LA Traffic and Trapeze Arstists by Kim
Disclaimers: Still not mine.
Summary: Josh and Sam manage to make Donna's morning very
confusing. This is a continuation of my last piece, "Wrong Name
Fiasco." You'd probably have to read it to get some of the stuff in
this one.
Feedback: Feedback makes me do a little dance in my chair. Please
let me know what you think.
Notes: Due to a suden burst in writing energy and some nice
feedback, I've continued this. Thanks. :-)
*******
Mornings in LA suck. It's 8:20 and I'm late. Josh is going to kill
me.
I have exactly one mile to drive from my hotel to the campaign
office. One mile. It should take all of five minutes. Not in LA.
For the past 4 mornings it's taken me over a half an hour to drive
one mile. This is a strange over populated city with massive traffic
problems. They've got to move the California headquarters to a
smaller town. I hear Petaluma is a lovely place. I doubt there's
any traffic in Petaluma.
I walk into the campaign office and the traffic in here is ten times
worse than the highway I had just encountered. People walking around
at a hurried pace, phones ringing all over the office, staffers
yelling at each other from across the room. I see Sam pacing around
on a phone with a concerned look on his face. It's probably Toby
complaining to him about the wrong wording of a paragraph. And
there's Josh sitting at a desk and staring at the floor.
Wait a minute. Josh is sitting at a desk and staring at the floor?
I look back. Yes, that appears to be what he's doing. I've been
working for Josh for about four months. Never once has he not been
in motion. Whether it is yelling at me, yelling at other staffers,
or running to catch a phone call, Josh is always doing something.
There has got to be a problem of some sort.
I cross the room and stand in front of the desk. He doesn't even
notice me. His dad's been pretty sick lately. I hope nothing's
happened to him. "Hey Josh,"
He snaps his head up and his eyes finally meet mine. He's got a
weird look in his eyes and he's staring at me funny. "Hi,"
"Josh, are you okay?"
He looks back at whatever it was he was previously staring
at. "Yeah, I'm fine. What are you doing here so early?"
"Josh, it's almost 8:30. I'm late. You know, when we win this
election you should really talk to someone about fixing the LA
traffic problem. I'm thinking car pools. Car pools are an excellent
idea. They cut down on traffic and they help out environment. Sam
might be a good person to work on this. He seems to be…"
He's not listening to a word I say. That green tile on the floor
seems to be more interesting than anything going on here.
"I was also thinking that maybe after the election I could take up a
part time job as a trapeze artist. You know, just on the weekends,
for some spare money. You ever noticed how much people love the
trapeze artists at the circus? It's like what they go for. I've
always wanted to hang upside down from a swinging stick. Plus the
outfits are awful cute."
"That sounds good."
"JOSH!"
He practically jumps from his seat. I now have his attention plus
the attention of about half the office that's turned around to see
why I'm yelling.
"Why are you screaming?"
"Because you're off in some other world. I'm telling you my plans to
join the circus."
"Why are you joining the circus?"
This man is killing me today. "I'm not. That's the point. You're
not listening to a thing I'm saying to you. Josh, are you sure
you're okay?"
He nods his head and stands up quickly. "I'm fine. Tell me my
schedule for the morning."
He starts walking and I follow after him. We seem to be getting back
to normal here. "Mainly just phone calls all morning. Leo wants to
have a conference call with you and Sam by lunchtime. He said last
night he'd call when he was ready. You had a meeting with
Congressman Dench at his office downtown. However, he's canceled. He
has some sort of family emergency. His assistant didn't want to seem
to elaborate on it. I told her we'd try to reschedule this week
before we go back to the east coast. That's about it for the
morning."
"What about the afternoon."
He has the memory of a small bird. I don't know what he did before
he ever had an assistant. "Josh, you're taking the afternoon off."
"I am?"
"Yes, you are."
"No, I'm not."
"Josh, you're taking Mandy to the airport, remember?" He looks
blank. "Josh…Girlfriend…going back to DC…big plane…airport." He's
staring at the floor again. "Stop me when anything rings a bell
Josh."
"She left already. I don't have to take her to airport."
Huh? I know for a fact that Mandy was booked on a flight to DC from
LAX leaving at 2:30. I know this because three days ago she yelled
at me from across the office, "Hey, Debby…..Daisy…..whatever your
name is. Book me on a flight for Friday to DC." Charming woman that
Mandy.
"She left? But I booked her on a flight for this afternoon. "
"She decided to leave early."
"Is she okay?"
"Yes,"
"Is something wrong?"
"No,"
"Is there something Leo needed her for in DC? Josh, is there
something going on with the governor and the campaign?"
"No. Listen, she just had to leave."
She just had to leave? There's something so wrong about this
situation. I come to work to find Josh in nevernever land. Now I've
found out his girlfriend has left town early for no apparent reason.
"Josh, really, just tell me what's-"
"Hey kids! Hi Josh! Hi DONNA!"
Why is he saying my name like so loud? "Good morning Sam,"
"Good morning Doooonnnnnnaaa!"
I think I just heard Josh mutter, "Oh my god, shut up," under his
breath.
"How are you doing today, DONNA?"
I think I've entered the twilight zone. "I'm fine…..I think."
"Are you sure, DONNA?"
You freak. "Well, I was thinking about joining the circus but I'm
not too sure it's going to work out. What's the sudden obsession
with my name?"
"Well, Doooonnnna, I think you should ask Josh that."
This time I hear him loud and clear. "SAM! Shut up!!"
Sam grins at me and looks back at Josh. "I'm sure Josh will explain
it all to you soon. However, the state of his sobriety when he does
it is what is in question. I have no doubt whatsoever, DONNA, that
you will find out very soon."
What the hell is going on about?
Josh pushes Sam in the arm. "Don't you have some speech to go screw
up?"
"In fact, yes I do. I must go work now. I'll talk to you later
Josh. Talk to you later," he lowers his head and whispers, "Donna."
He turns around and heads off to back of the office. I swear I can
hear him whistling, "Oh Donna" as he walks away.
I turn back to Josh and stare at him right in eyes. We're no longer
going to be nice about this. "Josh, I have no clue what's going on
here. Mandy's gone. It's 8:30 in the morning. Normal people don't
generally feel the need to leave in the very early hours of the
morning when they have a flight booked later that day. They would
only leave if something were wrong. However, you have previously
stated that there isn't anything wrong. Also, according to Sam
either you, or him, or perhaps even both of you have a thing for
saying my name. You're going to have to tell me something here. I
can't go on being as confused as I am right now."
He stares at me for a moment and rocks back on his heels. "Mandy and
I broke up. She left early because she wanted to get away from me.
That's why she took the earlier flight."
Oh my god. I am an idiot. I bothered him, and bothered him, until
he told me something he obviously didn't want to tell me. I have to
learn to keep my big mouth shut. He's my boss. If he's in a bad
mood than I should just deal with it. My mother always told me that
my insistent pressuring and questioning would get me in trouble some
day. I should really consider that job in the circus. You don't
have to say much up on a trapeze.
"I'm sorry Josh."
He shakes his head. "No, don't be sorry. We weren't exactly super
couple of the year. This was bound to happen. I'm pretty sure
people have a betting pool as to when it would end."
Oh, I think I had this month written down. I wonder if I won? I'll
have to ask Sam. Wow, Donatella, you are horrible.
"No Josh, I didn't mean I was sorry about that. Well, of course I
am. However, I meant I shouldn't have bothered you about this whole
thing. I came in and you obviously looked upset. You were thinking
about Mandy and whatever happened and I just wouldn't leave you
alone."
"It's okay. Really, it is. To tell you the truth I wasn't really
even thinking about her."
Please do not go weird on me again, Josh. "You weren't?"
"I've been here since about midnight. I spent a good four hours
thinking about Mandy. I think that's all my brain could take for one
sitting."
"When I came in here you were definitely bothered by something."
He smiles at me. Not his usual smile, though. One of those smiles
as if he has a secret he's keeping from me. "That was nothing."
I could pry and bother some more but I'm pretty sure my brain
couldn't handle any more confusion. At least not for today. "Okay.
Well, if you won't tell me about that then you're definitely going to
tell me what's up with Sam and the different variations of saying my
name."
Josh's eyes widen and he tips back on his heels again. Except this
time I think he may just pass out. He regains his balance and starts
to walk backwards. "I've got to go…..I've got to go use
the…….phone. I gotta go make a phone call."
I walk after him. "Josh?"
"I have to phone Leo," he yells back to me, "I've got to phone Leo or
he's going to kill me. I forgot to give him a call this morning and
tell him what's going on today." He slips into one of the side
offices amd shuts the door.
I give up. I turn back around and throw my arms in the air. I just
give up. Joshua Lyman is a complete enigma to me. He's acting
weird. He broke up with his girlfriend and he barely seems bothered
by it. Granted, I'd be a bit relieved if I were breaking up with
Satan. Plus this whole thing with Sam has thrown me for a loop. Why
must politicians be such pains to deal with?
A career as a trapeze artist would be so less confusing than this.