She whispered against his ear, her voice husky and as she licked his ear, his erection came into contact with the fabric of her thong and both of them moaned.

"I can live with that." He replied cupping her breasts before she lowered her back onto the desk, placing her feet on the arms of his chair.

He stroked her through the fabric, toyed with the sides of the thong while rubbing against the fabric before finally removing it. Placing his hands on her hips he entered her, and she bit her lip in an attempt to stifle a moan as he filled her up. As she adjusted Dawson bent over her body, kissing everywhere and Joey laid a hand on his shoulder.

His movements were slow in the beginning, as were hers. She placed one of her hands over his and he clasped her fingers in his and she pulled herself up before wrapping her legs around him. Their breathing became ragged and both started to quicken the pace, their hands still clasped.

A knock on the door to Dawson's office knocked him from the fantasy land he had entered, leaning him slightly disorientated. He looked around his office trying to remember where he was, what he had been doing.

Closing his eyes for a second and heard someone knocking on his door, he figured that must have been what had pulled him back to reality.

"Come in". He called as he moved his chair forward a little, thankful that he could hide behind his desk.

Joey stood in line at the take-out counter in Starbucks waiting for her early morning latte, her thoughts drifting to Dawson after a moment. How could he be having such an effect on her, surely if it was just some passing physical attraction then she'd be able to stop thinking about him. But she just couldn't do it and he'd entered her thoughts again last night as she lay in bed trying to fall asleep.

"Two tall, decaf caramel lattes," the guy behind the counter called as he placed the take out cups on the counter. The couple beside her picked up their cups and walked away, and who would step into their place but Dawson.

"Hey you," Joey said with a smile on her face. Did they really have to keep it platonic, she wondered. Because all she’d been thinking about since that kiss was anything but that.

"Hey yourself,” he replied, smiling. Dawson tried not to show it, but deep down he was glad to see her.

Deep down he knew it wasn't just something physical, after their night together he had put it down as just being that, a meaningless one night stand based on physical attraction. But this past week had shown him that that wasn't it, he loved how she'd challenged his point of view that night, even though it wasn't his view, he’d done it purely to start a debate with her. There was just something about her, try as he might he hadn’t been able to pinpoint just what it was.

"I thought you'd be sitting at your desk by this time, aren't you normally in the office before everyone else?" he asked as his coffee was placed on the counter.

"Yeah, but I did some work at home last night because I had to wait for something being delivered this morning,” Joey began, “I figured since I was already late I may as well stop of for a decent cup of coffee to get me started.” As she finished her coffee was also placed on the counter. “Thanks Keith,” she said to the guy behind the counter who simply smiled and nodded his head.

As the left the busy coffee shop Dawson looked at her curiously.

“What?” Joey asked upon seeing his look.

“How did you know that guys name?” Dawson asked.

“It’s right there on his name tag. I thought you were supposed to have an eye for details?” she rolled her eyes at him. “Actually, when we first moved into the office I was a bit of a regular in there and he’d flirt with me.”

“Ah, so Joey Potter likes to flirt with the guy in the coffee shop?” he joked.

“I never said anything about my flirting, but on the odd occasion.”

“You know, there’s so much I don’t know about you,” Dawson began as they feel into their stride as they approached the traffic lights. “I mean, we’re supposed to be friends yet I know next to nothing about you, not to mention the fact I’ve seen you naked.”

On finishing that sentence Joey nearly chocked on her coffee as she saw the guy beside Dawson giving her a look and she blushed.

“I…well…” she stammered trying to think of how to reply to that.

“I’m not saying that’s a bad thing,” he started as they crossed the street. “But I guess I’d just like to know something other than…”

“Well what did you want to know?” she cut him off just in case that guy was walking behind them as she was not sure what Dawson was going to say.

“I don’t know, doesn’t have to be anything big,” Dawson shrugged his shoulders. “Most embarrassing memory?”

“You think that’s not something big?” Joey said, laughing nervously.

“Well, I’m basing it on the fact I’ve seen you all kinds of naked here,” he laughed. “Would it make you better if I told you mine first?”

“How about you tell me, then I’ll see if it’s comparable and maybe I will tell you,” she replied grinning.

“I’m going on faith here,” he tells her before taking a sip if his coffee and after a moment he continues. “It was the summer not long after I’d turned fourteen, when I was still at the stage that you kinda don’t like girls but they look and smell pretty.”

Joey laughed. “Aren’t you so cute?”

Dawson smiled and continued. “My mother sat me down after sending Ellie to her room one morning and said she was assuming I’d already had the big sex talk from my father, I nodded and I’m sure I went bright red,” He laughed. “She wanted to give me the female take on how the sex talk should go and she gave me my first pack of Trojans. I was mortified.”

On hearing the end of Dawson’s memory Joey tried to stifle a giggle. “I’ll bet you weren’t able to look her in the eye after that?”

“Not without blushing. Ellie was the lucky one, she was spared getting the other sexes take on the sex talk, or maybe she wouldn’t have gotten it anyway.”

“How come?” Joey asked.

“My dad died when I was thirteen, that’s why mum gave me ‘the talk’ again.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” she replied softly suddenly feeling so much closer to Dawson than before.

“It wasn’t your fault that some drunk ran a red light.” He said gently, noting how she bit her lip. “I’m fine now, don’t worry about it.” He said as he touched her arm. “Tell me your memory before I start to feel bad for telling mine.”

“Okay, mine is actually comparable to that,” she began as they neared the office. “You thought getting the sex talk from your mother was bad enough, try finding out from your father the reason why your body is changing. I didn’t understand what was going on, what I was feeling or anything and okay, I had an older sister but we were never that close.” Joey paused as she took a sip of her coffee.

“I didn’t know you had a sister,” Dawson smiled at her.

“Without going into the gory details of my first period, let me just summarize and tell you there were tears and I yelled at my dad. I think I was a little hard on him, but I just wanted my Mom there because it was embarrassing for him to be talking to me about that kind of thing,” she said, brushing a strand of hair off of her face. “My Mom died when I was ten.” Dawson opened his mouth to say something but Joey stopped him. “If you say you are sorry I will pound on you right now, I swear!”

“Okay,” he said smiling at her as he held the door to the office open. As she passed under his arm her shoulder brushed against him and both felt as though something passed between them and wondered if the other felt it too.

“I guess I should get to…” Joey trailed off, her eyes lingering on Dawson’s.

“Yeah me too.”

But neither of them moved for a moment, not until someone called Joey’s name, causing her to immediately turn and leave him standing where they were.

Later in the day as Joey was catching up on some reports as she ate her lunch the conversation from the bottom of the table was starting to filter through her thoughts on the report. Someone was saying something about Dawson, which caused Joey to look up and see who was talking. It was Cheryl, the same woman who had knocked on Dawson office door after she had left the photocopy room.

“You really asked Dawson out?” Sophie asked her, a slight hint of disbelief in her voice.

“Yes, why wait for the guy to do the asking?” she retorted before continuing. “He told me he was flattered that I had asked, but to be honest he liked someone else.”

Joey certainly could see Cheryl asking Dawson out, she had always struck Joey as the kind of woman that would ask anyone out, she just seemed to exude that type of confidence in herself. It wouldn’t surprise me if she was seething inside at the fact someone had turned her down, Joey thought as she bit into her apple.

“So he wasn’t actually seeing someone?” Nicci asked.

“All he said was there was someone he liked and he wasn’t too sure if there was or wasn’t something there.”

“Lucky bitch whoever she is,” Nicci sighed. “Who do you supposed it is?”

“Ohhhhhh!” Sophie exclaimed getting all excited. “You remember the other day, that woman with blonde hair came to visit him? They were kind of chummy. It could be her.”

“You mean the tall stunning woman?” Joey chimed in.

“Yeah,” Sophie agreed as she looked at Joey quizzically, wondering why she was taking a sudden interest.

“That’s his sister,” Joey replied taking another bite of the apple.

“Oh,” Nicci mouthed.

“I wasn’t going to say anything,” Cheryl began. “But, Dawson told me it was someone in the office. You can’t tell anyone that though because he asked me not to.”

Nicci and Sophie nodded their heads and Joey knew that by the end of the day everyone in the office would know.

She lightly shrugged her shoulders not really caring. It had to be her that he was talking about. Joey went back to reading her report as the women continued to speculate about who the woman was.

“You know, it could be Sandra…”

Joey once again found herself sitting at her desk thinking of him. Something she had been doing so much lately that she couldn't really remember any moments when her mind wasn't focused on him. Her pencil bore the marks of her constant worrying, trying to get work done when all she could think of doing was him, but now it was different.

At first all her thoughts and all her feelings about and towards him were sexual, physical. That's how they met and that's how she thought of him. He was attractive and he was amazing in bed so why shouldn't she think of him half-naked most of the time. But the events of this week had changed things. Her thoughts of him drifted more towards just him. Of course the occasional fantasy of humping his brains out on the floor of his office crossed her mind, but now it wasn't the norm.

Joey leaned in her chair hoping to see him enter his office or even to see his blinds open, but just like the 500 other times she had checked that morning they were not. She looked to the front door, hoping to see him come quickly through the door and come straight to her desk. He would pick her up and carry her away with all of the office clapping- no that's An Officer and a Gentleman, not her life. She knew he probably wasn't even coming in today. Tonight John Edwards would be speaking and there was a lot of work to be done at the center. In fact she hadn't even seen Patrick come in today.

"Focus," she whispered. "Just focus."

She tried to concentrate on the paper that lay before her, but once again her mind drifted to Dawson. A smile found her lips as she remembered their conversation from the previous day. They had walked and talked for what seemed like hours. It all started with embarrassing moments, but it ended with Joey realizing that whatever this was between her and Dawson, it wasn't fleeting and it certainly wasn't platonic.

After their conversation had ended she thought she would be ok. Sure she liked him more now than she ever had, but she still thought she could keep it under control. What if his feelings for her weren't even close to what she felt for him? She couldn't bear the thought of that kind of rejection. So keeping these feelings to herself would just have to be her new agenda.

Joey finally realized that she couldn't keep her mind on anything work related so she decided to take a walk. Just as she rounded the corner she saw the same five women sitting in the meeting room that had been there the day before. They were laughing and smiling and it took Joey back to yesterday once again. She couldn't hide her smile as she remembered finding out that Dawson liked her too. He even turned down a date with a very attractive woman because 'he has feelings for someone else'. It just made her heart skip a beat and she knew she was lost for the rest of the day.

Dawson could see Patrick's lips moving. He knew that Patrick was talking and probably telling him something rather important but Dawson couldn't hear him. It was like it was all in slow motion and Dawson was the only one who knew it. His mind was in a completely different place than his body and she was all he could see. He saw her face light up as she talked about her father and he could see her push her hair behind her ear when she got nervous. The walk they shared was something that he had never expected. He knew he liked her. He liked her in and out of bed, but now it was a whole different story. He had never felt this way and he wasn't really sure what he should do. He could of course tell her what he was feeling and then she'd probably use the work line or the traumatic relationship thing again. He was so afraid that she wouldn't return his feelings, but everything inside told him that she liked him to. "It's just too risky," he told himself. "I can't go through it again."

Dawson watched as the world around him began to speed up and he could hear Patrick again.

"So do you think that you could go talk with the union guys? See if they can do something about that?" Patrick asked, patting Dawson on the shoulder.

"Sure thing," he said, trying to figure out exactly what he was going to tell the union guys to fix.

The afternoon passed quickly as both Dawson and Joey tried as hard as they could to keep focused on work and put whatever feelings they had out of their minds. Patrick called a meeting in the office at seven p.m. to make sure everyone was ready for the speech that evening. Joey had gone home for an hour to try to take a quick nap, but her mind was somewhere other than sleep. It was with him.

Dawson had taken a walk, hoping to get whatever he was feeling out of his system so he could be clear and ready for the convention that night, but it didn't work. Clearing his mind hadn't worked since he walked in that office the week before.

It was almost seven and the office was rather loud now that everyone from aides to volunteers and strategists were there. Everyone was milling about, wondering what Patrick had to tell them and were excited about Edwards' speech.

Dawson walked into the office and scanned the crowd, hoping to see her. He didn't know what he was going to say, but he had to say something. He couldn't feel like this way for nothing. Even if she didn't feel the same he knew that telling her was what he had to do.

Just as Dawson saw Joey in the crowd he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey Dawson. There's something I need to tell you," Patrick said ushering him into the corner, trying to keep others from hearing.

Joey stood on her tiptoes trying to get a better view. “He must be here," she thought. "He has to be here."

Finally she caught a glimpse of his sandy hair and a smile found her lips. She was just about to call his name, but she saw Patrick trying to quiet the crowd and watched Dawson move to his side.

"Thank you for coming everyone! I called you all here to make sure we are ready for tonight and to make a very special announcement. I got a call from the Washington office this afternoon. They will need some extra help during the final leg of the campaign. They have chosen Dawson to head up their media relations department. He'll be leaving Friday morning to get a head start!" Patrick announced, slapping Dawson on the back happily.

As the words left Patrick's mouth Joey could feel her heart falling. It felt as though it left her chest and lay beating at her feet. She knew something was not right by the look on Dawson's face. Their eyes met across the room as Patrick continued to speak, but she couldn't stand. Her legs felt heavy and her breathing was ragged. She had to get out.

Dawson watched in horror as Joey forced herself through the crowd and left the building. Patrick had just sprung this on him so he hadn't really had a reaction to leaving yet. But watching Joey's reaction showed him that maybe leaving wasn't something he should be excited about.

Racing after her was his first thought, but watching her push her way through the crowd made him realize it would be difficult to get through. And leaving in the middle of Patrick's 'speech' would be rude and unprofessional. It took all he had to keep his feet planted and try to look happy about his new appointment, but all he could think about was not where Joey was going, but why did she leave?

After the crowd had loosened a bit Dawson went to the door, hoping to find Joey standing outside waiting for him. When he didn't find her he took a seat on the bench that sat in front of the building. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed a familiar number.

"Hello," his sister answered, obviously not looking at the number that was calling.

"Hey El," he said softly.

"Hey big brother. What's up?"

"I just need to ask you something; well actually I just need to hear your opinion about something."

"Let me guess," she said with a knowing laugh. "It has something to do with the beautiful brunette you spent a hot night in Iowa with?"

"Hey," he said with a slight laugh. "I thought we were going to pretend like I never told you about that."

"I had my fingers crossed so now I can use that information for whatever blackmail purposes I see fit."

He paused, trying to think of a way to explain it to her. "I just found out that I am being transferred to the Washington office for the remainder of the campaign-"

"That's great! Congratulations," she spoke with enthusiasm, but noticed that he really didn't seem that happy. "But that isn't a good thing is it?"

"It is, I mean it should be, but I didn't really react to the news till I saw Joey's reaction."

"And that was?"

"She ran away."

"Oh," she said softly, realizing what Dawson was asking her. "You want to know what you should do right. It's the inevitable question. Should you stay to be with her or should you go take the greatest opportunity of your life? I'm not a wise sage or anything but I do have an opinion. I know what you should do."

"And could you please let me in on that opinion?"

"First I have a question for you. Do you love her?"

"I just know that watching her eyes as she heard the news made my heart break. My heart has never broken before and just watching her leave made me feel like my heart was crumbling in my chest," he sighed, rubbing his eyes

"Then you have to tell her. You have to tell her what you just told me," she said firmly.

"But-"

"But nothing,” Ellie said firmly. “Go, go find her and tell her."

Dawson was about to speak but heard the dial tone as his sister hung up on him. He smiled, realizing his sister was right. Putting the phone back into his pocket and began to run down the street, unsure of where he was going, but sure of what he needed to do.

His feet had carried him to her apartment door and he found himself knocking on her door. A few moments later there was no reply, so he knocked again. Still no reply. He wondered where she was, he had to speak to her. Finally with no response, he resigned himself to going home.

“I’ll speak to her tomorrow,” he said confidently, taking a deep breath before heading home.