Wild Night: Part 4
Cara
Donna finished the last work for the day. "Josh, I'm going home!" she
yelled through his closed door.
The small assent came. "Okay."
But instead of leaving Donna strode through the Wing over to the
press secretary's office. "C.J., you there?" she asked, Carol having
gone home.
"Yeah, I'm here. Come on in."
Donna entered and sat down on the couch. "C.J., I've been thinking
about this weekend."
"Yeah?"
"What's to say they won't cheat?"
C.J. stopped what she was doing and turned to look at Donna. "What do
you mean, cheat?"
"Think about it, C.J. What's to keep them from drinking non-alcoholic
beer or something?"
"You really think they'd drink *non-alcoholic beer* at a bachelor
party?" C.J. raised her eyebrows.
"To get us?"
"Good point." C.J. took off her glasses, pinching the bridge of her
nose. "Well, what should we do about it?"
"I don't know."
The women fell silent for a moment, until C.J. snapped her head up to
look at Donna. Without saying a word, she dialed a number. "Hi. Is he
in?" A pause for the other person to respond. "OK, thanks." She hung
up and turned back to Donna. "Go get Sam's Rolodex."
"Okay." Donna rose, baffled. "But why -"
"I'll explain when you come back." C.J. waved a hand. "Sam will be
back soon - go, go!"
"All right!" Donna left and was back quickly, carrying Sam's
immaculate phone directory. "What are we looking for?"
C.J. didn't answer right away. She was too busy pawing through the
phone numbers. "Carter, Cattrell - Coe. Here it is. Gina Coe."
"Is that Laurie's friend?"
"Yep." C.J. held out the card. "And you're gonna call her."
"What! Why?"
"Because." C.J. paused to explain her idea. "Why not have Gina tell
us if they cheat?"
Donna smiled. "What if she won't do it?"
"Oh, she'll do it." C.J. was firm in her conviction.
"You're sure?"
"Trust me." C.J.'s face broke into an evil grin. "Let's just say
pressure can be exerted in the right places."
Donna smiled cautiously. "All right." She picked up C.J.'s phone and
dialed the number written in Sam's microscopic hand. Hoping she'd
gotten it right, Donna listened to the rings.
Someone picked up after the fourth ring. "Look," a woman's voice
said, "the caller I.D. says `unlisted,' so please do not try to sell
me anything. Have a nice day." She went to hang the phone up.
Donna had to do something. "Wait!" she said, hoping the woman would
hear her.
It worked. "Yes?"
"Is this Gina Coe?"
"Yes."
"This is Donna Moss. I work at the White House."
Gina snorted. "I'm sorry, but why would someone at the White House be
calling me?"
Though she didn't want to do it, Donna played her trump card
early. "You're friends with Laurie. Who's friends with Sam Seaborn."
"Laurie . oh, right!" Gina cracked her gum. "Sorry. It's a little
hard to believe, you know? What did you say your name was?"
"Donna Moss."
"Well, Miss Moss, what can I do for you?"
"Donna, please, and it's a really strange favor, I have to tell you."
"Well, I'm sure I've heard weirder things. And call me Gina."
"Okay."
"First off, this has to do with Sam's bachelor party, I'm guessing.
Right?"
"Yeah." Donna paused for a moment, then just decided to blurt
everything out, then deal with the consequences. "OK, here's what's
up. I'm Josh Lyman's girlfriend."
"Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman?"
"Yeah. And C.J. Cregg, the Press Secretary, is Sam's fiancée."
"Okay."
"We made a bet with them that they didn't have enough willpower to
drink without getting blind drunk at the bachelor party."
"Right."
"But we're not sure they won't cheat by drinking non-alcoholic beer
or something." Before Gina could answer, Donna added, "They'd do it
to get us. This bet was pretty high stakes. And we want someone to
make sure they don't cheat."
After she finished, the other end of the line was silent. "Is that
too much to ask?" Donna asked timidly.
Finally, though, sound could be heard on the other end of the line:
laughter. "That sounds great!" Gina crowed. "How funny! But what
happens if they win your bet?"
Donna told her. "Bruce Gordon is an obnoxious windbag Republican
Fascist, and if C.J. has to tell the President she broke the lamp
he'll subject her to some sort of godawful punishment generally not
suited for a woman with as many degrees as she has."
Gina smirked. "What happens if you win?"
"They strip at C.J.'s party."
Gina exploded into laughter. "That's beautiful!" she giggled. "Well,
I think I can help -" She cut herself off in the middle of her
sentence. In an odd tone, she said, "Donna, would you put me on
speakerphone? Is that possible?"
"Yeah." Donna put the receiver down and switched to
speakerphone. "The other voice you'll hear is C.J. Cregg."
"Hi," C.J. said. "So, can you help us out, Gina?"
"C.J., I can do better than that." Gina lowered her tone, just in
case. "OK, here's my idea. I usually work with a partner. But
Felicity's sick this week. So I need someone to fill in."
The full implication of what Gina was suggesting struck C.J. and
Donna at the same time. "I'd love it!" Donna cried. "You're
suggesting that one of us fill in for your partner?"
Almost immediately C.J. demurred. "I don't know . what if the press
finds out?"
"How would they?" Gina asked. "What I was going to say is that
whoever comes should dye her hair and stuff like that. You'd have to
do it anyway, so Mr. Seaborn and Mr. Lyman wouldn't recognize you."
"That's true." C.J. said. She pondered the idea for a moment. Finally
she said, "I wouldn't be able to. I don't know if you watch CNN ever,
Gina, but I'm about six feet tall."
"Yeah, that'd be pretty conspicuous." Gina blew a bubble with her gum
that exploded into the speaker with a loud pop. "Donna, what about
you?"
C.J. appraised the younger woman critically. "It could work," she
said. "Donna's an average height. Maybe on the tall side. Long blond
hair. Blue eyes."
"Yeah, that'd be good." Gina paused. "Donna, whaddya think?"
"I don't know." Donna thought about it for a minute. It might be
dangerous. Some drunk man might try to grope her or something. On the
other hand, it might be fun. And it might pay Josh back for that
little comment about "dull Donna." When she told him, of course.
She didn't think any longer. "I'll do it."
"Great!" Gina laughed. All of a sudden, she became
businesslike. "How `bout we meet up somewhere and I show you some of
the tricks of the trade?"
"Sure." Donna said. "I'm leaving work now."
"Me too." C.J. said. "Sam won't be home til around eleven; he's got a
late meeting on the hill. And Mom's, um . working late with Leo."
Donna snickered audibly. "How about our place?"
"Okay."
C.J. gave Gina quick directions to her apartment. "See you soon,
then?"
"Yeah."
"Thanks for doing this."
"Well, I expect one thing in return."
Donna and C.J. sighed collectively. Of course. "What would that be?"
C.J. asked guardedly. She couldn't make too many deals.
"Invite me to your bachelorette party if you lose. I wanna see the
two famed White House bachelors do the full monty."
"The full monty? Interesting thought." C.J. laughed. "Sure, what the
hell. See you later."
"Later."
Part 5
HOME |
TITLE |
AUTHOR |
CATEGORY