Getting Away From The Office Can Be A Good Thing
Katie McNamara
Rating:PG
WARNING: CJ/Danny story
DISCLAIMER: Characters aren't mine they belong to Aaron Sorkin and NBC
**Everyone has my permission to archive this story, and remember I
love comments**
Wednesday afternoon
CJ looked up from her computer when someone knocked on her door.
"Come in," she said casually.
Abigail Bartlet entered the office and smiled as CJ stood and
walked around the desk.
"Abbey. Hi. What's up?"
"Hi, CJ. I just came to see if you're still coming this
weekend?"
"Yeah. It'll be good for all of us to get away from here,
even if it is just for the weekend."
Abbey nodded. "I think that's what the president had in mind.
Is Danny coming with you?"
CJ looked up. "Well I hadn't planned on it. As far as I
know, the President doesn't want any press around this weekend."
Abbey smiled. "CJ, Danny won't be there as a member of the
press, he'll be there with you. Besides I think you two could use
some time away from The White House too. Why don't you ask him?"
CJ looked up at Abbey. "Well, as long as you think it'll be
okay."
The first lady reached over and placed her hand over CJ's.
"Good. I guess I'll see you Friday then."
CJ smiled and nodded as she watched Abbey leave her office.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thursday night
CJ and Danny sat on the couch in his apartment as he finished
an article and she worked on some papers she had brought home with
her.
Eventually Danny set his laptop down on the table and
stretched, resting one arm around CJ's shoulder.
"So, got plans for this weekend?" Danny asked as he watched
her continue to work.
"The president asked the staff up to his summer home this
weekend. He thinks we all need a weekend away from work. No press
allowed."
"Oh," Danny said, trying not to sound too upset.
"Abbey asked me if you were coming," finally looking up into
Danny's eyes.
Danny smiled at her. "See, I knew the president had a special
fondness for me."
"Danny. Mrs. Bartlet made it clear that you are welcome to
come because we are dating, not as a member of the press."
"Oh come on, CJ. Can't I just make a little mention of it in
my column tomorrow? You have to admit that I've been to able add
something extra to my column since we started dating."
CJ suddenly leaned forward and loudly dropped the pile of
papers onto the coffee table. "What did you say? Is that the only
reason you want to date me? To get a few leads for your column?" CJ
asked loudly as she stood and moved to the other side of the table.
Danny stood and moved to where she was standing. "CJ! No. I
love you, and if you believe those silly rumors flying around the
White House about us, then you're crazy. I've told you a million
times that I'm in love with you," he said as he put his hands on her
arms. "And I promise, I won't put anything in my column tomorrow.
This weekend, it will just be about us. No press."
CJ finally raised her gaze from the floor and wrapped her arms
around Danny's neck.
"Thank you," she whispered.
"No problem," he said as he pulled back and kissed her.
After a few moments, the two parted but still stood close.
"I better go," CJ said quietly as she let her fingers travel
over Danny's suspenders. "I still have to pack."
"Yeah, that's probably a good idea." Danny said as he watched
her gather up her things.
Danny smiled as he followed CJ to the door, then took her into
his arms for one more lengthy kiss.
"I'll see you tomorrow afternoon," she said as she opened the
door.
Danny nodded and smiled just before CJ left his apartment and
disappeared down the hall.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Friday afternoon
Danny knocked lightly on CJ's office door. When there was no
answer, Danny opened the door slightly to discover that CJ was nowhere
to be found. The redheaded reporter stepped further into the office
and tossed his bag onto a chair. A few minutes later, CJ returned
from changing her clothes.
"Hey," she said noticing Danny sitting on her desk.
Danny looked up and felt his breath catch briefly in his
throat. CJ was no longer dressed in her usually business suit of
pants and blazer, but now wore a light blue T-shirt and blue jeans, so
different than what he was used to seeing.
"What?" she said with a slight laugh.
"Nothing, its just that I'm not used to seeing you dressed
like this around the office."
"What's the matter? Don't I look okay?"
"You look great, I like it," Danny said quickly.
CJ smiled at him as she walked closer.
"Good. You don't look so bad yourself," she commented, eyeing
Danny's green button-down shirt and khaki pants.
"Oh you like it?" he asked as he lightly put his hands on her
waist.
"Yeah, its kind of a shock seeing you, you know, without
suspenders,"
"I thought about wearing them, but I thought it would be a
little over dressed for the occasion. I can put them back on if you
want. They're just in my bag."
CJ laughed. "Come on, let's go. I want to get there before it
gets dark."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Friday evening
A few hours later, the couple pulled up to the Bartlet's
summer house. Danny got out of the car and took a deep breath of
fresh air as he got his first look at the large white washed house
with a huge porch at the end of the gravel path. Having heard the car
pull up, Abbey came out of the house and waved.
"CJ!"
As they reached the porch CJ smiled as she hugged the first
lady. "Hi Abbey. Thanks for inviting us, this is so beautiful. You
know Danny Concannon, don't you?"
"Hi Danny, how are you doing."
Danny reached out and shook hands with the woman. "Just fine
ma'am. Thank you for inviting me Mrs. Bartlet."
Abbey smiled and held up her hand. "Danny, please, call me
Abbey."
Danny smiled as the first lady laughed slightly.
"Why don't you two go inside, the others are already here."
Danny noticed he felt much more relaxed as they walked into
the house. He watched CJ cross the room and join her friends around
the table where they sat playing a fun game of poker.
"CJ!" the President said loudly as the others laughed at one
of Josh's jokes. "Have a seat."
"Good evening, Mr. President." CJ said as she pulled up a
chair to the large round table.
"Hey Danny," the President greeted. "Glad you could make
it."
Danny nodded politely as he moved closer to the table.
Josh stood and leaned forward to shake Danny's hand.
"Hey Danny. Care to join us?"
"No thanks, I'm not much of a card player," he said as he
rested his hand on CJ's shoulder.
"It's probably a good idea, CJ's one helluva card player," Sam
chimed in.
Danny smiled before bending down and giving CJ a light kiss.
"I'll be on the porch if you need me," Danny said quietly.
"Okay. Who's dealing?"
"You are," Josh said as he slid the deck of cards towards her
across the table.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Later that evening
Danny walked around the side of the house and leaned on the
porch railing, taking in the scenery and fresh air. The reporter was
so wrapped up in his own thoughts, he didn't notice when Abbey walked
out of the house.
"Danny? What are you doing out here alone?"
"Oh hi. I'm not much of a card player. I leave that to CJ.
I'm just enjoying the scenery. This is a beautiful place."
Abbey nodded. "Its been in the President's family for years."
She pointed to an area in the distance with many large trees.
"That's where we were married. And down there at the beach, that's
where my husband proposed."
Danny smiled. "Its so wonderful to see two people still so
much in love after so long."
Abbey stood next to Danny and rested her arms on the railing.
"That's because we have something special. There's a special
bond between us that can't be broken. Sure, we have our
disagreements, but we know that we will always be there for each
other. And I can see that with you and CJ. She loves you Danny, I
can tell. CJ needs someone to take care of her and its obvious that
you two really care about each other."
"Abbey, I really do care about her, and I am definitely in
love with her. I don't know what I'd do if she wasn't in my life."
Abbey reached over and placed her hand on Danny's arm. "I
think you need to tell CJ what you just told me." She smiled before
turning and going back into the house.
Soon, he heard CJ's infectious laugh and smiled. Danny knew
he had to tell CJ some things he had wanted to tell her for such a
long time, and there was no better time to do it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saturday night
The group enjoyed a barbecue on the back deck, then afterward
Danny took CJ aside as the sun began to set behind the pink and purple
clouds.
"Walk with me," Danny whispered as they stood away from the
group.
The couple left the group and walked down to the beach.
"Its beautiful here, isn't it?" CJ said as she took a deep
breath of fresh air.
"Yeah, come here I want to show you something." Danny said as
he led CJ to a secluded cove where the waves washed over the rocks and
the fading sun's shadows played across the sand.
"Oh Danny," CJ whispered as she took in her surroundings.
"This is the exact spot where The President proposed to Mrs.
Bartlet. They've been married for thirty years, and are still so
happy, like I hope we will be for the rest of our lives. CJ, I love
you so much, and there's no one in the world I'd rather spend the rest
of my life with." Danny took a deep breath and got down on one knee.
"CJ, I guess what I'm trying to say is, I love you. I always
have and I always will. Will you marry me?"
CJ smiled and wiped away a few happy tears. "Oh Danny, of
course I will." CJ sank to sit on a rock and pulled Danny close so
she could kiss him.
After they parted, CJ smiled at Danny as he stood and offered
her his hand. "Wait, no ring?"
"Well I wasn't planning on doing this tonight, but Mrs.
Bartlet reminded me how much I love you, so I just decided to do it."
CJ nodded. "So you think you're going to get away with out
giving me a ring, do you?"
"CJ. I promise, we'll get one first thing on Monday. Like I
said, I didn't plan on doing this. Mrs. Bartlet talked me into it.
CJ smiled. "Abbey's a smart lady."
"Yeah." Danny kissed her lightly. "Come on, we better get
back before they begin to worry."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One hour later
Later, as the guys were down near the beach tossing around a
Frisbee, Abbey came up to CJ who was watching from the deck.
"I saw you leave earlier. What happened down there?"
CJ smiled. "I think you know Abbey. Danny told me that you
two had a little talk earlier."
Abbey smiled. "I just told him that he should tell you a few
things that he told me last night."
"Thank you."
CJ laughed as she watched as Josh attempted to catch the
Frisbee, but missed and fell on top of Sam instead.
"Did he propose?" Abbey asked after a few moments of silence.
"Yes. Of course he didn't have a ring, but I'm going to let
it slide for now. Thanks Abbey. I know Danny would say the same
thing, he couldn`t have done it without you."
The two women hugged then walked down the stairs to join the
men on the beach.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Monday afternoon
Danny walked casually into CJ's office, noticing that the door
was open.
"Hey," he said, catching her attention.
"Hey," she said looking up from the report on her desk.
"You got time to get lunch?" he asked after bending down to
kiss her lightly.
"Nope, sorry. I've got a ton of work to do before this
afternoon's briefing."
"Oh, okay. Well I brought you a little present," Danny said as
he placed an open ring box on her desk.
CJ looked at the ring then back up at Danny. "Its beautiful."
"Not as beautiful as you are," Danny said as he took CJ's hand
in his and slipped the ring on her finger.
CJ blushed slightly as she stood and kissed Danny
passionately.
"Love you," she whispered as she leaned her forehead against
his.
Danny smiled and pulled away. "I've got to get back, but I'll
see you later, okay?"
CJ nodded as Danny gave her a quick kiss before leaving the
office.
Admiring the ring, CJ went back to her chair and smiled as she
picked up the report on her desk.
THE END
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