Interesting Discoveries
Josh came through the
bullpen, backpack on his shoulder, swagger and dimples in full force.
"Oh, God"
muttered Donna, "the meeting went well and someone must have stroked that
over inflated-ego again"
He stopped at her desk
and dropped a bag in front of her.
"The finest muffin
in the world for you, my dear Donnatella"
Donna stared at him
blankly, grabbed the muffin in one hand and pulled him into his office with the
other. Shutting the door behind her, she
just looked him.
"Josh, were you
drinking at lunch?"
"No, well only one
beer. But I'm fine, really"
And to make a point of
how fine he was he turned on the radio and pulled Donna in his arms to dance
around the room. Unfortunately, as he
went to swing her around the backpack, which he had neglected to take off, slid
down his arm and nearly knocked Donna over.
"OK, that's it. While you're at staff I'm cleaning this thing
out," she said as she let it hit the floor with a thud.
"Fine, Donna, nothing
could ruin my mood now. So when's
staff?"
"Two minutes
ago"
"DONNA" he
yelled as he grabbed his things and headed down the hallway.
Donna stood in the
doorway, watching her insane boss and friend run down the hall.
She picked the backpack
up off the floor. It weighed a ton and
she dropped it on his desk with a satisfying thud.
Starting at the small
pocket on the front she found the following:
3 Snapple caps, all
saying "Not a winner, please try again. (trash)
1 bottle of Advil, half
empty (saved)
2 lollipops, probably
from Millicent Griffith. (Donna took the lemon one for herself and put the red
one back in the pocket)
1.53 worth of change
(pocketed as payment for cleaning said backpack)
Donna zipped up the small
pocket and gingerly opened up the main compartment, pausing slightly to decide
if gloves would be a good idea. In it
she found the following:
5 blue file folders, one
of which Josh had accused her of not giving him earlier in the week. (saved)
15 assorted pieces of
scrap paper with various notes and numbers. (shoved in his top desk drawer
where all such paper goes, until Donna breaks down and tackles the disaster
that is Josh's desk)
1 pink rubber ball,
obviously stolen from Toby (returned to Toby)
1 well-worn copy of GREEN
EGGS AND HAM by Dr. Seuss (saved)
8 assorted pens (6 put
back and the other two returned to their rightful owner, Donna)
1 half used roll of Tums,
partially petrified (trash)
1 planner that Josh
hardly ever bothered to consult, opting instead to just yell for his schedule.
(saved)
3 Physics magazines, well
thumbed through but probably hold some special meaning. (Placed on shelf next
to computer)
6 assorted wrappers from
junk food he's not supposed to be eating (saved as evidence)
1 wallet, stuffed with
receipts, most of which are probably important, $30 cash and way too many credit cards. (put aside
for Josh to go through)
1 small double picture
frame holding 2 old pictures, one of Joanie and one of Josh and his
father. (saved)
1 brush, seldom used
(saved)
1 roll of peppermint
lifesavers, unopened (saved)
1 bottle of pain pills,
expired (trash)
1 map of the DC metro
system (saved)
2 handkerchiefs, which
appeared to be clean (saved)
1 set of keys (saved)
And finally:
1 manila envelope with no
markings on the outside, which Donna decided to look through anyway. Contents included--one picture of Josh and
Donna sound asleep on the campaign bus,
two cards Donna sent him after he was shot, two pieces of yellow lined paper on which he made numerous
drafts of the note he wrote inside the
book on skiing, a photo of the senior staff on inauguration day, a business
card for Carmine's House of Flowers with a date in April jotted down on the
back, a page torn from a magazine containing a sample of Clinique Happy, the
perfume Donna wore. (all saved and put back with care, but not before getting
all emotional)
Donna turned the backpack
over and shook the assorted dust and stuff out into the trashcan. She packed everything back in carefully and
hung it on the back of the door.
She worked at her desk
for a few minutes and then saw Josh coming down the hall.
"Hey, how was
staff?"
"Fine"
"I cleaned out your
backpack, there's some stuff on the desk you need to go through"
"You actually went
through it?" asked Josh with a slightly terrified look.
"Yes, I took out
some stuff and threw away the junk.
Don't worry; I didn't get rid of anything important. You need to pull the important receipts out
of your wallet and file them."
Josh nodded and backed
into his office, closing the door behind him.
Donna waited a minute and then peeked through the blinds. Josh was sitting at his desk, checking the
contents of the manila envelope. Donna
smiled to herself and went back to work.
THE END
