Chapter 2
Jackie finally dragged herself out of bed and went to the mirror to straighten her clothes. She rolled her eyes when she caught sight of the shirt that she had thrown at Phil. It was neatly folded and sitting on top of the dresser- next to the valet where his cufflinks were lined up in perfect symmetrical rows. She fought down a bratty urge to shake the box and mess them up. She supposed it was ridiculous to complain about a man who was too tidy. She still remembered the shock that she felt the first time she had stepped into his apartment...
It had taken a lot of effort to bring Phil Coulson to ground. After their fateful first meeting, Jackie returned to Bugatti's the very next night. She perched on a bar stool and watched like a hawk for her quarry to reappear, but she was disappointed. He didn't show. Somehow, that made her resolve to see him again grow even stronger.
Veronica and Stephanie were amused and then aghast when Jackie tried to convince them to blow off work the following Saturday and go back to Bugatti's again.
"What is your thing with this guy?" Ronnie asked, shaking her head in disbelief.
"He's not even your type!" Steph chimed in.
Jackie couldn't answer. She told herself that it was just the thrill of the hunt- she was always on the lookout for something new and different- and Phil Coulson was certainly not like any guy she had met before. She wondered if he was really as gentleman-like (and clumsy!) as he had first appeared. She wondered how long he had been in the Navy. She wondered if he had ever managed to get a drink that night that didn't wind up on his shirt or on the floor. Truth be told, she wondered entirely too much about Philip Coulson for someone she had barely met.
In the end, Jackie wasn't able to convince her friends to join her, and she wasn't brave enough to go alone, and so she picked up the graveyard shift at Denny's instead.
The sun was almost up when fate decided to smile on her at last.
Denny's was always packed when the clubs emptied, but by five AM, the after-hours crowd was finally starting to trickle out. Jackie kept her eye on the podium, trying to seat as many customers in her section as possible. It wasn't about the tips so much as self-preservation. Anyone who looked like they weren't busy ran the risk of being tapped by the manager to clean the bathrooms- and Jackie really couldn't face regurgitated Moons over My Hammy after an six hour shift. However, she was trapped at the drinks station, brewing a new pot of coffee when a new table came in. She groaned when she saw that the group- a trio of men as far as she could tell from the backs of their heads- was seated in Sherry's section. She only had two tables left- and one of them was asking for her check.
Jackie tried to look industrious when the manager, Larry, walked over to where she was standing and braced herself for the worst.
"Jackie- how much longer are you around for?" he asked.
"Uhm...as long as you need me?" she answered uncertainly.
This seemed to be the right answer. "Good- do you mind taking over for Sherry? She has to go home and get ready for church."
Church? Jackie thought that was a rather unlikely destination for her fellow waitress, but she kept her comments to herself.
"Of course," she answered quickly. She picked up the coffee carafe and walked over to Sherry's section to top off everyone's drink.
Jackie served the older tables first before approaching the three-top that had been freshly seated. "Can I get you anything else to drink?" she asked, pouring coffee into the upturned mugs and not really bothering to look at her customers.
One of them gave a pained-sounding moan.
"I'll take that as a 'no'" Jackie laughed. "Anyone else?"
"Ice water," the second man requested in a slurred drawl.
"Chocolate milk."
Jackie blinked in shock when she heard the third request- not at the novelty of a grown man requesting chocolate milk, but at the sound of a familiar voice. "Phil!" she blurted without thinking.
His eyes met hers. For a second, he simply looked confused- but then he flushed scarlet. "Er..." he said, struggling to place her name.
"Jackie," she reminded him, feeling slightly hurt that he hadn't remembered. Still, she managed to hold her smile in place. "One ice water and one chocolate milk coming right up."
Jackie dashed into the kitchen to get the milk and paused to check out her reflection in the dented metal of the dishwasher. Why couldn't he have come at the beginning of her shift? Jackie was certain that her hair and makeup were looking a little bit tired. She smoothed her ponytail and swiped on a fresh coat of lipstick before heading outside again.
"Here we go..." she said, putting the drinks down on the table.
The first man was laying face forward and seemed to be asleep. The second looked as if he were ready to follow his friend's example.
"Long night?" Jackie asked to Phil.
He quirked up the edge of his lips in wry half-smile that made Jackie's tummy do a funny flip. "Too long," he remarked. "My roommate Claussen picked a girl up at the club and drove back to her place."
"And that's...bad?" Jackie asked, wondering jealously if the annoyance on Phil's face was because he wanted to take the girl home himself.
"He took my car," Phil spat back.
"Cab?" Jackie suggested.
"The apartment key is on my keyring."
"Yuck..."
"Yeah- so I'm on babysitting duty until he comes home."
As if on cue, Phil's second companion slumped forward in the booth.
"Well...I can keep you company for a little while..." Jackie offered, hoping that her suggestion wasn't too forward.
Apparently it wasn't. Phil's lips quirked upwards again, although he tried to hide his pleasure by opening the menu. Unfortunately, the plastic edge knocked against his milk. Jackie dove forward and caught it just before it tipped.
"Am I going to have to bring you a sippy cup?" she teased.
After that, the tension was broken. Jackie had to break away from time to time to service her other tables, but she kept stopping back to flirt with Phil. He ate two plates of pancakes (which Jackie "accidentally" forgot to ring up), drank at least a pot and a half of coffee and lingered in the booth until Jackie's shift ended at eight.
"Can I give you a ride somewhere?" she offered after she had taken off her apron and signed out for the day.
"We could grab a taxi," Coulson answered.
"You could do that," Jackie agreed, "but it wouldn't be any trouble..."
"Only if it isn't out of the way."
"Of course not!" Jackie exclaimed before she had any idea where he lived.
She helped Phil drag his semi-conscious buddies out to the car and then drove them across the river to Chesapeake.
After leaving the pair to dry out on their front porch, she went back to the car to take Phil to his own apartment. He pointed out directions until they pulled up at a modest but tidy apartment building.
"Rob's back!" Phil announced with relief as they pulled into the lot. He jumped out of the car and walked over to an old but well-maintained Honda Accord and peered inside. "Nice," he grumbled, reaching inside and retrieving a set of keys that were clearly visible through the rolled-down driver's side window. "I guess this is why I keep it insured."
Jackie didn't have any reason to get out of the car, but she did anyway. She walked to where Phil was standing and peered up at him. She offered an encouraging smile, hoping that he would ask for her number- but he didn't seem to take the hint.
"Er...thanks for the lift," he told her. "It was good seeing you again."
"It was good seeing you again too," she said, perhaps a little too enthusiastically.
Phil tugged at his collar.
"So...er...I should-"
"Yeah," Jackie looked down at her feet, disappointed- but she quickly rallied. "Hey...would it be okay if I used your phone?"
"Of course," he responded in the same polite tone that he had used when they first met.
Jackie was more determined than ever to make him lose control.
They walked up a flight of stairs in silence and Phil stopped in front of a door labeled 15A.
"So...this is your place?" Jackie said, looking around the courtyard of the small apartment complex while Phil fiddled with the lock. He seemed to be having trouble with the key. Jackie smiled to herself, wondering if he was nervous...and sadistically hoping that he was.
Finally Phil managed to unlock the front door. He nervously motioned Jackie through, holding the door open for her. One look around the apartment and she could definitely tell which side was Phil's. Half of the front room was shipshape and stowed away- and the other looked like a bomb had gone off.
"I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the neat half is yours. Oh course that's just a guess." She smiled at him coyly and kicked a dirty sock back over to his roomate's side.
"Got me figured out already?" Phil ambled into the small kitchenette and retrieved the phone. He laid it handed it to Jackie and then raked his blue gaze over her figure. "Now let me ask you this, your not really here to use my phone are you?"
She glanced back at Phil. "Got me figured out already?" She mimicked back at him. Jackie decided to gather what was left of her courage and just wing it. Jackie figured she already came this far, might as well go the extra mile. "I…uhm…I think that my phone call can wait…but…Since we're on the subject of phones though, you can at least ask for my number!"
Phil's eyes widened and Jackie's courage began to waver. She bit her lip and looked away. "Unless you're just not that into me. Or …you're gay?" Jackie's eyes widened in surprise and her hand flew to her mouth as realization set in. Oh God! That had to be it! Why would he be so neat and gentlemen-like otherwise? He had tried to turn down her drink and now he was ignoring her very obvious attempts to pick him up!
"Oh my God! I am so sorry! I'm not usually this straight forward, really I'm not. I'm more used to guys coming up to me and now I see why I-"
Jackie's rambling was cut off by Phil's laughter. Jackie's embarrassment quickly turned to anger. She glared at him, "It's not funny, I was being serious!"
Phil quickly regained control. "I know you were, its just…I dunno- a long cruise- but not that long! Its been a while since I've been in the company of a woman and I guess I'm just a little slow... Or maybe its just you."
Jackie was still pouting, but she still blushed and looked away from him stubbornly.
"Believe me," Phil said in a husky whisper. "I'm not gay."
Jackie started to turn toward him again, but before she could manage it, he captured her face in his hands. Soft, warm lips descended upon her own. The kiss was short and sweet, but heavy with a promise of more to come. When their lips parted Jackie blinked up at Phil in surprise. Her skin was still tingling where they had touched. She hadn't been kissed like that in…well, ever!
Jackie grinned up at Phil.
"So I guess that means that you want my number?"