Helplessly; j.g.

Two

 She had brown eyes, a different kind of brown. It's like they weren't completely sure what color they were going to be. There was purple, green and amber with the brown all mixed into her eyes. They were beautiful and just like her voice, Jack could just listen and look at them all day.

 "Nice to meet you, Rome," Jack said, extending his hand to her. She smiled, looking down at his hand and shaking it.

 "Nice to meet you too, Jack," she replied. The way his name rolled off her tongue made it feel like he had a cooler, more important name than he really realized.

 "You have really pretty eyes," Jack blurted, still holding onto her hand. Rome immediately smiled, showing her perfect, one-million-dollar smile.

 "Thank you. You have really nice eyes too," Rome complimented. Jack heated up inside at her words, trying not to show that he actually was blushing.

 "Thanks," Jack said.

 "So, I'll see you tomorrow, then?" Rome asked, standing and shutting her computer off.

 "Well--"

 "Right, of course. We have the week off, duh. Rome, seriously, think," Rome laughed at herself, grabbing her black coat from the coat rack and pulling it on over her work clothes. "So, um, next Tuesday then." She pointed at Jack as she lifted her hair up and over her collared coat.

 "Um," Jack started again.

 "Hey, do you want to get some cake or something?" Rome asked as she grabbed her things, making Jack step back into the hallway.

 "Cake?" Jack asked softly again.

 "Yeah, haven't you ever had cake before?" Rome laughed, raising her eyebrows as she closed her wooden door and locked it behind her. Jack shook his head, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Are you serious?" Jack nodded. "Holy crap! You haven't had cake before!"

"Nope," Jack responded. Rome stared at him, her mouth and eyes wide. 

 "Okay, we are going to this amazing cake place that I know of and we are getting chocolate cake, double chocolate cake, triple chocolate cake, lemon cake, marble cake, all the cake that we want," Rome listed excitedly. Jack looked at her with a drone look on his face, not showing any emotion. 

"Oh, come on, Jack. You have to be excited for cake. It's cake." 

Rome shook him by his shoulders, looking up into his eyes. She was a short, petite girl, not even hitting the five foot two mark, at the age of twenty-two.

 "Well," Jack started. Rome shook her head, walking a little way down the hall and finding Jack's office, labeled 'Gilinsky' on the black name tag by the door.

 "No, no, no. No 'wells' or 'buts' or whatever the heck you are going to protest against getting cake with," Rome argued, walking into his office and finding his coat, handing it to him. "So put your freaking coat on, grab your suitcase or whatever you bring to work and follow me to the best darn cake place in all of Los Angeles."

 "Do you not curse or something?" Jack suddenly asked, getting his things together. Rome looked at him, her eyebrows drawn together.

 "Huh?"

 "Like, you haven't said a cuss word yet, so I was thinking that you don't curse or something," Jack clarified.

 "Well, I was raised in a sort of bad household where they cussed and drank and smoked and I hated it, so I told myself that I wouldn't do any of that. Maybe the occasional drink every now and then but not the whole day, I don't smoke, and I don't cuss. The only time I cuss is when I'm really feeling helpless and I don't have any other words," Rome explained as Jack shut his door as he put his coat on.

 "Maybe you should cuss more often. You might like how it feels," Jack advised, not looking at her.

 "I'm not cussing," Rome protested as they walked down the hallway, passing all of their hammered drunk co-workers and a few bosses.

 "Hey, if I'm finally eating cake, then you should finally cuss," Jack pointed out, looking at her. 

 "Well, it's one thing to not have ever eaten cake, but it's another to say words that you don't really want to," Rome pointed out. Jack rolled his eyes as they arrived at the elevator, Rome pressing the down button. 

 "Fine, we'll just start with the cake then," Jack said as they stepped inside and pressing the lobby button.

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word count {740}

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