Prompt #4: You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be and I don't want to go home right now – 'Iris', Goo Goo Dolls
On their first date, he takes her to a jazz club. The sign outside promises a great show, but it turns out to be something of an open mic night. Halfway through the evening, he leans across the table and apologizes. He looks so annoyed with himself, certain he's messed up his only chance to impress her, and she feels heady with the power she has over him.
She smiles, and pulls him to the dance floor. No one else is dancing, but she's never been the shy type. Despite his protests that he's not a dancer, he's not too bad, and she decides she likes the way he feels pressed up against her.
At the end of the evening, he's brave enough to kiss her, and she's surprised at how much that one kiss leaves her wanting more.
They're lovers by the third date, and Irina realizes this assignment is going to be more fun than she anticipated.
When her handler tells her it's understandable for her to develop feelings for her mark, she laughs at him. He simply smiles, and tells her to use whatever she feels, but to always remember it's just a job.
Six months down the line, she realizes she might be in trouble when it's Irina, not Laura, who says, "I love you."
The next time they go to the jazz club, it's because a friend of a friend of Jack's has invited them. The band is better this time, and Jack's dancing has improved. The reason for their early departure has nothing to do with the music.
Her feelings for this man surprise her, but she keeps telling herself they mean nothing. He means nothing. This is just a job.
The wedding reception is unbearable, only because Irina's tired of smiling at all these people, she's sick of this white dress, and she'd prefer to dance with Jack in private. So she contents herself with whispering into his ear all the things she wants him to do to her when they're finally alone.
They don't stay much longer after that.
They dance to Mozart and Handel and Ella Fitzgerald and the Beatles. They dance to music only they can hear, and they're the only two people in the world.
When Sydney can't sleep through the night, he puts on a record and dances with her, and Irina watches and forgets that this isn't supposed to be her life.
When Sydney's older, she sits on the top of the staircase and peers through the railing as her parents dance. (This is something Sydney will always remember.)
Her handler comments on how well she's doing her job. "Perhaps, Ira," he says, smiling, "you like this assignment a bit too much, hmm?"
Her laughter catches in her throat as he reaches for her, but she knows better than to protest. "You know me better than that, Gerard," she says, and kisses him.
When she gets home, she scrubs herself until her skin is red, and weeps. Time is running out, she realizes. She's living on borrowed time. Laura's time.
The night before she dies, she puts on a record and holds her hand out to Jack. It's ironic that their first and last night should be marked by jazz, but it's somehow fitting.
Twenty years later, she smiles at her husband from her glass cage. She's always known they'd dance again.