I Volunteer | Jack Schlossberg | Friends to lovers

It takes courage

5 months later

Susan was frazzled. Her face was flustered with rosy cheeks and a glisten right below her hairline. "Annie! A hand?"

Annie jogged over to Susan. "How can I help?" It was the annual Profiles in Courage Awards at the library—the single biggest event of the year. All hands were on deck, and all hands were stressed.

"I need you to go inside and look for the last ten boxes of programs. They're nowhere in sight out here, so they have to be somewhere back there. Take a dolly with you to help carry them back."

Annie grabbed the dolly and wheeled it toward a hallway of rooms. There were a total of ten doors on the hall, so she started with the first and planned to work her way down. At door number six, the knob finally wiggled, giving way to allow her into the room. She locked her eyes on the shelf across the room, and walked over to begin looking. As she was pushing t-shirts and lanyards and stacks of paper aside, she heard the latch of the door click. She leaned her head to peek beside the shelf, where she saw a man pacing.

"I don't want to scare you," she said as the man jumped and clutched his chest, "but I wanted you to know there's another human in the room with you."

"You didn't do a great job at the whole 'no scaring' thing," he said with a playful chuckle. She recognized him instantly; the tall frame, the dark eyes with matching brows, the thick curls that draped across his forehead; he was unmistakably Caroline Kennedy's son, Jack.

Annie looked down at her feet, immediately embarrassed at his retort. "Yeah, I didn't, did I?" She scratched the back of her neck.

"But to be fair, that was mostly my fault. I was so focused on replaying my speech in my head that I wasn't even paying attention enough to realize anyone was here."

"Your speech? I didn't realize you spoke at these."

"Yeah, almost every year. But the public speaking thing never gets any less scary." She could see the nerves on his face. This was a confident, smart man. But even the strongest humans had emotions.

"Do you want to practice in front of an audience of one?" Annie blurted out before she could even process what she was saying. You idiot, why would he want to rehearse his speech with a literal stranger?  she screamed at herself internally.

His dark eyebrows shot up to his hairline. "Actually yeah, do you mind?"

What the actual hell. He said yes?

"Not at all," Annie said as she sat in the nearest chair. She crossed one leg over the other and leaned back. "I'm all ears."

As he started speaking, she couldn't help but zone in on his face. It was impossible not to stare at a man who looked like that. She studied his facial expressions; the way the corners of his mouth pulled up when he paused, almost like a smile but not quite.

"Thoughts?" he asked when he had finished. His eyes were wide, like he was genuinely ready to know her opinion.

"I mean, it was flawless. No notes," she said, watching as the right corner of his lips raised, forming a smirk. "Maybe just try to slow down. Think of something that calms you."

"Got it," he gave her a tiny solute. "Well, I appreciate your offer to listen. It was actually very helpful to practice it one more time out loud." She could tell he was exceptionally calmer than he had been before. 

"It's what I'm here for. I'm actually a professional listener, or so my sister would say." He chuckled.

He pointed his thumb over his shoulder. "Well, I should go find my mom and get settled before everything gets crazy."

"Is it not already?" Annie asked with genuine curiosity. He smiled.

"You're funny. What did you say your name was?"

"Annie. I'm a volunteer."

"Well, Annie the Volunteer, thanks for your help. Wish me luck," he said with a quick raise and lower of his eyebrows.

"Break a leg!" she hollered after him as the door began to swing closed. Break a leg, really?  She feared she had blown that interaction, but was able to keep her anxiety at bay by reminding herself she couldn't get fired just for being awkward.

After the awards ceremony and a hefty clean up session by the staff, Susan let all of the volunteers go around 9 PM. There was more to do, but she said the paid staff would take it from there.

Alex, Michael, and Annie had formed a sort of tradition over the last five months of going to the bar up the street on a weekly basis. When they arrived in their usual booth, Michael ordered a round of beers for the table.

About 15 minutes into a heated debate about which line of the T was slowest, something caught Annie's eye; wild curls, big smile, dark eyes. Jack. Annie elbowed Alex and gestured for her to look up.

"Holy shit," Alex whispered. She quietly got Michael's attention and made him look up to see Jack standing in the corner with a group of guys around their age. "I didn't know people like him graced us commoners with their presence."

"Alex, he went to school here. He's probably been to this bar like a hundred times," Michael said.

Annie's instinct was to slide out of the booth and sneak out the door. It wasn't a big deal, but she felt a flush creep over her cheeks as she thought about her awkward interaction with Jack earlier.

"Do you guys want to head out?" Annie asked.

"Leave? We just got here?" Alex asked, a surprised expression on her face. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just... I kind of had a weird interaction with him today and I feel like I embarrassed myself."

"I'm sorry, you met him?! And you're just now telling us this?" Alex shot back.

"Alex, I've seen you for like two seconds since the awards. I was going to tell you." Alex's expression softened.

"Surely it wasn't that bad," Michael said, adding his usual optimism to the conversation.

"I asked him to practice his speech for an 'audience of one,' and then told him to 'break a leg.'"

"Oh, Annie," Alex said with a laugh.

"I'll get the check," Michael said as he stood up.

Before he could return, Alex saw the figure in her peripheral make its way toward the bar. Halfway along the path, it pivoted. She looked down, hoping he wouldn't see her, but moments later she saw dark Blundstones on the floor in front of her.

"Hey, I know you," Jack said.

"Oh, yeah. I'm the weirdo who pops out of shelves in supply closets," Annie said with a shrug.

"No, you were my guardian angel today."

"Huh?"

He took a deep breath in and shifted his stance. "I don't know if you could tell, but I was about to shit my fucking pants today when I was in that supply closet." Annie and Alex simultaneously raised their eyebrows and widened their eyes. "Pardon my French ladies, I've had a few of these," he said, lifting his beer bottle with a shrug.

"Anyway, I'd never been that underprepared for a speech in my life. But something about saying it that one last time really helped lock it in for me. And your advice about thinking of something that calms me down—I actually pretended I was reciting it for you while I was up at the podium, you know since you had helped ground me so much earlier. So, that makes you my guardian angel."

Annie wasn't sure what to say; her brain had lost the ability to form words. Instead, she offered a smile and a low laugh.

"Can I get you a drink to say thank you?"

"I'm actually all set," Annie said pointing to Michael who was approaching with the receipt. "We were just about to head out."

"Oh, you sure? I'd love to properly thank all of you for your volunteer efforts with a few rounds, on the library." He winked. Alex, Michael, and Annie all looked at each other, running through a silent conversation.

Alex banged her fist on the table. "OK, we're in," she said before Annie could stop her.