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fabala_fic1Title: Objects in Mirror (are closer than they appear)
Fandom: The West Wing
Rating: PG
Pairing: CJ/Toby, Andy/Toby
Spoilers: In the Shadow of Two Gunmen. Set pre-series.
Word count: 457
It's nothing spectacular; CJ's mouth claiming his bottom lip for a moment, before she pulls back and murmurs, "I can't miss my flight. I'll call you when I get settled."
He doesn't stand around to watch her cab drive away-he's got papers to grade-and she doesn't look back.
California is bright and sunny, and CJ can't find her sunscreen until the second day. By that point, she's too red to even bother with the stuff. She peels, it fades, and the cycle starts over the next week. His number is tucked safely into a book, but she doesn't have a chance to unpack the box it's in until a week later.
By then, she's hip deep in work; prissy directors, whiny agents, and everyone needs her attention nownownow.
Toby doesn't call. But the spring semester has just started, so she doesn't really expect him to.
It's nearly four months before he calls, and when he does, he's been drinking. The words are barely out of his mouth before CJ takes the cordless into the kitchen and pulls the vodka from it's place beside the frozen strawberries.
"I want you to meet her," he says, and CJ makes an ungraceful (ungrateful) sound. He doesn't need to ask what it means.
"You're drunk, Toby. And you don't need my approval." She ends the call then, but doesn't throw out the invitation when it shows up in the mail three weeks later; instead, she RSVP's yes, and takes the afternoon off to shop for a dress and a gift.
It's a simple ceremony, and the reception's at a bar. (Fitting, CJ thinks, as she orders her second drink.) Andrea greets her warmly, and doesn't ask how she knows Toby. CJ doesn't volunteer the information.
She flies back to LA the next morning, and Toby doesn't call for six months. When he does, he's calling from a hospital (she can hear the tinny intercom in the background), and CJ wants to cry.
"I'm sorry," she says, and means it. (Something else she and Andrea have in common now.)
When he calls to tell her about the divorce papers, she doesn’t kid herself. It has nothing to do with her.
Five weeks later, he stands in her bathroom doorway and watches as she towels her hair dry. While she's putting her contacts in, she says, "Toby, I appreciate this, but if we're-"
"No," he says, looking down at his hands and chuckling softly for a moment, "No, CJ. We-us-this is..."
"Just the job?"
"Just the job."
"Okay." She straightens up from the mirror and blinks. Everything's brighter, clearer now that she can actually see. "Come on; make yourself a drink and then you can tell me I'm grilling the chicken all wrong."
~end
Fandom: The West Wing
Rating: PG
Pairing: CJ/Toby, Andy/Toby
Spoilers: In the Shadow of Two Gunmen. Set pre-series.
Word count: 457
It's nothing spectacular; CJ's mouth claiming his bottom lip for a moment, before she pulls back and murmurs, "I can't miss my flight. I'll call you when I get settled."
He doesn't stand around to watch her cab drive away-he's got papers to grade-and she doesn't look back.
California is bright and sunny, and CJ can't find her sunscreen until the second day. By that point, she's too red to even bother with the stuff. She peels, it fades, and the cycle starts over the next week. His number is tucked safely into a book, but she doesn't have a chance to unpack the box it's in until a week later.
By then, she's hip deep in work; prissy directors, whiny agents, and everyone needs her attention nownownow.
Toby doesn't call. But the spring semester has just started, so she doesn't really expect him to.
It's nearly four months before he calls, and when he does, he's been drinking. The words are barely out of his mouth before CJ takes the cordless into the kitchen and pulls the vodka from it's place beside the frozen strawberries.
"I want you to meet her," he says, and CJ makes an ungraceful (ungrateful) sound. He doesn't need to ask what it means.
"You're drunk, Toby. And you don't need my approval." She ends the call then, but doesn't throw out the invitation when it shows up in the mail three weeks later; instead, she RSVP's yes, and takes the afternoon off to shop for a dress and a gift.
It's a simple ceremony, and the reception's at a bar. (Fitting, CJ thinks, as she orders her second drink.) Andrea greets her warmly, and doesn't ask how she knows Toby. CJ doesn't volunteer the information.
She flies back to LA the next morning, and Toby doesn't call for six months. When he does, he's calling from a hospital (she can hear the tinny intercom in the background), and CJ wants to cry.
"I'm sorry," she says, and means it. (Something else she and Andrea have in common now.)
When he calls to tell her about the divorce papers, she doesn’t kid herself. It has nothing to do with her.
Five weeks later, he stands in her bathroom doorway and watches as she towels her hair dry. While she's putting her contacts in, she says, "Toby, I appreciate this, but if we're-"
"No," he says, looking down at his hands and chuckling softly for a moment, "No, CJ. We-us-this is..."
"Just the job?"
"Just the job."
"Okay." She straightens up from the mirror and blinks. Everything's brighter, clearer now that she can actually see. "Come on; make yourself a drink and then you can tell me I'm grilling the chicken all wrong."
~end
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no subject
on 2007-07-26 03:26 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2007-07-26 08:36 pm (UTC)Isn't CJ lovely? (Between you and me, I like the new ending much better; I'd originally left it at the line about the divorce papers, but I realized that it left CJ sounding kind of...bitter. And bitter CJ is not good. I much prefer 'teasing Toby and smiling' CJ.)
no subject
on 2007-07-28 03:46 am (UTC)no subject
on 2007-07-28 01:00 pm (UTC)