Title: The Black-Tie Fundaiser (1/2) Author: Aerial312 Rating: PG-13 Category: Fluff Spoiler Info: Pre-Administration Disclaimer: I own nothing...I just borrow. Feedback: Greatly appreciated. robinmgrady@gmail.com Archiving: Sure. Just let me know where its going. A/N: More filler. http://aerial312.googlepages.com. I finally updated it. <><><><><><><><> "All right, folks, that's it," Leo called. "And don't forget next week, we have the Worthington fundraiser. I don't need to tell you how important this one is." The staff nodded in agreement, and began to exit. Donna followed quickly at Josh's heels as he took off down the hall. "I need the Illinois numbers and the state party chair on the phone in 5 minutes." "Okay. Here are the finance memos from this morning-" "Did you--?" "Highlight them? Yes." "I don't see-" "There's nothing you'll care about on the first page." Josh chuckled. "They weren't very concise." "Did you summarize?" "I scribbled all the numbers you care about on the last page." He nodded as they entered his office. "Why is Leo so focused on the Worthington event?" "We have to be on our very best behavior." "Of course." "You say it like you don't expect me to be." "Well..." "See if Margaret has a list of attendees-" "And do cards?" "Yeah, research the windbags-" Donna snickered. "They are. Leo's gonna assign me a few specific targets." "Okay. I'll find out who." "Yeah. I need to know all about them so I can get them to give, give, give." "Photos?" "Definitely. These are all *important*," he made quotation marks in the air, "men. I have to pretend I know who they are." "Okay, we can drill the info before you go." "Keep the cards in your purse, or whatever it is you carry-" "You need me to go?" "Yeah. I really need you to work this one. I need to be kept on track. And sane." "Uh...kay." "You get to go to probably one of the grandest parties you've ever been to..." Donna smiled. "Sweet. This is a black tie event, right?" "Yeah. Oh-make sure my tux is in my garment bag." "It's there." "Yeah?" "From the thing in Charleston that you and Leo went to." "Great." Donna moved a few folders around on his desk, and pulled the Illinois numbers out. "You want Curt Jenkins on the phone?" "That's Illinois, right?" "Yeah." "Yeah. Oh...lunch," he extracted his wallet from his back pocket, and handed her a twenty. "Can you go get us some lunch?" Donna nodded, and pocketed the money. "I want-" "Unh uh. If I'm going , I get to pick." "Donna..." he whined. "It'll be something you like," she assured, dialing a number from the rolodex. "Hi. This is Donna calling from Josh Lyman's office on the Bartlet for America campaign. Is Mr. Jenkins available? Great." She handed him the phone. "Can I make a call on your cell?" Josh nodded, and pushed it across the desk. "Curt. Josh Lyman calling.." Donna crossed into the hallway and grabbed her coat. Once outside, she pulled out the phone and dialed. "Hi mom." "Donna! I thought you would be calling a little more often..." "I'm trying. We've been very, very busy. We just got back from Charleston today. Tomorrow we go out to California for a few days." "By back you mean...?" "Manchester." "You're still enjoying this." "I really am, mom." "And you're eating enough?" "Josh is very considerate, about that at least. He buys me food a lot." "That's good." "I have a favor to ask." "Okay." "Next week in Illinois we have this big, fancy, black-tie fundraiser to go to-" "You get to go to those?" "I have to work, but yes." "That'll be exciting." "I think so....I need you to send me my prom dress." "Your prom dress?" "It's in my old closet in the plastic." "Will that be nice enough?" "It'll work. It's long, and black, and tasteful." "That's right." "It's the only long dress I have." "It'll look fine, honey." "I think so." "Where should I send it?" "To the address I gave you-campaign headquarters." "And the event is when?" "Our first day in Illinois, next Wednesday." "Okay, I'll get it right out." "Thanks, mom." "Do they take photos at these things?" "Sometimes." "If you're in any, I want a copy." "Of course. I have to get going now. I have to pick up some lunch." "Well goodbye. Call more often." "I will, mom. Love you." "Love you too." Donna returned to Josh's office 15 minutes later, and plopped a paper bag down on the desk. Josh looked up from the memo he was reading. "So what are you forcing me to eat?" Donna smiled. "A burger-" "Is it--?" "Extra, extra well done? Yes. With cheese," Josh smiled, "Lettuce and tomato." He scowled. "Fries?" "To split." "Fair enough." "And you've got coleslaw." "Any dessert?" "Fruit salad." "What kinds of fruit?" "The usual. Canteloupe, honeydew, grapes, some strawberries." "Okay." "Why? What fruits are you afraid of?" "I don't like raspberries, or the other ones like them-" "Blackberries?" "Yuck." "Why?" "They get stuck in your teeth." Donna laughed, and opened her burger, then paused and passed his cell phone back across the desk. "All set?" "Yeah, thank you." "Did you call mom?" Donna smiled, sheepishly. "I did." "She in a better mood about your choices now?" "She is." "Good." "She's sending me my nice dress-" "Oh-I didn't even think-" "It's okay. I have a dress. It should get here before we leave for Illinois." "Good." "I promised her that if I end up in any photos, she'll get a copy." "Well, then we'll just need to make sure someone takes a picture of us." Donna grinned. Of us. She liked the idea of that. A little too much. Title: The Black-Tie Fundaiser (2/2) Author: Aerial312 Rating: PG-13 Category: Fluff Spoiler Info: Pre-Administration Disclaimer: I own nothing...I just borrow. Feedback: Greatly appreciated. robinmgrady@gmail.com Archiving: Sure. Just let me know where its going. A/N: http://aerial312.googlepages.com. <><><><><><><><> Donna glanced at the room clock. It was 6:30. The fundraiser began at 7, and she was still sitting in the office, in jeans and a blouse, her dress hanging in a bag in the closet. "Josh?" "Hmm?" He didn't look up from his memo. "We need to get ready, and out the door." "What time is it?" "Six-thirty." "We still have a few minutes. Drill me again." "How do you figure that we still have a few mintues?" "It's five minutes down the street." "Josh!" "I suppose you want to get ready?" "Would be nice." "Drill me on my targets while you change." Donna felt her cheeks flush bright red. "I'm, uh, gonna change in there." She pointed toward the bathroom. "Right." Josh didn't look up from the memo. Donna sighed, and retrieved her dress from the closet. She crossed into the bathroom. "You need to change too." "Uh huh." "Josh." "Now?" "Yes, now. We're barely going to make the cars as it is." Josh grumbled, but she heard him getting off the bed. She quickly pulled the dress on, thankful that it still zipped easily. She hadn't had a chance to try it on since it had arrived the day before they left for Illinois. It was a long and black, fitted at the waist with a slight flare of skirt. The V-neck top plunged slightly further than Donna would have liked for the situation, but it was all that she had. She looked in the mirror. There was no time to do her hair, so she smooth it with some water and ran the brush through. She emerged to find Josh staring into the mirror over the desk, trying to tie his bowtie. "Need help?" "Yeah...I hate--" He turned to face her, and stopped talking abruptly. He blinked quickly, and forced himself to focus on her face. "I hate tying these." Donna smiled, and grasped the ends of his bowtie, carefully molding it into shape. "How do you know how to do that?" "A girl picks up some things." "From your loser ex-boyfriend?" Donna glared at him, and pulled the ends a little tighter than necessary. "Ow!" She loosened the tie, and finished it up. "From my father, as a matter of fact." "Yeah?" "Daddy wears a bowtie instead of a regular tie." "Really?" "Yeah." "All the time?" "Almost always." "Interesting." "You jumped to conclusions." "Yeah." "You do that." Josh shrugged, and subtly looked over her dress again. "You like?" He smiled sheepishly, full dimples. "You just had that dress?" "My mom sent it." "But you just had it at home?" "Uh huh." "Did you...go to nice events...a lot?" "Just one." "Oh." "I'm glad it works," Donna smiled, picking up the matching little, black purse, and putting her note cards in. "It definitely works." Donna looked curiously up at him again, sure she was turning bright red. Josh stammered for a moment. "It...it's a very...tasteful...pretty...dress. It's great for what we're going to." She smiled, and held out her hand for his cell phone, which he fished out of his trousers that were strewn across the bed. "I've never been to an event like this before," she told him, as they left the room. "No?" "Nope." "Do you have a coat?" "No." "It's cold out there. It's March." Donna shrugged. "We're gonna get right into the car, then go right into Mr. Worthington's home. After the event, we'll do it in reverse." "I don't want to hear you complain you're cold." "I won't." "You say that now." "Josh, the only coat I have is my parka. Which is nowhere near appropriate for this dress," she smiled awkwardly. "I can deal with the cold." "Wear my tux coat, I've got my overcoat." "You need your tux coat." "Wear my overcoat then." "We'll look silly." "We'll be warm." "I don't want to arrive at my first fancy event in a coat that huge on me." "We check the coats right after we get out of the car." "I'm fine." Josh sighed. "Come on." <><><><><><><><><> "I've talked to them all now, right?" "You've hit everyone once." "Good. I'm done." "You're not done." "I did what I was supposed to." "But you can't just hide in the corner of the room and talk to me for the rest of the night." "Why not?" "Because..." "Ha!" "Everyone else is still schmoozing." Josh grumbled, as Donna greeted a gentleman passing by. "Hello Mr. Dersham. Have you met Josh Lyman, the campaign's senior political advisor?" "No, I don't believe I have." He extended his hand, and Josh shook it. "Smile for the camera," Margaret announced, sneaking up on them. Josh and Mr. Dersham shook again, a bit more theatrically. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Lyman. I'd love to talk, but my wife is shooting daggers at me from across the room." "Nice to meet you," Josh smiled fakely. "Margaret!" he called as she walked off. "Can you take one more?" "Sure..." she turned to face them. Josh pulled Donna towards him, and rested his hand on her hip. "Donna promised her mom a picture." Margaret laughed. "Well, I'll make sure you get a copy of this one. Smile." She took the picture. "Thanks!" "Thank you, Margaret," Donna called. "Now you get to send your mom the picture she wanted." Donna smiled. "She'll be thrilled." "Good." "Thank you." "You wanted a picture." "I wasn't sure you remembered." "Gotta have a record of events worthy of that dress." Donna laughed. "Does your mom have a picture of you the first time you wore that dress?" "She does," Donna smiled, sheepishly. "Yeah?" "In a very similar pose." "Really?" he thought for a moment. "Where exactly did you wear that dress?" he asked, grinning. Donna chuckled. "Do you really want to know?" "I think I know..." "I wore this dress to my senior prom." "That's what I thought." "Was it that obvious?" "No," he answered quickly. "Only by your description of the event. It doesn't look like a prom dress. It's a lot more..." "Tasteful." "Yeah." "This was a fun night." "Standing there while I sucked up to powerful, rich men?" "It was still exciting." "Thanks for pointing me in the right direction." "I didn't even need to pull the index cards out." "You're a walking encyclopedia sometimes." Donna grinned. "That's a good thing, right?" "Usually." Donna swatted his arm. "Ooh...the Governor is saying goodnight to Mr. Worthington. Let's get in on that, and get out of here." "Had enough?" "I'd had enough about an hour ago." "Does it really all get old after a while?" "To me, it does. To your boundless enthusiasm, who knows?" Donna smiled, as Josh led her to the door with his hand on her back. "Can I wear your coat home?" "I knew that was coming." <><><><><><><><><> FIN