******

It was December, their last Christmas in the White House, and it looked like it might be a white one at that. Snow was predicted in the next few days, along with the treacherous black ice that would empty the corridors over night.

Leo was, predictably, the only one still at work.

Toby and CJ had gone to a bar somewhere, to get, as Josh so eloquently put it, smashed out of their skulls.

Josh was with his wife and the family, that they seemed destined to increase each year.

Sam, well Sam, was out on a date. He seemed destined to spend his life in short-term relationships as everyone around him settled down.

Leo sighed and turned back to the files Margaret had carefully laid out for him.

“You know, you could try going home once in a while,” Abbey teased, waltzing into the room and flopping into his couch.

“And then I wouldn’t have the pleasure of your company,” he grinned, rising from his chair and settling beside her on the couch.

“True. So wanna keep the boss’ wife amused for a bit?”

"I've got work to do," Leo sighed.

"We never get to talk anymore," Abbey whined.

He rolled his eyes and closed the folder. "Okay. What do you want to talk about?"

She fluttered her eyelids at him and smirked. “How about the dry spell you’re going through?”

“Dry spell?” he snorted, “That’s not a phrase you should be throwing at an alcoholic.”

Abbey rolled her eyes. “I meant sexually, Leo.”

Leo rolled his eyes and sat back in his chair. "I'm going through a dry spell," he echoed.

"Well, yeah. When was the last time you had sex?" Abbey prompted.

"None of your business."

“Are we talking first term, second term, pre-Bartlet?” Abbey continued, ignoring his obvious discomfort.

“I’m not discussing this with you,” he groaned, reading the same paragraph for the third time.

“Fine,” she snapped, before softening her voice. “Do you believe in soul mates?

He sighed heavily. "Abbey..."

"What?"

"I'm trying to work."

"And I'm trying to make you feel better."

“But I feel fine.” He shook his head. “Soul mates. Do I believe there is one person out there that I’m destined to be with?” He tossed the folder on the coffee table and removed his glasses. “No.”

“Oh?”

Leo decided it was easier just to go along with her if he was ever going to get any peace. “I think you meet someone and fall in love.”

"Ahh..." Abbey said with a grin. "Now we're getting somewhere."

"Where?" Leo deadpanned.

"You're having a dry spell because you haven't found your soul mate."

“Really? And not because I don’t have time to meet anyone?” Leo quipped.

“Nope. Out there, somewhere, the right person is waiting. She could be closer than you think,” Abbey giggled, her mind wandering to all the implications.

Leo groaned, “Please tell me this whole conversation isn’t about fixing me up with another of your friends.”

Abbey drew back indignantly. "Leo, I'm shocked!" she exclaimed.

"Abbey, who is it this time? Vanessa von Stuberhagen, the countess of some obscure province of Russia? Alicia O'Hara, hairy-legged feminist?"

“Leo!” she cried, slapping him playfully on the arm. “As if I would?”

“Yeah, right. Doesn’t matter. I’m not going on another of your blind dates from hell,” he said, rubbing his sore arm.

“There is nothing wrong with my blind dates,” she retorted. “Sam has met some very nice girls that way. And Josh found Donna.”

“And CJ and Toby nearly ended up killing each other,” Leo deadpanned.

“CJ, as it turns out, wasn’t Toby’s soul mate.”

Leo rolled his eyes. "They're better off friends anyway," he muttered, sliding his glasses off his nose. Since she wasn't going to leave him alone, he might as well pay attention to her.

"Exactly," Abbey said with a grin. "Now, I actually think I have found CJ's soul mate, but I don't know for sure just yet..."

“Oh good god, hasn’t the poor girl been through enough?” he whined, torn between discouraging Abbey, and finding out who she had in mind.

“But he could be the ONE,” Abbey stated, her arms waving through the air to emphasise the point. “Her soul mate, life long partner, sex toy.”

Leo coughed and lowered his gaze.

“Don’t you think, if he was the one, they would have found each other by now? I mean, it‘s not as if you haven‘t introduced her to every guy you know,” he teased.

“This one’s shy.”

"Ah," Leo muttered, "yeah, that would be a problem."

"Don't tell me you haven't been thinking about someone lately, Leo, because you just haven't been yourself," Abbey said quietly.

"I was actually thinking about Jenny," Leo sighed. "It shouldn't have ended the way it did."

"She wasn't your soul mate, Leo."

“You can’t be sure about that,” he muttered. “Anyway I don’t believe in soul mates.”

“Okay,” she grinned. “So they reckon you find your soul mate when you stop looking for them. That’s how Jed found me.”

Leo grinned, and couldn’t resist turning it into a smirk. “Now I really want to find my soul mate,” he said, sarcastically.

Abbey glared at him. “So my soul mate turned out to be a jackass, what gives? So, isn’t there anyone you like or, you know, lust after?”

"If there is, why would I tell you?" he asked.

"There is, I know it," Abbey prodded with a grin. "Tell me about her."

"Abbey..."

"I won't tell anyone, I promise."

“If I tell you, you’ll want to fix it, or you’ll tell your husband and he’ll spend the rest of my life teasing me mercilessly.”

“Cross my heart,” Abbey grinned. “So tell me about her,” she prompted, sliding across the couch.

Leo groaned. “Hell, I’m having a hard enough time trying to get over being in love with her, without. . .”

“YOU’RE IN LOVE WITH HER?” Abbey squealed at the top of her voice.

"Abbey, shut up, will ya, please?" Leo pleaded, his face flushing red.

"Okay," Abbey said, gaping at him. "You're in love with her?"

"Yeah -- or at least I think I am."

"Well, that's a start, then," Abbey prompted. "What is she like?"

“She’s the first woman I’ve ever walked away from a fight with.”

“And that’s your qualification for being in love,” Abbey moaned.

“Abigail!”

“What do you have in common?”

"Politics."

"That's not much of a start," Abbey moaned, head in hands.

"Well, what the hell do you want me to say? We don't have anything in common, Abbey -- I'm an old train wreck, and she's young and beautiful."

“Please god, tell me it’s not the blonde republican.”

“Ainsley?” Leo gasped. “Dear god, she’s young enough to be my daughter.”

“Margaret?” Abbey asked, hesitantly.

Leo shook his head and rubbed his face with the palm of his hand. “Now, she is practically my daughter.”

"Who, then?" Abbey asked.

"It doesn't matter, Abbey. What matters is that she would never give me a second glance, even if she knew how I felt." He rubbed his eyes. "Which is why I have to get over loving her."

“You should tell her,” Abbey suggested, reaching to pat his hand and changing her mind.

“Are you totally insane? Did you not just hear what I said?”

“How do you think you’re going to work through it, if you don’t tell her? She may feel the same. And if not, you can move on,” Abbey said softly.

"You know I'm not good at the emotional confrontational stuff, Abs..."

"Yeah, I know. You're too shy for your own good in that regard," Abbey said softly. "What do you love so much about her that you don't want to let go of?"

Leo broke out into a grin, his eyes turning chocolate colored as he thought about the extraordinary woman he had fallen in love with.

“Oh hell, you’ve got it bad,” Abbey muttered. “How can she not know how you feel?”

Leo stared at her open mouth. “She doesn’t, she couldn’t. Abbey?”

"Hmm?"

"Why would someone love me?" he asked, gesturing at himself.

"Well, I love you because you're a good friend, like a brother to me," Abbey said. "But I definitely don't think that was what you were after, was it?"

"Not exactly, no."

“You under rate yourself.” Abbey shifted position until she was on her stomach, her hands folded under her chin, staring at him. “You have sexy eyes--’Come to bed’ eyes.”

“Not exactly the first impression I want to give someone.”

“Right. You’re a perfect gentleman.”

“So I’m old and boring?”

“The women around here adore you.”

“So now I’m a teddy bear or a comfy pair of slippers?”

"No!" Abbey laughed. "They adore you because you've gotten out of the old gruff mould you were in, barking at everyone all the time. You've gotten laid back finally. And you're very sexy."

"My best friend's wife saying that has a dirty connotation."

"Well, let's try something different, then. Why do you think she won't feel the same way about you?"

Leo leaned back into the chair. “I have nothing to offer her. She’s beautiful, and I’m me. She’s funny, and I’m slightly grumpy. And she’s so damn sexy. Hell she could have practically any guy she wants.”

“Exactly, you could be that guy.”

“Abbey, she’s practically my best friend. At least, she’s the only other woman, I’d let bug me like you do.”

Abbey raised an eyebrow.

“So that didn’t come out right.”

"You have a girl that's a friend?" she teased lightly.

"Abbey..."

"Why don't you just tell me who it is, and I could conceivably help you win her over."

“That’s exactly why I can’t tell you,” he admitted quietly. “Believe me, it’s better this way. In a month she’ll walk away and I can get on with my life.”

Abbey suddenly sat up straighter in her seat. “You have to tell her before it’s too late. If you let her go back to California without telling her, you’re an idiot.”

“Who said anything about California?” he asked, flatly.

"You think I don't see the way you look at her, Leo?" Abbey challenged softly. "Maybe no one else does, but I do. And she looks back at you the same way."

"Who says it's CJ?" Leo shot back, beginning to get very angry.

“You’re wrong,” Abbey announced, climbing off the couch, her work done.

Leo looked confused and more than a little bewildered.

“You have a lot to offer her. You have one of the biggest hearts, I know.” Abbey smiled, as she leaned down to kiss his cheek. “I can’t force you, Leo, but you’re running out of time.”

"Will you go away?" he growled, more than slightly peeved.

"I'm going," Abbey chuckled. "Jed needs me."

"Yeah," Leo muttered.

He watched her go and absently picked up the file from the table. Opening the cover he stared at the same page he had been trying to read for the last hour.

Groaning, he tossed it back down and pinched the bridge of his nose. Abbey had made it impossible for him to get anything else done.

There was only one thing for it--a hypothetical conversation with the only other person he truly trusted.

The End

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