Work Text:
“I’m not cutting the whole sketch just because one of the extras was your high school boyfriend.”
“Oh but Liz, you have to!”
“Jenna, we can’t change the show because of some stupid grade-school drama you had!”
It was happening again. For the third day in a row, Jenna was throwing a useless tantrum over some minuscule thing, and it was becoming insufferable for Liz. She was sick of constantly having to fix the star’s problems and bend to her every whim.
Jenna rolled her eyes. “How could you say no to someone this pretty? I refuse to rehearse the sketch as long as he’s in it.”
“He’s an extra. You don’t even have to interact with him!”
“Well, I’m not doing it.” Jenna was set on her decision, and it was clear there was no changing her mind.
“God, Jenna, do you always have to be this difficult?!” Liz exclaimed, her voice full of exasperation that grew with every word that came out of Jenna's mouth.
Jenna scoffed. “You have no idea how hard it is to be an actress.”
Liz got out of her chair and moved closer, crossing over into Jenna’s personal space. “Are you kidding me? I spend hours a day fixing every little thing you find wrong, don’t talk to me about how hard your job is.”
“Oh, please, I could do your job with my eyes closed," was the star's arrogant reply.
Liz’s anger bubbled over with that last sentence. She wanted to storm out of her office, leaving Jenna to deal with her own issues. Shaking her by the shoulders would’ve been nice too, but instead her brain gave up and settled on a secret third option she hadn’t considered, and suddenly she was kissing Jenna on the lips.
Jenna froze. Jenna Maroney, who always had something to complain about, always had a brag to put down anyone in the room who thought they were better than her, was speechless. She had barely comprehended Liz’s actions when she found herself kissing back, finding a rhythm and leaning into the kiss. And before she knew it, right as she began to melt into the warmth and comfort of it, Liz was pulling away.
They stood for a moment catching their breath, trying desperately to avoid eye contact and ignore the rapidly growing tension in the room.
A blush was creeping up from Liz’s neck. She stood unmoving, lips parted, staring at Jenna’s own in order to evade her astonished gaze. She tried to speak, but no sound came out, and she found that once again, her brain had given up. Instead of trying to talk to Jenna, or even save the situation (there was absolutely no way to come back from this), she was speed-walking out of the office, leaving a motionless Jenna behind her.
Jenna didn’t know what to think. The circumstances were by no means romantic, everything about them less than ideal, but somehow, it just felt right.
And she knew Liz felt it too.