Wild Night: Part 3


Cara


With a precision that made the women wonder if he had been listening,
Josh strolled by with a sheaf of papers in his hand. "Speaking of
trashed, I am looking forward to Friday night. Oh, and C.J., I need
you to look at these when you get a minute."

Donna glared at him. "Josh, is there anything in this for you other
than a chance to get very inebriated?"

"Inebriated." Josh rolled the word around on his tongue. "I like the
sound of that. And yes, I happen to be very excited for my two best
friends' wedding."

"I'll bet," C.J. muttered.

Just then her phone rang. C.J. answered, had a brief conversation and
hung up. "That was Sam," she reported. "He's coming down here to
finish talking to you, Mom, so you might want to get the notes ready
on the Atlanta remarks."

"Right." Eleanor hurried off. "See you all later."

Sam wasn't long in coming. "Hey, Donna, Josh." He walked over and
planted a quick kiss on his fiancée. "What's up?"

"Nothing." Donna was still glaring at Josh. "*He* only wants your
bachelor party to happen so he can get inebriated."

Sam smiled goofily. "Well, what else are bachelor parties for but to
get inebriated?" He too rolled the word over his tongue. "I enjoy
saying that word. Inebriated. Inebriated."

"Oh, shut up." C.J. rolled her eyes affectionately. Somehow, it was
so much more annoying when Josh did that. "My mom's in her office,
Sam."

Donna, meanwhile, went on the attack. "Sam, you're useless when
you're drunk. And for days after. Isn't that true?"

"What do you mean?" Sam sounded vaguely insulted.

"Well . you're not as bad as Josh," Donna said, sounding conciliatory.

"Hey!" Josh glared back at his assistant.

She went on, unfazed. "But you wake up with killer hangovers and you
whine and moan, when it's your own fault in the first place."

"How do you know all this?"

"C.J. tells me."

"C.J.!" Sam exclaimed. "Why are you telling Donna this stuff?"

His fiancée smirked. " Same reason you told Josh about the salad
incident."

Sam flushed; obviously Donna knew about that, because in addition to
Josh's smothered chuckles Donna was grinning wickedly at him. "Well,"
he said weakly, "how was I supposed to remember where salad dressing
normally goes?"

C.J. had to laugh. "Sam, I'm just warning you, because if you and
Josh go get blind drunk, Donna and I will do the same."

It was Josh's turn to smirk. "I'll bet Donna's just as useless as Sam
the day after drinking."

Donna stared him down. "Care to wager on that?"

"Yeah," C.J. said, liking the idea. "Care to have a little bet?"

"Isn't that against the gambling laws?" Sam said uneasily.

"What, are you chicken?" C.J. grinned evilly. She made clucking
noises at him, just for fun.

"Come on, C.J., that's really elementary school." Josh came to his
friend's defense, though he was smiling.

"Fine," Donna said, turning away. "I guess they're too chicken, C.J."

"Waittaminute," Josh said, eyes narrowing. "What'd you have in mind?"

"Well," Donna said, warning C.J. silently to let her do the
talking, "we were thinking, if you get blind drunk, then you have to
be at the bachelorette party to watch us do the same."

Josh raised his eyebrows. "That's it?"

C.J. looked at her friend quizzically. "Yeah, that's it?"

"No." Donna's smile was exquisite. "Did I mention that you'd have to
be there stripping?"

"What!?" Josh and Sam responded as one, their voices cracking in
unison.

"It's fair." C.J. regarded Donna with a new appreciation. "I love the
way you think."

"Thanks."

Sam was the first to respond. "No way!"

Josh followed suit. "No how!"

The women burst out laughing. "OK, Josh," C.J. said, giggling. "I can
see how you wouldn't want people to see past that reputation of
yours!"

"Now wait a minute!" Sam objected. "At the very least, if we *were*
to take this bet of yours . what would you two do if *we* won?"

"Good thought." Josh set his mind to the task. Eventually he
answered, with a gleam in his eye. "Have C.J. tell the president who
really broke his Art Deco lamp in the Oval Office."

C.J. grimaced. That lamp was worth at least three thousand dollars,
and she'd knocked it over while tripping over her own two feet. Still
. "What about Donna?" she asked boldly.

"Oh, that's easy," Josh said with a wide grin. "Donna, if you lose
this bet, you have to ask Bruce Gordon to the next state dinner."

"Gack!" Donna made retching noises. "He's *awful!*"

C.J. shuddered for Donna. "Being the date of Ainsley's Fascist
Republican friend at a state function . Josh, you're evil."

Sam heartily agreed. But a thought struck him. "Josh, isn't that
hurting you too? I mean, you'll be dateless."

"Yeah. But keeping Gordon away from the President is more than enough
to make up for it."

Donna stamped her foot. "Joshua."

"You know what I mean." He shot her a placatory glance. "Please,
Donna?"

"Does this mean you accept our challenge?" C.J. asked archly,
shooting her fiancé a smug look.

Sam stared her right back. What the hell. Seeing the President, or at
the very least Leo, chew C.J. out for something he had originally
been blamed for, would be highly entertaining. "I do."

Josh, staring at his friend, sighed. "All right. I accept too."

The four shook hands. "All right, guys," Donna said, eyes
shining. "This is going to be good."

Part 4

HOME | TITLE | AUTHOR | CATEGORY