Work Text:
“C’mon” you mumbled to yourself, “please pick up,” you begged no one as you listened to the ringing on the other line. Whiskey’s voicemail started and you got choked up again just hearing his sweet, deep voice. When you heard the tone, you gulped before you started to speak, “I’m sorry to call you when I know you’re in the field. I know you’re busy. I’m just,” you trailed off, taking a shuddering breath to collect yourself. “I’m just having a really hard day and work sucks and I miss you so much.” You sniffle and wipe your nose in the sleeve of your shirt before you finish, “call me back if you get a chance and if not I love you so much.”
You hung up the phone before you burst into sobs again, feeling like you just can’t take it anymore. Your job was difficult on a good day and today you’d gotten a bad performance review and just...needed your boyfriend. All you wanted was to curl up in his lap and have him hold you and tell you that you weren’t a failure, that one bad review didn’t mean you were incompetent. But he’d been gone for a few days, off to some undisclosed location without much cell service.
You remembered when he’d left over the weekend, he’d hugged you so hard you could barely breathe and he didn’t seem to want to pull away. When he finally did, you’d kept your hands on him as long as possible, pulling him down did another kiss before he sighed and said, “Much as I don’t want to, I’ve got to leave ya darlin’.” You nodded and released him, watching his retreating form as he walked down the steps toward the car waiting for him. Right before he got in, Whiskey turned to look back at you and you blew him a big, dramatic kiss. You could see his shoulders shake with laughter and he reached a hand up, miming catching your kiss and pressing it to his face before he disappeared into the car, off to save the world.
The memory calmed you down enough that you could drag yourself off the floor of your shared bedroom and into the master bathroom. Most of the time you liked the giant mirrors and soft lighting but today, it just amplified the bags under your eyes and the smudges of makeup where you’d cried too hard for even the best waterproof mascara to hold up. You tried to imagine what Whiskey would want you to do, how he’d take care of you, and you decided a nice hot steamy shower might do the trick. After you’d washed and conditioned your hair, you reached for your soap before pausing and grabbing Whiskey’s instead. Inhaling deep, you washed your whole body with his soap, filing the room with his warm, musky scent. It did a lot to comfort you, and you stepped out of the shower feeling much less shitty but much more tired.
You knew you should eat but your big soft bed was too tempting. Slipping on a pair of panties and a tank top, you decided to indulge yourself and wrapped one of your boyfriends’ button down shirts around you too before allowing yourself to sink into the mattress. Your phone buzzed on the table next to the bed and you reached for it, seeing a text from your favorite person on the screen.
*Jack* I got your message baby. I wish I could call tonight and tell you how much I love you. But I’ll be home soon, I promise.
A few tears slipped down your face as you responded: please be safe. love you.
The lock screen on your phone told you it was only 7:30, but you decided it didn’t matter and flipped off the lamp, figuring sleep could take up the time between not being with Whiskey and being with him again.
...
When your alarm woke you up at 6 the next morning you groaned and rolled over to shut it off, slightly disappointed to be alone. Part of you hoped he’d sneak in during the night, but it was not to be. At least it’s Friday, you told yourself, changing out of your pajamas and into a simple black dress, casual but comfortable. Right as you were walking out of the bedroom to head to work, you turned back and slipped your boyfriends’s shirt that you’d slept in back on, tying it off at your waist. If you couldn’t be with Jack, you could at least smell like him all day.
Friday or not, work still sucked. You’d only seen your manager once that day, but he’d given you such a pandering look of sympathy that you’d stayed in your cubicle since, hunkered down so everyone would leave you alone. Thankfully the majority of your nearby coworkers had taken off early so you could wallow alone and relatively undisturbed. When you checked the clock, it was 3:00 pm. Two more hours, then you could just stay in bed all weekend and maybe talk to your boyfriend if he wasn’t too busy. You decided to busy yourself with clearing out your emails when you heard the footsteps of someone approaching you from behind. Groaning, you hoped it was anyone but your boss.
A pair of hands gripped the back of your chair and spun you around slowly. Your sigh turned into a squeak of surprise when you looked up, face to face with Jack Daniels aka Agent Whiskey aka the love of your fucking life. You realized you’d just been staring up at him with a goofy grin on your face for at least a few minutes, but all you could manage was a soft, “Hi.” He smiled back at your and said, “Howdy darling” while one of his hands came up to tuck your hair behind your ears.
“You wanna get out of here?” he asked, and you jumped up, grabbing your bag and slinging it over your shoulder. Whiskey offered you his arm and you took it. As the two of you made your way to the elevator, you told him, quietly, “It’s only 3 o’clock, I hope my boss won’t be pissed I’m just walking out.” Jack chuckled and let you go to hit the button for the elevator, “Honey I took care of it on the way in,” he looked up and met your questioning look with a smirk, “you’re also not coming in Monday.” The elevator door opened and he gestured for you to go in first, and once the doors closed, you threw your arms around him and pulled him down to kiss you. In turn, Jack gripped your hips and pulled you flush to his body. It was only a 5 floor elevator ride, so you weren’t too disappointed when the ding sounded out, indicating you’d arrived at the lobby.
With an arm slung around your shoulders, Whiskey steered you out of the lobby to his truck waiting outside. He opened the door for you and you couldn’t stop smiling when he climbed in beside you. As he pulled out onto the road to head back to your home, you didn’t stop yourself from staring at him. Jack looked good from any angle, but you were partial to his profile and his strong jaw. Jack caught you looking and winked at you, but didn’t say anything at all on the drive home. He looked tired, you realized, noticing the tension in his shoulders and you almost said something about it, but then you were home, driving slowly up the long driveway.
Whiskey pulled the truck up to the house and stopped, cutting the power off, but he didn’t get out. Instead, he turned to you and rested his arm on the back of the seat, his fingers brushing your shoulder lightly. “We gotta talk about it,” he said simply, watching expectantly for you to start. You knew he’d make you tell him, but you’d hoped that maybe this one time he’d let you get away without talking about what had upset you. “I was hoping maybe we could just go to bed?” You asked, fluttering your eyelashes at him. He shook his head, chuckling low in his throat, “Trust me, gorgeous, I intend to ravish you all night and all day tomorrow.” Shivering, you nodded and leaned in toward him but he stopped you with a firm hand on your shoulder. “But I got a voicemail from my baby girl and she was crying and it nearly broke my damn heart.”
You hate how your throat closes up when he says that. You don’t want to cry, Jack’s home! But he’s looking at you with such concern, almost sadness, that you know you have to tell him. You took a deep breath and started to speak, “I just can’t do anything right with my manager.” Jack frowns at you and moves his fingers from the seat back to your hair, he rubs a few strands between his fingers and nods at you keep going.
“I had a meeting with him yesterday about my performance and,” you sniffed to try to hold your tears in, “he just yelled at me about how awful he thinks I am.” Jack’s frown deepened and he asked, “He yelled at you in a meeting?” You nodded and swallowed hard before you continued, “I try so hard and I thought I was doing okay, I just think he hates me and doesn’t want me on his team.” The tears in your eyes made it hard to see Jack, but you could feel that he was upset.
“I can’t imagine anyone not wanting you, honey,” he said reaching out and taking one of your hands in his. You laughed a little and said, “He always treats me like I don’t matter. I thought I could win him over with my work, but it doesn’t seem to help. And after that meeting, I was so upset I could barely work.” Jack squeezed your hand and you continued, “And by the time I got home and I had to spend the night alone I was just exhausted and couldn’t stop myself from calling you.” You looked up and met his beautiful brown eyes and couldn’t help but burst into full-on sobs.
Jack pulled you into his arms and you hid your face in his shoulder while you cried. He rubbed your back gently while you clung to him, probably hurting him with your grip but he’d never complain. It took awhile, but your sobs slows down eventually and when the fog cleared from your head, you could hear Jack whispering, “Shhh baby it’s okay, it’s gonna be okay.” You took a shuddering breath and he squeezed you before he spoke, “You are the brightest, smartest, prettiest woman I’ve ever known and your manager is a fucking idiot if he can’t see that.” You huffed an amused breath against his neck and moved one of your hands to rub against his chest so he’d know you were listening.
“You wanna know something?” he asked, still holding you close to him. You nodded against him and he continued, “I don’t want to presume to tell you what to do, but you don’t have to stay at this job if they treat you like that.” Sighing, you replied, “But what will I do for work? I know you make enough money, but I can’t just sit around all day if you’re not home to entertain me.”
Jack laughed and ran his hand down the length of your hair, “Well darlin’, I may have a solution for you. Though I don’t mind if you did want to just wait at home for me and not lift a finger.” You shook your head and asked, “What’s the solution where I’m not a kept woman?” There was a pause before he spoke simply, “Come work at Statesman.”
That was enough to get you to sit up and push back from him so you could look him in the face. “Are you serious?” you asked, trying not to get too excited. He grinned at you and said, “Of course I am, darlin. Why wouldn’t I want you closer to me all day?”
“But what would I do?” you asked, planting your hands on Jack’s shoulders as you spoke. “Well,” he said, pretending to think, “Champ’s been looking for a new personal assistant, one that’s more trustworthy and won’t stab him in the back like the last one.” You but your lip, trying to think of any reason not to take it, but the temptation of working so close to you boyfriend was too good to resist. You looked up at him and asked, “Will he want me to be his assistant? How does he know I’ll be good at it?”
Jack took one of your hands off his shoulders and pressed a kiss to your knuckles. “He’s the one who asked if you’d be interested,” Whiskey informed you before flipping your hand over and pressing his lips to your wrist. “And I know you’ll be good at it,” he continued, “because you’re good at anything you put your mind to baby.” You could help the grin that spread across your face and you leaned in to kiss Jack softly before you replied, “I’ll take it.”
Jack grabbed your face and pulled you in for another kiss, hungrier this time. You started to let yourself melt into his body when he pulled back and said, “Now that that’s settled, how about we get your mind off your troubles?” You nodded eagerly and let Jack pull you out of the truck with him. He grabbed your hand on the way to the door, practically yanking you into the house.
Once the door was closed behind you, Jack pushed you up against it and kissed the very breath out of your lungs. You gasped for air when he moved his mouth from your lips across your cheek and whispered into your ear, “Missed you so much baby girl.” He nipped your earlobe teasingly with his teeth and you shuddered. Whiskey’s hands gripped your hips and you hooked your fingers in his belt loops to pull him as close to you as he could get. Whiskey was still talking, you realized as his mouth moved down your neck, murmuring about how much he loved you and how happy he was to be home.
Reluctantly, you pushed him a little to separate you two so you could ask, “Ready to take me to bed, cowboy?” Quicker than you’d thought he could move, he hauled you up over his should and nearly ran to get to you into bed, kicking the door shut with his foot once he reached his destination, ensuring nothing could distract you from him for as long as you’d let him keep you there.
...
After what seemed like hours, you and Jack lay side by side, sweating and flushed, trying to catch your breath. You turned on your side to face him and asked quietly, “You sure you won’t get sick of seeing me every day when you’re at the office?” Your fingers gently brushed his mussed hair away from his eyes and he sighed in contentment. Your fingers continued, mapping the outline of his jaw and forehead and drawing a line down his nose before he replied, looking at you with a dopey, love-drunk look on his face, “I never want to be away from you, darlin’, you’ll get sick of me first.”
His words nearly made you well up with tears again, so you leaned up to press your lips against his. Jack wrapped his arms around you and hauled you up to lay on top of him, never breaking contact with your lips. When you finally did part, you wrapped your arms around him and told him, “I love you, Jack.” In return, he brought both of his hands up to cradle your face and said back, “I love you so much darlin’, all I want to do is make you happy.”
Blushing, you leaned your forehead down to touch his and nuzzled your noses together. You stayed there for a few moments, breathing each other in, before you moved your head down to rest on his shoulder, allowing your eyes to close. Jack’s hand rubbed up and down your back in smooth motions, pulling you closer and closer to sleep with each sweep of his hand.
Eventually, he reached over you and turned off the lamp to bathe the room in darkness. He could tell you’d fallen asleep because your breaths against his neck were steady and deep, almost rhythmic. Jack wasn’t pulled down to sleep so easily, though. He ran his fingers through your hair and his mind drifted to that message you’d left him. It wasn’t the first time this manager had brought you to tears, either. Jack’s first instinct was to hurt the man in some way, but he reminded himself that your safety and comfort were more important. He squeezed you tight and finally allowed his eyes to drift shut, knowing he would do everything in his power to make you the happiest woman alive.