Jay was flapping. He was waiting at O'Hare airport for Erin. After they met up, he was going to drive them back to his apartment, and that was the cause of his concern. What was she going to think of his place? After seeing 'Eagle's Nest', which she had casually decided to drop way over a million bucks on, he dreaded to think. But, thanks to Raquel, he was now committed to having her come over.
He had recently sent a text to Raquel, thanking her again for dropping him in the shit and telling her that when it all went wrong, she was going to be responsible for wrecking his relationship. He had written it in humour. Mostly. As he waited in the arrivals area, a reply came through. It began with four laughing emojis.
Raquel Gonzalez: Stop being a big baby. It's a weird fetish and it doesn't suit you. Thank me after Erin tells you what a great time she had.
Jay burst out laughing at the fetish comment, picturing himself wearing a diaper and drinking from a bottle of milk. Thankfully, his real kink was a lot less weird than that.
About half an hour ago, Erin had sent him a text to say that she was off the plane. That left only the wait at baggage claim before she was able to come meet him, and how long that would take was anyone's guess.
It took more than another fifteen minutes for her to appear, pulling a travel case behind her. She looked gorgeous to Jay, even with a grey beanie on her head. She had on a black leather jacket and black leather gloves, because of course she did, and she was notably wearing jeans. He wasn't sure he could remember seeing that from her before, and he found himself liking the more casual look on her. Then that annoying, constantly negative part of his mind wondered if she had to dress down in order to go somewhere that common people lived. He really hated that part of his mind, and wished he could turn it off. But he couldn't. Today, it was in overdrive.
"Hey! I've been looking forward to this so much," Erin said excitedly as she approached him.
In that moment, Jay recalled Raquel's lecture about needing to tell Erin how he felt. This struck him as one such occasion. Finding the right words was a problem though, so he ended up sounding rather awkward.
"I've missed you," he said as they embraced each other and exchanged a peck on the lips.
"Aw, I missed you too," she said warmly.
Jay was aware that he was lucky with the way she appreciated his small expressions of feelings and emotions because she understood that it was tough for him.
"How was the flight? Do you want me to take your case for you?"
"That's sweet, but I got it. The flight was fine, nothing to comment on either way."
"Well that's good. Any flight without delays and screaming kids is a plus."
"I hear you. Let's get out of here."
"Fair warning, it's nothing compared to the place you're buying," Jay said hesitantly.
She waved him off. "Shush. You act as if I'm going to consider it below my standards or something. A, I'm not like that, and B, believe it or not when I was a kid my dad didn't have much money and we had a small house that was a bit of a dump. I'm not saying I expect your place to be a dump, I'm saying you're going to get no judgement from me no matter what. As I've said before, I'm not some princess who lives in an ivory tower. Can we just have that established once and for all?"
Jay felt bad, and he could imagine Raquel looking at him with disapproval if she had been a part of the conversation. "Okay, sorry," he said. "I'm just self-conscious, I guess." But even with what she had said, the negativity in his head carried right on as if nothing had happened.
Thinking her point had gotten through to him, Erin took his hand and held it tightly. "You don't need to be sorry, least of all around me. Come on, let's get out of here."
They walked together out of the airport and made their way to where he'd had to park. He didn't have to worry about her reaction to his car at least, as it was an expensive Mercedes model. Anyway, he told himself, he really did have to stop thinking like that all the time or it was going to drive him crazy. But, moments later, the negativity was back again. He couldn't shake it off.
Eventually they were on the way to his apartment downtown, and conversation started to flow as he drove.
"So, I had a talk with my dad a few nights back," Erin said.
"Me too," Jay muttered.
"Yes, I know. That came up."
"It did? He seems very pissed about us dating." He decided to stop short of telling her that Hank had admitted to wanting to kick his ass.
"He's pissed because he thinks I could do better. I made it perfectly clear to him that's not true, and that you've been nothing but a gentleman to me, and we both make each other very happy."
It meant a lot to Jay to hear her say that. At the same time, he tried to imagine Hank's reaction. And there was the negativity again. "I bet that went down well?"
"He was grumpy about it, naturally. But I know my dad, and I suspect that deep down he's got respect for whatever you said to him, or maybe how you said it."
Erin looked at him and shook her head. "I couldn't tell. I mean I can't describe it. Let's just say I know him, obviously, and I'm pretty sure that if we give him time he'll come around. He's very protective of me because apart from work I'm all he had in the world for most of my life."
Jay felt jealous of that. He could only imagine having that kind of relationship with a parent, given how bad his upbringing had been. Pushing the jealousy aside as best he could, he tried to focus on the positive, literally having to force his brain to comply.
"You think he'll accept that we're together?" he asked, glancing at her.
"Yeah, in time. Not sure how much time, but he'll get there. I thought about inviting you for dinner at our place. If he got to see us together, that might help him."
Or it might not, Jay thought. But Erin's judgement on Hank was better than his own. If she thought him going to dinner over there would help to resolve the situation, he had to do it. He didn't need a lecture from Raquel to figure that out.
"If you want to do it, let me know. But if your dad kills me..."
Erin giggled. "Shut up. He's not going to kill you. It would be nice to have you come over before I move out."
"Then let's make it happen. Just let me know when."
Erin looked at him, and he glanced at her. He saw what he thought might be love in her eyes, and it felt like his heart stopped beating for a few seconds. The sound of a car horn as the Mercedes almost drifted out of its lane startled him out of the moment. Even so, it had happened and he would never forget it. Even the incredibly annoying negativity had nothing to say about those precious few seconds.
"Thank you, Jay. I know it won't be easy for you. Give me dad a chance. He's not an asshole. He really isn't."
Jay made a turn at an intersection, using it as a way to buy himself a moment to consider what he said next. He couldn't speak against Hank too strongly because no matter what, he was Erin's dad. And in any case, he didn't want to be at odds with the boss.
"I know he's not, Erin. I've always liked your dad. In fact, in some ways I look up to him. But he's the one with the beef with me right now. If I had the chance to shake his hand and get back on good terms, I would, believe me."
"Thank you, Jay," Erin said with feeling. He could tell what he had just said meant a lot to her, which gave him a small confidence lift. "Let me work on my dad. As I said, he'll come around. There's other stuff going on too. Work stuff. It's a complicated time for us."
He glanced at her again, wondering what she meant. "Oh?"
Erin mulled something over for a few moments before replying. "Obviously I trust you, Jay. But I mean it when I say this: You can't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you. No one. Okay?"
"Okay," he said seriously. "Not a word. Promise. Whatever it is, it sounds pretty serious." Now on a busier street, he had to pull up at the back of a line of traffic.
"It's not so much that," Erin said as they looked at each other, now that Jay wasn't actively driving. "It's internal WWE business, and we're a publically traded company. We can't have big changes leaking out before they're official. I shouldn't be telling you, honestly. But you're my boyfriend, and I need to be able to talk to you about things, including my career."
"You can tell me anything," he assured her, wanting her to be able to confide in him.
"My dad spent a lot of time talking the past few nights, and not just about you and I dating. We talked about me moving house, and we also talked about my role in the company. I've been stuck in the accounts department too long. Ten years or so from now, dad's going to want to retire. When that happens, I'm going to be Chairwoman. I need to be getting management experience. After some persuading, dad was able to see that, so I'm getting a promotion."
Jay found the fact that Erin was going to be Chairwoman one day to be a massive turn on. There was nothing like a powerful woman. He could picture her in a suit, sitting at the head of a boardroom table giving orders out to people. What he didn't get was why Hank had needed so much convincing to let her move up the ladder.
"Why did you have to talk him into it?" he asked as the traffic started moving again, slowly.
"Honestly? I think part of him still sees me as his little girl. That's where this hostility to you comes from too, I'd bet. But I'm not his little girl anymore. I'm a successful businesswoman who's going to buy her own house, push on with her career, and enjoy spending time with her super hot boyfriend."
"Have I met him?" Jay quipped, knowing she enjoyed his humour.
Sure enough, she laughed loudly. "No, not yet. I've been trying to put that moment off."
"I'll kick his ass when I do meet him."
He looked at Erin at saw her smiling. It made him feel on top of the world that they were so happy again, so much so that he had forgotten to worry about her impression of his apartment, he realised. Thinking that immediately started him worrying about it again, and it was all that was on his mind for the rest of the journey, as their conversation continued.
"You didn't say what the promotion is," he enquired.
"Oh. I'm going to be put in charge of the writing department. Head of Creative is the official title. It comes with a salary increase to go with the added responsibility. It also comes with longer hours. Not that I'm complaining about that. Hard work doesn't bother me."
"Wow, congratulations. I think you'll do an amazing job," he said as he tried to take that in. Once the promotion went through, only Hank would have more say on the career direction of everyone on the roster than Erin. It was a tough job that she was taking on, and although he naturally would support her and had just said she would be amazing in the new role, he didn't honestly know if she had the required abilities to lead a department, let alone possibly the most important one in the company. Time would tell, he figured. It was safe to say his own career wasn't going to suffer.
By the time he parked up in his building's parking garage, Erin had picked up that something was off. "Jay, are you alright?" she asked. "You've gone quiet on me."
"I'm fine," he lied smoothly. "I was trying to decide where we'll go for dinner tonight."
"It'll be a great night, I'm sure. I'm looking forward to whatever you decide."
Jay felt like he needed it to be a great night. If it did turn out to be, and if Erin turned out not to be disappointed about staying in his apartment, maybe he might at last start to feel more self-confidence around her, and within the relationship. He wanted that more than he could remember wanting anything in his life.
"Come on then, Jay. Show me to your bachelor pad," Erin said cheerfully as she got out of the car.
"Please let this go well," Jay quietly asked whatever higher power might be watching on.
A/N: Jay has worked himself into a self-critical mess again. But does he have anything to worry about? How do you think Erin's stay will go?
We also learned that Erin has a big promotion coming soon. Do you think she will be able to handle running a department?
