Work Text:
He couldn't believe he was doin' this.
Five years had passed since the strike. Five years in which, despite being crazy in love with the guy's daughter, Jack Kelly had managed not to cross paths with Joseph Pulitzer.
He'd met Katherine's ma, even shared an incredibly uncomfortable dinner in the handsomely furnished home she had in the city. Showing some of the sly wit that she shared with her daughter, the lady had smiled when she promised Jack that their dinner would be Joe-free. When Joe was in New York, he stayed in the mansion and Mrs. P took to her own brownstone.
And when Joe ditched New York for his yacht? The home was Mrs. Pulitzer's for the entertainin'.
Kate Pulitzer, like Jack, obviously liked to avoid the old man when possible.
Five years of making a name for himself - as union organizer and as a political cartoonist (not for the World, no way) - and Jack sat warily outside Pulitzer's office at The World. He felt that same sick in the gut feelin' that he'd felt when he and Davey had marched cockily up to the paper's door, ready to deliver their demands.
Keep your eyes on the stars ...
His eyes were on the stars. Well, one star, but it was brighter than all of 'em put together. Katherine.
He owed it to her to do this properly. Like a gentleman would.
And if Joe said no? Well, Jack could say that he'd tried. Katherine wouldn't be waiting for her father's approval, he was sure.
She never had in the past, at least.
"Mister Kelly, Mister Pulitzer will see you now!"
... and your feet on the ground
Regardless of what Joe said, Jack's feet would never hit the ground again. Not when Katherine said yes.