Author(s): Blaze and Devanie
Rating: PG-13
Category: Jack/Samantha, AU
Spoilers: None
Summary: "We sometimes encounter people, even perfect strangers, who begin to interest us at first sight, somehow suddenly, all at once, before a word has been spoken. "
Disclaimer: We'd never take Hank Steinberg's beautiful creations from him, but maybe we'd make them a little happier. *G*
Notes: This story was born when we started to contemplate what it might be like if Jack and Samantha met without the constraints of their working relationship. From there we took it one step further and wondered, 'What if Jack wasn't married?' So, this is definitely AU. The challenge is to make it true to the characters. Hopefully we'll succeed. :D We'll try to update at least once a week, but if we are a day early or a day late, we hope you understand! The first chapter is a little short, but they do get longer.
Chapter One
He didn't normally do this.
Then again, he wasn't normally in a bookstore at 1:13 in the afternoon on a Tuesday, so to hell with what he normally did.
Jack Malone swallowed and, tugging his coat over his holster, took half a step forward and said, "Is that Dostoevsky?"
The blonde he'd addressed looked up from her book, eyebrow arched, and met his eyes with a slightly annoyed, "Yeah."
"I read it in Russian, my last year in college." He chastised himself for sounding like he was hitting on her.
Her eyebrow raised another centimeter, then she broke the gaze and glanced at the cover of the book. "Really?" She waited for him to confirm, then added, "I've always wanted to read it untranslated."
"It's not too different from reading it in English," he said. "Your brain's translating it to English as you go."
"I bet," she replied, meeting his eyes again for a moment, then took a quick look at her watch and said, "Well, I really have to be going. Nice talking to you."
"Yeah, you too," he said, but she was already walking away.
She didn't normally do this.
If by 'this' she meant stopping for coffee at a shop she didn't usually fequent, on a block she would normally walk past if it hadn't been for seeing the man who had taken an interest in her at the bookstore.
Watching as he shifted his bag from one hand to another as he opened the door, she found herself turning the corner and following in his steps until she found herself in line behind him as he placed his order.
Coffee. Regular. Black. It didn't surprise her; he didn't look like the two-percent-with-hazelnut type. He also didn't look like her type, but something inexplicable about him had caught her interest. He wasn't unattractive, but he wasn't the type that would normally turn her head. He had to be at least ten years older than her, and wore a few more pounds than was probably recommended for a man of his build. His face looked slightly worn, but he conveyed a stable, intelligent demeanor. All in all the type of man she wasn't used to approaching.
And the type that didn't usually approach her. Then again, most men didn't make their initial overture by expositing their ability to read Dostoevsky untranslated.
Lost in thought, she didn't notice it was her turn at the register until she felt a hand brush her upper arm. Startled at the contact, she flashed him an embarassed smile and approached the counter. Moments later, coffee in hand, she was suprised to see him still standing there. He spoke first.
"You didn't strike me as someone who would go for black coffee."
"That's funny, I was thinking the same thing about you," she countered, slightly taken aback by his directness.
He gave her a small smile in response to the jab. "Did you follow me here?"
"I always get my coffee at this place." The lie slipped out quickly, easily. What was she supposed to tell him, the truth? She wasn't even sure why she was there in the first place.
They moved out of the way of the other customers in line, and he stuck out a hand. "Jack."
Tentatively, she offered one in return. "Samantha."
"I was just going to sit in here for a little while. Care to join me?"
She didn't know this man, and really had no reason to think she would want to know him. She worked 14 hour days. She dated, when she could. There was really no need to expand her social circle.
Then she remembered she was the one that had followed him. The least she could do was figure out why.
TBC