Ignite

After two dates a week for nearly 3 months, Jack and Jaime were officially dating. It was kinda sweet actually. Jack had mentioned in passing to Alex (when fairly drunk, to be fair) that he was quite traditional about needing the confirmation of a boyfriend, and obviously Alex had let this slip to Vic, who then told Jaime. Only two days later, after waking up in Jaime’s arms (completely innocent sleepover, only heavy making out), Jaime asked Jack to be his boyfriend. And here they were.

Today Jack had met Jaime for lunch at a local deli, a nice one at that, and they were just waiting for their food to arrive. It was a gorgeous September day outside and Jack had a gorgeous guy sitting opposite him – what wasn’t to like?

“I’m just going to the bathroom, okay?” Jaime said suddenly, standing up.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Jack shrugged.

Jaime grinned and pressed a quick kiss to his lips before leaving, making Jack blush. He was allowed to feel like a giddy schoolgirl around his brand-new boyfriend, right?

With no-one to look at and nothing to do while he waited for their food to arrive, Jack found himself eavesdropping on conversations. There weren’t too many people sitting in the deli, but there was one guy interesting enough to keep Jack’s attention. He looked furious, beyond furious, and he was hissing into his phone – so of course Jack listened in closer.

“How could they do this to us?”

…

“I don’t care if they can’t figure out what would work best! That’s their job!”

…

“No, we need to sort this out now!”

…

“If they’ve dropped the advertising campaign without following the protocol we lined out then of course we can sue them for breach of contract, but we still need to replace them! We need the campaign to be ready for our launch at the end of the month!”

…

“Deal with it. Just…deal with it. I’ll be back soon,”

The man was scowling heavily as he shoved his phone back in his pocket. Advertising campaign? Desperate deadline?

Without being able to stop himself, Jack found himself walking over to the man, earning a confused and disgruntled look as he stopped walking.

“Um, this is going to sound a bit weird, but I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation and I may be able to help,” Jack blurted.

Well fuck.

The man barked a short laugh. “Well my day can’t get any worse so go for it,”

Oh. Okay then.

“My boss is one of the best advertising managers in the city. Zachary Merrick. And he never cancels on a campaign so…”

Jack rambled a few examples of Zack’s recent work, more word vomit than anything else, the man just nodding in appropriate places. He didn’t really know what had come over him, or why the hell he was technically working during his lunch hour, but he couldn’t stop himself.

Why was he even thinking about Zack when he was out with Jaime?!

“And basically, you should just look him up. Here are his contact details,” Jack said, handing over Zack’s business card.

He knew keeping a few of them in his wallet would come in handy.

“I’ll look into it. Thanks,” the man said simply.

Well that was the only cue Jack needed. Sending a smile at the man, Jack walked back over to his table, just as Jaime walked out of the bathroom, trying to hide how his hands were shaking with adrenaline. He’d just done that, out of the blue. He couldn’t believe he’d just done that.

And he didn’t understand why it excited him so much.

“Why were you over there?” Jaime frowned, sitting down opposite Jack.

“Just work stuff,” Jack shrugged.

“You work too hard,” Jaime teased.

Jack just blushed, saved from speaking any further by their food arriving. He couldn’t believe what he’d just done, to be honest. Zack wouldn’t be mad, right?

*

When Jack got back to the office (after a very nice goodbye kiss from Jaime), he saw Alex grinning at him. The kind of grin that set him on edge. Jack knew Alex well enough to know that grin never meant anything good.

“Zack wants to see you as soon as you’re back. I was given strict instructions not to delay you, so get moving,” Alex said simply.

Well that didn’t sound ominous at all.

Jack just nodded, putting his bag under his desk and heading to Zack’s office. He knocked and waited for Zack to answer, before heading in.

“Ah good, you’re back. Take a seat,” Zack said.

What was wrong? Did Jack mess up? Zack wasn’t going to fire him, was he?

“So I got a call just now from James Arconi. The biggest diamond trader in the country,” Zack started.

“Okay?” Jack said, frowning.

Who was James Arconi?

“He said that he’d been recommended me personally and that the recommendation was so sincere that he looked me up, and he wants me to lead the advertising on his campaign,” Zack explained.

That was good, right?

“That’s great, Zack!” Jack grinned.

“He also said that I have a very loyal and enthusiastic PA who needs a huge pay rise,” Zack mused.

It only took a couple of seconds for Jack to connect the dots. Holy shit.

“Oh my God,” Jack groaned.

“Working during a lunch date? It was that bad huh?” Zack teased.

Can Zack say that? Is he allowed to say that?

He was only teasing right?

“Jaime and I are official! And he was in the bathroom when I overheard that guy on the phone!” Jack protested.

Zack just laughed. “Relax, I’m only teasing. I owe you though – this campaign could be really high profile for us and could lead into territory we haven’t looked at before. So congratulations, you get a nice bonus in your next pay check,”

What?

“I didn’t do it for a bonus,” Jack frowned.

“I know, that’s why you’re getting one,” Zack shrugged.

Oh. Well. That was nice. Maybe he could pay for those new curtains he’d been looking at.

"Seriously though, I do appreciate it. I've never had a PA that genuinely cared about m...the firm before," Zack said softly.

Jack wasn't sure why his stomach flipped at the sincerity in Zack's voice. He was just doing his job, that was all. Still, to have Zack looking at him like that was very welcome.

“Is there anything else you need?” Jack asked, smiling.

“Not at the moment,” Zack said, smiling back.

Jack nodded and left Zack to it, sitting down at his desk with a grin on his face. His random act of bravado at lunch had worked out perfectly for everyone. For Zack. And he’d gotten something out of it too. Today really was turning into a great day.

“Suck up,” Alex whispered.

Jack looked at his friend, seeing that Alex was smirking. Dick.

“Fuck you,” Jack whispered back.

“Fuck Zack,” Alex winked.

Charming.