So Much More Different

Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine
Spoilers: None.
Pairing: Jack/Liz
Summary: Jack gets paid to date Liz.

After a long day at work, Pete and Liz decided to take the subway to go home.
Pete noticed that Liz was staring at the couple who was sitting together closely.
"What's up? Why are you staring at them?" Pete asked Liz.
"Well, look. I'm just sick and tired of seeing these couples having so much romantic moments. It makes me feel more lonely than I already am."
Pete laughed.
"Since when did you start caring about having a relationship?" he asked, smirking.
Liz looked at him and he saw that her eyes were watering.
"I'm forty, Pete. I used to believe that by the time I hit forty, I would have a gorgeous husband, two kids and Emily Dickinson the cat."
"Well, you have one. You have Emily Dickinson. And hey, you've been married once. To Jack, remember? Just wait, Liz. It'll all come true one day."
Liz sniffled.
"Sometimes I wonder if I was made single."
"Are you on your woman times this week?" Pete asked jokingly.
Liz scoffed.
"Shut up, Pete."
They stayed quiet until Liz's phone started ringing.
"Hello? Oh, hey Jack. No, I'm with Pete. No, no. We're on the subway. I'm almost home. Why? I know, they have really good signal down here, which is strange..."
"Lightbulb!" Pete yelled.
"...uh, hang on, Jack. What, Pete?"
"What if I pay Donaghy to go on a date with you?"
"What?!"
"Come on, it'll seriously work. And hey, if you're that desperate--"
"I'm not desperate!" she yelled.
"I'd be okay with it," Jack said through the phone.
"Hang on, Pete. What'd you say, Jack?"
"I said, I'd be okay with it."
"Okay with what?"
"Pete paying me to take you out on a date. He could pay for dinner."
Liz scoffed.
"What are you talking about? Don't you have a date with some supermodel tomorrow night?"
She could hear Jack laughing through the phone.
"I never said it had to be tomorrow night. We'll talk about it more tomorrow, okay?"
Liz hung up.
"You stupid--"
"Hey, it's your station!" Pete yelled.
Liz eyed him closely.
"I'm watching you, Hornberger."
Pete gave himself a pat on the back. Liz said his good ideas come once in a decade, but no. That's twice in a decade!
**
The next morning, Liz was about to step out of her apartment to go to work when Jack walked in.
"You, me, dinner. Saturday."
Liz rolled her eyes.
"That is so not a proper way to ask someone to dinner."
Jack sighed and go down on one knee.
"Elizabeth Christina Lemon--"
"That's not my middle name."
"--will you go to dinner with me on Saturday night?"
"Hmm. I'll think about it."
"Think about it? What do you mean--"
"I gotta get to work."
"Will you think about it in the limo if I give you a ride?"
"What? No, Jack. I'm gonna take a taxi."
"We're stopping by for ice cream," he said.
"Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes!" Liz said as she ran downstairs.
"The man just proposed," an old man said to his wife as they passed by.
"No!! Really?" the elderly wife replied with a sarcastic tone.
**
It was finally Saturday night. Liz put the final touches of her makeup and waited for Jack to knock on her door.
At exactly seven o' clock, that did happen.
"Wow. You clean up nice," Jack told her.
Liz smiled.
"Off to our date, madam?"
"Certainly, kind sir."
Jack took her to this wonderful restaurant where they served both fried chicken AND fancy food.
"Wow. It's like a mix of my favorite foods and your favorite foods. They should call this Lemon-Donaghy," Liz joked.
Jack chuckled.
"What's up? Why are you so quiet tonight?" Liz asked him.
"It's nothing."
But it really was something. Seeing Liz like this, dressing up for him was...wow. There was something about her that made his heart skip a beat. He really felt bad that he was paid to do this. He should return the money, because he was really enjoying this.
They laughed and drank some fancy, expensive wine for about an hour or two.
"You want to dance?" Jack asked her.
"I didn't know you could dance," Liz said.
"Oh, trust me. I can."
They danced for a while, but Liz saw that it was getting late.
"We should probably go," she said.
Jack nodded and followed her outside. He called for a limo and they went straight to her house. Jack walked her up to her apartment.
"I had a great time tonight," Jack said.
"Yeah, me too."
"I feel really bad for taking Pete's money. I'll give it back to him tomorrow. How about a second date next Saturday?"
Liz smiled, and chuckled nervously.
"Jack, we would never work out."
"And why is that?"
"It's simple, really. I'm casual, you're fancy. I work with poor morons, you work with high-class people."
"But that's the point, Lemon. Our personalities clash. It didn't work out between you and Carol because you two were too alike, and that was the same thing that happened between Avery and me. They say that two people with two different personalities end up making something beautiful."
Liz kissed him on the cheek.
"Good first date, Jack," she said.
"Wait, you said first. After first, there's technically going to be a second...right?"
Liz smiled.
"I'll see you Monday morning at work," Liz said as she closed the door.
"I will have you, Liz Lemon. Mark my words."
"I heard that!" Liz yelled.
"That was the point!" he yelled back.
**
Monday morning came and Liz woke up to the face of Casey Anthony on her television.
"Ugh. That girl cannot get pregnant again. Who knows what she'll do to that child?" she told herself.
She went to the restroom to fix her hair and when she came back, Jack was sitting on the edge of her bed, television remote in hand.
Liz gasped and put her hand on her chest to let him know how much he scared her.
"Jack! What are you...what are you doing here?"
"I made you breakfast," he said.
Liz chuckled.
"That's nice. How did you get in here?"
"Oh. You gave me a key, remember?"
Liz shook her head.
"It was the day when you had oral surgery on Valentine's Day last year. You can have it back if you need it."
"No. Absolutely not. You can keep it. I mean, if you want it."
Jack's eyebrows were raised when Liz said that.
Liz rolled her eyes.
"Never mind. Give me the key. Now."
"No, I think I'll keep it."
"Jack!"
"You haven't an answer yet."
"An answer for what?!"
"If you want to have another date on Saturday."
"What?!"
"If you don't answer, you'll have to go on a date with me every day this week."
"WHAT?!" Liz shrieked.
Jack smiled.
"I'll see you tonight. And the next night, and the one after that..."
Liz stomped her foot on the ground.
"Damn you, Donaghy," she said.
"What can I do? It's in my blood, I guess."
"Yeah, well if I punch you, there will be blood!"
Jack ran to the door.
"See you at work, Lemon!"
Liz slammed the door.
"What have I gotten myself into?" she asked herself.

END