A Luke and Leia Situation (2/2)
Liz hated flying commercial. In the first few years of her marriage, she'd gotten used to private jets. But then carbon taxes escalated their price, until private aviation was priced out of range for the merely super-wealthy and reserved for plutocrats only.
But once upon a time, she was happy riding even the lowly intercity bus on trips. And for a trip this urgent, First Class would have to do.
Mother's intuition told her Mitch wouldn't listen to her warnings. It was somewhat ridiculous to cross the continent like this -- it wasn't as if she could physically prevent him from finding Jack for the rest of his life -- but maybe a surprise, in-person visit could talk some sense into the boy.
Before she left, she'd confessed her secret to Brent. He'd been remarkably understanding about what was, after all, a minor breach of trust. She'd initally claimed Mitch was the result of artifiical insemination because she wasn't sure that Jack would be out of her life forever, and didn't want to complicate that relationship any further. In the event, Jack's attendance at the wedding was more closure than new opening, and they went back to living their separate lives. They'd never had to make an effort to see each other when they worked together, and now they found they didn't know how to maintain whatever they had had over long distance. But thankfully, the exact paternity of a child conceived before Liz and Brent met wasn't of great importance to him.
Taking the cab from Newark, Liz tried to locate Mitch. He wasn't answering his phone implant. But luckily, these new devices allowed parents to track their children. Mitch hadn't bothered to turn that feature off when he turned 18, and she could now see that he was on the Upper East Side.
Blerg.
**
Liz didn't have much trouble finding Jack's place. Incredibly, it was still the same doorman from all those years ago, who let her in on sight.
She had no idea what she was going to say, as she stormed in to find her son and Jack sitting opposite each other in leather seats, each nursing a glass of scotch and in the midst of laughing heartedly about something.
Jack was facing the doorway, and upon hearing the footsteps he looked up, and his face froze. Time had faded her mental image of Jack, but now she saw the unmistakeable resemblance to her son's features. He looked good for 72, although Jack seemed to be observing the (for Liz) unfathomable new fashion for elderly men to grow their hair long.
The stare stopped her in her tracks. She opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. Jack stood up, took a few steps toward her, and also froze. For what seemed like an hour, they took each other in in silence, Jack's lips gradually forming a smile, his eyes moistening. Liz's thin lips tightened, as if she were resisting the urge to cry.
"Mom! What are you doing here?" Mitch got up to say hello.
"Hi, Mitch." Liz didn't take her eyes off Jack.
"If you came here to stop me, you're too late."
"I know."
Liz looked beautiful for 60. Unlike Avery, she wasn't professionally obligated to keep herself in any kind of shape, but whatever it was in her metabolism that had kept her thin while consuming meatball subs daily (with little or no exercise) was still working. A lifetime spent inside hunched over scripts had kept her out of the sun and her skin youthful. God help her, she was still a solid 8. Or at least she was to Jack's eyes. He sensed the feelings come back, as if they'd parted a week ago. Lord knows, he'd probably thought about her every day since then. Not seven, but seven thousand days.
"Lemon." Someone had to say something.
They closed the distance and embraced, each closing their eyes tightly as they contemplated the lost time, the lives spent apart.
**
Sitting down, the threesome shared an awkward silence. No one knew what to say in the enormity of the moment. Then, there were superficial questions about Avery and Brent, which didn't break the tension at all.
Mitch finally started by asking questions about them. Without getting too graphic, Jack and Liz shared their story. It was mainly a story of mentorship and inbred Austrian princes and emergency contacts and Mexican cheese curls and a real-life Mamma Mia and aborted talk shows and accidental marriage. As the story went on, Mitch could see his parents -- his biological parents, that is -- slip into a rapport. He began to understand this couple, he thought, and started to wonder what his life would have been like under different circumstances.
After a lull in the conversation, Liz felt compelled to add something. "Mitch, know that I love your father, and I don't regret marrying him." It was true; as she saw it, Jack was her Buzz Aldrin, the true love that never would have worked out in the end.
Mitch nodded, and noted an odd expression flash on Jack's face. He excused himself to go to the bathroom and get another drink.
"Sorry I never told you."
"I knew. You're not such a good liar, Lemon."
Liz had, over the years, convinced herself that her deception had worked. She was a bit surprised now. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"I understood why you didn't want me to know."
Liz nodded in comprehension, and looked down.
“You did a good job with him, Liz.” He nudged his head in the direction of the kitchen.
“Thanks. He’s a good kid. He has all your best qualities.”
“And my faults?”
“Brent and I have beaten those out of him.” She smiled.
Mitch came back in, without a drink. “You know, I have an 8:00 class tomorrow, so I should head back downtown.” He stepped over and gave Jack a hug. “I’ll be seeing you around, Dad.”
“Bye, mom.”
“I’ll call you tomorrow morning, sweetie.”
**
As the door shut, they uncomfortably stared into their drinks for a long minute.
“Do you ever wonder, Lemon?”
“Wonder?”
“About what it would have been like?”
“Let’s not talk about this.” She suddenly seemed very uncomfortable.
“Why not?”
“Because we made our decisions. They worked out in the end. Brent’s been a wonderful husband and I'm sure you and Avery and Liddy are happy."
"You never gave me the chance to make a decision."
"Yes I did."
"When?"
"Every day for six years."
"Yes, but when you were with child, that would've changed the calculation..."
Old resentments bubbled up. "Please, Jack. This is me. I've seen you try to make that kind of decision, pick between two things when you can't have both, and it isn't pretty."
Jack was silent for a moment. He probably deserved that, he conceded to himself.
“But with Brent? Was there ever the passion? The passion of…”
Her tone was abrupt. “Jack. Enough.” She closed her eyes for a moment. “I don’t regret my decision.”
From there, the conversation shifted. They’d both followed each other surreptitiously in the press. He'd made a point of watching her films; she's tuned in to a number of the reality shows he'd developed over the years. They'd both pictured each other crafting their work, and it was interesting to compare the inside stories to their imaginations.
"By the way, Lemon, Mitch is going to have to cool it around Avery."
"I know. I've told him once, and I'll tell him again tomorrow."
"Want something to eat?" Jack got up to get some things from the kitchen.
"Of course."
**
When Jack came back into the living room, he found Liz peacefully asleep on the couch. She had the advantage of the time difference, but she was probably exhausted from the flight, and in any case she was still Liz Lemon.
Jack smiled to himself, threw a blanket over her, and turned out the light. He still remembered the last time she'd fallen asleep there, when he'd felt the tension with her building and a new opportunity appearing. And the last time she'd stayed over at all, the night before he flew to China to rescue Avery.
He planted a soft kiss on her forehead, and went to bed.
**
Avery usually didn't work quite this late, but they were planning a big special report tomorrow evening, and there were a lot of problems with it. Avery and her producer had spent several hours going over its problems with the correspondent, who would have to fix them in the morning.
She figured Jack was already asleep, so she eased quietly into their home. In the corner of her eye, she was aware of a mass on the couch. She tiptoed over to regard the cuteness of her husband passed out waiting for her, and had to stifle a yelp of surprise when it turned out not to be him at all, but a woman, a woman she hadn't seen, or really thought about, for years.
Perplexed, she retired for the night.
**
When Jack and Avery woke up in the morning, Liz was gone.
Avery kept waiting for Jack to bring up the previous night's encounter, but he never did. There had always been something oddly deceptive about these two: long ago, they'd told her it was a simple relationship of mentor to mentee, but even with Jack's "immersive" technique it seemed deeper than that. She was a dear friend to him, at least; why had they not simply said so? Avery wasn't the kind to be insecure and jealous, especially of someone like Liz, so she didn't understand what connected these two and why they'd sanitized it to protect it from her.
And things had changed when Avery got back from North Korea. She'd always chalked it up to her own trauma, and the way it changes someone. Jack was warm enough when they reunited, but also more guarded; she thought it was an unfair, but instinctive and understandable reaction to her "cheating" via forced marriage. But come to think of it, Liz had acted very strangely, too; she'd become almost a part of Jack's household when Avery was gone, and...
Oh.
Jack said they'd had a falling out, but he'd never explained what it was about. The two had never been able to stay separate for long, and before she put the thought away, Avery had difficulty imagining what magnitude of fight could create such a gulf. Maybe it wasn't a fight at all. Maybe her self-confidence had caused her to miss something, something that many others had assumed all along.
And it all, finally, fell into place for Avery. Some part of her thought it would be appropriate to be mad, but she really wasn't; it was all a long time ago, and she'd known what she was getting into with Jack back when they were dating. And she'd won in the end.
But she'd have to watch a bit Jack a bit more carefully, now that Liz was apparently, in some sense, back in the picture.
**
Liz and Jack got together for lunch one last time, at a random coffee place, before she left for the airport.
"Do your son's... our son's arrangements meet with your approval?"
"Yeah, he's not living like a pig, so that's something."
"If you thought his place was too messy, that would be saying something."
"You've never seen what my place looks like with a maid. My standards have improved."
"Fair enough."
There was an uncomfortable pause.
"How you are adjusting to having a son?"
"I'd always thought he might be mine, but now that it's almost out in the open I feel... happy."
Liz offers a subtle, gentle smile. "Is it going to be hard to sneak around to see him?"
"I don't think so. Avery works long hours, so I'm used to running around on my own."
Liz nodded. They looked at each other for another beat, and both started talking at the same time.
"Me first," Jack ordered.
"Do you remember what I said to you that last night in New York, just before you got in the cab?"
"I believe you propositioned me again."
"No, the other thing."
Liz nodded. "Yeah."
"I meant it. I still do."
"Me, too."
They both looked down for a moment.
"Well, Jack, it's about time I caught a cab, or I'll be stuck here another night." She stood to gather her luggage.
"It's not going to be another twenty years, is it Lemon?"
"No. I don't want to do that anymore."
"Good."
"I'll give you a call when I get home. Talk to you later."
She did give him a call. It became a habit.
END.
But once upon a time, she was happy riding even the lowly intercity bus on trips. And for a trip this urgent, First Class would have to do.
Mother's intuition told her Mitch wouldn't listen to her warnings. It was somewhat ridiculous to cross the continent like this -- it wasn't as if she could physically prevent him from finding Jack for the rest of his life -- but maybe a surprise, in-person visit could talk some sense into the boy.
Before she left, she'd confessed her secret to Brent. He'd been remarkably understanding about what was, after all, a minor breach of trust. She'd initally claimed Mitch was the result of artifiical insemination because she wasn't sure that Jack would be out of her life forever, and didn't want to complicate that relationship any further. In the event, Jack's attendance at the wedding was more closure than new opening, and they went back to living their separate lives. They'd never had to make an effort to see each other when they worked together, and now they found they didn't know how to maintain whatever they had had over long distance. But thankfully, the exact paternity of a child conceived before Liz and Brent met wasn't of great importance to him.
Taking the cab from Newark, Liz tried to locate Mitch. He wasn't answering his phone implant. But luckily, these new devices allowed parents to track their children. Mitch hadn't bothered to turn that feature off when he turned 18, and she could now see that he was on the Upper East Side.
Blerg.
**
Liz didn't have much trouble finding Jack's place. Incredibly, it was still the same doorman from all those years ago, who let her in on sight.
She had no idea what she was going to say, as she stormed in to find her son and Jack sitting opposite each other in leather seats, each nursing a glass of scotch and in the midst of laughing heartedly about something.
Jack was facing the doorway, and upon hearing the footsteps he looked up, and his face froze. Time had faded her mental image of Jack, but now she saw the unmistakeable resemblance to her son's features. He looked good for 72, although Jack seemed to be observing the (for Liz) unfathomable new fashion for elderly men to grow their hair long.
The stare stopped her in her tracks. She opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. Jack stood up, took a few steps toward her, and also froze. For what seemed like an hour, they took each other in in silence, Jack's lips gradually forming a smile, his eyes moistening. Liz's thin lips tightened, as if she were resisting the urge to cry.
"Mom! What are you doing here?" Mitch got up to say hello.
"Hi, Mitch." Liz didn't take her eyes off Jack.
"If you came here to stop me, you're too late."
"I know."
Liz looked beautiful for 60. Unlike Avery, she wasn't professionally obligated to keep herself in any kind of shape, but whatever it was in her metabolism that had kept her thin while consuming meatball subs daily (with little or no exercise) was still working. A lifetime spent inside hunched over scripts had kept her out of the sun and her skin youthful. God help her, she was still a solid 8. Or at least she was to Jack's eyes. He sensed the feelings come back, as if they'd parted a week ago. Lord knows, he'd probably thought about her every day since then. Not seven, but seven thousand days.
"Lemon." Someone had to say something.
They closed the distance and embraced, each closing their eyes tightly as they contemplated the lost time, the lives spent apart.
**
Sitting down, the threesome shared an awkward silence. No one knew what to say in the enormity of the moment. Then, there were superficial questions about Avery and Brent, which didn't break the tension at all.
Mitch finally started by asking questions about them. Without getting too graphic, Jack and Liz shared their story. It was mainly a story of mentorship and inbred Austrian princes and emergency contacts and Mexican cheese curls and a real-life Mamma Mia and aborted talk shows and accidental marriage. As the story went on, Mitch could see his parents -- his biological parents, that is -- slip into a rapport. He began to understand this couple, he thought, and started to wonder what his life would have been like under different circumstances.
After a lull in the conversation, Liz felt compelled to add something. "Mitch, know that I love your father, and I don't regret marrying him." It was true; as she saw it, Jack was her Buzz Aldrin, the true love that never would have worked out in the end.
Mitch nodded, and noted an odd expression flash on Jack's face. He excused himself to go to the bathroom and get another drink.
"Sorry I never told you."
"I knew. You're not such a good liar, Lemon."
Liz had, over the years, convinced herself that her deception had worked. She was a bit surprised now. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"I understood why you didn't want me to know."
Liz nodded in comprehension, and looked down.
“You did a good job with him, Liz.” He nudged his head in the direction of the kitchen.
“Thanks. He’s a good kid. He has all your best qualities.”
“And my faults?”
“Brent and I have beaten those out of him.” She smiled.
Mitch came back in, without a drink. “You know, I have an 8:00 class tomorrow, so I should head back downtown.” He stepped over and gave Jack a hug. “I’ll be seeing you around, Dad.”
“Bye, mom.”
“I’ll call you tomorrow morning, sweetie.”
**
As the door shut, they uncomfortably stared into their drinks for a long minute.
“Do you ever wonder, Lemon?”
“Wonder?”
“About what it would have been like?”
“Let’s not talk about this.” She suddenly seemed very uncomfortable.
“Why not?”
“Because we made our decisions. They worked out in the end. Brent’s been a wonderful husband and I'm sure you and Avery and Liddy are happy."
"You never gave me the chance to make a decision."
"Yes I did."
"When?"
"Every day for six years."
"Yes, but when you were with child, that would've changed the calculation..."
Old resentments bubbled up. "Please, Jack. This is me. I've seen you try to make that kind of decision, pick between two things when you can't have both, and it isn't pretty."
Jack was silent for a moment. He probably deserved that, he conceded to himself.
“But with Brent? Was there ever the passion? The passion of…”
Her tone was abrupt. “Jack. Enough.” She closed her eyes for a moment. “I don’t regret my decision.”
From there, the conversation shifted. They’d both followed each other surreptitiously in the press. He'd made a point of watching her films; she's tuned in to a number of the reality shows he'd developed over the years. They'd both pictured each other crafting their work, and it was interesting to compare the inside stories to their imaginations.
"By the way, Lemon, Mitch is going to have to cool it around Avery."
"I know. I've told him once, and I'll tell him again tomorrow."
"Want something to eat?" Jack got up to get some things from the kitchen.
"Of course."
**
When Jack came back into the living room, he found Liz peacefully asleep on the couch. She had the advantage of the time difference, but she was probably exhausted from the flight, and in any case she was still Liz Lemon.
Jack smiled to himself, threw a blanket over her, and turned out the light. He still remembered the last time she'd fallen asleep there, when he'd felt the tension with her building and a new opportunity appearing. And the last time she'd stayed over at all, the night before he flew to China to rescue Avery.
He planted a soft kiss on her forehead, and went to bed.
**
Avery usually didn't work quite this late, but they were planning a big special report tomorrow evening, and there were a lot of problems with it. Avery and her producer had spent several hours going over its problems with the correspondent, who would have to fix them in the morning.
She figured Jack was already asleep, so she eased quietly into their home. In the corner of her eye, she was aware of a mass on the couch. She tiptoed over to regard the cuteness of her husband passed out waiting for her, and had to stifle a yelp of surprise when it turned out not to be him at all, but a woman, a woman she hadn't seen, or really thought about, for years.
Perplexed, she retired for the night.
**
When Jack and Avery woke up in the morning, Liz was gone.
Avery kept waiting for Jack to bring up the previous night's encounter, but he never did. There had always been something oddly deceptive about these two: long ago, they'd told her it was a simple relationship of mentor to mentee, but even with Jack's "immersive" technique it seemed deeper than that. She was a dear friend to him, at least; why had they not simply said so? Avery wasn't the kind to be insecure and jealous, especially of someone like Liz, so she didn't understand what connected these two and why they'd sanitized it to protect it from her.
And things had changed when Avery got back from North Korea. She'd always chalked it up to her own trauma, and the way it changes someone. Jack was warm enough when they reunited, but also more guarded; she thought it was an unfair, but instinctive and understandable reaction to her "cheating" via forced marriage. But come to think of it, Liz had acted very strangely, too; she'd become almost a part of Jack's household when Avery was gone, and...
Oh.
Jack said they'd had a falling out, but he'd never explained what it was about. The two had never been able to stay separate for long, and before she put the thought away, Avery had difficulty imagining what magnitude of fight could create such a gulf. Maybe it wasn't a fight at all. Maybe her self-confidence had caused her to miss something, something that many others had assumed all along.
And it all, finally, fell into place for Avery. Some part of her thought it would be appropriate to be mad, but she really wasn't; it was all a long time ago, and she'd known what she was getting into with Jack back when they were dating. And she'd won in the end.
But she'd have to watch a bit Jack a bit more carefully, now that Liz was apparently, in some sense, back in the picture.
**
Liz and Jack got together for lunch one last time, at a random coffee place, before she left for the airport.
"Do your son's... our son's arrangements meet with your approval?"
"Yeah, he's not living like a pig, so that's something."
"If you thought his place was too messy, that would be saying something."
"You've never seen what my place looks like with a maid. My standards have improved."
"Fair enough."
There was an uncomfortable pause.
"How you are adjusting to having a son?"
"I'd always thought he might be mine, but now that it's almost out in the open I feel... happy."
Liz offers a subtle, gentle smile. "Is it going to be hard to sneak around to see him?"
"I don't think so. Avery works long hours, so I'm used to running around on my own."
Liz nodded. They looked at each other for another beat, and both started talking at the same time.
"Me first," Jack ordered.
"Do you remember what I said to you that last night in New York, just before you got in the cab?"
"I believe you propositioned me again."
"No, the other thing."
Liz nodded. "Yeah."
"I meant it. I still do."
"Me, too."
They both looked down for a moment.
"Well, Jack, it's about time I caught a cab, or I'll be stuck here another night." She stood to gather her luggage.
"It's not going to be another twenty years, is it Lemon?"
"No. I don't want to do that anymore."
"Good."
"I'll give you a call when I get home. Talk to you later."
She did give him a call. It became a habit.
END.