Recycling the Newspaper

CJ watched as Leo left her office and headed down the hall. They had just spent an hour together, in her office, alone. Sure, they had been working for most of the time but the last few minutes they just sat on the couch and chatted, like friends. It had been the perfect chance to make a move and she let it slip by.

It had been a few weeks since she had realized that her feelings for Leo McGarry had changed, dramatically. They had been friends and co-workers for years without a single thought on either of their parts about a more personal relationship. After all, they worked in the White House, they had no free time, Leo was still in love with Jenny and CJ...Well, CJ was more or less happily single. She had broken in to the all boy network and wasn't about to let a little thing called love get in her way.

But recently she had been noticing things about Leo. Things that had been there all along but she was just too busy to notice them. His crooked smile, the beautiful hazel eyes that peered over his reading glasses, the way he distractedly scratched at his neck, they way he always took a step back from her when they were talking so he didn't have to crane his neck back so far to look her in the eye. So many things she couldn't quite figure out how she'd missed them for so long. She found herself watching him, in meetings, in the Oval Office, in the Mess. She had almost convinced herself that she had seen him sneaking looks at her. But she was sure that was just her imagination.

And now she had just blown the perfect chance. She and Leo didn't spend much time alone and what little time they did spend in the privacy of her office was usually spent hard at work. Sighing loudly she turned off her computer and grabbed her bag, fully prepared to spend yet another Friday night alone.

She dragged herself home and dropped on the couch for a few minutes, mindlessly flicking through the channels and sorting the mail. Her growling stomach reminded her that she hadn't eaten since sometime before noon. She kicked off her shoes and padded into the kitchen. As usual the refrigerator was pretty bare. Working at the White House didn't exactly leave much time for the everyday things, like food shopping, cooking, cleaning and, well, a sex life. She reached into the freezer and took out the ever present carton of Ben and Jerry's Cherries Garcia. She wandered around the apartment eating and thinking about Leo. And kicking herself for the evening's missed opportunity.

She thought about calling him and asking him over. But she wasn't in the mood to be rejected, wasn't in the mood to have things lead to a big misunderstanding, wasn't in the mood to get her hopes up only to have them crushed like Tokyo in a Godzilla movie.

So she decided for the old favorite Friday night activity of many a single woman, the bubble bath. She started the water and perused her collection of products from Bath and Body Works. Settling on Pearberry she poured a few capfuls into the tub and climbed in with her ice cream and the newest copy of Cosmo. She figured she might as well read about sex because it didn't look like she was going to be getting any in the near future.

An hour later the water was lukewarm, the bubbles and the ice cream were long gone and she had had all the sex and makeup tips she could handle for one night. Climbing out of the tub she reached for her robe on the back of the door only to come up empty handed. Then she remembered the coffee she had spilled down the front of it that morning. Sighing yet again she grabbed a towel off the shelf and wrapped up in it. Wandering back into the kitchen for a drink of water she spied the bottle of pale purple nail polish on the kitchen table. She grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and went into the living room. She quickly glanced at the label on the bottle, the color was called Gotcha, laughing bitterly at the irony she shook it forcefully while looking for a CD to put on. Settling on Alanis Morrisette she turned it up and got to work on her nails.

By the time she had finished the second coat on her fingernails she was feeling better, sort of. She stared at her feet and decided she might as well do her toenails too, she wasn't exactly going anywhere. She propped her feet on the coffee table. Her towel wasn't staying closed and her nails weren't dry enough to fix it so she just stood up and danced a little until it fell to the floor. Ten minutes later her toenails were done and she was walking around on her heels. Her fingernails were dry but something about wandering around the apartment naked appealed to her at that moment. She cranked up the stereo a few notches and danced around singing along with Alanis.

She was in the kitchen dancing around when she got the distinct impression that she was being watched. Turning around quickly she came face to face with a very red faced Leo. Screaming at the top of her lungs she grabbed the nearest thing she could get her hands on that was big enough to provide some modesty, the morning edition of the Washington Post that was still on the kitchen counter. She held one open section in front of her and another folded section behind her as she scooted by him to turn off the music.

"Leo, what the hell are you doing here? How did you get in? Why are you here?"

Leo just stuttered for a minute while he regained his composure. He was trying his best to keep a straight face but was failing miserably.

"I, uh, you didn't answer, the door was unlocked. I heard the music and assumed, correctly I see, that you couldn't hear the doorbell."

"OK, that answers how you got in, now why are you here?" asked CJ a little harsher than she had intended.

"I left work and didn't feel like going home. I wanted to see if you wanted to get coffee or something. I'll just be..." said Leo as he motioned towards the front door.

"No, wait. I'm sorry. You just took me by surprise. Let me go change, I'll be out in a minute" said CJ as she backed down the hallway towards her bedroom.

She quickly threw on a pair of jeans and a sweater. She paused to stop in front of the mirror. She hadn't even combed her hair after her bath. Quickly running her fingers through it she considered putting on a little makeup but one look at her blushing cheeks told her she really didn't need to worry about looking washed out. Taking a deep breath she went back out to find Leo. He was sitting at the kitchen table drinking her bottle of water and reading what was left of the paper.

"Have you seen the front page? I can't find it." teased Leo as CJ entered the room.

CJ felt herself turn red again as she crossed the room and smacked him on the back of the head.

"OWWWW" he cried woundedly.

"That was for scaring me half to death" explained CJ.

"OK, I deserved that" admitted Leo.

CJ reached for the bottle of water and took a deep breath. Leo had turned his attention back to the newspaper. She didn't take that as a very good sign since she knew he had read the paper at least twice already. Walking over behind him she put the water down on the table and put her hands on his shoulders. At first she felt him flinch and stiffen at her touch but as her fingers kneaded the knotted, tired muscles of his neck and shoulders he relaxed.

"That's nice" murmured Leo as he pushed the newspaper aside and propped his feet up on the chair across from him.

CJ ran her hands up through his fine sandy hair as he let out a contented sigh. As she gathered up her courage to speak she leaned over and kissed the top of his head.

"What was that for?" asked Leo curiously.

"That was for...well, I've wanted to do that for a...God, Leo, I'm the Press Secretary for the President of the United States and you reduce me to a stuttering teenager" groaned CJ as she rested her hands on his shoulders again.

Leo reached up to put his hands over hers and give them a squeeze.

"Hey CJ, if it's any consolation, I drove around for 20 minutes trying to think of something witty to say when you opened the door. But you didn't open the door and the sight of you wearing, well, nothing sort of...." Leo's voice trailed off.

"Sort of what?" prodded CJ.

"Took my breath away" whispered Leo as he let go of her hands and stood up.

They stood facing each other, Leo took his customary step back to he could look her in the eye better.

"So, I guess we've both been feeling the same way and we both were too stupid, pigheaded, shy, scared...stop me at any time CJ" smirked Leo.

"I'll stop you when you have covered all the bases" teased CJ. She took his hands in hers and leaned over to kiss him. It was just as she had always imagined, soft, tender, with just a hint of awkwardness.

But the awkwardness was expected, on both their parts, he was her boss, he was 15 years older and he was a good 6 inches shorter.

When the kiss ended the both looked at each other expectantly, waiting for the other one to speak. When no words came from either of them CJ took him by hand and steered him towards the living room. They sat on the couch, still in silence, which was beginning to get uncomfortable.

"CJ", "Leo" they said, speaking at once.

"You first" said Leo

"OK, well, that was uh..nice?" said CJ in a slightly questioning tone. She could feel her cheeks turning red.

"Well, I would have said a little more than nice but maybe we should just, uh, try again" smirked Leo as he leaned forward. His lips captured hers and the kiss crossed well over the line of friendship into new territory.

"OK, so was that more than just nice" teased Leo.

"Yeah, you could say that" whispered CJ.

Silence overtook the room once again. But this time it wasn't uncomfortable. They sat hand in hand on the couch, quietly contemplating the enormous consequences of their feelings. Leo was the first to attempt to speak. He took a deep breath and turned sideways on the couch to look CJ in the eye.

"CJ, I don't know what to say other than this, I've thought about this moment for a long time, longer than I care to admit. I don't know where this will lead and I can't make any promises. But with all my heart I want to see things through, see where things will lead. All I can do is to hope with all my heart that we're able to get past the obstacles that are sure to pop up. Are you with me?" asked Leo with a wink and a crooked smile.

It took CJ a minute to wipe away the tears that had started to fall the minute Leo opened his mouth and to put her own feeling in to words.

"I'm with you. I know it won't easy but I want to try, more than anything. I've thought about this for a long time too. Guess if both of us weren't so stubborn, pig headed or whatever we would have admitted our feelings a hell of a lot sooner." laughed CJ as she reached over to run her fingers through his hair and kiss his cheek.

Leo smiled and let out a long breath.

"Now what?" wondered Leo as he wound his fingers through her hair.

"Well, you came over to ask me out for coffee, so, ask" said CJ with a grin.

"OK, CJ, I was on my way home and well, I wasn't really in the mood to go home alone so I thought maybe I'd stop by and ask if you wanted to go get some coffee." said Leo shyly.

"Sure, I'd like that very much" smiled CJ.

"So where should we go?" asked Leo as he stood up and ran his hands through his hair in an effort to smooth it down again.

"How about the kitchen?" asked CJ with a smile. "It's getting late, let's just stay here"

Leo smiled as she took his hand and led him into the kitchen. She steered him towards one of the stools at the breakfast counter and turned to make coffee. Leo sat watching her, his elbows on the counter, chin propped up on his clasped hands. As the coffee maker sputtered to life she came over and stood behind him. She wrapped her arms around him from behind and kissed the top of his head. He was content to let her hold him as the aroma of coffee filled the room. When the coffee maker shut off she grudgingly unwrapped her arms and poured the coffee. They drank the coffee and ate cookies for over an hour. Neither wanted the night to end, but neither wanted to be the first one to move things forward. So they sat, side by side, sharing their thoughts their dreams and a package of Oreos.

Somewhere around 2:00 CJ slipped off the stool to clean up. She washed the mugs and the coffee pot.

"Hey Leo" she called as she faced the sink. No response. Glancing back over her shoulder she let out a chuckle. He was sound asleep, head cradled on his folded arms, snoring softly. She dried the few dishes and went to wake him enough to steer him towards the couch.

"Leo" she said quietly as she rubbed his back. "Come on, let's get you to the couch"

He slid off the stool and mumbled something about the morning edition on the Post as he let CJ lead him. She gave him a little push in the direction of the couch and went to change and get him a blanket. Being that Leo was already more than half asleep she decided just to change into a pair of flannel pants and a Bartlet for America t-shirt.

She grabbed a spare quilt out of the closet and headed back to Leo. He was once again sound asleep. He was sitting on the couch, head back, mouth opened. He had somehow managed to remove his tie, unbutton his shirt and undo his belt but he must have fallen asleep before he could pull it loose. She reached down to unwrap his fingers from the gold buckle and pulled it out with a swift tug. Kneeling down she slipped off his shoes and pulled his shirttails out of his pants. Her mind was telling her to just cover him up and leave him be but her heart told her to stay. She kicked off her slippers and settled herself down on the end of the couch, putting her feet on the coffee table. She reached over and gently pulled his head and shoulders down onto her lap. After covering him up with the quilt she reached over to turn out the light. In the darkness she allowed herself to dream as she ran one hand through his sandy hair and entwined the other through his fingers.

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

She woke first the next morning. At 7:00 she quietly slipped out from underneath him so he could get some more much needed rest. She laughed to herself when she realized this was probably the first time he had slept past 5 AM in years. Leaning over to kiss his cheek and pull the covers back up over him gave her a chance to get a good look at him. He looked positively peaceful in his sleep. Smiling to herself she stood up to get the paper off of the step. I'll never look at the Washington Post quite the same way again she thought to herself as she dropped it on the kitchen counter. She started the coffee maker and went to take a shower.

Just as she was finishing up washing her hair she heard the door open.

"Leo?" she called.

No answer.

She poked her head out from behind the curtain and looked around. He wasn't there and neither was the towel she had placed on the counter. The only thing on the counter was the newspaper.

THE END

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