I Keep Coming Back to You (Pt. 3 of 3)
Title: I Keep on Coming Back to You (Pt. 3)
Author: md123
Pairing: Jack/Liz, reference to Jack/Others
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1,529
Spoilers: None
Summary: Hank Hooper orders Jack to marry.
Jenna and Paul haven't had a dinner party since they moved in together, so Liz is happy to show up and support them on this Saturday evening. As odd as the whole relationship is, Jenna seems genuinely happy.
"Aw nerds, am I the first one here?" Liz can never get "fashionably late" quite right, and it means having to keep up a conversation with the hosts instead of people-watching or making fun of others. Or hiding in the corner, which works well for her too.
As it turns out, it wasn't that unlikely for her to be first. Because Jack is the only other guest. Liz's eyes flare betrayal at Jenna.
And Jack is perfectly charming and appealing, as she knows he can be when he wants to be. But Liz doesn't take the bait.
**
Jack is still quite puzzled by the whole thing. There aren't many women in the world that would spurn his advances. He can't even recall the last time he encountered one. But now, he's picked this woman and she wants no part of him. Well, at least not in that sense: she's certainly proved her loyalty and devotion to him, again and again and again.
It just doesn't make any sense.
But sitting in his car after dinner, he starts to accept that whatever her reasons, she can resist his charms. Maybe she just knows him too well, knows his moves and what he's capable of. And so their relationship simply lacks the capability to surprise, the capability that excites women. He'd thought Lemon would be different, would value the familiarity and security he provides. But that's apparently the one way in which she's like most other women he knows.
He feels a pang in his chest. 'When he'd come to this latest decision to pursue her, he'd been somewhat bloodless about the whole thing. But now, with that option revealed as an illusion, it hurts. He rolls down the window of his limo and lets the cold night air batter his face, as he bites his lower lip.
The one person he'd normally talk to about this is the one person he can't talk to about this. He pals around with Danny, but there's no emotional depth to their interaction; Bob Ballard is an old friend, but they really aren't part of each other's day-to-day lives. He feels alone, more alone than he's felt since that moment that Liz told him to stay away from Floyd.
For the first time in years, he looks at some old contacts in his phone. All the first names without family names -- Kendra, Crystal, Dominique. His fingers hover over the letters on the screen, hesitating. He then starts making calls.
Kendra is married now, and -- just to be clear -- not interested. Crystal has moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. Dominique is actually available, and there's a late night encounter at her place. It's physiologically satisfying, but he feels deeply empty afterwards. He feels disloyal, both to Avery and to Liz. He leaves soon afterwards, and Dominique doesn't give any indication she expects, or wants, otherwise.
Jack wonders if he's sabotaged what he used to have with Liz. And he feels old, like the world has moved on from him.
**
The next morning, Jack does something he thought he'd never do.
He calls Colleen because he wants to.
"Hello, mother."
"Jackie! So good of you to call! What's the occasion?"
"Does a son need a reason to see how his mother is doing?"
Now Colleen is suspicious. "What do you want, Jack?"
Jack immediately snaps. "Well maybe if you were a little more supportive, Colleen, instead of sucking the soul out of your children, you'd get more calls."
"If you had ever called before without some ulterior motive maybe I wouldn't be so suspicious!"
Jack lets it hang for a moment, resisting the urge to reply.
"Jackie, are you there?"
"Mother?"
"Yes."
Jack's tone is very serious, and a little vulnerable. "I think I want to marry Liz Lemon."
That breaks the tension. "Well, it's about time."
Jack can't remember the last time she fully approved of something he'd said.
**
"Hi Mrs. Donaghy, how are you?"
"Liiiiiiz. How are you? Are you still seeing that pilot fellow?"
"No, we broke up about a year ago."
"Oh." Colleen offers a judgmental silence. "Any prospects?"
Liz sighs. This conversation is beginning suspiciously. "Nope. Stiiiiiiill looking."
"I see. And at home on a Sunday afternoon. Waiting for them to show up at your door?"
Liz sees where this is going. She wonders if Jack has put her up to it, but she's not going to get sucked in to this with Colleen, of all people.
"I'll have you know I updated my match.com profile last week."
"Your junk is going bad, you know."
Time to disengage. "It was nice to talk to you again, Mrs. Donaghy."
"Maybe you should find someone that already has a kid. Someone you already know, to save time. You don't have much of it."
"Goodbye!"
**
Monday morning, Liz storms into Jack's office, but when she starts talking, her voice, is soft, sad, even pleading.
"Please. Stop."
"Stop what?"
"This courtship, or whatever it is. Getting Jenna and Colleen to do your dirty work. All of it."
Jack has that disappointed look again. It makes Liz feel bad, until she remembers how idiotic he's being. "If you really don't like me enough to give it... give us a try, then..."
"You know that's not what it is, Jack. I don't want to marry someone that doesn't love me."
"I wouldn't want you to settle for anything less."
"And if you were ever going to fall in love with me, don't you think it would've happened by now?"
Jack cocks his head to one side, and looks at her as if she's being ridiculous. "Good God, you really have no idea, do you?"
Now Liz is confused. "What?"
Jack goes over and pours himself a drink, then looks back at her. "Do you think if one my other mentees -- Thomas or Jorgensen, say -- had almost killed Geiss, and almost destroyed my career at GE, that I would have forgiven them so easily?"
"I dunno. Is that part of the package?"
He shaked his head knowingly. "No."
After a beat, it hits Liz. "Wait, are you saying you're in love with me?" Liz really is confused, because this doesn't compute. She has hours of insults to prove it.
"I was -- past tense." He turns to look out the window as he continues. "But everytime I even approached the subject, you made it pretty clear you weren't interested. So I put those feelings away and moved on with my life."
"I'm going to need one of those drinks." Liz gets herself one, and plops down on the couch.
"But several attempts to move on later, here we are." Jack continued. "I keep coming back to you."
Liz lies down and closes her eyes.
"What are you doing?"
"Going to sleep. It's how I wake up from stress dreams."
"You've told me that before."
"Really?"
"I remember just about everything you've told me about yourself."
Liz, dismayed, looks up at him, mouth slightly open.
Jack approaches, bends over her, and lowers his voice. "So, Liz, to answer your question, it has 'happened by now.' So the question is... can you fall in love with me?"
**
"Really?"
"Really."
"You're not the kind of guy I thought I'd end up with."
"Because I never attended... clown college?"
"Because you drive me crazy."
"I like to think I do more for you than that."
"Yeah..."
Liz, lying on the couch and feet propped up on the armrest, looks at him silently for a long time, her face confused and concerned, almost sad. Jack is still hovering over her.
The time he shipped Liz Lemler to Connecticut.
He really is kinda old, she thinks, but he's still quite handsome.
The time he made her an executive to change her life.
She's put up with him for six years and still likes being with him. Most of the time. There's no one else she can say that about.
The time he flew from D.C. just to make sure she was OK.
He's put up with her for six years and still likes being with her. Most of the time. There's no one else she can say that about.
The time he took "personal charge" of TGS cutbacks.
Everyone who cares about them -- Jenna, Colleen, Margaret, even Bianca -- has made it clear they would be great together.
The time he passed on Padma Lakshmi just to make her happy.
Her resistance to ever taking the possibility seriously was because he clearly wasn't interested. And now she feels that falling away.
"I'd really like it if you said something."
Liz realizes that it's been several minutes, and Jack has been waiting patiently.
"You're never going to stop with this, are you?"
"I will stop, under one condition."
"What's that?"
"You go out on a date with me."
"Doesn't that sort of... defeat the point?"
"Just one. And if at the end, you agree that there's nothing there, no future... I'll stop. I won't mention it again."
"You've got yourself a deal."
Jack offers his hand to help her up, which she accepts. He has a warm smile on his face.
"So when do you want to go out on our..." she swallows hard... "date?" Now she's feeling kind of afraid.
"How about... tonight?"
"What if my calendar is full tonight?"
"You can just TiVo Dancing with the Stars."
"Then I.. will see you... tonight." She spins and exits.
END
A followup to this story is here.
Author: md123
Pairing: Jack/Liz, reference to Jack/Others
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1,529
Spoilers: None
Summary: Hank Hooper orders Jack to marry.
Jenna and Paul haven't had a dinner party since they moved in together, so Liz is happy to show up and support them on this Saturday evening. As odd as the whole relationship is, Jenna seems genuinely happy.
"Aw nerds, am I the first one here?" Liz can never get "fashionably late" quite right, and it means having to keep up a conversation with the hosts instead of people-watching or making fun of others. Or hiding in the corner, which works well for her too.
As it turns out, it wasn't that unlikely for her to be first. Because Jack is the only other guest. Liz's eyes flare betrayal at Jenna.
And Jack is perfectly charming and appealing, as she knows he can be when he wants to be. But Liz doesn't take the bait.
**
Jack is still quite puzzled by the whole thing. There aren't many women in the world that would spurn his advances. He can't even recall the last time he encountered one. But now, he's picked this woman and she wants no part of him. Well, at least not in that sense: she's certainly proved her loyalty and devotion to him, again and again and again.
It just doesn't make any sense.
But sitting in his car after dinner, he starts to accept that whatever her reasons, she can resist his charms. Maybe she just knows him too well, knows his moves and what he's capable of. And so their relationship simply lacks the capability to surprise, the capability that excites women. He'd thought Lemon would be different, would value the familiarity and security he provides. But that's apparently the one way in which she's like most other women he knows.
He feels a pang in his chest. 'When he'd come to this latest decision to pursue her, he'd been somewhat bloodless about the whole thing. But now, with that option revealed as an illusion, it hurts. He rolls down the window of his limo and lets the cold night air batter his face, as he bites his lower lip.
The one person he'd normally talk to about this is the one person he can't talk to about this. He pals around with Danny, but there's no emotional depth to their interaction; Bob Ballard is an old friend, but they really aren't part of each other's day-to-day lives. He feels alone, more alone than he's felt since that moment that Liz told him to stay away from Floyd.
For the first time in years, he looks at some old contacts in his phone. All the first names without family names -- Kendra, Crystal, Dominique. His fingers hover over the letters on the screen, hesitating. He then starts making calls.
Kendra is married now, and -- just to be clear -- not interested. Crystal has moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. Dominique is actually available, and there's a late night encounter at her place. It's physiologically satisfying, but he feels deeply empty afterwards. He feels disloyal, both to Avery and to Liz. He leaves soon afterwards, and Dominique doesn't give any indication she expects, or wants, otherwise.
Jack wonders if he's sabotaged what he used to have with Liz. And he feels old, like the world has moved on from him.
**
The next morning, Jack does something he thought he'd never do.
He calls Colleen because he wants to.
"Hello, mother."
"Jackie! So good of you to call! What's the occasion?"
"Does a son need a reason to see how his mother is doing?"
Now Colleen is suspicious. "What do you want, Jack?"
Jack immediately snaps. "Well maybe if you were a little more supportive, Colleen, instead of sucking the soul out of your children, you'd get more calls."
"If you had ever called before without some ulterior motive maybe I wouldn't be so suspicious!"
Jack lets it hang for a moment, resisting the urge to reply.
"Jackie, are you there?"
"Mother?"
"Yes."
Jack's tone is very serious, and a little vulnerable. "I think I want to marry Liz Lemon."
That breaks the tension. "Well, it's about time."
Jack can't remember the last time she fully approved of something he'd said.
**
"Hi Mrs. Donaghy, how are you?"
"Liiiiiiz. How are you? Are you still seeing that pilot fellow?"
"No, we broke up about a year ago."
"Oh." Colleen offers a judgmental silence. "Any prospects?"
Liz sighs. This conversation is beginning suspiciously. "Nope. Stiiiiiiill looking."
"I see. And at home on a Sunday afternoon. Waiting for them to show up at your door?"
Liz sees where this is going. She wonders if Jack has put her up to it, but she's not going to get sucked in to this with Colleen, of all people.
"I'll have you know I updated my match.com profile last week."
"Your junk is going bad, you know."
Time to disengage. "It was nice to talk to you again, Mrs. Donaghy."
"Maybe you should find someone that already has a kid. Someone you already know, to save time. You don't have much of it."
"Goodbye!"
**
Monday morning, Liz storms into Jack's office, but when she starts talking, her voice, is soft, sad, even pleading.
"Please. Stop."
"Stop what?"
"This courtship, or whatever it is. Getting Jenna and Colleen to do your dirty work. All of it."
Jack has that disappointed look again. It makes Liz feel bad, until she remembers how idiotic he's being. "If you really don't like me enough to give it... give us a try, then..."
"You know that's not what it is, Jack. I don't want to marry someone that doesn't love me."
"I wouldn't want you to settle for anything less."
"And if you were ever going to fall in love with me, don't you think it would've happened by now?"
Jack cocks his head to one side, and looks at her as if she's being ridiculous. "Good God, you really have no idea, do you?"
Now Liz is confused. "What?"
Jack goes over and pours himself a drink, then looks back at her. "Do you think if one my other mentees -- Thomas or Jorgensen, say -- had almost killed Geiss, and almost destroyed my career at GE, that I would have forgiven them so easily?"
"I dunno. Is that part of the package?"
He shaked his head knowingly. "No."
After a beat, it hits Liz. "Wait, are you saying you're in love with me?" Liz really is confused, because this doesn't compute. She has hours of insults to prove it.
"I was -- past tense." He turns to look out the window as he continues. "But everytime I even approached the subject, you made it pretty clear you weren't interested. So I put those feelings away and moved on with my life."
"I'm going to need one of those drinks." Liz gets herself one, and plops down on the couch.
"But several attempts to move on later, here we are." Jack continued. "I keep coming back to you."
Liz lies down and closes her eyes.
"What are you doing?"
"Going to sleep. It's how I wake up from stress dreams."
"You've told me that before."
"Really?"
"I remember just about everything you've told me about yourself."
Liz, dismayed, looks up at him, mouth slightly open.
Jack approaches, bends over her, and lowers his voice. "So, Liz, to answer your question, it has 'happened by now.' So the question is... can you fall in love with me?"
**
"Really?"
"Really."
"You're not the kind of guy I thought I'd end up with."
"Because I never attended... clown college?"
"Because you drive me crazy."
"I like to think I do more for you than that."
"Yeah..."
Liz, lying on the couch and feet propped up on the armrest, looks at him silently for a long time, her face confused and concerned, almost sad. Jack is still hovering over her.
The time he shipped Liz Lemler to Connecticut.
He really is kinda old, she thinks, but he's still quite handsome.
The time he made her an executive to change her life.
She's put up with him for six years and still likes being with him. Most of the time. There's no one else she can say that about.
The time he flew from D.C. just to make sure she was OK.
He's put up with her for six years and still likes being with her. Most of the time. There's no one else she can say that about.
The time he took "personal charge" of TGS cutbacks.
Everyone who cares about them -- Jenna, Colleen, Margaret, even Bianca -- has made it clear they would be great together.
The time he passed on Padma Lakshmi just to make her happy.
Her resistance to ever taking the possibility seriously was because he clearly wasn't interested. And now she feels that falling away.
"I'd really like it if you said something."
Liz realizes that it's been several minutes, and Jack has been waiting patiently.
"You're never going to stop with this, are you?"
"I will stop, under one condition."
"What's that?"
"You go out on a date with me."
"Doesn't that sort of... defeat the point?"
"Just one. And if at the end, you agree that there's nothing there, no future... I'll stop. I won't mention it again."
"You've got yourself a deal."
Jack offers his hand to help her up, which she accepts. He has a warm smile on his face.
"So when do you want to go out on our..." she swallows hard... "date?" Now she's feeling kind of afraid.
"How about... tonight?"
"What if my calendar is full tonight?"
"You can just TiVo Dancing with the Stars."
"Then I.. will see you... tonight." She spins and exits.
END
A followup to this story is here.