Author Note: Hello! You thank you for coming back. Much appreciated.

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Chapter 02 – Can I Borrow Your Husband?

Jackie sat down on the edge of the faded sofa cushion while Eric paced the floor of his small living room. He opened his mouth to speak but no words issued out. Jackie sat with a bemused expression on her face as she realized that he had no clue. This was a shocking surprise. "I set this up with Donna a few weeks ago. Did I miss the reunion?"

His mouth flapped again as his right finger started to point but fell to his side. He scratched his head, "Yeah, you missed the reunion…and besides, you were a junior so your reunion is next year."

Jackie folded her hands in her lap. "I'm sorry if I make you nervous Eric but really, Donna and I talked about this. I only learned about the reunion from Fez."

Eric looked at her suspiciously, "Since when do you call Fez or anybody back here? Isn't Hollywood your home now?"

She took his sarcasm with a grain of salt. "If you must know, Fez is the head of my fan club. It's based in Kenosha…it's too bad he didn't tell you."

Eric didn't want to admit that Kelso was actually more in touch with Fez than Donna, Hyde or himself. Fez was…..it was hard to explain what Fez was these days… "No, he didn't tell anyone."

Eric sat on the edge of his Barca and looked at the tiny movie star. She really did look as pretty as the picture Donna had showed him in Redbook magazine. Perhaps it was only an advertisement for shampoo, but Jackie Burkhart had this wholesome pure look about her that totally contradicted the person she was in real life. Or at least the Jackie he remembered.

She smiled, "Relax, I won't bite. So….where is Donna again?"

Eric sighed, "She's working the night shift at the station."

Jackie nodded her head. "Okay...so…not the best time for me to show up unannounced".

Eric agreed, "You got that right. Can't you get a hotel or something?"

Jackie rolled her eyes, "In Point Place? At this time of night? Eric, everything closes at nine. Maybe I could ask your parents. Let me page my driver…there might be something in Kenosha." She walked towards the telephone.

Eric could only think of what Donna would say if she found out that her friend came to see her and Eric sent her away and he definitely did NOT want Jackie Burkhart waking her dad at 11:30 at night. He held up a hand, "You don't have to do that. You can stay here until Donna gets home."

The tiny woman clapped her hands gleefully and in seconds was giving him a big hug, "Thank you!" The hug was not welcomed but certainly felt nice. He set Jackie back on her feet and was suddenly aware that he was only in his pajamas and a tee shirt. "Soooo….I was like... getting ready to go to bed….not with you I mean…."

She laughed, "I totally understand. Hey, can I ask a favor?"

Eric was already walking in the direction of the linen closet when he turned around, "Not here ten minutes and you want favors?"

Jackie bit her lip, "The airline lost some of my luggage and I need something to sleep in. Do you think Donna has anything I could borrow?"

That request wasn't so bad. Eric nodded and went into the bedroom and started pulling drawers. The top drawer held all the panties, which looked huge, and the next drawer was stockings. Finally, in the bottom drawer were serviceable thermal pajamas which, while winter warm, would swallow the midget woman. Everything Donna had was way too big.

Instead, Eric went to the closet and pulled out one of his flannel shirts. Wasn't fancy, would keep her warm and it was clean. He walked out of the bedroom to find Jackie had already made up a bed on the sofa. "Here you go." She smiled. "I didn't know how many blankets you needed."

Eric frowned, "There's no way I'm sleeping on the couch." Picking up the remote control, Eric clicked off the television. Good bye Dan Ackroyd – catch you on the summer reruns.

Jackie put her hands on slim hips, "Do you want me to tell Donna that you were a bad host?"

Oh dear god, she would pull out the guest card wouldn't she? Mentally, he sighed, "You can have the bed. It's got clean sheets. I will gladly sleep in the living room so you get your beauty rest."

Jackie smiled one of those award winning Academy smiles. He could swear her teeth glinted like pearls. "Um…where can I change?"

Eric climbed under the covers on the narrow sofa. "The bathroom door is right next to the bedroom. Take your pick and good night."

"Thank you Eric." She smiled sweetly and took the soft shirt and a cosmetic bag with her into the bathroom.

He must have dozed off because he awakened to the scent of vanilla and strawberries that wafted on the steam of the shower. Eric's little house hadn't smelled this nice since 1982. Well, at least since Donna had changed from Flex shampoo to Suave with a fruity smell. He opened one eye to see his flannel shirt had sprouted a nice pair of legs and instantly he pulled the covers over his head. Definitely DID NOT need to see a half-naked Jackie Burkhart.

The bedroom lamp clicked on and he heard Jackie dialing someone from the bedroom phone and only hoped it wasn't a long distance call. Donna would freak if there were expensive charges on the next phone bill. He heard murmuring and then a click as Jackie placed the receiver back in the cradle.

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"Hey…." She said softly into the pale yellow telephone, "I got here all in one piece."

The voice on the other end, miles away asked, "Are you going to be okay?"

She laughed quietly, "I'm safer than you would think. Can you call the airline? They lost a couple of my bags and well….you know how I am without my makeup kit."

The nameless voice replied, "Oh honey, everyone knows how you are without your makeup! I'll find it and send it to…where are you staying?"

Jackie pulled a note from her wallet and recited Donna's address into the phone. "If you find it, can you page my driver? I think I need a good night's sleep. There was so much turbulence on that jet; I thought we were going to crash. Twice!"

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Jackie said her goodbyes, good-nights and hung up the phone. The pillows were hard so she turned on her side to see a wedding photo of Donna and Eric. It was sad that she hadn't been in Donna's wedding party – Jackie Burkhart was in Florence, Italy on that blessed day – a photo shoot for designer shoes. Donna made a nice looking bride and Eric looked handsome in a tuxedo.

She reached over and clicked off the bedroom lamp and her eyes stayed open in the darkness. Why did she ever agree to return to Point Place?

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Jackie squeezed some lemon into her hot cup of water. Donna looked ragged after pulling an all-night stint at the radio station. Both women were quiet so Eric wouldn't wake up from his snoring slumber. Jackie smiled, "It feels so weird to see you after only talking on the phone…you don't seem like such a giant…anymore."

Donna reached across the table and pushed against the small shoulder, "Well, you aren't so tiny either. So, what famous movie star are you dating now?" she asked in a low voice.

Jackie grinned, "Well….the latest rag magazine has me hooked up with Rob Lowe AND Weird Al Yankovich." Her little nose scrunched up, "Who thinks of things like that!"

Donna grinned, "Rob Lowe….I could see that…but Weird Al? That's just gossip. So…you're really here!"

Smiling, Jackie replied, "Just like I promised. You get to interview me for the premiere of my newest movie that isn't released until next month."

Donna could feel a real smile touch her mouth for the first time in a long time. "An exclusive." She sighed, " My first exclusive interview. Maybe I'll finally get a chance at cable TV."

Jackie touched her hand, "Hey, I know you had a long night….how about I borrow your husband to take me to breakfast while you catch some sleep? Maybe we can drive around town and look at the sights."

Donna bit her lip – what a wonderful idea that was! However, she knew Eric would never go for it. Except for the reunion, he was pretty much a stay-at-home kind of guy on the weekends. "God Jackie…it sounds great but…"

"No buts." Jackie stood up and stretched. "I need to see if my parents' home has been bought by a decent family, maybe I want to go by Grooves and say hello to Steven….and then I also would consider getting a Fatso burger…they don't have those in California. AND it's really cold right now!"

Donna chastised lightly, "It's not always going to be 72 degrees wherever you go…this is October in Wisconsin….you need some boots."

Jackie laughed, "Shoe shopping! I have my day planned." With that said she traipsed over to where Eric was sleeping soundly and tugged on his hair. A lazy hand swatted at her. She chortled and started pulling down his blanket. He shivered and pulled his knees up to his chest uttering, "God Donna, you are hogging the covers."

Jackie knelt down to eye level and whispered, "I'm not Donna and if you don't wake up….I'm gonna…kiss you."

Green eyes flew open and Eric Forman sat up like he had stuck a fork into a light socket. "What the hell?"

Jackie sat on the coffee table, "We have a date….you and me."

Eyes still wild with surprise, he looked around only to see Donna at the kitchen table actually smiling. "Hey Eric…you and my guest are going sightseeing while I get a nap."

He scrubbed his face and tried to clear his head but still it was Jackie Burkhart sitting in front of him with a Cheshire cat grin on her face. He blinked. "Why are you still here?"

She stretched her arms over her head and yawned, "Because you haven't taken me to breakfast yet." She replied simply.

Mentally Eric inventoried the contents of his wallet: two tens and a five dollar bill, a business card from someone at the reunion, his library card…identification…."Eh….why don't I make us some toast and eggs here?"

She shook her head, "Nope. How is Donna going to sleep if we are out here making noise? The point being that we are leaving the house so get up." Jackie rose from the coffee table until his own flannel shirt was blocking his vision. Damn she smelled good.

Donna's voice came from the direction of the bedroom. "I'm taking a shower soon, so you better get yours quick."

Eric struggled to squeeze past Jackie without actually touching her. Those nice shaven legs and pedicured toenails were a treat for the eyes but he didn't linger – Donna was giving him a five minute shower!

Jackie slowly dressed while Donna slid into her pajamas. "Don't be too hard on him." Donna warned. Jackie smiled, "No worries. I'll keep him busy while you get some sleep. Maybe we can go out to dinner tonight – my treat of course."

Donna smiled, "I would like that very much." She watched as Jackie easily fluffed her hair and applied some lipstick, mascara and eye shadow making her look like a perky peppy morning person. Donna however, still felt like she was on air – last night was long and she was tired. "Go make someone smile with your beautiful face midget."

Jackie looked at Donna's reflection in the bedroom mirror and beamed, "I am a morning person aren't I? And thank you for the compliment you lumberjack." The sound of the shower running gave Jackie a reason to quickly change her clothes, "Boy, when you tell Eric to do something he really does it!"

Donna yawned and covered her mouth. "It took ten years…but yeah, I did it."

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Eric shivered in the cool morning temperatures. He blew on his hands before stuffing them in his jacket pockets. "Remind me again why we are waiting outside instead of taking my car?"

Jackie wrapped her sweater clad arms around herself and smirked, "I hired a driver for the weekend. Wait…there he is!"

Eric looked up to see a brilliant white limousine pulling up alongside the curb in front of his house. A little bit of pride filled his chest as Mark from across the street opened his living room curtains to see the extraordinary car. "You said you hired a driver Jackie…not a freaking limo!"

The smartly dressed driver came around from the back of the vehicle and opened the doors for his passengers. Jackie entered first and collapsed onto the butter soft leather seats. Eric could only gawk at the luxury of the limo interior. He had never been in a car like this.

Jackie liked seeing the spark of "awe" on Eric's face. "I hired a driver who just happens to drives a limousine. Besides, all the Lincoln Town cars were rented for some silly wedding. You like?" She pointed to a small color television that was on a shelf near the rear and then to a mini-fridge which Eric promptly opened. "There's beer in here! And not the cheap stuff!"

"Where to Miss Burkhart?" the chauffeur asked.

Jackie looked at Eric, "Who makes the best breakfast and don't think about the price."

The words slipped out easily, "Engleman's Broken Eggs and Coffee." Eric had never been able to afford the overpriced restaurant but plenty of coworkers had been there and bragged about the food. Jackie repeated the cafe name and pressed a button to raise the privacy window.

Eric relaxed visibly. "God Jackie…you are living in style!" He was impressed and not afraid to show it. Jackie smiled softly, "It wasn't always this way…I paid my dues." She patted him on the knee. "So, give me all the dirt on our friends."

Eric opened the mini-bar and contemplated drinking one of those expensive imported beers but thought, "Nah, that would ruin my eggs Benedict and champagne!" He looked at Jackie who had an expectant expression on her face and remembered she asked him a question. "Well, what kind of dirt are you looking for?"

She bit her bottom lip and leaned forward, "Michael. Did he ever marry Brooke?" That didn't seem like the BIG question she wanted to ask but it was the first. Eric crossed his leg so his ankle rested on his knee. He steepled his fingertips together and pursed his lips enjoying the ride and the anxious expression on her lovely face.

"No. They never married. However, they are raising Betsy as single parents and I think Brooke is engaged…I'm not sure, I only heard that from my mom."

Jackie dared to ask, "Michael…how's he doing?"

Eric held his tongue and tried not to say anything about Kelso's corpulent appearance. "He's good. He works as a crossing guard at Betsy's elementary school. He thinks it's important to be a good dad and likes to hold up the stop sign just to mess with traffic."

Jackie smiled – that was so like Michael to look out for his little girl. She looked back at Eric, "What about Steven?"

Eric could feel that was the BIG question but she asked it so plainly that he was disappointed. "Hyde's still selling music and seems pretty happy. He's not rich and he's not poor either….in fact, he's pretty much the same as he was after high school. Shorter hair."

Jackie laughed, "No resurrecting the porn 'stache?"

Eric shook his head in the negative. The fact that he spent his weekends hanging out at Grooves was not important right now. Jackie reached into a recessed wall and pulled out two crystal flutes. "Champagne?"

Eric grinned, "Why not? I mean you wake me up early, drag me out of my horrible sofa bed…the very least you can do is offer me expensive champagne."

She laughed lightly as she passed the bottle for Eric to open. There was a 'pop' and the bubbly beverage was held over the two glasses. As Eric sipped his glass, Jackie asked another question. "How are you doing?"

Eric almost choked. Who in the world ever asked him how he was doing except his mom? That was a totally unexpected question! "Me?" he wheezed past a bubble of champagne caught in his throat. "Did someone say something? Why would you ask that question?"

Jackie rolled her eyes, "God Eric, I haven't seen you in years…you're my friend – I've always considered you a friend, why wouldn't I be interested in how you are?"

She almost seemed innocent sitting on that leather seat sipping champagne from a fancy glass but only Eric Forman knew what lurked under that persona. Jackie Burkhart had a secret agenda. Okay, he could do this – disarm her with charm while pulling the rug out from under her feet. Yeah, he could do that! He brushed the hair from his face and replied, "I'm good. I work for the city… you know how it is…someone wants to dig a hole – I write the permit. Some guy wants to put up a building – they come see me."

Jackie leaned forward, "So you have an important…job." She said it so the words hung on the air. Eric tried to wrap his mind around a mundane day at the office where all he liked to do was stand around the water cooler dreaming about Star Wars. He blinked when he realized that Jackie was waiting for him to say something else. Maybe something clever.

"Uh…yeah…I guess. Hey, what about you! Miss Famous-Schmamous. What do you do when you're not making….money?"

Jackie smiled at his innocence. He had no clue of how hard she actually worked to achieve her success. She hugged her knees and confessed, "I'm trying to learn how to sew. Don't even laugh because it's hard." she warned with a smile. "If you're not good, I'll sew you a Hawaiian shirt or something horrible and insist you wear it in public every time I visit."

He chuckled, "I'll be good because I don't really care for shirts with palm trees on them. But seriously, what else do you do?"

"What do you think I do?" she countered his question with one of her own.

Eric sipped another drink of the delicious champagne and exhaled, "I think that Jackie Burkhart walks the beaches in the morning barefoot looking for seashells. I think she has coffee at some fancy cafe and reads scripts while barking orders at the waiters and I think she watches reruns of Charlie's Angels before going to bed."

Her lips curled, "If only! That would be the life. When I'm not trying to figure out how to thread my damn sewing machine, I'm catching up on sleep. My non-working life is pretty boring."

Eric seriously doubted that was the case, but he was getting a free breakfast out of this babysitting gig so it was better to make the best of a bad situation. Looking back on how this day could have been, this wasn't actually such a bad deal!

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"…so I told him I'd run into the ocean…naked…in January… only if he did it too." Jackie was holding back a chuckle, "and guess what?"

Eric's stomach ached from laughing, "I have no clue." The stories were great and he was having more fun than he thought he would. Jackie's tales of 'woe from the studio' were hilarious and she was more entertaining than he could have imagined. "Did he?"

Jackie covered her mouth with her hand and nodded yes as she smothered the giggles. "Can you imagine a 50-something naked producer flying through waves on the California coast in the winter? I was freezing but you know, on a girl it looks good but an old man…..not so good."

Eric tried to imagine Red Forman running in the ocean and no that would not make a happy picture. He felt wonderful. The restaurant was first class, the food was rich and delicious and Jackie Burkhart was the perfect breakfast date. His stomach was full and he laughed more than he had since….well, at least since his basement days.

While they were finishing their breakfast, a small group of teenagers approached the table, hesitant at first, but one girl was bold. "Miss Burkhart….can we have you autograph? We are big fans of your movies."

Jackie smiled, "Of course." But in the back of her mind she didn't think she would encounter any fans in Point Place! She pulled a pen out of her slim purse and reached for the menu the teenager was holding. "Your name sweetie?"

"Brenda. I'm a junior at Point Place High School. I'm on the cheer leading team…" Then she gushed, "…Miss Burkhart…you are such an inspiration to us girls."

Jackie laughed, "Well anything for the team right?" She scribbled something on the menu and signed three more before the giggling gaggle of girls were ready to leave. "Oh! Can we take our picture with you?"

Jackie's eyes flew open. This was NOT her best camera face. Brenda handed the camera to Eric, "Would you take our picture please?"

Eric nodded politely and reached for the Nikon camera, "Okay, so where is the button on this thingy?" he joked.

Brenda laughed and pointed to the shutter button as the girls crammed into the booth with Jackie. He took a deep breath and looked at all the pretty faces in the viewfinder and said, "Say….money!" All the girls smiled and he took the picture.

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The Point Place mall was just like she remembered. The greasy fattening pizza was full of gooey deliciousness and she ate two pieces. Eric enjoyed the attention he was getting from harried husbands pushing baby strollers with their wives. Jackie would put her soft hand on his bicep when a group of people approached, almost as if Eric Forman was her personal bodyguard. She did buy a new pair of boots and he could hear her shrieks of happiness as she danced around the shoe store.

He would never look at shopping at the mall as something that he dreaded doing. Christmas might not be so bad this year. Oh yeah, it would. Donna's shoestring budget would forbid gifts that might actually cost money. Eric sighed and resigned himself to finding a part time job so they would get out of their money slump. The palm around his bicep pulled him towards a jewelry store. "Oh Eric, you should totally get something for Donna!"

Eric looked at the expensive display of diamonds and precious stones and knew that nothing in the display would ever be worn on his wife's fingers. Jackie pointed to a sensible watch and motioned for the clerk to assist. Eric shook his head, "No….Donna's not a jewelry kind of girl – she doesn't wear that kind of stuff." He protested lamely.

Jackie looked at him, "Seriously, is Donna a woman or not."

Eric shrugged, "Some days I'm not really sure."

That reply got him a frog in the arm. "Okay, you hit hard for a an elf." He laughed. Jackie rolled her eyes, "Get her the watch…for no reason at all…it shows you care…okay?"

Eric held up his palms and gave Jackie permission to make the hard decision. Jackie bargained with the jeweler, asked for a discount, countered with a promise of a sound bite in her next interview and ended up getting the watch for 75 percent off. Eric was amazed. "Hey, can you get me a car at that price?"

Jackie only laughed. "Now you are back in your wife's good graces. Oh, hey! We need to head back, my interview with Donna starts at five."

Eric's brows knitted, "She's working tonight too?"

Jackie shrugged her petite shoulders, "She told me that she works weekends and gets Wednesday and Thursday's off. I don't know Eric…don't you guys keep track of each others schedules?"

That was when Eric realized just how little he really knew about Donna Pinciotti-Forman!

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