Lisa's TWW Fan Fic Archive Home
Post Ep | Romance | General | Drama
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A New Day
~Monday Morning~
Sam walked through the Communications bullpen on his way to Leo's office for
the morning staff meeting. On his way there, he began to think about his dinner with C.J. on Saturday. She had been so understanding. It was as if
she was, well, a person who he could always confide in.
While he was lost in his train of thought, he wasn't looking where he was
going and bumped into the wall. "I really have to start to look where I'm
going." He then heard someone laughing at him, and immediately turned to
look at her.
"Are you trying to set a record for walking into things, Sam?" C.J. asked,
as she calmed herself from laughing.
"Well good morning to you too," he said, collecting himself and smiling at
the sight of her. "How are ya this morning?"
"Oh, I'm alright. Except for the fact that I couldn't drive to work today."
She said as they began walking towards Leo's office.
"Why couldn't you drive to work?"
"I lost my contacts and my glasses really aren't all that great, so I didn't
want to risk getting into an accident."
"You could have called me. I could have picked you up." She said nothing
as they walked into Leo's office. "At least let me drive you home."
"Alright, thanks. I'd appreciate that."
"No problem." He said, sitting down next to her on the couch.
"What's no problem?" Josh asked, walking in the office, a wry smile on his
face when he saw the two seated next to each other.
"Nothing, Josh. Relax. Maybe you should try standing against the wall or
something." Sam said, trying to divert his attention from C.J. and himself.
Josh gave the two a look, but backed down anyway and went to sit in one of
the chairs.
As the Toby and Leo came in, Sam and C.J. exchanged glances, knowing that
Josh was going to press the two about what was 'no problem' later.
"Alright," Leo said as he closed the door and sat down, "Toby, Sam, you two
do know that the President has to give a speech on education later today,
don't you?"
Toby nodded while Sam had his eyes fixed on C.J. and was not listening.
"Sam? Hello, earth to Sam!" Leo said, quite loudly. Sam snapped back into
reality.
"What was that, Leo?" He asked, looking up at Leo.
"I said, you do know that the President has to give a speech on education
later today, and you and Toby have to write it." He sounded rather
impatient. "You did know that, right?"
"Y--yes, I know." Sam said, receiving a look from Josh, who obviously knew
that there was something going on between Sam and C.J.
When the meeting was over, everyone filed out of Leo's office and started
towards their own offices. "Well, I'll see you later." C.J. said as she
and Sam hung back for a minute. "You wanna do lunch today?"
"Sounds good to me," Sam said as he headed towards his office.
"So, Claudia Jean, what's going on between you and Sam?" Josh asked
inquisitively as he and C.J. walked to their offices.
"Nothing." She answered a little too quickly. Whe she saw that he didn't
believe her, she added, "Why don't you go and see what you can do to help
fight the President's secret plan for inflation?" She walked into her
office, leaving Josh just standing there, dumbfounded.
As Sam walked to his office, Kathy caught up with him. "Sam, you received a
phone call from a Cynthia Seaborn. Is she at all--"
"Thank you Kathy." Sam said as he rushed into his office and closed the
door. He picked up the receiver and dialed the number that was on the piece
of paper Kathy had given him.
"Hello?" Said a quiet voice on the other end of the line.
"Hey Cynthia, it's me. What's going on?"
~Monday, Early Afternoon~
C.J. walked out of her office and headed towards Sam's, ready for lunch. As
she entered the Communications bullpen, she noticed Sam's door was closed.
She grew a little concerned, since Sam hardly ever closed his door unless he
was in an important meeting or on the phone with another politician.
Kathy saw the look on C.J.'s face. "He received a phone call from someone
named Cynthia Seaborn. Right after I told him that, he went in there,
closed the door, and hasn't come out since." C.J.'s look of concern turned
into one of worry. "Do you know who Cynthia is? Is she a relative of his
or something?"
"She's his older sister." C.J. answered, in a distant tone. She walked up
to Sam's door and knocked.
"Come in," came the melancholy voice from inside the office.
"Hey Sam." She said cautiously and quietly. She knew he was upset. "Kathy
told me you received a call from your sister. Is something wrong?" She sat
down in one of the chairs in front of his desk.
He let out a long sigh. "My sister called because my mom had a bit of an
'episode' this morning. She had to take her to the hospital, mainly to see
if she was alright." There was a distinct sadness in his voice. "I should
have been there, C.J. I should have known that something like this was
going to happen." He got up from his desk and went around to sit next to
her.
She could see tears forming in his eyes. "It would have happened even if
you were there Sam. There's nothing you or your sister can do. I mean, it
was good that your sister was able to take your mother to the hospital, but
neither of you would have been able to prevent it." Sam looked at her, a
look of need in his eyes.
She leaned over and took him in her arms, thankful that he didn't pull away.
She could tell he was beginning to silently cry. She continued to hold
him until the tears subsided.
He gently pulled away. "Thank you. I needed to let that guilt out."
"Sam, you are not guilty of anything," she said softly, "like I have said
two or three times now, you and your sister have nothing to be guilty for.
It's not your fault."
A small smile crept onto his face. "I know, it's just difficult to be on
the opposite side of the country, so far away from my family."
"Hey, I nearly missed my dad's birthday, and he's in California too and I
don't feel guilty. He didn't blame me either. He was just happy to know
that I'm doing, and I quote, 'an excellent job.'" He and the rest of my
family love me no matter where I am, and the same goes for your mother and
sister. They love you, Sam."
They sat in silence for a few more minutes.
"I hate to do this, but I have a briefing to do, and I know that you have to
write that education speech." She said, only to find Sam giggling at her.
"You sound like my mother trying to make me do my homework."
"Well then, get to it, Spanky. See you in about an hour. We have a lunch
date, remember?"
He nodded and got to work on the speech as C.J. left his office to go give
her briefing.
~Monday Evening~
"Come in," C.J. called when she heard someone knock at her door.
"Almost ready to leave?" Sam asked, walking into the office.
"Yeah, I just have to give these documents to Carol, and then I'll be ready,
okay?"
"Sure."
After she was finished giving the documents to Carol, the two walked out of
the West Wing to the parking lot.
"C.J., I just wanted to, you know, thank you for what you did today." Sam
said as they were driving to her apartment.
"I will always be there for you Sam." As she said that, she glanced over at
him and smiled to herself. Their friendship was definitely reaching a
higher plateau.
"I'll always be there for you too," he said, glancing over at her, also
knowing that there was something more than friendship.
When he drove up to her building, C.J. began to get out of the car when Sam
stopped her.
"I was thinking. Do you want to do something this weekend?" He asked,
hopeful that the answer would be yes.
"Yeah, I'd like that." She answered thoughtfully.
"And thank you again. You really helped me today, C.J." He said sincerely.
She looked over at him and gave him a big bear hug.
He hugged her in return, and planted a kiss on her cheek. She could feel
herself turning red, but she didn't care. When the two pulled away, she got
out of the car and said goodnight to one another.
As he drove off, the two of them knew that they were beginning to feel a
certain desire for each other that they would later explore. It was the
start of a brand new day for both of them