Chapter Two
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| The West Wing My Way Chapter Two |
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| Toby Zeigler stares out the plane window at the dark Midwest. Flying is something he does because he has to, not because he enjoys it. If time weren't an issue in the hectic world of politics, he'd have gone to California and back on a Greyhound bus. But, as is life, he has flown from New Hampshire to Los Angeles and is on his way back across the country within twenty-four hours, just to collect CJ. The things a man will do for his country...and a beautiful woman. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Toby turns to his right to face the beautiful reason he is on the plane. CJ is in the seat next to him with her head back in a deep sleep. Toby looks at her intently, examining every feature he has grown to love in their twenty years of friendship. Time is just starting to take its toll on CJ, and yet, at the age of thirty-eight, she gets more looks than most twenty-year-olds. Toby knows many married men who would gladly leave their wives if CJ gave them a second glance. But she's not that kind of woman. Her long neck, obviously meant to display exquisite jewelry, looks thin and frail. Crow's feet are beginning to form around her enchanting eyes, and he can't help but notice that the lines around her mouth aren't laugh lines. Life in California has not been kind to his best friend; that much is painfully clear to him. | ||||||||||||||||||
| CJ seems to be able to sense his scrutiny in her sleep, because she leans over and rests her head on his shoulder, burrying her face in the crook of his neck. He lets his gaze shift downward, taking in the rest of his companion. She has a dancer's body--long and lean. Now, she's too thin. He can tell she's uncomfortable in the cushioned seat of the airplane, and that, if it weren't for the belt around her waist, her "skinny jeans" wouldn't even fit. Her legs, the longest he's ever seen, look thin, too. It had taken her many years of ballet to train them, but now CJ knows how to work them to her advantage. He remembers many parties those legs got them into. He almost laughs when he realizes that all of the ballet in the world couldn't save Claudia Jean from falling blindly into her own pool. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Toby knows that the glorious woman sitting beside him is as self-conscious as she is beautiful. It's hard for him to understand how someone so gorgeous can have such low self-esteem. She's brilliant, too. She's not the world's greatest speller, or even its most eloquent speaker, but she's still one of the most talented and awe-inspiring women he has ever met. Andi once called her the future of Democratic politcs, and he can see why. Toby is so lost in thoughts of the past that he almost doesn't notice CJ's body shaking. It takes him a moment to realize why she's shaking, and then it hits him. She's crying. In her sleep, on Toby's shoulder, Claudia Jean Cregg is crying! | ||||||||||||||||||
| ** ** | ||||||||||||||||||
| CJ talks to Toby for the entire party. They talk about everything, from politics to children and music. He feels comfortable talkin to this stranger from Ohio via California. Feeling comfortable with anyone is a big deal for Tobias Zachary Zeigler. | ||||||||||||||||||
| He can feel the jealous stares of the other men at the party. CJ is the most attractive woman in the room with those lefs that go on forever and her luminous eyes, and yet, she's talking to a 27-year-old balding man from Brooklyn. He can even feel Andi beginning to notice, which is something he was sure she was incapable of in "work mode." He's not suprised when Andi doesn't cross the room to join their conversation, though. She'll just wait and yell at him after the event. | ||||||||||||||||||
| It is close to midnight before Toby realizes that CJ has had too many martinis and that she is ready to leave. They exchange numbers and addresses, both enjoying the unique bond they have formed through their short conversation, and promise to keep in touch. They shake hands and she lets her rest on his a moment too long before walking out of the door. Toby glances down at the empty plate she handed him and then sees a few of the men who had been watching CJ follow her out the door. He sighs and walks out the doo, too, mumbling something about what a man will do for a beautiful woman. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Chapter Three | Chapter One | Fan Fiction Home | ||||||||||||||||