Oneshots

|| Lunch ||

March, 1953, a few days later

Jackie was busy typing away on her typewriter, a cigarette fixed securely in her lips. 

Taking a quick break, Jackie took her hands off the typewriter, and wrung out her hands and flexed her fingers. 

Jackie reached up to her mouth and removed her cigarette, but not before taking a large drag from it.  She let the smoke fill her lungs, and then she slowly exhaled, letting the smoke slowly leave her body and float away.  She loved how the cigarette relaxed her mind and body.  It always seemed to take her to another place.  Her parents never really approved of her habit, something that she had started when she was a teen, but she couldn't bring herself to stop.

"Hey, Jackie!"  Jackie looked up, now that she was being acknowledged.  "Yes?" She asked, and put her cigarette into her glass ashtray.  

"Can you read this over for me?"  She looked over and she saw one of her friends from the office, Marge, peering down at her with a paper in hand.  

"Sure,"  Jackie asked, and started to scan the document.  As much as she loved her friend, Marge often doubted herself, and always thought her writing quality was lacking something.  Ever since Jackie's column had been a major success for the Times Herald, Marge always asked Jackie to double check her work before handing it in to their boss for his seal of approval.

Jackie continued to read Marge's document, and picked up a yellow pencil, her lips forming over every word.  As Jackie was trying to concentrate, Marge began to talk to Jackie.  

"Word on the street is that your column is going well,"  Marge began, causing Jackie to nod slightly, still trying to focus on her friend's writing.  Jackie bit her lip, and circled a sentence and scribbled a suggestion.  

"I also heard that you've been seen around with that John Kennedy."  The second that Jackie heard Jack's name, she froze.  The moment didn't last.  She shook it off.  "Yeah, we've been hanging around together.  So what?"  Jackie continued to write, and she felt her cheeks turn a light pink.  

"So..."  Marge pressed, a smile on her face.  "Do you like him?"  Jackie knew that Marge wasn't going to get away that easily, but Jackie knew that she was going to put up a front as much as she can.  

"Well, like as a friend."  Jackie replied, and Marge shook her head, and leaned in closer to Jackie.  

"Well, what about...more than a friend?  The hot gossip around Washington was that at that party that Robert Kennedy and his wife Ethel had a party, and you were saddled pretty close to John Kennedy. " 

Shit.  

"Well, maybe.  He's really sweet.  I really like spending time with him."  

"So you do like him!" Marge pressed, and Jackie felt her cheeks heat up.  

"Shut up."  

"It's fine, Jackie.  I support it.  I'm sure being with Kennedy is a breath of fresh air instead of being the with John Husted."  

"Oh, definitely.  It's always a surprise with Jack," Jackie responded, when Marge's eyes widened. 

"You call him-"

Jackie's eyes widened, knowing that she had opened a whole another can of worms.

She quickly scribbled a few more comments on Marge's paper, and handed back the paper, saying quickly,

"Bye, Marge.  See you later."

Jackie soon continued to work again, knowing that she didn't want to engage in conversation.   She flipped over her notes, putting her finger on a line, and continued to type.