The Choices of a Champion [Jack/Liz ff]
Title: The Choices of a Champion
Author: purpleeater1
Pairing: Jack/Liz, Jack/Other
Rating: PG
Summary: A grocery store romance.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. So, yeah!
“Liz?”
Liz closely studied the box of Lucky Charms she was holding in her hands with a mystified expression on her face. “Hello?” she whispered back to the box.
“Lemon, it’s me.”
She whipped her head around, realizing that the source of the voice was not Lucky the Leprechaun.
“Jack!” A smile immediately grew across her face. “What the hell are you doing here?” She hardly recognized him in just a pair of jeans and a royal blue polo. He was even wearing his thick, black framed glasses.
Jack looked around the aisle, noting that it was quite obvious what he was doing at the grocery store. “Grocery shopping.”
“Really?” She put the box of Lucky Charms in her shopping cart. “I always thought you paid a person to do that.”
“Well, I did,” he reached behind her and grabbed a box of Wheaties, “and now I don’t.”
Liz couldn’t help but smirk at his choice of cereal. “You eat Wheaties?”
Jack tossed the box of cereal into his shopping cart. “You don’t?”
She smiled and continued to survey over the other items in Jack’s cart. “Ew,” she said as she pointed at the near-economy-sized box of condoms sitting on the bottom of his cart.
He rolled his eyes. “Well they don’t buy themselves, do they?”
She shrugged with an unsure expression in reply. “It’s still gross,” she said as she threw a box of Trix into her cart.
“It’s hard to admit that you’re my best friend sometimes.”
“You know you love me.”
“It depends on the day.”
“Hey!” She threw her shoulder into his arm a little too forcefully. He stumbled over a bit, causing another woman quickly speed walking down the aisle to ram her cart into Jack’s thigh. He let out a sharp breath as he keeled over a bit to regain himself again.
“Oh my god!” The woman walked up to Jack and put a hand on his back. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” He lifted his head a bit to sneak a glance at the woman. She looked about his age, if not just a few years younger. She had bleach blonde hair, and warm blue eyes. She was dressed in a pair of baby-blue converse, a blue v-neck sweater to match her shoes (both which complimented her blue eyes, only making them look more stunning than they already were), and a pair of skinny-jeans. Jack was completely overwhelmed by her. A quiet, “Hi,” was all he managed to say (hardly).
She smiled warmly back at him. “Hey.”
Jack extended out his hand. “Jack Donaghy.”
She gently took his hand. “Andy Smith.”
He stood up a little bit straighter. “Nice to meet you.”
“Is it really? I would’ve assumed quite the opposite, seeing as I just about knocked you right on your ass.”
He blushed a bit. “Believe me, it’s a pleasure.”
She had an adorable, quiet laugh. “Glad to hear it, Jack.”
Jack and Andy shared an extremely awkward exchange of smiles and uncomfortable laughter for another moment.
“Are you sure you’re okay? I slammed into you pretty damn hard,” Andy asked Jack once again with a concerned expression.
“If it was anyone else but you, I’d be upset about it,” he joked. They both laughed a bit. “But seriously, don’t worry about it. I’m perfectly fine. It was her fault, anyway,” Jack said as he pointed at Liz.
At any other time, Liz would have punched him in the arm for putting the blame on her for his clumsiness.
Andy giggled a bit more. “You’re cute, Jack.”
Jack’s dimpled smile overtook his face.
Andy dug around in her purse for a moment, retrieving a pad of sticky notes and a pen. She used Jack’s arm as a desk so she could jot down something. “Give me a call sometime,” she said as she peeled the note from the pad. “Unless, you’re already taken, that is,” Andy said as her eyes drifted over to Liz.
Liz quickly threw up her hands as if she was defending herself. “Just a friend.”
Andy nodded at Liz with a warm, almost motherly-like smile. “I don’t think I caught your name, sweetheart.”
“Liz,” she replied. “And again, we’re just friends.” She pointed at Jack and then herself, making sure she understood completely.
Andy let out another adorable chuckle. “Got it. It’s nice to meet you, dear,” she gave Liz a quick handshake. She then turned to Jack, who was clearly in some sort of alternate dimension at the moment. Andy stuck the sticky note onto Jack’s forehead. “Call me, yeah?”
Jack responded with a bashful smile as he removed the sticky note from his face. “Definitely.”
Andy glanced down at Jack’s cart. When she smirked, Liz knew exactly what she was seeing. And it wasn't the Wheaties. “Talk to you soon, Jack. And nice to meet you, Liz.” She smiled at each of them one more time, and turned to walk away.
“Bye, Andy,” Jack softly called out after her.
She turned her head around and gave him a quick wink.
Jack looked down at the phone number scrawled down on the neon-pink sticky note. He almost burst out giggling at the sight of the little cartoon heart drawn next to it. He didn’t even notice Liz was hovering directly over his shoulder until a few seconds later when he felt her breath hit his ear. “What?” He asked her in response to her smug expression.
“Jackie boy is in loveee,” she replied in an obnoxious, sing-songy voice.
“Shut up! I am not!” He carefully slid the sticky note into his breast pocket.
“Shut up! Yes you are!” She replied mockingly in response to his juvenile comeback.
“Lemon, love at first sight is not--”
Liz interrupted him before he could continue on. “Jack, this isn’t the time for another one of your lame mentor-like, ‘words of wisdom’ bullshit sentiments.”
“The only thing I know about her is her name! How could I be in love with a person I haven’t got the slightest idea about? She could be-She could be a… Uh…”
Before he could continue his rant, Liz put her hand on his chest.
He looked down at her, thoroughly confused as to what she was doing. “Your hand is on my chest.”
She looked up at him with a satisfied smile. “You’re heart’s beating awfully fast, Jack. And I’ll presume, and hope, it’s not beating that fast for me.”
“Maybe it’s just the start of another heart attack,” he deadpanned.
She smiled as she removed her hand from his chest. “It’s okay not to admit it, but just don’t deny it.” She turned and stepped onto the back of her shopping cart. She gave a gentle push on the ground with her foot so she rode down the aisle a bit. “She noticed the condoms in the bottom of your cart, by the way,” she called out over her shoulder as she rolled away from him.
His face turned a rosy shade of pink. “What?”
“Now I bet you’re wishing that condoms really did buy themselves, don’t cha?” She jumped off the cart and pushed it down the remaining stretch of the aisle. “Call me! Maybe we can get together for a bowl of Wheaties soon!”
“It’s the breakfast of champions, Lemon! I have no shame!”
He could sense Liz rolling her eyes in the next aisle over at that moment.
Another woman in the aisle hid her laughter as she overheard the conversation. Jack bowed his head low as he walked by the woman and whispered, “No shame.”
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TBC