AN: Same disclaimers Apply. I'm going to put up about three pretty big updates all within quick succession of one another. There are some kind of sexual scenes coming up in a few chapters so read at your own risk if you are over 17.
VILLA – SYROS, GREECE
Jack didn't like what his little vacation was doing to him. Memories that only dared to haunt him in his dreams were assaulting his waking hours. Years had been spent, attempting to dissolve the images of Laura but since his arrival on the island he had been unable to escape their fierceness.
From his vantage point on the second story veranda, Jack caught Irina shiver. Her towel lay beside her on a stone bench, forgotten as she swayed to the sea breeze, seemingly sweeping her thoughts away.
Jack's feet moved of their own volition, drawn to the siren basking in the sun's eroding light. He knew she had sensed his presence when her shivers ceased to be replaced by a stone exterior. She was being cautious, unwilling to show vulnerability which was a far cry from her congenial behavior of the pervious day.
"You'll get chilled if you stay out here much longer." Jack's words broke through the silence. He held out her towel but the gesture garnered no movement from Irina. "You're already shivering Irina, don't be obstinate." Jack opened the towel and draped it over her shoulders.
"Did you enjoy your day?" She suddenly asked, hands grasping either end of the towel as it protected her damp skin from the cooling air.
"Yes I did. This is not as horrid a place as I initially presumed it to be." Jack missed the pain flash through Irina's eyes.
"It's quite beautiful." She spoke softly.
Jack eyed her profile carefully, not sure what to make of her sullen mood. "What did you do all afternoon?" Conversation had always been difficult when she had been in one of her introspective states.
"Worked." Irina set her shoulders straighter. "Contact with my organization must be minimal at best but I can't afford to loosen my grip on any of the holdings or the infrastructure could be compromised."
Jack kept his gaze trained on the water, unsure of whether this situation warranted small talk. It seemed absurd, considering the plethora of unresolved issues lying between them like a bed of nails. As it turned out Irina bestowed upon him a small insight into her dizzying mind.
"I like to swim at least once a day. I went too many years denying myself the pleasure of the activity. Being pregnant gives me no excuse; I should avoid high impact fitness for the next four months, swimming was my only other option." Irina's eyes had not shifted from the expanse of sea before them.
"Twenty years without feeling free enough to float must have been disheartening." Jack responded absently. He didn't know where the thought had come from but was unable to rescind it now.
"You remembered." Irina breathed, finally turning to face him.
"Not from lack of trying to forget." Jack's harsh tone did nothing to soften the words. Irina spun back around to the water.
The morning conversation they had shared came back to Jack. Irina's disappointment at being pulled from her athletic training to become an agent for the KGB suddenly felt like more than a well thought out fairytale.
"Your superiors must not have been pleased with your plan to initiate first contact." Jack decided to tread lightly to avoid the disasters of last night.
"I had no contact with the KGB or Russia for the first seven months I was in the US." Irina's words held no emotion.
Jack's brow furrowed. "How would they have received their information?"
"My mission was long term; a few years, or so they told me. They didn't want my arrival to appear suspect so they informed me I would be without the security of the KGB for a while. I was given one assignment, to seduce you, and told I would be contacted to either be removed due to failure or be brief on the next stage. They didn't believe I would have any information of value to them during the first few months."
"Didn't they see such an arrangement as dangerous? You could have deserted your mission and disappeared, leaving an agent to their own devices for months in a country, no matter how conditioned they are, implies great risk." Jack's mind reverted to that of a theorist.
"Would you have deserted your country?" She looked directly at him. Jack's non-response was the answer she expected. "I couldn't have tossed my country aside." She paused, turning away from him. "However you are correct, it did turn out to be dangerous, only it wasn't my nationalistic loyalties that shifted, it was my personal ones."
Irina didn't elaborate nor did Jack urge her to. In the mindset she was currently entrenched, it would be the equivalent of pulling teeth to extract the answers to the questions her comments posed.
"I brought dinner back with me from town." Jack took in a deep breath, wary of her response.
"I'm going to shower and change. I'll be down when I'm finished, you don't need to wait." Without further comment she was ascending the outdoor stairs to her bedroom.
Irina took her time showering and dressing with two purposes. She knew Jack wouldn't eat without her, meaning her tardiness would serve to make him suffer the wait, yet there was a part of her who was opposed to returning downstairs at all. She had spent the better part of the day bored out of her mind. Her work had taken all of an hour, which left her alone and thoughtful for the remaining time. Despite women declaring their heightened intelligence during pregnancy, she was not buying it. Pregnancy served to confuse her logic and stripe her of her many learned skills. Being left to her own devices offered insanity too attractive of an opening to be ignored.
Debating her wardrobe, Irina couldn't decide what message she wanted to project while they ate. After much deliberation, she gave into her need for comfort; resulting in a pair of white cotton three-quarter length draw-string pants and a fitted tee that didn't even attempt to cover to stomach. Jack had made an effort not to hide behind his suit; she could do the same.
"Thank you for picking up dinner." Irina announced her entrance into the kitchen although she was sure Jack's honed senses had heard her approaching.
"Purely selfish motivation, I was hungry." Jack confirmed her success in tormenting him with the delay of dinner; she allowed herself only a split-seconded grin of self-satisfaction. "But you're welcome." He hastened to add, remembering their tentative cease fire agreement.
"Did you enjoy you're time investigating Arimolopous?" Irina took the same seat she had the pervious evening and inspected the food.
"It was quite interesting. Equal parts old and new Greece, quite original now a days." Jack tired to recall the day's events, before the pink bikini. "I was given the experience of a soccer game while I was in town." Jack waited for her reaction.
A wisp of a smile curved Irina's lips. "Gives an entirely different meaning to community." She nodded as though agreeing with herself.
"I picked up a book for Sydney at one of the antique stores. It was a beautiful shop." Jack added to which Irina raised an eyebrow. "I've been to just about every country this earth houses and many it no longer does. But I've never really seen them, I suppose the mission has always been my only focus."
Irina mulled the statement over for while. "If you stop to look around, acknowledge the people, architecture, the history you wouldn't be able to do you're job. You aren't meant to see the details of life Jack, only your assignment."
For a moment her words washed over him. "Not you though." He stated firmly. "You see everything and everyone, you make a note of their humanity. In India, with our contact, I had known him for years yet never recognized his conflicting origins but you did."
The table's two occupants stared at one another, challenging the other to break eye contact first.
"After escaping from Kashmir," Irina drew out slowly. "for a while there was….nothing." Jack twitched at her truth. "After," she started but had to stop and try again. "I began to notice all the details we're trained not to. I needed to see the humanity of those around me so I could slowly have mine returned to me." Irina lost the challenge and dropped her gaze from Jack's.
"Do you ever question your patriotism Jack?" Irina's question caught him off guard but she didn't wait for a response. "When I first arrived in the US, I couldn't have even imagined questioning my orders let alone my nationalistic ideals." She took a deep breath. "It's funny how that devote loyalty can be tossed aside when your country, your friends and mentors take your world from you. It's not soon after that they take your innocence and your heart and finally your soul."
Jack feared speaking as he thought she may not begin again. Instead he waited patiently for her to continue. He had seen the tape, he knew some of what she had endured while imprisoned but had conveniently filtered the emotion out of the images.
"I love Russia, I always will but I don't know if I would endow myself with the title of citizen. I can't blindly adhere to the decisions one government makes; believing their governing system is most noble and just. Every country is awash in the blood of others, some, even the blood of their own people. Your country has labeled me a terrorist, my own daughter has stated as much." Jack hid a flinch at the thought. "I don't condone or mean to justify my methods but I have done nothing but emulate the activities of your country. I blackmail and bribe who I need to, I trade weapons and I gather information. And I do it all to stay alive. What does your government do it for?" Her question was elementary but startlingly poignant.
"We could spend all night arguing the semantics of governmental legitimacy in dealing with international issues." Jack leaned back in his chair.
"I'm not interested in arguing semantics. I'm not interested in arguing at all." Irina tilted her head sharply. "What gives the CIA the right to police the world and don't give me any bullshit about defensive measures. What makes the CIA more legitimate than the KGB was, or MI5 or CISC or Interpol? Is it money, because I have that; power, I have that too. What makes you so righteous? About 5.5 billion people are dying to know, in some cases literally." She spoke, as though she was listing the movies she would enjoy watching after dinner for all her emotion.
Jack faltered. He wasn't sure how to answer her. He couldn't determine if she was looking for a debate, a retort or an honest answer.
"I don't believe I'm able to answer to your satisfaction Irina. There are many things I've been asked to do, for which I must dispose of my moral compass and there have been things I outright disagree with." Jack focussed on the colourful flowers on the table for a long while. "I suppose in many cases the CIA is the lesser of two evils. While I may not agree with some of their actions I can assure you, there are other countries that are capable of much worse."
"The former Soviet Union being one." Irina narrowed her eyes and wait for him to take the bait.
"No." His answer rocked her very foundation. "Looking back on the years of tension between out countries, the absurdity is astounding. Both countries had similar weapons capabilities, neither with any intention of using them." Jack raised his eyebrows to emphasize his point. "The US greatly over reacted to the fear of looming communism and the USSR greatly overplayed their determination to assimilate the remaining capitalist world. I'll admit the missile transportation to Cuba got a little heated and could have instigated a travesty on the part of both countries but the situation was averted."
Jack risked a smile at Irina's evident surprise. "Of course I can say that now, looking back on the last fifty years. Time gives one a perspective like no other." Irina returned the tentative smile. "Does that answer your question?"
"No." Irina's blunt reply was tempered by the smile still teasing her lips. "But I've spent the better part of twenty years searching for the answer and resurfaced with an answer similar to your own." She reached for her glass.
"Are you recognizing the CIA as a legitimate enforcer of international policy? What would your minions think?" Jack said with mock surprise.
"I believe it was you who said they were the lesser of two evils which I suppose, is a giant step up of your opinion of me." The battle of wills returned, this time Irina was not going to concede so easily.
Jack marveled at her memory. She truly was a force to be reckoned with, despite being pregnant, which from previous experience he knew tarnished her brilliance marginally.
"You're out for blood tonight. Care to share the source? I know it can't be me, I spent the day elsewhere." Jack scrutinized.
"I had forgotten you had sympathetic idiocy when I'm pregnant. It always did make me feel better to know I wasn't the only one losing my intellect." Before Jack could retort, Irina was out of her chair and passing through the kitchen door.
Sighing at her theatrics, Jack followed her into the living room. He found her perusing a large collection of CDs and DVDs that had previously been enclosed in a built in cabinet.
"I've deduced you're on a mission to tear me apart for leaving today but I have yet to ascertain the reason for such a response." Jack sat on the sofa, propping one arm across the back.
Irina spun sharply on her heels to face Jack. "You came to Greece for a reason Jack. You haven't yet shared it with me but I sure as hell know its not to see the sights. But instead of spending the day to better understand who I am, you take off. If you really don't care to hear it then you had best leave and not come back. I'm giving you every answer you could possibly want and I'm sorry if I'm not divulging it all as quickly as you'd like but I don't see any effort being made to fill me in on the last twenty years of your life."
He had seen this movie before, Jack thought and it hadn't ended well. "I hadn't realized you were interested in how I've spent the last twenty years and any information I thought you would want you would have gotten hold of."
Irina rolled her eyes, containing an indignant snort. "Was that while I was in prison or while I was trying to keep you, Sydney and myself from being killed? I know a little about Agent Bristow but I don't know anything about Jack." Her voice softened as she began the process of setting up the entertainment center.
"Jack ceased to exist about the same time you claim to have lost your humanity." Irina peered over her shoulder at his seriousness. "I didn't know how to live without my wife." That comment stopped Irina short. "Wasn't expecting that were you?"
Being alone with Irina in a comfortable setting impacted Jack's thought to speech filter. Before he could check the words, they were out of his mouth, forcing he and Irina to remember a much simpler conversation.
{FLASHBACK}
The car ride home had been interesting to say the least. Irina had insisted she drive as Jack's calf may seize up again and force them off the road. She didn't have a car of her own, not having to walk far to get to campus. Jack lived all of a five-minute drive from the school yet still chose to bring the car.
He had explained that he worked some odd hours and often could be pulled from school or have to go right from the office to a class. When Irina had questioned him about his work he had replied that he worked for the government. It didn't mean much seeing as how many students worked for the government as lobbyists or political assistance.
"It's this one on your right." Jack pointed to a large relatively new building. "I've got spot number 24. I'm on the fifth floor." Jack tried not to wince as his leg radiated with pain. He found it interesting that outside the mindset of fieldwork his pain threshold was that of a normal man while he could withstand extreme torture measures at the hands of the enemy, he concluded the circumstances of pain deserved to be investigated.
As quickly as the thought came, it fled. Jack berated himself for thinking of work when a beautiful woman was on the verge of following him into his apartment. Jack sighed at his own pathetic nature and hoped he wouldn't screw the evening up worse than he already had.
Irina heard Jack sigh and suddenly felt ill. She didn't have a clue what she was doing and their lack of conversation was obviously not interesting the man beside her. She didn't really know what to talk about with men let alone what American girls would talk about. She decided she had to try and salvage the situation somehow.
"Are you going to be able to make it up five flights of stairs?" Irina put the car in park and turned off the engine.
"Actually there's an elevator in the building so I'll be fine." Jack smiled at her thoughtfulness.
"Ah, living the high life are you Bristow." She joked as she helped him out of the car.
"Nah, location is everything. It's cheaper to live around here because the students can't afford much. I have a small but consistent salary that allows me the finer things in life."
"Like an elevator." She grinned as they stepped inside.
"I was thinking more of getting a pretty girl to drive me home in my car." His smile was vibrant and took Irina by surprise.
"I've been demoted already? I was beautiful at the pool." Jack's face fell until he saw the mischief behind her eyes.
"I can't keep using the same tired word again and again. You'll start to think I'm predictable."
"Aren't you?" Irina challenged.
"You'll have to find out." He returned, hoping he sound something akin to coy.
"I'll be waiting expectantly." The elevator signaled their arrival on the fifth floor from which they made the short trek to Jack's apartment door. "A student's bachelor apartment, should I be afraid?" Irina watched Jack slip his key into the lock and open the door.
"What? You can't predict the appearance of my apartment." Jack held the door so she couldn't see the interior.
"Clean. Spotless actually. I'd bet you are as thorough in cleaning your home as you are at stretching." She smiled at him shamelessly, raised her eyebrows and waited to be invited in.
Jack opened the door further and held it for her as she walked in. The apartment was indeed spotless. Jack hated the clutter a mess would produce and kept the living space tidy if not clean at all times. Today he got lucky because he had spent all day Sunday cleaning, one of his rare days off.
"It's a great apartment Jack." Irina looked it over and was impressed.
The kitchen was large, a rare find in any apartment. A dining table sat at the end of it and to the left was a large living room with sliding doors to a balcony. She cold see the bathroom at the other end of the hallway and two doors that were likely bedrooms.
"Thanks. It's a two bedroom but I converted the second bedroom into a study. I find it helps to have the place I sleep and the place I work separate." Jack was pleased she found his home impressive.
"I know, I sit at my desk to work and look over to see my bed taunting me, just waiting for me to give up my literary assignments and fall asleep." Irina didn't know if it was a false sense of security but she felt at ease in Jack's home and more specifically his presence. "So, what were you going to make tonight?" Irina placed both their swim bags and her book bag at the door.
"Chicken Parmesan and pasta." Jack looked down at his leg in disgust. His shin was noticeably swelling and turning a blue colour. "I've already got the chicken defrosting. Are you sure you want to do this?" Jack asked wearily.
Irina wasn't sure what he meant, her self-consciousness getting the better of her. "If you're not feeling up to it, I can go. Don't feel obligated to entertain me." Her smile didn't reach her eyes.
"It's not that, I just feel horrible for inviting you over and not actually being able to do anything." Jack sat at the kitchen table, not able to hold himself up any longer.
"I told you it was not a problem. I was going to have to eat anyway and this way I know you're not going to skip dinner because you can't stand long enough to prepare anything." She stared him down. "Now, why don't you sit on the couch and I'll get you some ice." She pulled open the freezer door and located a tray.
"I'd rather stay here and talk to you." Jack watched her place the ice in a plastic bag and located a cloth towel to wrap around it. "Thank you." Jack spoke softly as she placed the ice on his shin, currently propped up on another chair at the table.
"Tell me Jack, what made you decided to bring a girl home with you who you hardly know and could quite possibly take advantage of you in your weakened state?" She asked as she searched for a baking dish.
"Bottom left cupboard. What made you Laura, a neophyte to this city, decided to drive some guy home then proceed into his apartment where he could take advantage of you despite his weakened state?" Jack countered.
Irina looked up at him from behind the open refrigerator door and smiled. "Touché."
"Not that I want to scare you away but really, what possessed you to agree to come over tonight let alone accompany me home?" Jack worried that someone might hurt her if she remained so trusting.
"You don't have to worry." She seemed to speak directly to her fears. "I don't make it a habit of going home with strange men." Her teasing grin shone over her shoulder as she worked at the counter.
"Then-" She cut him off.
"It was your hands." She spoke to the cheese she was cutting. "You were going to ask what made me come with you, specifically." She turned sideways and caught his eye.
"Yeah, I know. Predictable." Jack rolled his eyes, forcing a laugh from Irina.
"You have great hands. Honest hands, if there is such a thing." She turned back to her cheese and Jack adjusted the ice on his leg.
"I'll admit that no one has ever given me that compliment before. But if it was my hands that got you here, who am I to complain?" Jack shrugged.
Irina put the chicken in the over to bake and started the pasta boiling before finally turning to face her crippled host. She had felt his eyes on her the entire time they had been conversing, it was strangely rewarding to know she could hold a man's interest, especially one, three years older.
The rules she had been given were extensive and detailed; however two weeks living in the US with no contact from the KGB had created quite a stir in her. Irina had no intention of disobeying her orders but they would have to be tailored slightly. The first item to be 'hemmed' on the list was, do not develop an attraction for your mark. The task seemed simple enough and she would have had no problem completing it, that was until she actually saw Jack in person. But a physical attraction wasn't a bad thing she reasoned.
"Jack, do you mind if I change? I'm still wearing my swimsuit and it's more than a little uncomfortable."
Jack blinked as though his thoughts had been somewhere else. "Sure. You're welcome to a shower as well." He was having a difficult time believing this girl was still in his apartment after all the leading comments he had unknowingly made.
"Thanks. I hate the feeling on dried pool water." Irina cringed mentally. 'Dried pool water' she thought, what the hell is that?
"Do you need anything else?"
"Umm, I hate to ask but do you have a pair of pants and maybe a shirt I can borrow. I put mine on while my suit was still wet and now they smell like the water."
"Sure." Jack silently rejoiced at the idea of Laura wearing his clothing. It seemed an intimate gesture to allow someone to where his clothing but he couldn't think of anyone he'd rather see them on.
Irina followed him to the other end of the apartment and took the cloths into the bathroom with her. She hadn't gone into Jack's room but had glimpsed the inside, please to see his room was also tidy. Arriving in the US to see people with luxuries they didn't even appreciate was enough to increase the bitterness she had already felt. Then there was Jack; he seemed to appreciate everything he had, even his choice of location for their meal was telling. He wasn't interested in flaunting his money for an expensive meal, which he could cook just as easily in his own kitchen.
Hearing the shower turn on, Jack began maneuvering around the kitchen. He shifted his weight careful so as to avoid jostling his leg more than necessary. Setting the table was a tedious task, as Jack could not decide how decorative it should be. He could really only set a table as his mother would make him for company or haphazardly as he did for himself.
Choosing the latter, Jack attempted to make it a little more enticing. For the finishing touch he placed his textbook on one of the chairs of the table so she wouldn't feel uncomfortable. There had never been any decision on whether their dinner was a date or not although he would guess she was at least interested or she wouldn't have stayed.
The door opened not fifteen minutes after it had closed, revealing a newly clothed Irina. His earlier conclusions about Laura not being like any other girl were obviously accurate. However, Jack had to concede the fact that Laura wouldn't need to spend as much time in front of the mirror as other girls, she was perfect.
"Is everything okay?" Jack asked regarding both the shower and the cloths.
"Pants are a little big in the waist and a touch too long, same goes for the t-shirt. I won't be winning any fashion awards for this ensemble but it's clean and comfortable. Thanks."
"I don't know. Looks pretty great to me." Jack took in the sight of the most beautiful woman he had never seen, wearing his cloths, standing in his apartment and looking at him. "I'm going to take a shower, all that talk of dried pool water made my skin crawl. I shouldn't be more than ten minutes and dinner looked like it was almost ready."
True to his word, Jack reappeared ten minutes later and the two sat down to dinner. They chatted a little about themselves. Jack found out Laura's parents had died when she was young and she had been living off of trust money ever since. He shared a few stories of his own past, telling her of his older brother who had died in Vietnam early in the fighting. He explained he had never really been close to him and that he was a bit of a wanderer.
The conclusion of dinner brought a shift in location to the pair. They moved to the couch where Jack could elevate his leg.
"Here, lie across the couch and lay your leg across mine." Irina tried to get him situated on the sofa so that he would be comfortable. It ended that Jack's legs laying across Irina's in order to keep them up slightly.
"You're not going to be able to practice for the rest of the week." She told him, inspecting the swollen area.
"I know. Definitely strained the tendon. I'll have to stay off it as much as I can for the next week and then wrap it well before I swim." Jack was mesmerized by her hands as they traced the definition in his legs softly.
"Getting off the blocks is going to hurt." She raised her eyes to showcase her worry.
"A little but I'll be fine. It doesn't hurt much now; I'm just being a baby because I have someone to look after me." Jack smiled and received a shining one in return.
"Jack?"
"Yeah?"
"I've listened to you in class and have seen some of the class lists. You're at the top of every one you take. You don't really need help understanding that reading, do you?" Irina continued to trace the musculature of his leg.
"And you're a third year taking a forth year course, a course that allows only select people to enter. So I'm assuming you don't need any help either." Jack was tempted to reach out and touch her but was happy for now with her hands on him.
"I've never done that before. Just gone up to a guy and started talking, I'm usually more reserved and shy. But you made it different, I didn't have to talk with you and I was comfortable which made me want to talk all the more."
"I'm still trying to wrap my brain around you being here, with me. I wasn't feeding you a line earlier, I truly believe you are the most beautiful woman I have ever met." The mood was too heavy for a first date. "And you look even better in your new outfit." He smiled and raised his eyebrows at her, eliciting a hearty laugh from her.
Without thinking it through, for fear of stopping himself, Jack leaned forward and caught her lips with his. Their lips stayed pressed together for some time, neither wanting to make the next move and possibly breaking the spell.
Not satisfied with the limits to the kiss, Irina tentatively opened her mouth under Jack's. He took the cue and ran with it, seeking out the contours of her mouth and tasting everything she had to offer. When their breathing and position became an issue they pulled apart, albeit reluctantly.
"Wasn't expecting that were you?" Jack teased, his forehead resting on Irina's.
"No, I can't say I was." She responded breathlessly. "But unexpected does in no way imply unwanted." Jack leaned in and kissed her again, holding tight to her side and the back of her neck. Irina had found no other place for he hands than around his neck, her fingers threading through the short hairs at the nape of his neck.
Using the last of her restraint, Irina pulled away. "You're going to get hurt again if we stay in this position."
"Stupid leg." Jack whispered under his breath.
"Hey, don't curse the leg. We should be thanking that leg for holding out as long as it did, so that we could make plans to spent the evening together. Actually, I'm quite enamored by that leg right now." She swooned playfully.
"I know, but I should keep it elevated if I don't want more damage to be done but that doesn't make this," He passed his hand back and forth between them. "any easier."
Irina thought for a moment and not wanting the evening to end yet, came up with a solution for their injury problem. She got up from the sofa and stood in front of it. "Lay down." She commanded gently. "On your side with your injured leg up." Jack complied despite looking unconvinced. "Good, now shift to the back." Jack moved so his back was against the back cushions. "Nope, just a second." She leaned over him and plucked the back pillows off the back of the couch and placed the on the floor, giving Jack more room to move back against the frame.
"Now what?" Jack was none too please he had to stop touching Irina.
Not bothering to answer, Irina lay out on the couch beside Jack, nose to nose. "If you lift your top leg a little I'll slide my legs underneath so they'll be raised." In response Jack wrapped his arm around her middle and pulled her closer to him.
"You're brilliant. An absolute genius." He stopped talking as soon as he thought he could get away with kissing her. "You know this only works because you're so beautifully tall." Jack returned to plundering her mouth.
"I've been grated the position at beautiful again." Instinct took over in her interactions with Jack, enticing her to nip playful at his chin and lips.
"Always beautiful."
{END FLASHBACK}
Their first date had been tame and quite innocent considering both were nervous and unsure of the other's reaction. They had come a long way in thirty years but had somehow ended up on a couch in the middle of a living room. Only this time the occupants sat at either end, their history compounding their nerves for deterrent.
"What are you thinking about?" Irina asked Jack thoughtfully.
"Nothing." Jack took his arm from the back of the couch and placed it in his lap. "What are you thinking about?"
"Nothing." Irina copied then thought better of it. "Just the first date we ever had." She admitted.
Jack was both parts angry and stunned. He was stunned Irina had mentioned the occasion, whether she was truly thinking about it he would never know. And angry with himself for not being honest with her, after all, what harm could mentioning their first date do?
"What are we watching?" Irina had turned a movie on but it was taking a while to load.
"Whatever I put on." She said testily.
"You have no idea what movie you put on, do you?" Jack tried to suppress the smile that was claiming his mouth.
"Just shut up and watch." Jack watched her as she avoided acknowledging him. It was truly remarkable how she managed not to age, only mature to appear more alluring and sexy than she had thirty years before.
"Always beautiful." Jack whispered.
He couldn't be sure but he thought he might have seen Irina's lips turn up in a flicker of a smile.
~TBC~
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