Where We Go From Here

Title: Keeping Secrets (1/1)

Title: Keeping Secrets (1/1)
Author: Michelle K. (CageyGrl@yahoo.com)
Rating: NC-17
Archive: If you have some of my other stuff, feel free to have this too. New archives - drop me a line first.
Pairing: Donna/Leo
Summary: Donna and Leo plan a night together. Josh and Margaret are curious about Donna's mystery man. (sequel to 'Afternoon and Night')

Disclaimer: Characters from "The West Wing" don't belong to me. Instead, they are the sole property of Aaron Sorkin, Warner Brothers Television and NBC.

Much thanks: Once again, to all the people who sent me feedback on this series. I'm glad there are people liking this.

Notes: Written mainly in Donna's POV, with a section of third person thrown in for variety.

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

I'm involved in a secret relationship.

The fact that we've managed to keep it secret surprises me.

I'm always afraid of blurting it out to someone - when I'm happy, it's desperately hard for me to contain it. I want to run into someone's office and tell them everything. I just want to spill out my elation.

This would be a bad idea.

I was the one who suggested that we shouldn't tell anyone until we're ready. And I'm not actually ready for everyone to know.

I like having this time with Leo that is completely private, completely to ourselves. I like that nobody from the outside is pressuring us.

So, I'm essentially torn between wanting somebody to know and not wanting anybody to know. Not wanting anyone to know has won, for the moment.

I like having things to myself from time to time. I like having Leo to myself.

I like that Josh can't bring me down from my elation, even though he's trying his best.

"Knowing the men you date, he probably doesn't know how to tie his shoes," Josh declares. He kHe knows how to tie his shoes," I respond.

Leo, I'm sure, has already mastered the art of tying shoelaces.

Yes, I'm seeing him tonight. We've come up with a plan. I'm going to leave at nine and wait at his place. (He's given me a key.) Then, he'll leave an hour later and join me. Leo argues that we don't really need a plan - even if we left at the same time, odds are that no one would connect it and assume that we were together.

But, still, I like having plans.

"Have you ever *seen* him tie his shoes?" Josh retorts.

Josh, sometimes, reminds me of my older brother. Both have great concern about my love life. Both have an aversion to all the men I date.

Both don't know when to shut up.

"Yes," I reply with a hint of exasperation. "He's a master. He's won competitions."

"I detect a hint of sarcasm," Josh replies with a smirk.

"You, my friend, are a genius."

I see Leo approaching us. I smile a little at him, and he smiles back. I stop looking at Leo to turn my attention back to Josh.

Yes, he's still talking.

"I'm just saying--" This is this moment that I see Leo standing right behind Josh. "--that you always date gomers that you have no future with. I'd be surprised if this guy can spell his name, let alone tie his shoes."

"Would you cut it out for two seconds?" Leo snaps.

Josh whirls around in surprise. "Hey, Leo." He doesn't seem to question why Leo is irritated with him. Leo is, after all, frequently irritated with him.

Josh doesn't have a clue that he just called his boss a gomer.

"Josh," he replies. "Good evening, Donna."

"Why does she get a 'Govenivening'?" Josh whines.

"Because you're bugging her."

"I'm not bugging anybody," Josh says.

"You're doing a little bugging," I reply.

Josh shrugs. "I'm just saying. It's not my fault you pick losers."

Leo is still irritated.

Josh still doesn't quite know why.

"Look, Josh," I interject, "he's not a loser. Quite frankly, the man's a hottie."

Leo raises his eyebrows, looking a little confused by the statement. But still, he seems tentatively pleased.

"He's a wonderful man," I continue. "He's smart, handsome, kind."

Leo's demeanor softens a little...

"Despite the fact that the guy has put some sort of love spell on you, he's still a gomer," Josh replies.

...only to harden once again.

"This is really fascinating," Leo barks at him, "but I nee tal talk to you in my office."

Leo motions for Josh to follow him as he walks away.

Josh follows Leo after shooting me a look of pure desperation.

I do sort of feel sorry for him. But that's what he gets for belittling my taste in men. And for belittling Leo. Granted, he didn't know he was doing the second thing...

Josh returns after a few minutes.

"What did Leo want?" I ask.

"Just wanted to talk to me about the Hanson thing," he replies. "But he seemed really pissed off at me. Did I do something stupid recently?"

"There's not enough time to go into that," I retort.

A sly smirk crosses his lips. "You could always cancel with the guy."

Some men never learn. "No, Josh. I'm not canceling."

"What if I need you? What if there's a crisis?"

"You have my cell phone number, Josh. And you're not a child."

"So I finally get you to admit it," he exclaims victoriously.

"I just admit that you're not a child. I haven't admitted that you don't possess childish qualities."

"Still a step up, though," he says as he runs a hand through his hair. "So, you're canceling then?"

"No!" I snap. "I've seen this guy before. I like him a lot. And I think we could have a future together."

Josh pauses for a moment. "So that's a no, then?"

"I'll see you in the morning, Josh," I reply as I walk past him.

He, thankfully, doesn't follow me. Yes, Josh has actually decided to stop bugging me about my love life. For the moment, anyway.

Pause for amazement.

Okay, I may continue walking now.

On my way, I am stopped by Margaret. "You're meeting the mystery man?" she asks me with interest.

"Yes," I reply.

"I miss dating," she says wistfully as looklooks off into space for a moment. She looks back at me, then says, "You haven't told me anything about him."

"Um, well," I mumble.

I should point out that Margaret is a good friend. I like her. I can talk to her. I shall reiterate that she is a friend. I usually would tell her about things like this - men I date and what not.

Before, though, I wasn't dating her boss. In secret, nonetheless.

"Have you seen him before?" she asks.

"A few times," I admit.

"You like him?"

"Very much." I think I'm smiling like an idiot now. I don't really care.

Margaret smiles back. "Well, then, tell me something about him."

"Well, he works in politics."

I'm treading lightly here.

"He's a little bit older than me."

Okay, maybe more than a little bit. But I don't mind the age difference.

"He's smart and amazing and intense and handsome."

Okay, acting like a dofus. Must tone down behavior.

"He's wonderful. And he's great in..."

Okay, must watch what I say to Margaret about her boss. Granted, she doesn't know I'm talking about him. But I must draw a line.

"...the kitchen."

Margaret stares at me, a slightly amused look on her face. For once, I'm the odder duck in this friendship. "It seemed like you were going to say something else."

"No. No, I wasn't," I insist.

"What's his name?" she asks.

"I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"We want to keep it a secret for a while."

She thinks for a moment. "It's not Josh, right?"

"No."

"I didn't think so. He seemed too adamant about picking on the guy you were seeing." She pauses. "Just give me a clue."

"You're not Sherlock Holmes, Margaret."

"That's because you won't give me any clues."

"I have to get going," I say with a smile.

"Bye," she says, sounding a little disappointed. "Tell me how it goes. In as vague a way as you want."

"Okay." I say as I walk out. "See you tomorrow, Margaret."

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

Josh pokes his head into Margaret's office. "Leo around?" he asked her.

"He's in his office, but he's on the phone. I could tell him you're here."

"No!" Josh declares emphatically. "He's pissed at me. I think I did something stupid recently."

"What?"

"Beginning to lose track," he replies with a small smirk. "Anyway, I wanted to talk to you."

"Me?" Margaret replies suspiciously. "Why?"

"Well...I was wondering about the guy Donna's seeing. You know anything about him?"

"Josh," Margaret replies in outrage. "I'm not going to tell you things that Donna told me in confidence."

He smiles. "She didn't tell you anything, did she?"

Margaret pauses. "Well, no. But that's not the point."

"Not a thing?"

"All she said, basically, was that he was wonderful, handsome, and worked in politics."

"Sounds like she could be talking about me, but I know she's not," Josh retorts.

Margaret rolls her eyes very slightly. "Bizarre, I say."

"She didn't tell you a name? Anything?"

"No. She said they wanted to keep it a secret."

Josh pauses for a moment, deep in thought. He snapped his fingers. "I've got it!"

"Got what?" Margaret asks in befuddlement.

"Him. The guy. She made the guy up."

"I don't think Donna would do that..."

"It makes perfect sense. She wants it to look like she has a personal life. Hence, made-up man."

"I don't know. If she wanted to make a guy up, wouldn't she come up with a name? Or something?"

"That's the beauty of it. It seems too sketchy to be made up. It's genius!"

Margaret looks at him skeptically for a moment. But, then, after a moment, it begins to make sense. The way she described her 'boyfriend' was generic - it could just describe the guy she wanted to meet. She knew her friend's love life had been waning for a while. She could've made up this guy to make it seem more exciting.

<Wow> Margaret thinks. <I thought I'd be the first to resort to imaginary men.>

Margaret shrugs. "I guess it's possible."

Josh sighs in contentment. "You see? Now I don't have to worry."

Margaret stared at him. "Why would you have to worry in the first place?"

"I wouldn't want someone to hurt Donna. Fake guy can't hurt her. Fake guy can't do anything wrong. I don't have to punch fake guy. It's actually a load off. If a bit disturbing." Josh pauses. "You know, I actually also find it a tad disturbing that I'm discussing this right now."

"Yeah."

"I'm going to go now."

"Okay."

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

I'm alone in Leo's apartment. It's strange being here without him. Everything is him, but he's not here.

It's lonely, but strangely comforting. I love knowing that he's going to be here soon.

I look at myself in the mirror. I'm wearing a lacy black chemise. I bought this a couple of years ago. I planned on wearing it for the elusive 'someone special.'

This is the first time I've worn it.

I don't think I look half-bad. In fact, I'll go so far as to say I look damn good. I'm not an unattractive woman. Leo even thinks I'm beautiful.

A slight blush rises in my cheeks. Sometimes just thinking about him can make me feel flushed.

I go back out to the living room and turn off the lights. I take out a few scented candles that I brought from home and light them. I do the same in the bedroom.

I like the hazy romantic glow they give the place. I want him to be here now.

I miss him.

The phone rings. I'm very hesitant to answer it, but the thing just keeps on going.

I decide to answer it. "Hello," I say in a fake British accent. "Who is this?"

"Donna?" Leo's voice answers.

"Leo," I say, dropping the accent. "Hello."

"I don't want to offend you, but that may just be the worst British accent I've heard in my life."

"I wasn't going for accuracy," I say in my own defense. "It wasn't a well thought out thing."

"Good. I'd be disturbed if you planned that out."

"I'm sorry about before. About what Josh said."

"It's not your fault that he's a moron."

"I still do blame myself sometimes," I say with a tiny smile.

"There's only so much you can do." He pauses. "Just wanted to let you know I'm on my way. My guy's driving me."

"That's good to know," I say in as conversational a voice as I can.

"I'll see you soon." He pauses. "By the way, did you refer to me as a hottie?"

"Yeah."

"And you were serious?"

"Yeah."

"Just doesn't sound like a serious word."

"It is."

"If you say so," he says a little skeptically. "I'll see you soon."

"I'll be here," I say.

After I hang up the phone, and stand by the door and wait for him.

It's a few minutes later that he enters. As soon as he closes the door, I rush to him and plant a kiss on his lips.

His briefcase lands to the floor with a thud and he wraps his arms around me.

Our lips part as he looks around the dimly lit room.

"What's all this?" he asks.

"It's my attempt to be sexy," I reply.

"I think it's working," he answers as his hands aga against the fabric of what little I'm wearing.

"Better than the accent?" I ask.

"I think so."

His hands move away from me as I push his suit jacket off. It falls on the ground behind him. I move my hands down his arms, finally clasping my hands with his.

Our mouths mesh together again. I sweep my tongue across his teeth before I let my tongue move against his. He lets go of one of my hands and lets his palm rest on my cheek.

I part from him and step back a little. I can feel his eyes roam over my body. I flush over again at the heat his gaze causes in me.

I pull him back towards me with the hand that is still entangled in his.

"Has anyone told you how incredible you are?"

"Yes. You."

I brush my lips against his as I loosen his tie. His hands move over my hips, gently guiding me closer towards him.

"It's still true," Leo says softly.

"So is everything I've said about you."

I unbutton the top few of buttons of his shirt, exposing part of his chest. I kiss his neck as I let my hands move down his chest.

He makes a small sound of approval as his hands rub my back.

I continue to unbutton his shirt until his torso is fully exposed.

I step out of his grasp again and look at him.

I don't care what he says. The man is hot.

Leo steps toward me and grasps one of my hands. He leads me to the bedroom, and stops for a moment as he looks at the candlelight that basks that room as well.

"You don't mind this, right?" I ask him.

"No. No, I don't mind," he says softly as he wraps an arm around my waist.

I kiss him as I slide his shirt off all the way. I let my hands travel down his back, feeling his muscles relax as his mouth melts into mine.

I turn around and begin to walk backwards, taking him with me. I fall onto the bed and he falls on top of me.

I squeeze my thighs against his hips as I roll on top of him. I straddle him as I let my hand rest on his chest. He puts one of his hands on mine and the other hand reaches to my back, pulling me back to him.

He gives me a long, slow kiss as he runs a hand through my hair.

"You're sexy with or without candles, Donna," Leo says softly.

"And you're hot."

"I'll give you a million dollars never to say that again," he says with a slight smile.

"What if I referred to you as sizzling?" I say as I smile back at him.

He kisses me again, tenderly and deeply. I moan softly as his hand traces the outline of my breast through my silky lingerie.

He rolls on top of me again, never breaking his lips from mine.

I can feel the fabric of his pants rubbing against my sex slightly, as his hands move up the bare skin underneath my outfit. He buries his face into my neck, gently basking my skin in his kisses.

I moan softly as I feel all the heat inside me settle in my lower half. As I feel myself wanting him.

I roll back on top of him, moving us back to our previous position. His hands rest on my hips, moving with me when I use my knees to raise myself up a little. I unbuckle his belt and his pants. I pull down his zipper and slide my hand inside.

I move my hand down the length of him, feeling as he changes from semi-hard to a full-blown erection.

"You should stop doing that," he whispers.

"Sorry," I say as I remove my hand.

"No need to apologize."

"I meant about calling you sizzling before."

"Apology accepted."

"Although I still think it's true."

He doesn't answer me as I slide off the rest of his clothing and throw it to the side of the bed. I return to him, pinning him in place with the pressure of my legs.

I lean towards him again, softly kissing him. He brushes the hair out of my face as he gently caresses the side of my face.

I'm back on top of him, staring into his intense eyes. I still can't believe that he looks at me this way. I wasn't sure that a man would ever look at me this way.

"Donna," he says huskily as I brush my sex against his.

"Leo," I answer, trying not to let my voice betray how much I need him.

I slide him into me, gradually letting him all the way inside. I exhale as my muscles fully relax to the feel of him. And he feels good.

It's now that I pull my lingerie off over my head, letting his eyes roam over my bare skin.

I raise myself up, moaning softly at the sensation. I smile a little as Leo emits his own sound of pleasure.

His hands are on me again, slowly moving up the outside of my thighs, resting again at the curves of my hips.

I sink down onto him, then up again. I steadily move faster. Leo's hips move with mine; his breathing quickens with mine.

We're still watching each other in the cloud of candlelight. I wouldn't know how to look away from him.

His right hand moves off of my hip and drifts down to my sex. His fingers move against me, stopping when they make contact with my clitoris.

I emit a guttural sigh as he begins to move his hand.

I clutch onto his other arm as the circular motion of his hand quickens. My own pace slows as I focus myself on what he's doing and how it's making me feel.

I say his name softly as the feeling slowly begins to creep through me, starting at my center and rippling through me. I cry out his name again, louder this time, as the sensation runs through every part of me. I close my eyes, breaking my contact with his. I can still feel him, though, his fingers touching the sensitive part of my body; his other hand clutching my hip.

My eyes flutter open as my orgasm subsides. He removes his hand from me and returns it to my hip. His hands guide me to resume my fast movements. I comply; I want him to feel as satisfied as I am.

I lean into him as I rest my hands on his chest; I feel his hands drift up my back, then back down again to cup my ass. I move quicker, watching his face as he gets closer.

"Donna," he says gasps as his hips move off the bed again, thrusting into me one last time as he comes.

He slides out of me and I lean in to kiss him. He kisses me back, moving his tongue into my mouth. Our mouths break contact as I roll off of him, lying next to him on the bed.

I rest on head on his chest. I let my fingers travel across the heat on his skin.

"See," I say playfully. "You're hot now."

"Two million dollars."

"I can't be bought that easily, honey," I inform him.

"Good to know."

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

I slowly open my eyes, adjusting to the rays of light that fall onto my face. I look over at the clock; it's a little bit after five in the morning.

I roll over, letting my arm fall on the space next to me. It's empty; Leo's not there.

I blink the sleep out of my eyes as I pull a sheet around me.

I walk out into the living room. Leo's sitting on the couch in a robe, doing a crossword puzzle.

"Hey there," I say as I sit next to him.

Leo looks over at me, taking his attention away from the New York Times. "Good morning," he says before kissing me. "I wanted to let you sleep for a while."

"I'm up now." I pause. "How long have you been awake?"

He shrugs. "Forty-five minutes, an hour."

"You are horribly sleep deprived. And that could lead to poor job performance, inability to concentrate, a weakened immune system--"

"I've been doing fine so far."

"Just a word of warning. Can't say that nobody's told you." I rest my head on his shoulder. He looks back at his puzzle. "Thirty-seven across is Ellroy," I inform him.

"It fits," he asserts as he writes it in.

"I know. I'm a genius." I kiss his cheek before standing up.

"You're not going, are you?"

"I was just going to take a shower. I brought some clothes from home so I wouldn't have to rush around." And so I could have extra time with him.

Remember what I said about how I like to have plans?

"Good," he says with a small smile. He seems relieved. Relieved that I'll be here a little while longer.

"You know, you could join me," I offer.

"Isn't that a little...slippery?"

"It can be done," I assert.

"I'm not twenty years old anyone."

"You don't have to move."

He hesitates for a moment, as if trying to imagine how it could be done. "We have to be in work soon. And I have a feeling that this should be attempted only when someone is fully awake and able to devote a lot of time to it." He's smiling very slightly - just enough to let me see he's not taking this *very* seriously.

"Well, we could just be in there together. We don't have to do anything that could cause permanent injury." I smile slyly at him.

He hesitates again. "Might as well not waste water," he says as he rises, throwing the crossword on the table.

Yes. Those of us involved in the running of the country should do our best to protect its resources.

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

When I arrive at work, Josh is nowhere to be seen. I can't believe that I got to work before him, considering what I was doing a little e age ago.

I mean, I can assume that Josh wasn't spending his morning in the shower with a naked man.

I think it's a fair assumption.

So, I seem to be much better at time management.

I go to the communications bullpen to pick up the statement that I know Josh wanted to look over.

On the way back, I pass Margaret in the hallway. "Good morning, Margaret."

"Morning, Donna."

"I had a wonderful time last night, by the way. In case you were wondering."

"That's nice," she says, an oddly sympathetic look in her eyes.

"Yes," I reply, more than a little confused. "See you later."

Margaret nods, the sympathetic look still covering her face. "Bye, Donna."

I shake my head a little at the oddness of it all. Sometimes, I really think Margaret's a very strange woman.

When I return to the bullpen, Josh is finally there. "Donnatella Moss!" he yells.

"Joshua Lyman!" I return.

"Where's the thing?"

"In my hand," I say as I pass it off to him.

"Well, that's lucky for us all."

"Hmm?"

"Makes things simpler." He pauses for a moment. "How was last night? With the guy?"

"It was great, Josh."

He's staring back at me with a self-satisfied look on his face. "Uh huh. You're still not going to say anything about him, though?"

"No. As is my right."

He smirks a little. "So it is. I'm glad you had a good time." The smirk now reaches its full glory.

"Okay," I say, once again puzzled.

"I'm sure the guy is just great." He's acting as if he's figured something out, but I know he hasn't. If he had, I doubt he'd seem this delighted.

"Yes," I say, confusion still hazing my opinion of this whole exchange.

"Yeah," he says, still smirking. He returns to his office, still seeming very proud of himself.

I've decided something very important.

I've decided that I work with crazy people.

Maybe it's best to keep secrets from them.

THE END