A/N: This story is an attempt to flesh out and expand all the moments that Liza and Charles shared over the course of 5 seasons as they fell in love. I have attempted to weave it around what was actually shown to us and provide some 'extra' material to elaborate their story and trace their journey through their beautiful relationship. My idea is to set each episode where they shared moments of note as separate chapters. I hope you enjoy it :) I certainly loved writing it. This chapter is where it all began... Season 1, episode 5.

Disclaimer: I don't own Younger, any of its characters or their scripts and stories.

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Chapter 1

Liza walked to the conference room behind Diana, clutching a notepad and pen.

"I need you to be on your game today Liza" Diana had barked at her moments earlier.

The Empirical boss was going to be in office today, Diana had a huge crush on him and Liza was going to be chief note-taker at this meeting while Diana was busy flirting with this man.

She saw him the moment she stepped through the conference room door. Charles Brooks – owner and CEO of Empirical Press.

He was hard to miss and for a moment her breath caught in her throat. He was an incredibly attractive man, broad shouldered, standing a foot above everyone else in the room, wearing a beautiful navy suit, looking tall and important.

Charles surveyed the room, looking at all the familiar faces of his small but successful publishing company, when his eyes fell upon someone he hadn't seen before.

An unfamiliar but beautiful face, studiously bent over a notepad clutched in her hands. He felt a little surge of something, he wasn't quite sure what, course through his veins as he watched the tall, leggy girl with wavy brown locks hurry into the room behind Diana. It was a strange feeling, one he hadn't felt… well, certainly not in a long time.

He shook his head to clear his mind and focus on the meeting. He could feel Diana smiling broadly as she hurried to grab the chair closest to him. So with one last look around the room, he smiled and started speaking.

Liza saw Charles glance briefly at her with his piercing blue eyes. She felt a little flutter in the pit of her stomach, which she didn't quite know what to make of. But Diana was gesturing to her to move to the back of the room and she quickly started taking notes as Charles began the meeting.

"So Hollywood is finally starting to recognise Chinua Achebe's work…" He had the deepest voice Liza had ever heard and she could feel it reverberate in the room and through her body.

It was a strange sensation, one she didn't have the time to think about because suddenly Kelsey was at her elbow, whispering about something called a goddess cup being stuck.

Liza was reluctant to leave the room, and weirdly reluctant to leave this man who she had never even met before, yet somehow felt a strange connection to. But Kelsey was sounding more and more desperate and Liza quickly followed her to the bathroom.

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Charles sat in Diana's office, trying hard to ignore her repeated attempts to slide closer to him on the couch. "I am really excited about this repackage. Have you read Achebe?"

"I'm sure I have," replied Diana unconvincingly, as she crossed her legs and cocked her head at Charles.

Diana Trout was an excellent head of marketing, and Charles knew just how valuable she was to his company. In fact, he greatly respected her as a professional. But her very poorly disguised attempts at flirting always made him uncomfortable. When he was still married, Diana had kept her distance. But judging by the way she had found any excuse to touch him today, he guessed that she knew about his impending divorce.

He was trying to stay professional, doggedly focused on the Achebe trilogy, when the attractive brown haired girl from the meeting came rushing into the room, holding a large box of food. And suddenly, inexplicably, once again he was drawn to this stranger, who he assumed was Diana's new assistant.

"Things Fall Apart is one of my favourite books," he said, glancing back at Diana. "I actually think its required reading now in high school."

"It is" Liza broke in, smiling at Charles. She could feel Diana glare at her from the couch. But Charles was smiling back at her and Liza found that she couldn't look away.

"Oh yeah? Have you read it?" He was a little surprised that a young assistant would be familiar with Chinua Achebe's work.

"Uh yeah, I read the entire trilogy. I couldn't put it down," Liza could feel herself grinning widely at Charles, strangely proud of being able to show off to him.

"Yes, the trilogy is ground breaking" Diana butted in, but in that moment it was as though she had faded into the background… everything else seemed blurry as Charles and Liza looked at one another, each sizing the other up, trying to make sense of the connection they both clearly felt.

It was Diana's sharp as a dagger glare that broke their eye contact as Charles reluctantly turned towards her.

"Oh, so you have read Achebe? What's your favourite?" he asked as Liza began setting out the food. He kept his gaze consciously averted lest he ended up staring at the young office assistant again, which was inappropriate on so many levels.

"Of the trilogy? Oh, well… umm. Probably the… uh… second book," said Diana after a long, awkward pause.

"No Longer At Ease" jumped in Liza, sensing that Diana had no clue what she was talking about.

"Then put the box down" snapped Diana, glaring at her assistant for butting in again.

"Is a great title for the second book don't you think?" Liza said through gritted teeth. She turned to Charles and smiled as their eyes locked. And both once again felt a sudden shift in atmosphere, as they focused solely on each other. "About a man, caught between two worlds. Adichie's Americanah comes close to capturing that experience but nothing measures up to Achebe."

Charles couldn't help but stare. But this time it wasn't the attractive face that drew him to her but the incredible poise, knowledge and level of articulation that this young woman had just displayed. He was intrigued. He rarely met people who were so confident discussing African literature, let alone someone whose literary taste seemed so much in sync with his. His bookworm heart did a little dance.

"You're very well read. I'm impressed" Charles smiled at Liza, and felt a little thrill course through him when he was rewarded with another megawatt grin. He was acting like a teenager with a crush and he was starting to feel very foolish.

"You know what I'm not impressed with? Is the state of this cod. It's freezing. Take that on your way out" snapped Diana holding out her paper napkin, forcing Liza to look away from Charles. As she got busy grabbing the dirty tissue, she could feel his intense gaze on her the entire time, his eyes boring into her. And her knees felt distinctly wobbly as she hurried out of the room.

Charles found himself unable to look away from her, feeling faintly annoyed at Diana's tone and strangely protective towards this young woman, whose name he still didn't know. His eyes followed her all the way out of the room and back to her desk as he hurriedly muttered, "Thank you" when he realised Diana wasn't going to.

The room felt weirdly empty as she exited and he had to take a deep breath to clear his head. He was clearly oxygen deprived or something. 'You're a 45 year old, almost divorced, father of two Charles,' he mentally chastised himself as he focused once again on what Diana was saying.

Liza sat down at her desk and stared fixedly at the computer screen. Why was she feeling so drawn to this man? True, he was one of the most handsome men she had ever laid eyes on. He was extremely well read, which had always been a turn on for her. But he was her boss. The company's boss. A company that she was lying to. Plus, she had Josh and with him she was living this exciting new, 'young', albeit false, life.

She shook her head. It was extremely inconvenient that Charles Brooks should be having the effect he was having on her.

She smoothed the front of her dress down and tried to calm the tumult in the pit of her stomach. But as Charles exited Diana's room, she caught his eye, and the smile and deep look he gave her made her resolve go to shit and she was glad she was sitting down because her legs had suddenly turned to jelly.

'Snap out of it, Liza' she said to herself as he disappeared from view. She would probably have little to do with him, she reasoned, she being an assistant and he being the owner of the company. 'Out of sight, out of mind,' she told herself as she began typing on her keyboard.