A/N: I know a lot of people ship Jack/Peggy, but I just love the idea of these two, especially since A Sin to Err, when Jack has to comfort Angie. :D This is slight alternate universe, where Jack and Angie haven't met or seen each other before. Enjoy!
Angie Martinelli wiped the counter clean with a damp towel. It was getting late at the Automat, and her shift was almost over. There was hardly anybody left, except for an older woman in a booth across the room, who was usually the only one left around this time. She decided to use the extra time she had to clean up.
Angie went over to her table. "All finished with your tea and shortcake, Mrs. Dilbur?" she asked cheerily. The woman looked up, smiling warmly. "Yes, thank you, dear. How did your audition go?" Angie smiled to herself. That audition was nearly a month ago.
"Oh, it was alright. I didn't get the job, but maybe I'll catch the next break," she shrugged optimistically, even though the director had told her she had been terrible. The woman patted her arm, and Angie went back over to the counter.
As she was organizing the cash box, she heard the bell ring at the front, and looked up. In walked a tall man, with a hat covering his eyes. He had his hands in the pockets of his brown tweed pants, with a crisp white shirt and suspenders on top. He sat down at the counter, and cleared his throat.
"Hi," he said, taking off his hat. Angie smiled brightly. "Hey! What can I get ya?" As he tried to decide, Angie's eyes travelled over his features. He had combed over blonde hair, deep blue eyes, his lips were nicely shaped... She snapped her attention back.
"Uh... I'll have," he said, looking lost as he regarded the board, "A slice of key lime pie?" He looked to her. Angie couldn't help giggling a little. The guy gave her a funny look. "What?" She dropped her smile. "Sorry. No, it's just that, you... you come in here all tall dark and handsome, and you order that. It's so... funny."
The guy looked amused, and Angie lost her breath for a second. "Oh god- did I just call you-" "Handsome? Yeah," the guy smirked. Angie blushed. "Sorry. Again. Er, and about the pie. I mean, I'll get you the pie of course, because we have it, I just mean about the... I'm going to stop talking now."
The guy held his smirk. "Okay, if you want me to keep up the 'tall dark and handsome' look, I'll have a coffee with that. Black." He accentuated the word black, making Angie shiver a little, and she nodded, quickly turning away to face the kitchen so he wouldn't see her knees shaking.
What was she doing? She didn't know him! She could tell by his mannerism and that haughty smirk that he had a fair-sized ego, but he certainly had a right to it, looking like that... you could just eat him with a spoon. Hey! Off track. No wayward thoughts.
She turned back around with his coffee and little green pie slice, putting on her bright smile again. He searched her eyes as she placed them down in front of him, and for a moment, Angie felt her heart beat faster as his eyes dropped down to her chest.
Is he really doing what I think he's doing? she wondered in a nonsensical panic, but her thoughts were interrupted by his voice. "Thanks... Angie," he said, nodding politely toward her. Angie exhaled. There, she thought, he was simply reading my nametag. Stop being silly. "Jack," he said, extending a hand as he introduced himself.
He didn't know why he was feeling so inclined to be this nice to her- he normally wouldn't even interact with the waitress. He couldn't be bothered. But something about the way her perky curls bounced around her shoulders, the cute way she babbled. It got to him.
As their hands touched, Angie's eyes widened. She quickly pulled away. "So," she continued, feeling ambitious to discover more, "Why out so late? Were you kicked out of the house by your wife?" she asked jokingly, and Jack shook his head, taking a sip of his coffee. "Not married," he replied, and Angie pretended to be un-phased by this. "Oh," she said, nodding nonchalantly.
He tried the key lime pie. "Boy," he muttered, "This is really good." Angie laughed a little, and Jack smiled. While he was looking down into his cup thoughtfully, Angie took the time to inspect his hands. They looked like strong hands, and one had a scar running down the pinky finger to the palm.
"What happened to your hand?" Angie asked out of sudden curiosity, and then mentally smacked herself. Hello! Personal! she scolded herself, and she closed her eyes. "Sorry. Attack of the big-mouth again," she said, biting her lip, "It's a problem with me." Jack waved his hand, his lips tugging up a little. "No, it's fine. I got this... in the war."
Angie raised her eyebrows. And he was a soldier. Okay, hot points going up. She blinked at her mindset, and waited for him to continue. "It was an easy wound... nothing too heroic," he said, "I just cut myself on the equipment, no big deal." Angie felt like he was hiding something, but he had already told a complete stranger about a scar he had, so she decided not to ask anymore.
She nodded. "It was still real brave of you to fight," she said, and Jack covered his hand. "Thanks," he muttered, looking out the windows of the diner.
After a few moments, and Jack had finished his pie, he stood up. "How much do I owe you?" he asked, reaching into his pockets. "Um, $0.10," she said, feeling a little disappointed that he was leaving. Jack got out the money, and put it on the counter.
He turned to leave, nodding at her again. Angie opened her mouth, like she wanted to say something, but no words came out. She deflated as the doorbell rang his exit, and she set her elbows down on the counter miserably.
"What a nice boy," Mrs. Dilbur commented, and Angie jumped a little, surprised her customer was still there. He sure was, she thought. She thought more extensively about it. All she knew about him, was that he wasn't married, he served in the army, and he was easy on the eyes. She didn't know where he worked, what he was really like...
Just then, Angie noticed something. A hat on the counter! She silently thanked everything she could think of as she grinned giddily. He forgot his hat! She did a mini dance, and hurried out from behind the counter, grabbing the hat. "You don't mind if I split a little early?" Angie called back, and Mrs. Dilbur shook her head kindly. "I'll get the lights, dearie."
Angie threw open the door, and ran down the sidewalk, her work uniform pumps making it kind of hard to do so. She hobbled along, and just as she caught sight of Jack, she saw him turn at what must have been the sound of her running. When he turned, he saw Angie waving his hat around, running toward him.
He chuckled to himself. She looked really funny. She caught up, and just as she was coming to a stop in front of him, she tripped on the pavement, falling right into Jack's arms as he caught her. "Woah," he said, smiling down at her, "What's the rush?"
She stuttered up at him, and after a second of processing that he was holding her, she stood up, smoothing down her blue apron. Jack still hadn't taken his arms off her. "Y-you forgot, your-" She trailed off as Jack stared at her, and Angie realized how close they were. "Your," she swallowed, attempting to finish the sentence, but her mind couldn't remember what that word was for thing-that-you-put-on-your-head at the moment.
"I did, didn't I?" he asked, faking a frown, and Angie suddenly realized it. He had done it on purpose. He had left the hat so that Angie would have a reason to come after him. "Oh," she breathed, and Jack leaned in a little. "How careless of me," he mumbled, their noses almost touching.
Jack was surprised when she reached behind his head, and brought their lips together in a heated kiss. It felt like minutes before the kiss was over, and Angie looked ecstatic when it was. "Wow," she said, giggling a little, "That was... that was really great," she grinned, and Jack couldn't help but laugh.
He still couldn't understand it. Why the hell did he like her so much? It made no sense... but at the same time, it made all the sense in the world as he thought about her smiling, the dimples shining through. He shook his head. Jack Thompson, the toughest agent at the SSR- just got taken off-guard- by a woman.
You can skip to the next chapter if you would like to read the smutty alternate ending :)