Chapter 5

On Wednesday morning, Ianto came in bright and early as usual, and got the coffee started before the others arrived. When he saw Jack come in, he smiled at him, and was filled with that warm feeling again.

'Morning Ianto' Jack said, not quite knowing what to feel as the young Welshman smiled at him. Last night, he hadn't been able to think about anything but Ianto and if he had gone too far, but now Ianto was there, flashing him that smile that made him warm inside.

'Good morning Jack! I'm sorry about not turning up yesterday, had a bit of a family emergency…'

'Nothing too serious, I hope?' Jack said, the concern obvious in his voice.

'It depends on how you see things, my girlfriend and I broke up on Monday night…' Ianto said, looking into Jack's eyes.

'Oh, Ianto, I'm so sorry! How are you holding up?' Jack asked and tried to look as sadden by the news as possible, even though his insides were screaming happily.

'Ok, thanks. Lisa and me, we were over a long time ago, and it's time to move on…' Ianto said, with a barely noticeable smile on his lips, as he looked into Jack's eyes. He gathered courage and was about to continue, when Gwen bloody Cooper chose to knock on the door.

'Hello boys, hope I'm not interrupting you!' she said, completely ignorant of what could have come out of this conversation if only had they been able to continue.

'Damn that woman, this was my chance!' Ianto and Jack thought at the same time.

Jack plastered on a smile and answered her.

'Of course not, Gwen, it's always lovely to see you!'

Ianto felt a pang of jealousy, as he had been hit in the gut. Maybe he had got this all wrong anyway. He needed to talk to Jack, find out what he thought about all this, perhaps it's just his way of acting, being flirty with everyone. He hoped not, but decided they would have to finish this conversation some other time, perhaps on the office-party on Friday.

Ianto excused himself to let them talk about the client account Gwen apparently worked on at the moment, and left Jack's office. As he had his back to Jack, he didn't see the disappointed and slightly hurt look on Jack's face when he left.

Jack and Owen were going to a conference in Liège for five days, starting on Saturday, and someone had had the brilliant idea of organizing a party to celebrate their new colleagues.