Where We Go From Here

Title: People Will Talk (1/4)

Title: People Will Talk (1/6)
Author: Michelle K. (CageyGrl@yahoo.com)
Rating: NC-17
Site: http://glimmershine.tripod.com/
Archive: If you have the rest of the series, feel free to take this too. New archives - drop me a line first.
Pairing: Donna/Leo
Summary: People think, wonder, and talk. Including Donna and Leo. (sequel to 'Perfectly Still')

Disclaimer: Characters are not mine. I read about fatamilamilial insomnia in the New York Times. The title of the story comes from the Cary Grant film. *sigh* All I have is this crazy plotline. Take pity on me and don't sue.

Notes: Next installment in the "Where We Go From Here" series. Previous installments are:

"Unexpected," "In Need," "Afternoon and Night,"
"Keeping Secrets," "Just the Touch of Your Hand,"
"This Woman," "This Man," "A Hotel In New York,"
"Back Home," and "Perfectly Still."

Written in Donna's POV, Leo's POV, and a little bit of third person. So many writing styles! Will any be successful? Read to find out!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am sitting at my desk, doing *nothing.* I'm serious. *Nothing.* I was playing solitaire, but that got boring after a while. So now, I really am doing nothing. But Josh claims I have to be here because he is.

I'd agree with him, except for the factt I't I'm doing *nothing* - yes, there's that word again - so I can't be a great help to him. At least he could give me busy work. If I were in kindergarten, I'd get busy work.

Although, I shouldn't say that to Josh. He'd probably bring me some crayons and a child's puzzle book just so he could smirk at me.

So here I am. Nothing, nothing, nothing. Nothing, nothing. Nooooo-thing.

"Donna!" Josh's voice says from behind me. "Are you just sitting there doing nothing?"

"No. I'm actually hatching a secret pto fto fight inflation," I retort.

He's now looming over me in a vaguely disturbing way. "Very funny. You know, I think you should be able to come up with a better quip. I haveewedewed up since then."

"I've noticed. How's the meeting with Sands going?"

He shrugs. "Alright," he says, but he's giving me one of those 'God save me talking to this guy is like banging my head against a brick wall - but I can't say that because he's just behind that door and he might hear me - and I wouldn't even mind telling him off except for the possible repercussions which, granted, I've downplayed in the past, but must not ignore now' looks. Wow, that's a horribly long name. The new title for this look is 'silent desperation.' After 'silent desperation' dissipates, Josh continues. "I was looking for the notes on Prop 28."

"I put them on your desk," I say quizzically. "You did look there, didn't you?"

"No," he admits. "I thought it was too obvious."

"We're talking about some notes, Josh. Not a murder mystery with a surprise ending."

"Yeah, I guess," he says noncommittally. "I guess I should get back in there."

"Wait a second."

"What?" he says, turning back to me.

"When do you think you'll be done?"

"Ten, unless things get especially interesting." Cue 'silent desperation.'

"Okay."

Josh lingers for a moment before going back into his office. Quite slowly, I might add.

Ten. Ten is not a bad time at all. It's certainly better than eleven. Or twelve. Or one. Or two...

You get my point.

For whatever reason, I find myself thinking about Leo. Well, I guess I can understand the reason. It's a natural thought, or at least it feels like one.

I wonder if he's had dinner yet. I mean, it's not every day that I get to share a meal with him. And I'd bet he hasn't taken a break to eat yet. I could ask him out to dinner. Or, more appropely,ely, ask him in.

Leo, Leo, Leo. Leeeeee-o.

Okay, I'm going to go talk to him before I drive myself insane. Or become utterly convinced of my own idiocy. Or drive myself insane with my own idiocy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Margaret!" I yell. True to form, she's standing at the doorway in a matter of seconds. She is a good assistant.

"I'm not sure why we need the yelling," she says.

Scratch that. She's an okay assistant. "Margaret, don't drive me nuts today, okay?"

"It's technically night," she points out. "So, I'd have to drive you nuts tonight."

"Thank you for that," I say sarcastically.

She picks up on it, but she still says, "You're welcome." She seems deep in thought, then says, "Why did I come in here?"

"Because I called you."

"Oh, yes. I wanted to talk to you about the yelling."

She's definitely attempting to drive me nuts. What the hell for, I don't know. Maybe she's bored. "Margaret," I say sternly.

"What did you need?" she says.

"It's amazing that I still remember after all this wasted time," I say, and she doesn't seem that amused. "Put these files away. I'm through with 'em."

She takes them away and closes the door behind her. She doesn't complain on her way out, which is a plus.

Yeah, Margaret's a good assistant. Most of the time.

And, for some reason, I find myself thinking about Donna. Maybe I shouldn't. But, I ablyably shouldn't be seeing her either. Thinking about her late at night is the least of my problems. Maybe there'd be a problem if I weren't thinking about her.

Eh. Or maybe I'm thinking too damn much.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I get to Margaret's office, she's putting away some files. It takes a while for her to notice me, but she does finally turn my way.

"Hey, Donna," she says.

"Hey, Margaret. Is he in?" I say, pointing to Leo's closed door.

"Yeah," she replies.

"Is he busy? I don't want to bother him."

"He's not in a meeting or anything. Why? What do you need?"

Good thing I came up with an answer for this on the walk over heor Ior I'd be stuttering right now. "Josh wanted me to ask him about doing a new poll on sexual education in schools." And it is something Josh has been talking about, so I'm not just pulling things out of thin air. "He's in the meeting and everything--"

"Okay. I don't think it'll be a problem. But if Leo gets irritated, tell him I wasn't here. And, he is a little snippy, so don't blame me if he snaps at you."

"I wouldn't," I reply. "And, if necessary, I'll shield you from his wrath." I'd like to think that Leo wouldn't turn wrathful at the sight of me - but it's not like such a thing hasn't happened to me before. Sadly.

"Thanks," Margaret replies as she sits dot het her desk. "I'll protect you against Josh's wrath one day," she says, sounding way too serious.

"Okay." I knock lightly on Leo's door.

"Come," he says, and I enter, closing the door behind me. "Hello," he says, smiling at me.

"Hey," I say. I stay by the door - if I do go closer, I might not be able to resist the urge to kiss him. And Margaret's right there on the other side of the door; the President's on the other side, nonetheless. One or both of them walking in the two of us kissing - that's just a scene out of a French sex comedy. And, it could just start a rash of slamming doors and mistaken identity.

Well, it could.

"What are you doing here?" he asks.

"Here specifically or here in general?"

"Whichever," he shrugs.

"Generally, Josh is in a meeting. Specifically,anteanted to know if you ate dinner."

"Margaret got me a sandwich," he replies.

"And you probably ate half of it," I say.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I stare at her. "Yeah." How did she know that? Honestly, I thought I was a lot harder to read.

"You should eat better. Working doesn't rule out a decent meal."

That's Donna. Always trying to get me to eat more, sleep more. I know more about the effects of sleep deprivation than any man alive.

"But I have a point," she continues.

"I thought you always did."

"Well, not all the time. Sometimes, I like to revel in opaque conversations."

"There's a point now, though?"

"Yeah." She pauses. "Do you want to have dinner with me?" She looks just a little rtairtain, as if there's a chance I'd turn her down. I wonder if she's misreading herself or me.

"Yeah. If you want."

"Josh should be done at ten...So I'll meet you at your place sometime after that?"

"Sounds good. What do you want to eat?"

She shrugs. "I didn't even think that far ahead, honestly. How about Chinese?"

I was eating Chinese food all yesterday. I've had my fill of Kung Pow Shrimp. "Nah."

"Japanese? Some other form of -ese that I can't think of?"

"I do know this great Japanese place. I could pick up something from there."

"Great," she says with a smile. God, I love when she does that. "So, you pick up the food, and I'll be in charge of atmosphere."

"Atmosphere?" I question.

"Don't question the atmosphere. It's a very delicate thing, and if you question it, it may just fall apart."

"What?"

She looks at me, angry but not really. It, like many things about her, can't be explained. "Fine. I'll be in charge of getting out the plates, napkins, and utensils."

I smile. "Okay, then. I just wanted to know where all of this stood."

"Now you know," she says, and she's smiling again. "So, I'll see you later."

"Yeah."

"Oh, and don't get me any sushi."

"Your hatred of uncooked food is well documented, Donna." Once, she paled at the mention of steak tartar. Another unexplained strangeness. Another thing that makes me adore her.

"Just checking," she says. "I'll see you...sometime after ten."

"Yeah," I reply. The door closes behind her with a soft click.

Part of me already misses her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Margaret's still sitting at her desk when I exit Leo's office. "Is he still in a bad mood?" she asks.

I shrug. "He seemed a little snappy. Sometimes, I don't see how you can put up with him."

I say this with a straight face. There should be awards for things like this.

"Tell me about it," Margaret sighs. "But, you know, he does have his nice moments."

I just nod. "Josh is the same way. Sometimes, he can drive me crazy, but other times, he can be really sweet."

"Well," she continues, "Josh doesn't yell at you."

I stare at her. "Yes he does."

"Well, not the way that Leo yells at me," she counters. "Josh *calls* you. I get shouted at. I...I dare say I receive bellows, in fact."

I can't argue with that. He is known to bellow. "I should get back. Josh might be looking for me. Making sure my presence is useless and whatnot."

Margaret nods, and I make my exit. When I get back to my desk, I am once again left with nothing to do. No-thing. Noooooo-thing.

You know, I really hate it when I irritate myself. It's just...irritating. I could come up with a better word, but now this train of thought is becoming...irritating.

Damn it.

Thankfully, Josh comes out of his office, so the irritation train can now be derailed. Well, at least the self-irritation train. God only knows if Josh is going to say something that irks me.

"I think this is going to take longer than I expected, so you'll have to stay for a while."

Well, that irks me. "Why?"

"Well, because I am now having a meeting with the most agreeable and lovely person to ever live," Josh said. You can see the sarcasm from space. When I stare at him, he says, "You do sense that I'm sarcastic, right?"

"Yes, I do. But Mr. Lovely Agreement in there has arguably nothing to do with me. I'd say my presence would be necessary if I were doing anything, Josh. But I'm not." Yes, this has gotten me way too flustered. "I'm doing nothing. At least kids in school get busy work."

And I said I wasn't going to walk into that one.

Josh smirks. "Well, I could give you some crayons and a notebook. You can make me one of those turkeys that you draw using your hand--"

"It's sad, but I knew you were going to say that." I pause. "Look, Josh, just let me leave."

"But then I don't get a turkey. And you know I love hand turkeys."

That sounds horribly dirty, for some reason. I won't point that out though, since this conversation has already gotten sidetracked. "Look, Josh, I kinda made plans--"

He raises an eyebrow. "With the boyfriend?"

"Yes, with the boyfriend."

"Then go," Josh says.

I stare at him. Josh has been replaced with a pod person, I fear. "Seriously? What happened to I work when you work?"

"I am not one to stand in the way of true love." I swear that he still sounds kind of sarcastic, but I really don't care. As long as he's serious...

"Seriously?" I ask again.

"Yeah, go."

"And you're not going to mock him? Or say that I'm dating a loser?"

"I haven't recently, have I?"

No, he hasn't. I suppose there's a reason behind that. Like he's learned that mocking the men I'm interested in does him no good, and only ends up hurting me. Maybe he's grown as a person.

Or, maybe I have to revisit the concept of pod Josh.

"So, I can actually go?"

"Go," Josh says before heading back to his office.

As I'm leaving, I hear him yell out, "Have fun with the international man of mystery."

And I have to wonder if he just inadvertently called Leo Austin Powers or James Bond.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I yell for Margaret, and true to form, she enters.

"Donna said that she doesn't know how I put up with you," she says. "I'm rather inclined to agree with her." She pauses. "So, what would you like me to do?"

Strange thing is, she doesn't seemed that pissed. Even when she complains, she seems kinda agreeable.

Stranger thing is, Donna's apparently running around calling me a pain in the ass. I guess she has her reasons.

"I was just going to say that you could go now," I reply, briefly looking up from what's in front of me.

"Oh," she replies. "Okay, then. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," I say as she leaves.

Yeah, Margaret's alright. But I will have to ask Donna what the hell that little comment meant. It's a little after ten, so I'd definitely like to be out of here before eleven. Mlikelike five minutes, probably.

There are people who would see that statement as proof that something's wrong with me.

But I feel okay.

End Part 1/6