Boston, 1976.
Jack fixed his hair, looking at himself in the mirror. This suit was way too big for him, but his mother has insisted that he wear it. "It was your father's. You're going to honor him in all this…debauchery…tonight."
He sighed and glanced at his watch. If Nancy didn't come out of her bedroom soon, they would be late. He hated to be late; it was a sign of disrespect. He couldn't understand women, damn it, was it that difficult for them to put on make-up and to do their hair into a fancy chignon?
When she finally emerged, his jaw dropped and remained open for a few more seconds than he had intended. Nancy grinned and pushed his chin up. "Flies Jack, they don't taste good, trust me."
He smiled, and offered her his arm. "Mademoiselle."
She slipped her own arm through his. Her hair was pulled up into a small bun, with some locks left free on purpose. He had always been fascinated by the color of her hair, but tonight it was especially astonishing.
After the Principal's classic speech, the students were allowed to dance in the gymnasium, which had been transformed into the biggest dance floor Jack had ever seen. Actually it was his first time on a dance floor – he knew how to dance since he had secretly learnt how to move like Elvis with some old tapes of his father's, but he'd never tried to do it with real people.
As soon as the music started, Nancy took his hand and pulled him on the dance floor. He moved his body like he had been dancing every day since he was born. Suddenly, Nancy approached him and put his hands on her waist. He had never done that; dancing alone was one thing, but accompanying someone and moving with her was totally different. Nancy should have noticed his frightened look. She came closer to him. He had never been so close to someone of the opposite sex, except on stage, but it was different. She bent her head and whispered in his ear, "Follow me."
She knew what she was doing - he just had to be perfectly in accordance with her moves, and it wasn't so hard since he knew her by heart.
Jack had had a big crush on Nancy Donovan since the first day he had met her. Every part of her awoke something in him, something he'd never felt before; it was as though every single part of his body was excited by her presence. Ever single hair, every single pore, every single beat of his heart…
The music suddenly became less wild. Some piano notes sounded, and Nancy pulled him against her, again, his heart seemed to stop before beating like it never did. He put his hands on her hips and she placed her arms around his neck. He could feel her breath on his face – she was so close he could see that she had put blue shadow on her eyelids, and some mascara which made her eyes appear deeper than usual. She smiled. He suddenly had a violent desire to kiss her. He didn't care about the others; he wanted to put his lips on her mouth, to meet her tongue with his.
But before he could do anything, the rock-n-roll rhythm returned, and Nancy moved away from him. His hand stayed stuck to hers until she was too far - he didn't move, jostled by the people who were dancing around him.
Nancy didn't come back to the dance floor, and he didn't see her until he went outside for some fresh air. She was sitting on top of a car, drinking some juice, looking at the stars.
He slowly came closer to her. "That's pretty amazing - to think that half of those are already dead, isn't it?" She continued to stare at the sky. "Yeah, it seems like we don't have so much time on earth either."
The moonlight made her pale skin glow, giving her an almost unreal beauty. Again a strange feeling washed over Jack. "We'll do what we want to do right when we want to do it," she whispered.
Her gaze dropped from his eyes to his lips. He took her glass and placed it on the hood of the car. Then he took her face between his two hands - he could feel her heart beating as fast as his. They both closed their eyes and their lips met. Suddenly there was nothing more around them. They were alone, in the sky. He felt her hands on his body, as his own hands were holding hers.
When they broke apart, she was smiling, sparkles in her eyes. "Thanks," she whispered. He knew that was the last time they would be together – it would be their last chance to say goodbye before he left for Princeton. He hugged her, and there they stayed.
New York, 2013.
Liz had been babbling for five full minutes now, something about Criss and a purple turtleneck. Jack wasn't really listening; he had learned through the years that Lemon could talk about herself for hours, and even if he didn't listen to her or she wasn't seeking his advice, she could share her thoughts without acting like a weirdo by talking to herself.
But suddenly, something in her monologue attracted his attention.
"I'm happy, Jack. I'm with a guy whom I love very much, I have two kids… I've never been so happy in my life. I'm even reconsidering the 'stay-at-home-mom' thing, since Criss found a job…" Jack looked at her, perplexed. She sighed. "Not forever. But you know, for a while."
He stood up and went over to pour himself a glass of scotch. "Well, I'm happy for you Lemon. I'm just realizing that maybe I'm not so happy myself in my work life." He looked up at her, noticing her "whack!" facial expression.
"But I have to be, don't I?"
Liz shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know Jack. If I had to choose between my work and my personal life, my choice would be my family. I wouldn't want to wake up in the morning and realize that my life sucks because I'm not able to mix my work stuff with my personal stuff."
Jack took a sip of alcohol. "You're probably right."
Liz smiled. Suddenly she glanced up at Jack's clock and her eyes widened. "Oh my God, is that the right time? I'm so late!" She stood up and grabbed her coat and bag. She stopped in front of Jack.
"Call her, Jack. I mean… You have nothing to lose."
"You know me too well, Lemon," he said. Liz smiled and kissed him on the cheek. He would always be impressed by his mentee's ability to understand him.
"Hi, you've reached Nancy. I'm not available, but you can leave a message…aw yeah, after the beeeeeep!"
Jack smiled at the sound of her recorded voice. He hesitated for a few moments after the beep before speaking. He drank more than he should have, and his thoughts weren't so clear.
"Jack - it's Jack. I'm calling, well… I don't really…I'm just… Nancy, I need to see you, I…" The second beep which indicated that his time was up rang in his ear like the most atrocious sound he had ever heard.
He sighed and hung up the phone. He finished his last glass and was going to pour himself another when he realized there was no alcohol left in the bottle. He put down the glass on the table, came out of his office, and saw that Jonathan was still there.
"Call me a cab," he said, without an ounce of politeness in his tone. Jonathan nodded, a big smile on his face. Jack was suddenly disgusted by his assistant's manners – the alcohol didn't help – he grabbed the phone from Jonathan's hands. Jonathan didn't understand, but he said nothing - the disappearance of his smile was enough.
When he got in the cab, Jack gave the driver only one order: "Go and don't stop."
The streets of Manhattan were full of people. He began to wonder who they were, what they were doing for living, what made them happy…and then he felt the need to walk. He thanked the cabbie, leaving a bigger tip than necessary and he began to walk among the people.
Jack felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. He looked to see who was calling - it was Lemon. For a second he'd hoped it was Nancy. He didn't answer. But a few seconds later, Lemon was calling again.
He slid the green button and put the phone to his ear. "What?"
Liz didn't seem too surprised by his aggressiveness. "Where are you, Jack?"
He didn't want her to know. After all, he was her mentor, he was supposed to be setting an example.
"At my office. What do you want, Lemon? I'm very busy, I can't really talk to you right now." He was hoping that she wouldn't hear the background noise, voices of some young people who were walking near him, and the typical sounds of cars on the road. He pressed the phone closer to his ear.
"Jack," Liz sounded concerned, "I need to know where you really are."
He didn't say anything. How did she know?
"Jack? I'm with Jonathan. He told me you took a cab." He could hear Jonathan crying on the other end. Liz held up the phone for Jack to hear him. "Wedding…dance…" the assistant whimpered.
Liz put the phone to hear ear again and sighed. "Where are you?"
"Lincoln Square."
"I'm coming." Before he could say anything, she had hung up. He held his phone in his hand for a few seconds before placing it back in his pocket.
He was sitting on a bench when he saw her approach. Her hair was bunched up under a hat and her silhouette was distorted by a big coat. It didn't matter, though; he could recognize her among thousands and thousands of people dressed in the same way. She walked towards him.
"Nancy? What are you doing here?"
"Liz called me." She said, motioning behind her. Jack noticed Liz in her black coat, out of the way, hands in her pockets. She nodded at him and grinned. He turned back to look at Nancy. He wanted to say something – anything – but nothing came into his mind. She spoke instead.
"She said you weren't okay, and…you wanted to see me." She said the second part of this in disbelief.
Jack couldn't control the words that flowed from his lips next. "I miss you, Nancy. I've made a mistake. I cannot express how sorry I am to have let you go that day when you told me Avery was pregnant. It was… it was…"
"A wicked error," she finished. He smiled. He had never been so sure of anything in his life.
"I love you," he whispered. Her look became more intense, eyes growing darker with every passing moment. "You took your time," She said. Jack could see Lemon behind them, fidgeting in every direction. When she calmed down she shouted, "Well, kiss or something!"
Jack took Nancy by the waist and pulled her against him. They traveled back in time and found themselves dancing under a sky full of stars. There he was in his tux, too big for him, and she was dressed like a princess. Only one thing had changed – the little "yes!" uttered by Lemon when they finally kissed.