Revelation

Leo noticed Abbey's amused, maternal expression and followed her gaze. He was expecting to see Zoey and the French boy, but the dance floor was pretty crowded and he can't spot them. "Who are you watching with that mothering expression?" he asked, as he joined her.

"Those two," Abbey indicated the dancers, but Leo couldn't tell who she was talking about. "They dance so well together, they're perfectly in tune. You know, I often think that about them. They're two parts of the same," she smiled. "They have this way of being together, even though they're not actually together. Haven't you ever noticed how connected they are?" Abbey saw Leo's dumb expression and laughed. "You have absolutely no idea who I'm talking about do you?"

Leo surveyed the dance floor again, but he had to admit, "Abbey, I really haven't got a clue."

"I know," she agreed, "I wouldn't worry about it, neither have they. At least I don't think they have. They've been doing this dance for as long as I've known them," she saw Leo's puzzled look, "Not this dance," she smiled, indicating the musicians. "I mean, they've been dancing around each other. They bicker and argue, something I swear they do simply for the fun of it." She was quiet for a moment as she watched her favorite non-couple. "They have this way of being completely together, like they're the only ones in the room, even in a crowd of people." She smiled, "It's small things that you notice about couples you know."

"It is?" Leo asked, wondering just how much the First Lady had had to drink and whether CJ was going to have to spin this in the morning.

"Yes of course it is. The way they look at each other. The way they can communicate without actually speaking. The way he puts his hand on the small of her back when they walk together. The way one knows the other's mood, or more precisely, the way, when he's happy she's happy and when he's tired and upset, she does everything she can to help him, and vice versa."

Leo studied the dancers and tried to decide which couple Abbey was talking about, but there were a lot of people out there, and he knew most of them, so it wasn't that easy. He spotted CJ and Danny, but he couldn't imagine Abbey getting all maternal over Danny. Now if Sam were still here, she certainly got that way with him and with Josh. He was about to ask Abbey who the hell she was talking about, when he saw them. How had he not seen that before?

Abbey took a sip of her Champagne and glanced at Leo, wondering what he would think if he knew who she was talking about. He was staring at the dance floor and the expression that had just passed across his face let her know that he'd worked out who it is. "You have to admit they look good together," she said.

Leo didn't take his eyes off Josh and Donna. "How long?" he asked Abbey.

"About four years I'd say," Abbey replied.

"Do you think they've ever..... ?"

"No," Abbey sadly shook her head.

"They both date other people," Leo sounded stunned and confused.

"Yes, I know. But there's a good reason why those relationships don't work." 

"I never realized. Who else knows?"

Abbey laughed, "Well Josh and Donna are in denial. CJ knows, and I think Sam has known for some time, I'm not sure about Toby. Zoey certainly knows."

As the dance came to an end, and the couples separated, Leo watched Donna take Josh's hand as they passed through the people milling around the edge of the dance floor. They walked to a table, sat down and started to talk in an animated yet intimate way. It now seemed strange to Leo that he'd never associated intimate with Josh and Donna before. Josh said something to her, she smiled and replied and he laughed. Soon they'd been joined by the others - Toby, CJ, Danny, Will and Charlie, but as Leo watched from across the room he could still see the intimacy. He didn't understand how he'd never seen it before, because they weren't acting any different to normal.

"You can see it now can't you?" Abbey asked.

"How did I miss it before?" Leo wondered.

"I didn't see it until Zoey pointed it out to me," Abbey admitted, "Then it was so glaringly obvious," she smiled.

"Yeah."

Abbey studied Leo, "You wish you didn't know?"

"He's her boss, Abbey, it'd be, well difficult...... "

"He's knows that," Abbey assured him.

"He went and got her," Leo commented."She wasn't going to go to any of the balls," he told Abbey.

"The quote," Abbey guessed.

"It wasn't her," Leo answered. "So he got in a cab, with Toby, Will, Charlie and Danny, and went her got her."

Abbey laughed, "Did he take them for moral support?"

"Probably," Leo grinned. "I can't believe I've not notice before now." Suddenly so much made sense. The more Leo thought about it, the more everything seemed to fall into place. As he watched Josh and Donna he decided that Abbey's revelation had made the inauguration night even more special. True, a relationship between them would undoubtedly cause problems, but that was for another day.

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END
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