"Okay, how do I look?" Jess asked as she stepped into the living room, wearing the new jeans and top she'd bought for her date with Craig. Lux had insisting on taking her shopping minutes after Craig had finally called to ask her out and Jess hoped they made the right choice.
Tig and Lux were sitting on the couch watching a horror movie and Lux paused it, turning to look at Jess. Tig wolf whistled at her, grinning, while Lux nodded.
"Hot," she said, "I told you those jeans made your ass look good." Jess smiled. She really wanted this date to go well. Craig was a nice, normal guy with a nice, normal job and Jess was hoping he was just what she needed to finally stop thinking about Jax.
"Good," she said just as there was a knock on the door.
"Oh, shit, he's here," she said, feeling her pulse begin to race as she checked herself in the mirror in the living once more before grabbing her purse. She opened the door to see Craig, dressed nicely in slacks and a button down and no leather in sight, a bouquet of lilies in his hand. Jess smiled as she took them from him, giving Craig a hug.
"You look beautiful," he said in her ear and she smiled, looking down at the flowers in her hand.
"Thank you. These are beautiful," she murmured, "Let me just put them in water." Craig nodded, following her inside as she walked toward the kitchen, "Craig, this is my roommate Lux, and that's Tig," she said as she grabbed a vase from under the sink, quickly filling it with water and setting the lilies inside. She smiled as she set the vase on the kitchen counter before walking back to Craig.
"Ready?" he asked. She nodded and they turned to walk out of the door. She followed him down the stairs to his car and widened her eyes at the black Audi roadster in front of her. He opened the door for her and she slid in, wondering if she'd ever even sat in a car that nice, as he hurried around to the driver's side.
"There aren't a whole lot of choices in Charming," Craig told her as he pulled out of the drive, "But there's a great seafood restaurant in Manteca I thought I'd take you to." Jess nodded, smiling.
"That sounds great," she said. Craig grinned as he pulled onto the highway.
They pulled up to the restaurant less than half an hour later and Jess followed him out of the car and up to the door. He opened the door for her and she smiled, thinking that it had been a long time since she'd been out with the type of guy that would open doors for her.
They were seated almost immediately and the hostess set menus in front of them. Jess picked the menu up, perusing it as their waiter came over to get their drink order. Before Jess could say anything, Craig ordered a bottle of wine for the table.
"You've got to try the sea bass," Craig told her as the waiter left to get their wine. Jess looked at him over her menu.
"I was actually thinking about the salmon," she responded. Craig shook his head.
"Trust me, their sea bass is the best you've ever had," he said, smiling at her. She shrugged.
"I've never really liked sea bass," she admitted.
"You'll like theirs," he said, still smiling. The waiter returned with their bottle and uncorked it, pouring a small amount in a glass for Craig to try. It passed the test and the waiter poured two glasses for them.
"Are you ready to order?" he asked.
"Yes," Craig said, smiling up at the waiter, "I'll take the surf and turf and she'll have your Chilean Sea Bass." Jess frowned at him, about to turn to the waiter to correct him, but he was already walking away. She turned back to Craig.
"I didn't want the sea bass," she reminded him. He shook his head.
"Trust me. You'll love it," he responded. Jess sighed, thinking if he liked their sea bass so much he should've ordered it for himself, but she kept her thoughts to herself. It had been a nice evening up to this point and she really didn't want to ruin it.
"Okay," she conceded, "But for future reference, I like to order for myself." Craig nodded.
"Okay," he agreed, "But I know you'll love it."
"I better, I'm starving," she said. He laughed, nodding, and she already felt better about the incident.
Their food arrived, and much to Jess's surprise she did enjoy the sea bass, nearly finishing the entire plate. After several glasses of wine and an enjoyable meal, she had all but forgotten her annoyance that he had ordered for her. He smiled at her from across the table.
"This is nice," he said. She returned his smile, nodding in agreement.
"Yeah, it is," she said, "But I need to use the restroom. I'll be right back." He nodded as she scooted out of the booth, walking to the ladies room on the other side of the restaurant.
Walking back to her table from the bathroom, she heard Craig's raised voice and looked across the restaurant to see their waiter standing in front of him, his hands clasped in front of himself and looking very upset.
"You are such an idiot!" she heard Craig remark, and saw the waiter flinch slightly at his words. Jess frowned, unable to hear what else Craig was saying as he had lowered his voice, and by the time she arrived at the table the waiter was hurrying off.
"Why were you talking to him like that?" she asked, anger in her voice as she took her seat across the table from Craig. Craig looked across at her, clearly thrown off that she had heard him, and shook his head, remaining silent.
"You know, I waited tables for a long time," Jess told him angrily, "I still do from time to time. You have no idea how hard his job is."
"No, Jess, I wasn't-" he started, stammering over his words, "He… said something vulgar. About you. I was just defending you, is all." Jess stared across at him for a moment. That was not a response she was expecting.
"Well, what did he say?" she asked, her anger now transferring from Craig to the waiter.
"I don't want to repeat it," Craig said, "But it wasn't… nice."
"Oh," Jess said, "Well then, thanks, I guess." He grinned, taking her hand from across the table.
"Of course," he said, "You ready?" Jess nodded and they both stood as she followed him back out to the car.
SOASOASOASOASOASOA
Craig walked Jess to her door, but she decided to leave the date there. After her momentary fling with Jax, she really wanted to start this slow. She walked into the apartment, her eyebrows raised, to see Tig and Lux snuggled under a blanket on the couch, watching TV. Thrown hastily around the room were doctor's scrubs, a nurse's uniform, and Jess was pretty sure a stethoscope was lying on the coffee table. They looked up when she walked in, Lux grinning at her.
"Well, this is new," Jess commented, not wanting to think about Tig and Lux playing doctor.
"Well, now that the secret is out, we don't have to hide it anymore," Lux said happily.
"Could you, please?" Jess asked, only half joking, but Lux dismissed her question.
"We didn't expect you home so soon," she said by way of explanation, "Date not go well?"
"It went fine. Craig is just a gentleman," Jess said. Lux rolled her eyes, curling further into Tig as she turned back to the TV.
"He sounds boring," she said. Jess laughed, shaking her head as she walked down the hall to her bedroom, thinking that after Jax, boring sounded just fine to her.
SOASOASOASOASOASOA
"Jess is going out with that guy again tonight," Lux told Tig as she sat on the floor in front of her floor- length mirror doing her make up.
That night was the night it would be decided whether or not Jax was going to be taking Clay's place as president, and Lux was doing everything she could to not dwell on the fact. It was easier and much less painful to discuss Jess's love life than her own. Tig, who was lying on Lux's bed flipping through the channels on her TV, glanced over at her.
"Oh yeah?" he asked disinterestedly. Lux nodded.
"Yeah, and I don't like him," she said. Tig snickered.
"You've only known him for about 5 seconds," he reminded her. Lux shook her head.
"There's just something about him," she insisted.
"You sure this isn't all about your weird infatuation with getting Jess and Jax together?" Tig asked. Lux glared at him through the mirror.
"I do not have an infatuation about that," she said defensively.
"Yeah, babe, you kinda do," Tig replied. Lux rolled her eyes.
"Only because they're perfect for eachother," she said, "All I'm saying is when he comes over to pick her up I want you to talk to him." Tig raised his eyebrows.
"You want me to talk to him?" Tig asked, "About what?" Lux sighed in frustration.
"I don't know," she said, "Just… get a feel for him. I just can't see this yuppie real estate guy being into the manager of a strip club. At least, not for the right reasons." It was Tig's turn to roll his eyes.
"No guy in the world is interested in any girl for all the right reasons," he said. Lux stood up and turned around to face Tig, grinning.
"Oh yeah?" she asked, "So what are the wrongs reasons you're interested in me then?" Tig grinned, his eyes glinting as he rolled over to open the drawer in the nightstand next to the bed which contained all of her toys that they frequently used.
"Exhibit A," he said and she laughed, shaking her head.
"Bad," she responded, grinning, "Is that all?" Tig shook his head, standing up and opening her dresser drawer where she kept all of the costumes they routinely used during their role playing.
"Exhibit B," he said. She laughed, walking to where he stood by the dresser.
"Is that all?" she asked. He shook his head again, pulling the neck of her tank top back to stare down her shirt.
"Exhibit C," he said. She laughed, wrapping her arms around his neck and standing on her tip toes to kiss him.
"You're sexy when you talk like a lawyer," she said. He lifted an eyebrow, pulling her close to him.
"Oh yeah?" he asked. Lux nodded, grinning, reaching over to grab a tie out of the dresser drawer and looping it around his neck.
"Oh yeah," she said as she tightened the tie. Tig kissed her, running his lips down her chin and to her neck.
"Okay, but afterwards don't forget you need to talk to Craig," Lux said. Tig stopped kissing her, raising his head to look at her.
"Babe, ruining the moment," he told her.
"Oh, right, sorry," Lux said, shaking her head to get back in the right headspace, "Please Mr. Trager, you have to take my case or they'll throw me in jail, but I don't have any money to pay you!" He grinned, lifting her up and throwing her on the bed.
"I can think of a few other ways you can pay me for my services," he growled, taking the tie off and crawling on top of her. She giggled as he grabbed her wrists, holding them above her head as he expertly wrapped the tie around each of her wrists before tying them to the bed post above her.
"Oh Mr. Trager," Lux said, biting her lip in excitement, "What are you gonna do to me?" Tig grinned as he crawled on top of her, kissing her fervently.
SOASOASOASOASOASOA
Jess stepped into her heels, giving herself one last look in the mirror. She really wanted to impress Craig tonight and had chosen a red halter dress that showed off her legs. She ran her fingers through her hair again before walking into the living to wait for Craig. They'd talked almost every day since their last date and she was really starting to think she might like him. He was smart, dependable, cute… just what she needed right now.
She glanced up as Tig and Lux walked into the living room, both looking flushed and grinning from ear to ear. Lux was rubbing her wrists as if they were sore, but she grinned at Jess when she spotted her standing in the living room.
"Damn, girl," Lux said, eyeing the dress Jess was wearing, "All ready for your big date?" Jess nodded, checking her watch.
"Yeah, he should be here soon," she said, "Do I look okay?" Lux gaped at her.
"Okay? You look hot," she said, turning to Tig and smacking him lightly on the arm.
"Smokin'," he said in agreement. Jess laughed.
"Where's he taking you tonight?" Lux asked, but the knock on the door interrupted her and Jess stood to get it, glancing over her shoulder to look at Lux.
"I guess we'll find out," she said, smiling as she opened the door and let Craig in. He kissed her lightly, smiling back at her before looking down at the dress she was wearing, frowning slightly.
"Are you wearing that tonight?" he asked. Jess's face fell as she glanced down at her dress.
"I was," she said nervously, "You don't like it?" She briefly noticed out of the corner of her eye Lux smacking Tig on the arm to get his attention, but she focused back on Craig.
"It's just a little… short," Craig said, "And low." Jess frowned.
"Oh, I mean, I guess I can change," she said. Craig nodded.
"Yeah, that would probably be good," he said. Jess raised her eyebrows in surprise, turning to walk back down the hall.
"I will go with you!" Lux said robotically, looking meaningfully at Tig while she jerked her head towards Craig. Tig rolled his eyes at her before waving his hands, shooing her back to Jess's room.
"I can't believe he just asked you to change," Lux said once she'd closed the door behind her, "Are you sure he's not gay?" Jess shook her head, pulling on jeans and a nice top she had hanging in her closet.
"No, he's not gay," she said, rolling her eyes.
"If you say so," Lux said shrugging, "If some guy asked me to change, I would tell him right where he could shove it."
"Well Craig's… different than most of the guys we know," Jess said, feeling the need to defend Craig.
"What? He's ruder?" Lux asked.
"Stop, Lux," Jess said pleadingly, "I really like him. If he wants me to change, it's not a big deal."
"As long as he's just asking you to change your clothes," Lux grumbled.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jess asked angrily.
"It means you shouldn't have to change who you are for some guy," Lux said, "Because who you are is pretty awesome." Jess turned to look at her, having a hard time being mad at her after saying that.
"I'm not going to let him change who I am," Jess said reassuringly, holding her arms out to show Lux the outfit.
"How's this?" she asked. Lux shook her head.
"Jess, if he didn't like that dress I have no idea what he wants," she said, "But you look good, as always." Jess nodded as she hurried back down the hall, walking up to Craig. Tig was glaring at him from across the kitchen counter and Jess looked curiously at him before turning to Craig.
"Ready?" she asked. He nodded, giving Tig one last look before they walked out the door.
"What was that about, you and Tig?" Jess asked. Craig shook his head, shrugging.
"Nothing," he said, "We just don't have a lot in common. I don't see a lot of double dates in our future." Jess gave him a small smile as he opened his car door for her before running around to the driver's side and they were off.
SOASOASOASOASOASOASOA
Lux and Tig sat out on the balcony several hours later, watching as the party raged on at the clubhouse, passing a joint back and forth. Lux sat back in her chair, smiling in satisfaction. Church had gone exactly as she had hoped and it had been decided that Jax was now acting president of SAMCRO, until such time as Clay healed, if that ever happened. She had celebrated for a little while with her brother until Tig got in the mood to play secretary and boss and they ran back to the apartment where she had been a very naughty secretary.
"I probably shouldn't mention to Jess that I borrowed her dress for my secretary outfit, huh?" Lux asked. Tig snickered, shaking his head.
"Nah, just get it dry cleaned," he said. Lux laughed, resting her head back on the chair as she turned to look at Tig. This was the first time she'd been able to sit out in the open with him. She'd worried that with the fear of getting caught taken away from their relationship, things would cool off between them, but if tonight was any indication, she had nothing to worry about. Now their relationship could be real.
"So what'd you think of Craig?" Lux asked, taking the joint Tig passed her. What with church and all the excitement that had brought, she'd almost forgotten about the request she'd made of Tig.
"Didn't like him," Tig said. Lux's eyes widened knowingly as she looked at him.
"See!" she said, "There's something about him, right?" Tig nodded.
"Yeah, something about him," he agreed.
"Did he say anything to you?" Lux asked. Tig shrugged.
"Went on and on about his real estate shit," Tig said, "I finally told him I thought real estate was for pussies just to shut him up. He didn't like that."
"He just… he reminds me of this guy I used to date back when… well back before you," Lux said. Tig turned to look at her, his eyebrows furrowed, "He wasn't a nice guy."
"What do you mean he wasn't a nice guy?" Tig asked. If Lux's interest in him was any indication, he didn't think she'd ever dated guys people would consider 'nice.'
"Just… I don't know, he was mean to me," Lux responded evasively as she stared down at her manicure. Tig's eyebrows narrowed further, wondering if he needed to kill someone. Before he could ask any more, Lux looked over the balcony to see Craig's Audi pull up to the front of the building.
"They're back," she said in a hushed tone as she watched them both climb out of the car and walk up the stairs. She waved at Tig to be quiet, even though he wasn't saying anything, as she heard Jess and Craig talking.
"All I'm saying is I think you could find something a little more respectable to do with your time," Craig was saying. Lux turned to Tig with wide eyes as she bent down farther so they wouldn't see her.
"Oh, so suddenly I'm not respectable?" Jess asked haughtily.
"Not working in a place like Cara Cara! I've got a position with my real estate firm as a secretary. It'd be perfect for you," Craig continued as they began walking up the stairs and disappeared behind the side of the building. Lux stood to try and hear the conversation now that they were out of sight.
"I'm not going to be a secretary," Jess responded and Lux heard them stop, thinking they must have reached the front door, "I like my job. I like the people I work with. I don't want to work in an office."
"So what, you're just going to run a strip club the rest of your life?" Craig asked.
"I don't know!" Jess exclaimed, her voice full of frustration, "I don't have the rest of my life planned out! I don't know what I'm going to do. All I know is I'm not going to be a secretary at your firm."
"I think you should reconsider," Craig said, his voice angry.
"Thanks but no thanks," Jess said, and Lux could tell it was taking everything inside of Jess not to start screaming at him, "It's really not your decision how I make my living."
"No, but I just thought you might take more pride in yourself than having a job like that," Craig said.
"You're the only one around that seems to have a problem with my job," Jess replied easily, ignoring his comment, "So maybe the problem is with you."
"The problem is you need to stop spending so much time around people who accept that kind of lifestyle," Craig responded.
"So now you have a problem with my lifestyle?" Jess asked.
"Only because you can't see working at Cara Cara makes you look like a whore," Craig responded angrily, "I mean, how am I supposed to introduce you to my friends? This is my girlfriend Jess, she works at a strip club. How's that supposed to make me look?" Lux's eyes widened as she tried to climb over the balcony in a futile attempt to get to Craig, but Tig held her back.
"I'm going inside," Jess responded, her voice catching in her throat, "Don't call me again." Lux turned angrily to Tig, feeling her fists clench.
"I really hate that guy," she muttered as she walked inside. Tig nodded, following behind.
Lux walked to Jess's door, knocking softly on it, but Jess didn't answer. She could hear her sniffling from behind the door and Lux leaned against it, wishing Jess would talk to her. Lux knew Craig was only one big apology away from being back in Jess's good graces and she also knew what she was going to face if she continued on in a relationship with him; she'd been there herself enough times to notice the pattern.
She half-heartedly tried the door knob but it was locked. Sighing, Lux walked back into her bedroom where Tig was waiting for her and crawled into bed next to him, thankful that she, at least, had finally managed to snag a good one.
SOASOASOASOASOASOA
Lux groaned sleepily, rolling over and throwing a pillow over her ear to try to block out the noise coming from the kitchen. She glanced over at Tig, sleeping soundly next to her and rolled her eyes. Sometimes she thought that man could sleep through a tornado. She sighed, resigned to the fact that she was now awake, and crawled out of bed, making her way to the kitchen.
She halted as soon as she walked through the hall and into the kitchen, staring at two enormous bouquets of long stemmed roses that sat on the counter. It didn't surprise her to see them sitting there; she had been expecting something like this. Roses, chocolates, and a promise that he would never act like that again. She walked around the counter to see Jess bending over and rifling through cabinets. She glanced up when she saw Lux, grinning.
"Do we have any more vases?" she asked. Lux shook her head, eyeing the flowers warily. Jess noticed her looking at the flowers and smiled at them.
"Craig sent them over this morning," Jess said, beaming, "We got in a little fight last night and he sent these to apologize. Isn't he the sweetest?" Jess shoved a card into Lux's hand and she skimmed it quickly, resisting the urge to set the card on fire.
'Jess, I'm so sorry about last night. I don't know what got into me, but I swear it will never happen again. I really like you and just want what's best for you, but I promise if you forgive me and give me another chance, I'll never mention it again. Please please forgive me. – Craig'
Lux raised her eyes, staring as Jess skipped happily around the kitchen, trying to rearrange the roses into several smaller vases.
"Aren't they gorgeous?" she asked, sighing as she leaned against the counter looking at the flowers. Lux wanted to answer her with a resounding 'NO' and tell her those flowers were tainted with the worst type of asshole.
"Jess I… I kind of overheard you guys last night," Lux said hesitatingly. She was never one to shy from confrontation, but this conversation was a little more important than finding out who Jess had a crush on. Jess's face fell at Lux's words and she looked away.
"It was nothing, Lux," she said, "You read the card. He won't act like that again."
"That's what they all say, Jess!" Lux said, a note of pleading in her voice, "Every time. Every time it'll never happen again, but it always does and it's always worse the next time. The apologies are a little bigger, and little sweeter…" Jess scowled at Lux, crossing her arms across her chest.
"I don't know what sort of past experiences you're projecting onto me, but Craig isn't like that," Jess insisted.
Lux could practically hear herself saying those exact words, 'he isn't like that', a couple of years ago and knew then that Jess would never listen to her. For whatever reason, she was desperate to make this relationship with Craig work and she would continue to blind herself to what was happening. Lux had done the exact same thing. She would just have to take matters into her own hands and figure out a way to make Craig's true nature show itself to Jess before things got out of hand and it was too late.
Author's Note: Everyone who reviewed - you guys are amazing! I was having just about the worst day ever yesterday and all of your reviews made me smile :) Y'all are awesome.
I really hope y'all liked this chapter! I know there wasn't a lot of Jess/Jax interaction but the things in this chapter needed to happen so I tried to make up for it with some Tig/Lux interaction. Please drop a note and let us know what you thought! Remember the more you review the quicker we will update! :)