A/N: Good evening my fellow Younger fans. This is going to be a small story laid out over 3 chapters. It's written and ready to go. I haven't written anything for Younger so far so please bear with me. I'm still trying to figure out the rating for chapter 2 - T or M, what do you think? This one is for the #TeamCharles facebook peeps! Shoutout to blaze78-caskettalways for introducing me to the series and for the writing prompt! :)
Disclaimer: I really really wouldn't be writing this if I had any control over the show.
Chapter 1
''Please tell me that you did not just compliment Diana on her dress.'' She said rushing through the doorway. His eyes were wide while he motioned for her to close the door behind her.
A guilty look in his eye. ''I did - not?''
She shook her head. ''Oh Charles.'' Men could be so blind when it comes to other woman flirting with them. ''She's going to bring that up the entire week!''
''Why would she do that?'' He stood up from behind his desk and slowly walked over to her.
''Really?'' She said sarcastically. He laughed.
Slowly, he wrapped his arms around her waist. ''I can not see what would be the problem of telling a woman that she looks amazing in a dress.''
''Well first of all she isn't-''
''You'' He said quickly.
''That is correct and-'' He shut her up with a chaste kiss, which ended way too quickly in her opinion.
''Oh no mister, you have made my day so much more harder then what it was supposed to be.''
He snorted. ''You'll be fine - just get her some of that fancy coffee you make.''
''You are toeing a fine line today.'' He laughed and boy did she love it when he was being playful. It made her long for more time with him to discover ''So I was thinking about going out of town for a weekend.''
''That sounds – interesting. Am I invited?'' He joked.
She sighed dramatically. ''Well, I mean if you have to come. I guess that I could cope with that.''
''I have to come-'' She put his hand over his mouth and faked shock.
''Charles, I would never!'' He couldn't contain his laughter as he looked at her face. She shrugged. ''Okay, yeah I totally would.''
Charles suddenly went quiet as he was reminded of their relationship the year before. Or the lack of any, mostly. He stole another kiss and let her go – and not a moment too soon. A knock on the door startled them both and they jumped apart as if someone had burned them. He rapidly straightened his tie and cleared his throat. Liza on the other hand had become immensely interested in the closest book she could get her hands on. Crown of Kings. A chill went down her spine. ''Come in.'' He said.
Kelsey marched in with a mischievous look on her face. ''You know guys, one day, someone is going to come through this door when you are in a compromising position and it's not going to be me.'' Don't remind me, Liza thought. The memory of the janitor almost walking in on them still fresh on her mind.
Apart from the lovely shade of red that Charles was now wearing that matched his tie - he and Liza were now on the opposite sides of the room. As if that would have fooled Kelsey. She shook her head with a teasing smile on her face. ''If you are done here I would love to hear your opinion on this new manuscript we just received miss Miller.''
''I'll be right there, miss Peters.'' Liza quipped, slightly embarrassed that Kelsey had caught them red handed. Kelsey looked between the two of them and shook her head again. They were a mess. So cute. Not that she would ever admit that to Liza. She closed the door behind her again and made her way back to the office.
Charles waved a hand through his hair. ''We really do need to be more careful.''
She sighed. ''I know.'' She was about to go back to work when he found his ability to speak again.
''About this weekend. Let's go off grid.''
Her heart fluttered at the thought. ''I certainly like that idea.''
''We could go my place in Pound Ridge. It's pretty remote except for the convenience store a mile away.''
She shot him a curious look. ''Really? After what happened last time we were there?'' The fact that he took a punch for her still amazed her, but he shouldn't have been put in that position - The fact that she was still talking to Josh from time to time still amazed him, but then again he was still on a friendly base with his ex wife even though she had left him and his kids for over a year.
Charles shook his head to get rid of the thought and instead focused on what was right in front of him. He lowered his gaze, letting his eyes roam over her body. ''I was actually thinking about making other kind of memories if you don't mind.'' She blushed, realisation dawning on her.
''You don't want to get punched in the face again? I'm so surprised!'' He could see that she was joking, but that didn't cover the look of concern on her face.
He pecked her on the cheek. ''Get out of here before we get into trouble again.''
She shot him one last longing look before slowly leaving his office. Charles reached for his tie again, loosening it. He smiled, shook his head and sat down behind his desk again and opened his macbook. That woman was going to be the death of him, but he sure as hell was going to enjoy every minute of it.
Friday evening couldn't come fast enough. He was going to pick her up at her place after work and they would drive up to Pound Ridge together. It was only when he suggested that he'd pick her up at home that he realised that he'd never seen her house. Well. From the inside. The sidewalk in front of her house however, now that was something that he could describe by heart.
He gathered his things and neatly put them in his suitcase. The house was quiet. Pauline had offered to take the girls for the weekend way before he had made plans with Liza and it was only now that he was grateful for that offer. His girls had been spending a bit more time with their mother now that he and Pauline were officially divorced. Charles grabbed his stuff and made his way downstairs. After completing a final check, he stepped outside and locked his front door. He grabbed his phone and shot her a quick message.
A text message popped up on her phone.
Charles; I'm on my way, be there in 10.
Liza almost jumped of the couch as she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket.
Maggie held her hand on her chest as she tried to even out her breathing again. ''Liza, would you please chill. You scared the shit out of me!''
''I'm sorry. I'm just so excited to go away this weekend.''
Maggie took another sip of her drink as she repositioned herself on the couch. ''Excited is the word for it alright. You're all jumpy.''
Liza opened her mouth to respond but chose not to instead. It had been a long hard week without them being together for a longer period than five minutes. They really did deserve this break.
''So when am I going to meet this Charles who has gotten my girl her panties in a twist?''
Liza again bit her tongue to stop herself from speaking too soon. ''Soon enough Maggie.''
She stood up and walked to her room to grab her weekend bag from her bed. Liza checked her hair in the mirror and made sure that her messy bun was still 'messy' enough.
The bell rang.
She didn't even have the chance to react to the bell as she'd already heard Maggie running for the buzzer. Liza shook her head and swiftly finished packing. Just as she zipped the bag shut she heard voices coming from the living room.
''You're taller then what I imagined you to be.'' Charles looked at Maggie and chuckled softly. Liza was already on her way to save him.
''I hope it doesn't disappoint you?'' He said with a hint of doubt in his voice, though his face told her otherwise.
She laughed. ''Oh god no honey, it's just you're way more man then I can handle.''
Liza caught up with them. ''You don't have filter, do you?'' She lowered her voice so only Maggie could hear. ''Any man is more man then you can handle.''
''As if you didn't know that already.'' Maggie kissed Liza on her cheek and shook Charles's hand. ''Charles, it was so lovely to meet you. Now play nice and enjoy your time together.''
The polite thank you's and good bye's were exchanged and before they knew it they were on their way. He had grabbed her bag and put his other hand on her lower back. As Liza looked back over her shoulder she saw Maggie giving her the thumbs up signal. Gosh, she really did love Maggie.
''Please tell me again what is this called again?''
''Spotify!'' He nodded, trying to keep his eyes on the road. It proved to be quite difficult though as she sat next to him, her (in his words) sexy glasses on and with a new manuscript in her hands. ''It is an app where you can listen to music. Like YouTube, except without the videos. You can type in any song on your phone and it will just pop up over the sound system. Now with that connected to the car radio I can play anything I want-''
He interrupted her abruptly. ''Play 'take my breath away' by Berlin.''
She blushed and started searching. ''Very fine choice if I may say so.''
''Yeah, I thought so too.'' He moved his hand from the gearbox, found her hand in her lap and intertwined their fingers. ''Only a few more miles till we get there.'' He gently placed a kiss on her hand and then put their hands down again. They stayed silent for a while, content with each other's company. ''Would you mind if we stay in the guest house?''
She looked up from her page, a surprised look on her face. ''Of course not, that would be lovely.''
''Good, because I believe that we have some unfinished business that we need to take care of.''
Oh? Oh.