Jack had asked Liz to go dinner that night…. But mind you, it was only as friends. I mean, they went out to dinner all the time… but he began to rethink that as he got ready to go out. He suddenly found himself looking in the mirror a lot more than he usually did. He was checking for wrinkles in his sports jacket, stray hairs sticking up from his head, even the slightest blemish on his face. Don't get me wrong, Jack Donaghy liked to look good. He always did. However, he was never so worried about his imperfections before. He found himself examining every part of his face. Do my ears look too big? Is one eye bigger than the other? And it was all for Liz Lemon. The only problem was, he didn't want to admit it.
He smoothed out his hair, took a breath, and knocked on her door. For a minute, there was no answer… so naturally, he knocked again. Still nothing. He pulled her spare key out of his wallet. He had never thought about this key before. Is this weird? No. All friends have keys to each other's houses. Plus, we work together. What if there was a work emergency? I would need this key. He unlocked the door and took a step into her apartment. There she was, Liz Lemon, lying across the sofa, dead asleep. She was wearing her TGS sweatshirt, just like always… and her glasses were sliding down her face. Her hair was a mess, and he could've sworn…. Is that ham in her hair? There was an empty box of pizza on the table, and an empty wine glass as well.
"Lemon?" he asked, as he shook her a little bit.
She jumped up from her slumber. "No! I will not accept that muffin in exchange for this sandwich!" She even dreams about food…
"Lemon, it's me… Jack."
"Oh hi Jack! Want some pizza?" she replied, glancing at the box. "Oh…" It was empty.
"I guess you forgot about our dinner plans tonight.." Jack said.
"No… those are tomorrow night, silly!" she answered, laughing and shoving him a bit.
"What day do you think it is, Lemon?"
"Do you think I'm an idiot, Jack? It's Thursday!"
"It's Friday…" he replied.
"WHAT THE WHAT?" Liz yelped, jumping up from the couch.
Jack watched her frantically run around the house and laughed at the crazy things coming from her mouth.
"Clothes… clothes… I need clothes."
"Where's my toothbrush?"
"Is that ham in my hair?"
"Lemon!" Jack yelled. "Come here!"
She walked into the room. Jack laughed at the sight of her. She had some purple cream on her forehead that clearly had not been rubbed in all the way and half of her hair was tied to the side. But her clothing is what really amused him. He scanned her body from bottom to top. She was wearing one sock, a half zipped skirt and only her bra.
"Why don't we stay in tonight? Watch TV, eat some p- …. well, you already ate some pizza…. please don't tell me you ate that whole thing yourself?"
She nodded.
"Well, we can get something else… if you're even still hungry," Jack said.
"I'm always hungry, Jack…" Liz answered. "But I bet you made some fancy reservations at some fancy restaurant where the water is imported from some fancy European country that I've never heard of and the-"
It was then, in all of her rambling that Jack realized all the great things about Liz Lemon that he never really acknowledged before. He realized why he compared the size of his ears before he went there. He adored Liz Lemon. Everything about her. Her huge appetite, her quirky sayings, her inability to know what day it was… even the ham in her hair.
Jack cut her off. "Lemon, sit down." He took off his jacket. "Put this on."
She took the jacket from him and slipped it over her bare frame. "Thanks"
She sat down next to him and he wrapped his arm around her. She looked up at him, puzzled for a minute, but then settled into him. It felt right.
"I mean it, let's stay in," he said, leaning into her.
"Jack, I'm sorry, I probably smell like…"
"Pizza," he said, finishing her sentence. "Yeah, it's okay."