I Volunteer | Jack Schlossberg | Friends to lovers

Philly, pt. 2

Four hours, three pit stops, and two bags of Doritos later, they had finally made it to the hotel. As they entered the lobby, Annie immediately felt out of place. Jack hadn't told her where they were staying (he wanted it to be a surprise) and while she figured it would be somewhere nice, she didn't realize it would be this much of a step up from her usual Marriott on the side of a highway.

"I'm going to go check us in." He placed his hand on Annie's arm. "I'll be right back."

She stepped to the side and looked around at all of the crystal and champagne-colored decor. "Can I offer you some sparkling water?" a woman asked as she approached Annie.

"Oh, sure, thank you so much." Annie took a sip of the drink just as Jack was walking back to her, flashing the two room keys with wide eyes.

"Here you are," he said, dramatically placing Annie's key in her hand. "Making yourself right at home, I see?" he tilted his chin to the glass of sparkling water Annie was holding.

"Jack...this place is so nice. You know I would've been fine at a..."

"I know," he interrupted. "But this will be better. I promise." She was excited to see what he had planned for the next two days—he had taken the liberty of making the itinerary since he knew the area, and also knew when he'd be pulled away for mandatory events.

Back in her room, she was getting changed out of her road trip clothes and into her dinner clothes, when a thought occurred to her—Jack is probably naked and he's less than 10 feet from me right now. She decided right then that a cold shower was necessary before she could get dressed.

Thirty minutes later, after an ice-cold shower and trying on four different outfits, there was a knock at the door. She opened it to find Jack standing with his arms tucked into his pockets. He was wearing a black button down with his sleeves rolled (thank god, she thought) and a pair of dark pants.

"Hey, we're kinda matching," he said, pointing at her. She looked down at her black satin skirt and sweater top.

"Yeah, except I look better," she said with a smirk.

"No arguments there," he said with raised brows and his palms up in the air.

After a dinner in which they both cleared their plates (Thai food), Jack suggested a walk around the city. Annie agreed. On their walk, they talked for a while about his speech and his level of preparedness. He told her that he was nervous, but found comfort in the fact that it always seemed to go well.

"I love watching you speak," Annie said.

"Really?" he craned his neck to see if he could spot any sarcasm.

"Of course. You're a natural."

"I'm not sure I'd say years of practicing and being forced—mostly by myself—to improve counts as being a 'natural.'"

"Well, it comes off as natural, which is what's important."

"What about you?"

"What about me?" she asked with scrunched brows.

"Have you ever given a speech to a large crowd before?"

"Oh god no," she said as she fiddled with her necklace. "I hate public speaking. I hate speaking in general, unless it's to friends."

"I think you'd be great at it though," he said earnestly. They had been walking along the sidewalk for at least a mile by then, so Jack guided them to turn around.

"That is so untrue," she laughed as they walked back toward the hotel. "I actually love my job so much because I get to be behind the scenes. Or I guess behind the computer. It's the best of both worlds."