#convo jack

     Jack had been called to Ollie’s school because she had been in a fight. He was somewhat proud of her because she had thrown a punch at a kid that was teasing one of her friends but he had to do the fatherly thing and say violence wasn’t the answer to things and she was now grounded working on her homework in one of the tables in the back eating a patty melt and boy he wished he could stop and get one for himself and shared some real time with her but the bar was packed. Putting on one of the aprons after he made sure Ollie was set up, he moved around the tables on the other side and refilled coffees and took some orders. 

Jack covered the afternoon / early night shift only on the weekends when his daughter was staying with Henry. It was a good way to start his non-dad days and get in the right mindset. It also helped him stay on top of what people ordered, new drinks and new trends, people checking their cafe / bar and keeping an eye on things. 

     Jack hadn’t been to one of these parties in what felt like months and he felt a bit off. Maybe it was the long hours at the cafe, maybe it was a particularly rough dad week but thankfully he was here now, nursing a whiskey in his hand and looking at possibilities. There was one woman that kept calling his attention, bright smile and dark hair--mesmerizing so he made his way towards her. 

The last person Jack expected to find in this pub was one of the teachers from Ollie’s PTA meeting but he had to remind himself that teachers also had lives outside the classroom. Even though he had rules to keep the people in his “dad life” separate from his other interests, well, she was here being all adorable and he had had 2 whiskeys already, which made his rules tumble somewhat. 

       After Maggie passed away Jack had been in shock. He had a baby girl to take care of, a small business that was just starting and needed all the help he could get. Even though they had married cos she had gotten pregnant they had learned to love each other with time, waiting for Ollie to be born and then watching her grow every week. And then Maggie was gone after a hit and run and Jack was left alone. 

        He had Wanda who was right off of highschool helping him out with both the toddler and the cafe but he couldn’t burden her with his life--and he couldn’t burden Olivia either, Maggie’s best friend and Ollie’s godmother but somehow Olivia was around them a lot--she was easier to talk to than Wanda at times because they had both lost her.

        They switched from being the husband and the best friend of Maggie to being friends to each other. They’d give each other advice, share beers, share heartbreak--share a little too much according to his father but he didn’t see anything wrong in it. .They had boundaries and he knew nothing would ever happen between them--nothing ever COULD because the ghost of Maggie would always be between them. 

         One day though he received a call from the hospital and it took him right back to that day where he lost Maggie. Rushing there, he found Olivia beaten to a pulp and KNEW who was responsible for it. He had never liked the guy, he had even warned the guy to fuck off but clearly he didn’t listen--Olivia didn’t listen either and now here she was, asleep at a hospital bed. 

      Jack loved seeing Olivia this excited about books. Maggie loved books and she was always talking about what she’d read to Ollie, like the entire Harry Potter saga. Unfortunately he had lost Maggie and Ollie didn’t find Harry or Hermione all that amusing but she loved this author’s books. She devoured them and Jack always read them to her, pushing one more chapter each night--Ollie had started to learn how to read so she could read the next one by herself and she had it in her hand right now, holding it against her chest and extremely nervous about meeting the author. 

Once the last customer left Jack sat down in front of Scott, leaning back on the chair. He was exhausted and hated the closing shift but the afternoon person had asked for a day off and Scott was doing his routine that night and he wasn’t about to miss it.

Crowley: So with all the flyers going around for your little club, I was wondering if I could have an in.