Night After Night (30 Rock, Jack/Liz)
Title: Night After Night
Prompt: 100_situations #087. Nocturnal
Fandom: 30 Rock
Pairing: Jack/Liz
Spoilers: through 'The Problem Solvers'
Word Count: 3,390
Rating: PG
Table: Number Two.
Summary: Dinner quickly becomes a thing they do.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue!
*
Dinner quickly becomes a thing they do. A thing they do without her wondering what the reason behind their shared meals might be, since she knows now, or questioning whether or not it's going to be only the two of them. They're business dinners, dinners that occur because they're doing business together, Liz should specify, though she and Jack are also friends. They regularly have dinner as business friends. If that's a thing... and she doesn't think it is. But even if it's not a thing, it's what they are.
She always goes home to change into something nicer than her work clothes. Before dinner number four, as she's putting on her spanx like she's going on a date with a man (well, of course Jack is a man, the important part was the date thing), she wonders if this means something outside of not wanting him to make some comment about her attire. But, no. Of course not. It's that Jack always takes her to eateries where sneakers and zip-up sweaters would seem out of place. He never takes her to Quiznos or anything. It would be cool if he did. (The next day, he brings her a sub around lunchtime, and for a few seconds she's almost convinced that he doesn't merely know her exceptionally well; he can read her mind. When he doesn't say, "Of course I can't read your mind," she dismisses her theory.)
But, anyway. Dinner.
"I think you should have a roundtable discussion every week."
"That's like The View every day," Liz points out. "Or Oprah on Fridays. When they used to do that, I mean."
"I'm aware of that."
"So why am I doing it?"
"All television is derivative," Jack replies. "What matters is you. You're the draw. All we have to do is surround you with parts of other series, film it on a set also cobbled together from shows that have come before, all of which were also created by combining elements of other talk shows, which makes the plagiaristic nature of any of them, including ours, fairly difficult to spot."
"Right." Now she's going to spend part of her night trying to figure out the origins of the apparently Frankensteiny talk shows that are currently on. "Aren't we getting ahead of ourselves? We haven't even filmed the pilot."
"We will be picked up, so it's best to discuss the details now."
She considers this for a moment. "I want a soft chair."
"Spoken like a true star."
She reaches over to his plate, taking half a forkful of his chocolate truffle cake, then filling the rest of her utensil with her cheesecake. After she eats it, she says, "Crap, that was awesome."
"Spoken like yourself."
Her eyes meet his, and she responds to his amused gaze with a slight smile. She's about to offer him her combination, until she realizes that feeding him would be weird. So she continues to feed herself.
*
A lot of the time, they don't talk about business. Which she thinks might be strange for business dinners.
But they are also friends.
"Okay, how about this," Liz says. "You have the powers of Superman. You still have to abide by Superman's moral code, but your one sexual partner is someone you're totally crazy about who will be attractive forever. Like Elisa. She's always going to be hot. Like, scary hot."
Maybe she should stop talking about how hot his ex-fiancée is.
(But if she does, then she might ponder why it is she wants to discover a situation that would lead to Jack staying with a woman for the rest of his life.)
"I mean, she's in her forties, right, and she looks like that? She's got those boobs. She's a great kisser. I mean, I assume. You were going to stay with her forever."
She wishes Jack would interrupt her. Why can't she stop talking?
"And you didn't even have Superman powers--"
"No."
"No?"
"If you'd asked me six months ago, I suppose I would have said yes. But our relationship is over and I have moved on."
"Someone like her, then, is what I mean."
"Possibly." He pauses. "Is there much flexibility in the moral code?"
"Not really. But you could probably get away with only sticking to it when you're using your powers, since you wouldn't literally be Superman. Also, in that last Superman movie, he was almost stalking Lois by hovering outside her house, which has to be kind of immoral."
He nods. "I suppose I'd consider it under those circumstances. Though I doubt I'd use the power of flight for such a purpose."
"Good. I don't want you to stalk people."
Their waiter is suddenly standing by them at that moment, blank faced in the way waiters often are when they arrive at a table during a strange time. (She wonders if they're trained to not react or if they all reach a point were no out-of-context remark could faze them.) He gives Jack a refill of his drink before he walks away.
"I'm glad you didn't feel compelled to explain to the waiter what it was we were discussing," Jack remarks.
"Yeah... but I totally wanted to."
"That makes it even more noteworthy."
Liz shrugs. "I guess. But at least he knows you're not stalking people. And that I don't approve of stalking."
*
Sometimes, she wonders why Jack doesn't have a better way to spend his nights than hanging out with her. But Jack isn't spending all of his nights with her, and the nights he is with her, he probably has enough time to go out for drinks with some lady, so... He's got to still be doing what he likes. By doing a bunch of random women.
Wow. She could not have made that sound any more gross.
*
"What did Padma do wrong?"
Liz asks this suddenly, after Jack says he's thinking of ordering lamb and it reminds her of one of the dishes on the last episode of Top Chef: Las Vegas.
"I told you, Lemon; she wasn't you."
"Yeah, but she had to do something." She assumes that, unlike her story of why she (literally) went running back to Jack, it has nothing to do with setting oneself on fire. Since he didn't say, That's quite similar to what happened to me, when she told him of her meeting with Scotty Shofar. "The final straw that made you want me. Made you want me for the show," she clarifies, though she doesn't need to. He knows what she meant.
As for the final straw, Liz guesses: Hearing That's a dealbreaker, ladies! in Padma's voice sounded weird and wrong. She knows it always sounds strange when she says, "Pack your knives and go."
Jack is silent as he studies her. Liz knows he's weighing whether or not he should share what's on his mind. (Which means it's something more than, she shouldn't say your catchphrase.) She also knows he will end up telling her his thoughts. As to what he's going to say...
Her powers only go so far. But if she had to bet on his next words, she'd go with: Females between twenty-five and fifty-four are more comfortable getting blunt romantic advice from average looking women, so Padma would be at a disadvantage in a show with such a premise.
"She told me the show would make it easier for her to have the life she wanted. Give her more time for herself; make it easier for her to balance work and being a mother. She said it would change her life. I realized I'd rather do that for you." He switches his attention to the menu. "Do you know what you wish to have?"
She thinks about how much it means that Jack wasn't thinking of how choosing her over Padma would affect him, but how it would affect her, and she's stunned and grateful and something else she can't quite place. "I don't know," she mutters. "I'm still looking."
*
Jenna closes the door behind her after she enters Liz's office. "Are you going out with Jack tonight?"
"To dinner," Liz says. Because going out sounds like... what it sounds like, and it's not what they're doing. "We're having dinner together."
"You need to take me with you."
She's struck by how much she doesn't want Jenna there, throwing off the balance. Being a third wheel because, well, she's not part of Dealbreakers. Liz would never go to a dinner where Jack and Jenna were planning on discussing the Janis Joplin movie that's not about Janis Joplin. (Or the next star vehicle Jenna imagines will make her an Oscar winner.) She doesn't think Jack has ever invited Jenna to a business dinner, but if he did, Liz would never try to tag along. "What?"
"I want to see where the chemistry between me and Jack takes us."
She tenses. "Then go ask him out to dinner yourself." Oh God, don't ask him. "I don't want to watch you hit on him for the whole night." I really don't.
"I can't ask him. I don't want to come on too strong. It'll seem desperate." There's hardly any pause between that and: "I'll have to think of a subtle way to tell him I'm not wearing underwear."
"No, no. You can't come." Usually, Jenna's periodic desire to seduce Jack embarrasses Liz. Now, it makes her feel nauseous. And a little angry. And like a jerk. It's bad enough that she was upset about Dennis; not wanting your friend to sleep with your ex-boyfriend is one thing, but why should she care if Jenna sleeps with Jack? No one would think she has a right to object. But this is not happening, no. "He has a girlfriend," she says. "He's back with Elisa." The name pops into Liz's head, probably because she was talking about her boobs a couple of weeks ago. "And she doesn't get mad when a woman flirts with her boyfriend, she gets, you know... stabby." It takes her a moment to realize she appropriated part of her sentence from an episode of The Simpsons. "So I think you should cool it."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
She nods. "Tell me when they break up."
Her smile is strained. "Will do."
*
"You have all the powers of Wonder Woman," Jack says, "but you will have to be in a relationship with a man who wishes to have sex more than once a week."
"Okay, two questions. What are Wonder Woman's powers--" She should probably know this, right? She feels like a terrible feminist, even worse than when Jack says something sexist and she does nothing but smile. Because she can't control her reaction to Jack; she can control her level of knowledge regarding female superheroes. "--and will the sex last for more than five minutes?"
"I'm not certain, and substantially longer."
"Yeah, I don't think that'll work."
"Perhaps the reason why you dislike sex so much is because of the short duration; there's insufficient time--"
"For me to be... whatever, I know what you were going to say." Liz feels a slight heat on her cheeks. She's not blushing, though, since she doesn't do that. Does anyone? "Most likely, I'd just have a dude who's going on and on with nothing happening--" She should not be saying this stuff. She'll stop. "I don't think it'll work."
Jack frowns at her (and her pathetic relationship with sex).
"So... I want dessert," she says. "What about you?"
"What if you enjoyed sex with him?" Off her surprised expression, he adds, "It is possible."
"It is, I guess." She open and closes her mouth a couple of times as she tries to figure out what to say. What she wants to say. (What she suspects he wants her to say, and why he wants her to say it.) "Sure. If that could happen." She shrugs. "But, to tell you the truth, I don't think I'd really know what to do with superpowers."
Jack says nothing; takes a sip of his drink.
*
Later, at her door, Jack looks at her. Stares at her, eyes darting down to her mouth in a way that makes Liz worried she's going to do the wrong thing. Do the wrong thing and embarrass herself. But she refrains from blurting out, Don't kiss me (she's not thinking, Don't kiss me), and then he says, "Goodnight, Liz."
"Goodnight, Jack."
*
"I believe it would be beneficial for you to have a boyfriend."
She almost chokes on her lamb. She shouldn't be surprised, but she is. "What?"
"For your show. And yourself, I suppose. But being involved in a relationship would make your advice seem more sound."
"Would it?"
Please don't offer to set me up. She honestly has no desire to spend her evenings with someone who's not Jack, someone she'll have to get to know, have to explain herself to.
She realizes how that seems.
"I haven't had a boyfriend since this whole Dealbreakers thing started," she continues. It's been, what, seven months since Drew? That's probably not good. At least her last boyfriend was overly handsome. Overly handsome exes should count for something, if she's being judged. Even by Jack. "And what I do is tell people who to break up with, not how to make their relationships with these losers work."
"Regardless," he says, "I believe it would be beneficial. Think about it."
"Okay. I will think about it."
What she thinks about is how easy it would be to date Jack, since they're together constantly anyway. Since she realizes how her wanting to spend all this time with him seems. That's already been established. She dismisses it, the thought of dating Jack instead of having dinner as business partners/friends/colleagues, because...
There are reasons. Sometimes she forgets why they're important so she doesn't bother listing them, but they're always there.
"No," she says. "I don't need to think about it. I should start dating again. Not because of the show, really. I'm not getting any younger."
"I'm well aware of that, Lemon."
"Yeah, I kind of felt like I was stealing your line."
He smiles. She smiles back.
She almost feels like she's flirting.
*
"Is Jack single yet?"
"No," Liz says.
Jenna sighs in a way that's overly dramatic even for her. "When they're not doing yard work or cleaning houses, Mexicans ruin everything."
"Okay. I'm going to pretend the fact that Elisa is Puerto Rican, not Mexican, is the worst part of what you just said."
*
On the day they tape the pilot, Jack is overly excited. He gives her a thumbs up when she busts out her signature gesture -- they settled on an arm wave that features a finger wag -- and laughs at her jokes. Afterwards:
"We should celebrate," he says. "Dinner?"
"If we're inviting the crew, you're paying." He usually does pay anyway, but she might as well make this clear.
"I wasn't intending to invite the crew."
Liz shakes her head. "Yeah, I don't want them there, either."
Because this is how her life is, a member of the crew steps into her eye line and gives her a dirty look. Crap, now these guys are going to think she's a jerk, just like the crew on TGS does.
She locks eyes with the dude -- his name is... Paulie? Steven? Chazz? And he is a... cameraman? Grip? Lighting guy? -- before returning her attention to Jack. She says, voice raised, "I only say that, Jack, because I don't want to upset you, my producer. I would love to have the crew there."
Paulie the cameraman -- she's calling him that for now, to make it easier for herself; also, she will learn who this guy is and become his friend because she is going to be the boss people like this time, and these jerks are going to cooperate -- stares at her incredulously before he walks off.
"I don't wish to, but I suppose we could invite them--"
"I didn't mean that. Come on."
"I can still hear you," Paulie calls out.
"Damn it."
Jack holds her arm as he walks with her out of the studio. "Don't worry about it now."
"Okay." Liz exhales. "I won't."
"Your show will be so successful, he'll have to pretend to like you."
She decides to focus on the 'so successful' part.
*
Just as Jack was overly excited during the taping, he's overly cheerful during dinner. He keeps smiling at her, and she keeps smiling at him, and she's happy. Like, she really thinks this will work. She thinks she'll be successful, and she thinks -- knows -- that she's glad she picked Jack. She never should have doubted he was the right person to do this with; he's the only one of her friends who's invested in her happiness, of course he'd be the only producer she could trust.
"I have a good feeling about this, Jack."
He's giving her one of those looks that's more affectionate than even their friendship should allow for; one of those looks that never bother her.
She likes it when he looks her that way; likes that he wants to make her happy. Then she thinks about how great it would be to date someone like Jack, which is the sort of thought she allows herself when she doesn't want to acknowledge even the existence of the reasons why dating him wouldn't work, and.
She keeps smiling.
*
She doesn't drink too much during dinner, but she still feels buzzed all throughout the night, even when they're sitting in the back of his car. When they're parked in front of her building, he gets out to open the door for her. (It's unnecessary, she's told him before, but if he wants to do it, she might as well stop telling him not to. Also, she wonders why he never makes his driver do this, but she's yet to ask if there's a reason behind it.)
"Thanks, Jack. For everything."
She stands there for a moment after he shuts the car door and waits for him to offer to walk her up to her apartment. (She never tells him not to do that.)
Instead, he's looking at her. In the more than friendly way. And leaning closer. And pressing his mouth against her cheek. His lips are warmer than her skin, and maybe that's why she sucks in a breath. It occurs to her that she's never had a friend she was on cheek kissing basis with, and it also occurs to her that her pulse should not quicken this way for a friendly goodbye.
Also noted: This is lasting pretty long for a peck on the cheek, and he's not pulling away.
She's not pulling away, either.
He hesitates before he tilts his head. She wonders if he's unsure of what he wants or is not convinced she wants the same thing. But he should know, right? Because he knows her better than she knows herself. And she knows she wants this. As a hypothetical, kissing Jack was a possibility she could refuse or tell herself she would refuse. As a his-mouth-is-right-there reality, kissing Jack is something that...
It's something she wants.
His lips brush, then press, against hers. This isn't friendship or business, but he doesn't make it into something undeniably romantic. She does -- she thinks this is what he wants, for her to be someone who's taking a step forward instead of just not backing away -- opening her mouth against his. Her hand goes to the back of his neck, mostly making contact with his scarf. She moves her thumb up for the sake of touching him, sweeps over the shorter hairs on the back of his neck as the kiss deepens. He wraps an arm around her waist, drawing her body closer. She moans a little, and he has to notice.
He's probably pleased with himself. That's okay. He usually is, anyway. Actually, he should be pleased with himself.
When he pulls back, her hand slides down his chest. She looks up at him, and she wants to say something meaningful. Something that would make this perfect. What comes out is:
"You are going to walk me up, right?"
"Of course."
She nods. "Good."
END
Prompt: 100_situations #087. Nocturnal
Fandom: 30 Rock
Pairing: Jack/Liz
Spoilers: through 'The Problem Solvers'
Word Count: 3,390
Rating: PG
Table: Number Two.
Summary: Dinner quickly becomes a thing they do.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue!
*
Dinner quickly becomes a thing they do. A thing they do without her wondering what the reason behind their shared meals might be, since she knows now, or questioning whether or not it's going to be only the two of them. They're business dinners, dinners that occur because they're doing business together, Liz should specify, though she and Jack are also friends. They regularly have dinner as business friends. If that's a thing... and she doesn't think it is. But even if it's not a thing, it's what they are.
She always goes home to change into something nicer than her work clothes. Before dinner number four, as she's putting on her spanx like she's going on a date with a man (well, of course Jack is a man, the important part was the date thing), she wonders if this means something outside of not wanting him to make some comment about her attire. But, no. Of course not. It's that Jack always takes her to eateries where sneakers and zip-up sweaters would seem out of place. He never takes her to Quiznos or anything. It would be cool if he did. (The next day, he brings her a sub around lunchtime, and for a few seconds she's almost convinced that he doesn't merely know her exceptionally well; he can read her mind. When he doesn't say, "Of course I can't read your mind," she dismisses her theory.)
But, anyway. Dinner.
"I think you should have a roundtable discussion every week."
"That's like The View every day," Liz points out. "Or Oprah on Fridays. When they used to do that, I mean."
"I'm aware of that."
"So why am I doing it?"
"All television is derivative," Jack replies. "What matters is you. You're the draw. All we have to do is surround you with parts of other series, film it on a set also cobbled together from shows that have come before, all of which were also created by combining elements of other talk shows, which makes the plagiaristic nature of any of them, including ours, fairly difficult to spot."
"Right." Now she's going to spend part of her night trying to figure out the origins of the apparently Frankensteiny talk shows that are currently on. "Aren't we getting ahead of ourselves? We haven't even filmed the pilot."
"We will be picked up, so it's best to discuss the details now."
She considers this for a moment. "I want a soft chair."
"Spoken like a true star."
She reaches over to his plate, taking half a forkful of his chocolate truffle cake, then filling the rest of her utensil with her cheesecake. After she eats it, she says, "Crap, that was awesome."
"Spoken like yourself."
Her eyes meet his, and she responds to his amused gaze with a slight smile. She's about to offer him her combination, until she realizes that feeding him would be weird. So she continues to feed herself.
*
A lot of the time, they don't talk about business. Which she thinks might be strange for business dinners.
But they are also friends.
"Okay, how about this," Liz says. "You have the powers of Superman. You still have to abide by Superman's moral code, but your one sexual partner is someone you're totally crazy about who will be attractive forever. Like Elisa. She's always going to be hot. Like, scary hot."
Maybe she should stop talking about how hot his ex-fiancée is.
(But if she does, then she might ponder why it is she wants to discover a situation that would lead to Jack staying with a woman for the rest of his life.)
"I mean, she's in her forties, right, and she looks like that? She's got those boobs. She's a great kisser. I mean, I assume. You were going to stay with her forever."
She wishes Jack would interrupt her. Why can't she stop talking?
"And you didn't even have Superman powers--"
"No."
"No?"
"If you'd asked me six months ago, I suppose I would have said yes. But our relationship is over and I have moved on."
"Someone like her, then, is what I mean."
"Possibly." He pauses. "Is there much flexibility in the moral code?"
"Not really. But you could probably get away with only sticking to it when you're using your powers, since you wouldn't literally be Superman. Also, in that last Superman movie, he was almost stalking Lois by hovering outside her house, which has to be kind of immoral."
He nods. "I suppose I'd consider it under those circumstances. Though I doubt I'd use the power of flight for such a purpose."
"Good. I don't want you to stalk people."
Their waiter is suddenly standing by them at that moment, blank faced in the way waiters often are when they arrive at a table during a strange time. (She wonders if they're trained to not react or if they all reach a point were no out-of-context remark could faze them.) He gives Jack a refill of his drink before he walks away.
"I'm glad you didn't feel compelled to explain to the waiter what it was we were discussing," Jack remarks.
"Yeah... but I totally wanted to."
"That makes it even more noteworthy."
Liz shrugs. "I guess. But at least he knows you're not stalking people. And that I don't approve of stalking."
*
Sometimes, she wonders why Jack doesn't have a better way to spend his nights than hanging out with her. But Jack isn't spending all of his nights with her, and the nights he is with her, he probably has enough time to go out for drinks with some lady, so... He's got to still be doing what he likes. By doing a bunch of random women.
Wow. She could not have made that sound any more gross.
*
"What did Padma do wrong?"
Liz asks this suddenly, after Jack says he's thinking of ordering lamb and it reminds her of one of the dishes on the last episode of Top Chef: Las Vegas.
"I told you, Lemon; she wasn't you."
"Yeah, but she had to do something." She assumes that, unlike her story of why she (literally) went running back to Jack, it has nothing to do with setting oneself on fire. Since he didn't say, That's quite similar to what happened to me, when she told him of her meeting with Scotty Shofar. "The final straw that made you want me. Made you want me for the show," she clarifies, though she doesn't need to. He knows what she meant.
As for the final straw, Liz guesses: Hearing That's a dealbreaker, ladies! in Padma's voice sounded weird and wrong. She knows it always sounds strange when she says, "Pack your knives and go."
Jack is silent as he studies her. Liz knows he's weighing whether or not he should share what's on his mind. (Which means it's something more than, she shouldn't say your catchphrase.) She also knows he will end up telling her his thoughts. As to what he's going to say...
Her powers only go so far. But if she had to bet on his next words, she'd go with: Females between twenty-five and fifty-four are more comfortable getting blunt romantic advice from average looking women, so Padma would be at a disadvantage in a show with such a premise.
"She told me the show would make it easier for her to have the life she wanted. Give her more time for herself; make it easier for her to balance work and being a mother. She said it would change her life. I realized I'd rather do that for you." He switches his attention to the menu. "Do you know what you wish to have?"
She thinks about how much it means that Jack wasn't thinking of how choosing her over Padma would affect him, but how it would affect her, and she's stunned and grateful and something else she can't quite place. "I don't know," she mutters. "I'm still looking."
*
Jenna closes the door behind her after she enters Liz's office. "Are you going out with Jack tonight?"
"To dinner," Liz says. Because going out sounds like... what it sounds like, and it's not what they're doing. "We're having dinner together."
"You need to take me with you."
She's struck by how much she doesn't want Jenna there, throwing off the balance. Being a third wheel because, well, she's not part of Dealbreakers. Liz would never go to a dinner where Jack and Jenna were planning on discussing the Janis Joplin movie that's not about Janis Joplin. (Or the next star vehicle Jenna imagines will make her an Oscar winner.) She doesn't think Jack has ever invited Jenna to a business dinner, but if he did, Liz would never try to tag along. "What?"
"I want to see where the chemistry between me and Jack takes us."
She tenses. "Then go ask him out to dinner yourself." Oh God, don't ask him. "I don't want to watch you hit on him for the whole night." I really don't.
"I can't ask him. I don't want to come on too strong. It'll seem desperate." There's hardly any pause between that and: "I'll have to think of a subtle way to tell him I'm not wearing underwear."
"No, no. You can't come." Usually, Jenna's periodic desire to seduce Jack embarrasses Liz. Now, it makes her feel nauseous. And a little angry. And like a jerk. It's bad enough that she was upset about Dennis; not wanting your friend to sleep with your ex-boyfriend is one thing, but why should she care if Jenna sleeps with Jack? No one would think she has a right to object. But this is not happening, no. "He has a girlfriend," she says. "He's back with Elisa." The name pops into Liz's head, probably because she was talking about her boobs a couple of weeks ago. "And she doesn't get mad when a woman flirts with her boyfriend, she gets, you know... stabby." It takes her a moment to realize she appropriated part of her sentence from an episode of The Simpsons. "So I think you should cool it."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
She nods. "Tell me when they break up."
Her smile is strained. "Will do."
*
"You have all the powers of Wonder Woman," Jack says, "but you will have to be in a relationship with a man who wishes to have sex more than once a week."
"Okay, two questions. What are Wonder Woman's powers--" She should probably know this, right? She feels like a terrible feminist, even worse than when Jack says something sexist and she does nothing but smile. Because she can't control her reaction to Jack; she can control her level of knowledge regarding female superheroes. "--and will the sex last for more than five minutes?"
"I'm not certain, and substantially longer."
"Yeah, I don't think that'll work."
"Perhaps the reason why you dislike sex so much is because of the short duration; there's insufficient time--"
"For me to be... whatever, I know what you were going to say." Liz feels a slight heat on her cheeks. She's not blushing, though, since she doesn't do that. Does anyone? "Most likely, I'd just have a dude who's going on and on with nothing happening--" She should not be saying this stuff. She'll stop. "I don't think it'll work."
Jack frowns at her (and her pathetic relationship with sex).
"So... I want dessert," she says. "What about you?"
"What if you enjoyed sex with him?" Off her surprised expression, he adds, "It is possible."
"It is, I guess." She open and closes her mouth a couple of times as she tries to figure out what to say. What she wants to say. (What she suspects he wants her to say, and why he wants her to say it.) "Sure. If that could happen." She shrugs. "But, to tell you the truth, I don't think I'd really know what to do with superpowers."
Jack says nothing; takes a sip of his drink.
*
Later, at her door, Jack looks at her. Stares at her, eyes darting down to her mouth in a way that makes Liz worried she's going to do the wrong thing. Do the wrong thing and embarrass herself. But she refrains from blurting out, Don't kiss me (she's not thinking, Don't kiss me), and then he says, "Goodnight, Liz."
"Goodnight, Jack."
*
"I believe it would be beneficial for you to have a boyfriend."
She almost chokes on her lamb. She shouldn't be surprised, but she is. "What?"
"For your show. And yourself, I suppose. But being involved in a relationship would make your advice seem more sound."
"Would it?"
Please don't offer to set me up. She honestly has no desire to spend her evenings with someone who's not Jack, someone she'll have to get to know, have to explain herself to.
She realizes how that seems.
"I haven't had a boyfriend since this whole Dealbreakers thing started," she continues. It's been, what, seven months since Drew? That's probably not good. At least her last boyfriend was overly handsome. Overly handsome exes should count for something, if she's being judged. Even by Jack. "And what I do is tell people who to break up with, not how to make their relationships with these losers work."
"Regardless," he says, "I believe it would be beneficial. Think about it."
"Okay. I will think about it."
What she thinks about is how easy it would be to date Jack, since they're together constantly anyway. Since she realizes how her wanting to spend all this time with him seems. That's already been established. She dismisses it, the thought of dating Jack instead of having dinner as business partners/friends/colleagues, because...
There are reasons. Sometimes she forgets why they're important so she doesn't bother listing them, but they're always there.
"No," she says. "I don't need to think about it. I should start dating again. Not because of the show, really. I'm not getting any younger."
"I'm well aware of that, Lemon."
"Yeah, I kind of felt like I was stealing your line."
He smiles. She smiles back.
She almost feels like she's flirting.
*
"Is Jack single yet?"
"No," Liz says.
Jenna sighs in a way that's overly dramatic even for her. "When they're not doing yard work or cleaning houses, Mexicans ruin everything."
"Okay. I'm going to pretend the fact that Elisa is Puerto Rican, not Mexican, is the worst part of what you just said."
*
On the day they tape the pilot, Jack is overly excited. He gives her a thumbs up when she busts out her signature gesture -- they settled on an arm wave that features a finger wag -- and laughs at her jokes. Afterwards:
"We should celebrate," he says. "Dinner?"
"If we're inviting the crew, you're paying." He usually does pay anyway, but she might as well make this clear.
"I wasn't intending to invite the crew."
Liz shakes her head. "Yeah, I don't want them there, either."
Because this is how her life is, a member of the crew steps into her eye line and gives her a dirty look. Crap, now these guys are going to think she's a jerk, just like the crew on TGS does.
She locks eyes with the dude -- his name is... Paulie? Steven? Chazz? And he is a... cameraman? Grip? Lighting guy? -- before returning her attention to Jack. She says, voice raised, "I only say that, Jack, because I don't want to upset you, my producer. I would love to have the crew there."
Paulie the cameraman -- she's calling him that for now, to make it easier for herself; also, she will learn who this guy is and become his friend because she is going to be the boss people like this time, and these jerks are going to cooperate -- stares at her incredulously before he walks off.
"I don't wish to, but I suppose we could invite them--"
"I didn't mean that. Come on."
"I can still hear you," Paulie calls out.
"Damn it."
Jack holds her arm as he walks with her out of the studio. "Don't worry about it now."
"Okay." Liz exhales. "I won't."
"Your show will be so successful, he'll have to pretend to like you."
She decides to focus on the 'so successful' part.
*
Just as Jack was overly excited during the taping, he's overly cheerful during dinner. He keeps smiling at her, and she keeps smiling at him, and she's happy. Like, she really thinks this will work. She thinks she'll be successful, and she thinks -- knows -- that she's glad she picked Jack. She never should have doubted he was the right person to do this with; he's the only one of her friends who's invested in her happiness, of course he'd be the only producer she could trust.
"I have a good feeling about this, Jack."
He's giving her one of those looks that's more affectionate than even their friendship should allow for; one of those looks that never bother her.
She likes it when he looks her that way; likes that he wants to make her happy. Then she thinks about how great it would be to date someone like Jack, which is the sort of thought she allows herself when she doesn't want to acknowledge even the existence of the reasons why dating him wouldn't work, and.
She keeps smiling.
*
She doesn't drink too much during dinner, but she still feels buzzed all throughout the night, even when they're sitting in the back of his car. When they're parked in front of her building, he gets out to open the door for her. (It's unnecessary, she's told him before, but if he wants to do it, she might as well stop telling him not to. Also, she wonders why he never makes his driver do this, but she's yet to ask if there's a reason behind it.)
"Thanks, Jack. For everything."
She stands there for a moment after he shuts the car door and waits for him to offer to walk her up to her apartment. (She never tells him not to do that.)
Instead, he's looking at her. In the more than friendly way. And leaning closer. And pressing his mouth against her cheek. His lips are warmer than her skin, and maybe that's why she sucks in a breath. It occurs to her that she's never had a friend she was on cheek kissing basis with, and it also occurs to her that her pulse should not quicken this way for a friendly goodbye.
Also noted: This is lasting pretty long for a peck on the cheek, and he's not pulling away.
She's not pulling away, either.
He hesitates before he tilts his head. She wonders if he's unsure of what he wants or is not convinced she wants the same thing. But he should know, right? Because he knows her better than she knows herself. And she knows she wants this. As a hypothetical, kissing Jack was a possibility she could refuse or tell herself she would refuse. As a his-mouth-is-right-there reality, kissing Jack is something that...
It's something she wants.
His lips brush, then press, against hers. This isn't friendship or business, but he doesn't make it into something undeniably romantic. She does -- she thinks this is what he wants, for her to be someone who's taking a step forward instead of just not backing away -- opening her mouth against his. Her hand goes to the back of his neck, mostly making contact with his scarf. She moves her thumb up for the sake of touching him, sweeps over the shorter hairs on the back of his neck as the kiss deepens. He wraps an arm around her waist, drawing her body closer. She moans a little, and he has to notice.
He's probably pleased with himself. That's okay. He usually is, anyway. Actually, he should be pleased with himself.
When he pulls back, her hand slides down his chest. She looks up at him, and she wants to say something meaningful. Something that would make this perfect. What comes out is:
"You are going to walk me up, right?"
"Of course."
She nods. "Good."
END