Ignite

July passed quickly, with Jack and Jaime going on dates twice a week, sometimes dinner, sometimes to a movie, sometimes to somewhere completely random that Jack had never heard of. Not that he’d heard of many places in New York yet, but still – he was enjoyed Jaime showing him. It was nice and relaxing and refreshing for Jack to have someone genuinely liking him. Jaime was one of the most wonderful people he’d ever met. He was so kind and good-looking and funny and sweet…but there was something missing. And Jack felt like an ass for even thinking it, but he didn’t even know what it was. He just knew that, while he really enjoyed the kissing and snuggling and heated make-outs, there was just no spark. No fireworks.

Maybe he was stupid for thinking that he could actually find those ‘fireworks’, but Jack knew how he felt. He hadn’t told anyone his doubts, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to, because he liked spending time with Jaime. He really liked it. And Jack liked him, so maybe those sparks would come in time. He wasn’t going to stop seeing Jaime for anything. Why should he?

Tonight they had dinner plans again, to a barbecue diner-style place that Jaime had found. Jack was quite looking forward to it, to be honest. Work was starting to get busy again leading up to finalising summer advertising campaigns, and Jack would be glad of the break.

But around 5pm, Jack got a call from Zack asking him to come into his office.

“Is there something you needed, Mr Merrick?” Jack asked.

He only asked because Zack had already emailed him with a list of end-of-day things he wanted Jack to do.

“Yes, Jack. Unfortunately, and I really hate to ask you this, but I need you to stay after late after work today,”

“W-Why?” Jack asked, confused.

“I was given a new campaign today and it’s on a really tight schedule so I wanted to get a head start on it before tomorrow. I want to work on it myself so I don’t put extra pressure on the team, but I could really use your help?”

Zack wanted his help? Just his help?

“Okay,” Jack said, smiling.

The look of relief on Zack’s face let him know he’d said the right thing.

“Thank you, so much. Um, at the end of the day, if you close all programmes and lock your computer instead of logging off, then HR will be able to see that you were still here when you fill in the overtime sheet. Just come in here at 6pm and we can get started,”

Jack left with a smile. But as soon as he sat down at his desk he remembered what he was meant to be doing tonight. Dinner. Dinner with Jaime. Shit. He couldn’t cancel on Zack now, not with Zack needing his help on the campaign. Maybe he could reschedule dinner? Jaime would understand, right?

To: Jaime
From: Jack

Hey, I’m really sorry but can we reschedule tonight? I have to work late and I don’t know when I’ll be finishing x

There, that would be okay, right?

Jaime replied within seconds.

To: Jack
From: Jaime

Hey, yeah, that’s no problem! Sucks you have to work late! I can’t do tomorrow or the day after, but I can do Thursday? Is that okay with you? x

Jack smiled. He knew Jaime would be okay with it. Jaime was a nice guy, and this just confirmed it. Sure, Jack felt a bit bad for cancelling on such short notice, but at least Jaime was fine with it. Jack quickly texted back that Thursday would be great, before getting back to work.

When 6pm hit, almost everyone in the office upped and left, including Alex. Well at least he could avoid Alex making an inappropriate comment about him staying late with Zack. Quickly shutting down the programmes and locking his computer as Zack suggested, Jack picked up a pen and his notebook before heading into Zack’s office.

“Ah good, perfect timing,” Zack beamed.

Jack just blushed slightly, making Zack smile even more.

“What exactly will I be doing tonight? I don’t exactly have the experience or knowledge like your team does,” Jack said, sitting down opposite him.

“Maybe you don’t, but you will be honest with me when my team just want to kiss my ass,” Zack mused.

That…that was a good thing, right? That Zack liked that he was honest? He’d rather not thinking about them kissing Zack’s ass. Or of Zack’s ass at all, actually. That would lead down a bad road.

“Honest with you with what?” Jack asked, ignoring his thoughts.

“I’ve been working on a few ideas this afternoon, and I’m going to run them through with you. I want you honest opinions, about what works and what doesn’t, and then I’d like to fine tune the best one as much as possible before it gets too late. Is that okay?” Zack asked.

That was more than okay. Zack actually trusted him with this kind of work? There was no way he was going to turn down the opportunity.

“Sure, that sounds great,” Jack nodded.

“Fantastic. Let’s get started,” Zack grinned.

*

Two hours passed, and they were still working. It was all fascinating work, especially seeing this side of Zack, the side that was enthusiastic and smart and creative. He obviously knew that Zack was good at his job, because he wouldn’t have been made Team Manager otherwise, but he’d never seen Zack in action like this before. It was thrilling.

But it was tiring too, having to be so switched on after a long day. Something which Zack apparently agreed with.

“I don’t know about you, but I am getting tired,” Zack yawned.

Jack just laughed and nodded.

“I reckon we’ll probably only need another hour now, but I think we might need coffee too,” Zack mused.

“What kind of coffee would you like?” Jack asked.

“Oh no, I’ll make the coffee. I did ask you to stay this late after all. You take it with milk and two sugars, right?”

Zack knew that?

“Uh, yeah, that’s perfect. Thanks,” Jack said, surprised.

Zack just smiled and left the room. Wow. Zack was getting him coffee. This was new.

Jack took this chance to pull his phone out of his pocket, frowning slightly when he saw he had a new message flashing. Who would be texting him?

Alex?

To: Jack
From: Alex

Jaime said you cancelled tonight because you had to work late. Wtf? We never have to work late.

Fuck. He knew Alex would find out sooner or later, but from Jaime? Was Jaime upset with him or something? Fuck.

To: Alex
From: Jack.

I know but Zack asked me to stay behind and help him with the new campaign he got this morning. Zack said it was important and I’m still here. And Jaime said it was fine, that we could reschedule. Is he upset?

Jack found himself chewing his bottom lip while he waited for Alex’s reply. Should he feel guilty about bailing on Jaime? They weren’t together after all. But they had been on dates every week for a month? Fuck, what if Jaime was actually upset?

To: Jack
From: Alex

Dude that’s weird, he could easily do that during the day. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. And no, Jaime’s not upset. Confused that I’m not working late too but I said it’s separate work so he’s okay now.

Fuck. So Jaime was upset at first. That’s not good. What if Jaime cancelled on their rescheduled date? What if Alex was wrong about Jaime being okay now?

And of course Jack swore under his breath just as Zack walked back in.

“Is everything okay, Jack?”

“Yeah, Jaime’s getting a bit concerned, that’s all,” Jack said, forcing a smile on his lips.

Zack knew who Jaime was. He had been at the bar on Jack’s birthday last month after all. Not that Jack talked about Jaime at work or that Zack asked about him, but still. Zack knew.

“Why is he concerned?” Zack asked.

“Because I cancelled our date tonight to stay late?” Jack offered.

“Oh, I’m sorry. You didn’t have to do that,”

The funny thing was, Zack didn’t look or sound the least bit sorry. Huh. That’s interesting. He’d save that thought for later when he could process it properly. Very interesting.

“It’s okay. Work’s important. And I like helping you,” Jack replied.

Oh god, did he really just blurt that out?!

“Well good, because I like you helping me,” Zack said smoothly.

Oh, so maybe it wasn’t that cringe-worthy?

Jack blushed as Zack handed him his coffee and their fingers brushed slightly, enough to make Jack blush a little bit more. Zack just smirked slightly, glancing at Jack’s red face once more before looking back down at his work.

Very interesting indeed.