Okay, this is based on my latest obsession Suits (actually I lie, the obsession is not suits but rather Harvey Spector #drool). I apologize if this isn't quite to the letter of the law as I said in the sequel "A Misunderstanding or two" I am not a lawyer.
As usual, I own nothing. I'm just having some fun.
"Mr Carson, you're wanted in the conference room." Thomas Barrow said over the intercom.
"Tell who ever it is they'll have to bloody well wait. I am knee-deep in paperwork and I daren't stop now." Mr Carson replied in a peeved off tone. He'd recently had to go to Spain on a conference and he was still catching up on paperwork. He'd been busy all day and was only half way. His head ached, his legs longed to be stretched and to top it all off his Fiance, Ms Elsie Hughes had been out of the office all day for various meetings.
"You want me to tell Robert Crawley that he'll have to bloody well wait?" Thomas confirmed with a smirk which Charles caught through the glass walls
"NO!" he all but shouted "tell him I'll be there momentarily"
"Do make your mind up sir" Thomas answered, turning off the intercom before Charles was given a chance to reply. He had been meek and mild for the last six months after the supposed love of his life, Tony had ended their brief affair but now he was slowly building up again. In a way, Charles was glad. It meant he had his quick thinking PA back, but he'd forgotten just how sarcastic he could be. Charles groaned as he got to his feet and rubbed his eyes before swinging his glass door open and striding towards the conference room. Don't get him wrong, he loved Robert Crawley almost like a brother, having attended his wedding and was god father to his eldest daughter, Mary. But there were days when his timing was awful and Charles could quite happily wring his neck. Today just so happened to be one of these days.
He walked into the room to discover that all the partners had been called in.
"What on earth is going on?" he asked as he strode in
"Is everyone here?" asked Robert Crawley, glancing around the room
"No" answered Charles "Ms Hughes isn't here, she has meetings all afternoon."
"I'm here Charles" came a quiet Scottish accent behind him "I do apologize for being late, but as Mr Carson just pointed out I had meetings all afternoon and I had to do some fast rescheduling"
Charles turned to see the love of his life walk through the door, coat still on, and phone in hand. She looked up and caught his eye, rolling them as she did so. He smirked, he knew she had very little patience when it came to impronto meetings.
"Thank you Ms Hughes...and everyone else for making it. I realize this must have been a terrible inconvenience for you" Robert said rubbing his hands together "I will try to make it quick so we can all get back to our jobs"
"This is going to take hours isn't it?" Elsie muttered, just loud enough that he could hear as they both sat down
"Most likely" he rumbled back glancing her direction and sharing a smirk
"I have some unfortunate news" Robert said "due to Livington publishers leaving us we have regrettably gone bankrupt"
"How is that possible?" asked Elsie from her chair "we've just signed Shmit accountants, they've brought in a mountain of money."
"That is true Ms Hughes, however as Livington is suing us for malpractice all our funds are spoken for. Even if we win this case it'll take all our funds and if we lose, I'll be in debt for the rest of my life" Robert explained heavily.
"What malpractice?!"
"That son of a-"
Both Elsie and Charles started to say as a collective gasp went around the room but they were cut off by Robert
"I know that this is going to upset a lot of people" he soothed raising a hand to try to calm the room
"You're damn right it is" someone called from the back of the room "you've basically called us in here to tell us that we've lost our jobs and our retirement money is disappearing into o Livington's pocket"
There was a murmur of agreement that went round the room. Charles glanced at Elsie to see her biting her lips and staring hard at their boss. He glanced over to the man and mentally assessed him. She was right, there was something he hadn't told them yet, something, that would hopefully save their jobs.
"Quiet" He called in his most authortive voice and the room fell silent. Robert shot him a grateful look before continuing
"We have decided that the only way to save this company is to merge. This way we'll be able to keep all of you on as well as hopefully win this case."
"Who will we be merging with?" Charles asked " no company in their right mind will attach themselves to a sinking ship."
"We have had an offer. This company has firms in the USA and most of Europe and are looking to extend to this country." Robert explained "and to be honest I would be a fool not to take it"
"Oh god don't let it be Carlise" Elsie muttered. Ever since he had tried to poach her and nearly ruined their relationship she'd had very little time for the man. Granted, this helped her a lot in her cases, having beaten three times in court but the last thing she wanted was to see the words "Carlise and Crawley" written on the door
"It's not Carlise Ms Hughes" Robert assured her having heard her
"Who then?" She asked
"Gregson and Bryant" he announced. He was met with dead silence
"You've got to be joking." the voice from the back said incredulously and Charles had to agree with them. They'd had many dealings with this particular law firm and he was loath to get into another.
"I'm afraid not" Robert said "I'm not happy about it but its the only way forward. Now, they will be sending in a representative to negotiate with us tomorrow. Ms Hughes and Mr Carson will be handling this."
Both of them exchanged amazed glances but before either one of them could protest Robert had dismissed the meeting and left the room.
"I go out for one afternoon and this happens" Elsie sighed as she gathered up her bag and stood up
"I guess this means we'll have to put our wedding on hold again." Charles grumbled "I swear this place will fall down before we ever get the time."
"I told you Charles, I'm perfectly fine with taking one afternoon off to head down to the register's office with a couple of witnesses. I really don't care what type of wedding we have as long as I end up married to you in the end." Elsie said grabbing his hand and squeezing it
"No Elsie, you deserve to have a beautiful church wedding, with a stunning gown and an amazing cake." Charles said softly
"Trust you to think of the cake" she laughed into his chest as he pressed a brief kiss to the top of her head. While the whole firm knew they were engaged they tried to behave themselves at work due to the fact that they never knew when a client might walk in
"Naturally" he grinned as they departed "besides, if you cancel your big wedding Thomas and Anna will have a fit. Every morning I find some magazine article on my desk about a wedding. Usually with a post it note claiming this was a fabulous idea"
"That is a fair-" she started to say but faltered when they reached their office. Thomas had removed his jacket, rolled up his sleeves and was now playing air guitar while singing some country song quite loudly. Charles and Elsie exchanged amused glances before simultaneously leaning against the door
"Well there's a whole load of high-class people out there that's a looking down on me, cause the country club where I belong is a honky-tonk till three in the morning!" he sang loudly, bobbing along to his headphones.
"What on earth?" questioned Elsie in an amazed tone.
"Blake Shelton." Charles explained "Its his latest obsession. I haven't had the heart to tell him he's married...and straight."
"Don't wear fancy clothes no ties or three-piece suits, you can find me in my camouflage cap, my t-shirt and cowboy boots! If that don't fit your social class...you can kiss my country ass!"
"I'd rather not, if it's all the same to you" Charles said as he marched over and yanked the headphones out of the mp3 player.
"Mr Carson, I didn't see you there, I mean I was just er" Thomas stammered, as he backed away hurriedly from his boss
"What you were doing was fairly obvious." Mrs Hughes pointed out with an amused smirk on her face. "you should audition for x-factor"
"An option worth considering, although we'd miss you" Charles said before mouthing at Elsie 'not really' which earned him an exasperated look
"I'm sorry." Thomas said "how did your meeting go?"
"Dismissal thank you." Charles answered gruffly, flopping into his chair
"It wasn't that bad" countered Elsie, removing her coat and sitting in her chair with a lot more grace than Charles
"Oh no, of course not" Charles said sarcastically "Our boss just announced that we're being sued for malpractice which will render us bankrupt but guess what, we're merging with the company who has bayd for our blood since before I graduated from law school. Oh and did I mention that we're having to handle it?"
"Well when you put it like that.." conceded Elsie.
"Who are we merging with?" Thomas asked curiously "surely not Carlise?"
"No, Gregson and Bryant" answered Charles despondently crumpling a piece of paper and tossing it towards the bin
"Well I suppose that's not surprising" Thomas said off handedly "who's suing us?"
"What do you mean it's not surprising?" asked Elsie, looking up sharply
"Well he's dating Mr Crawley's daughter." Thomas said "I thought everyone knew that."
"Which daughter? Not Mary surely?" demanded Charles sitting up straight
"I knew you weren't listening to me yesterday." Elsie sighed "She's still with Mathew."
"No, Edith." Thomas said "its been going on awhile, I thought everyone knew."
"Well, she never had taste." Charles said, going back to flopping into his chair
"Charles!" Elsie exclaimed, glaring at him.
"Its true" Thomas agreed "I mean that guy has absolutely no dress sense. Anyway, I better go and inform Anna and sort out your schedules. I'm guessing the wedding is on hold again?"
"It is." Elsie confirmed a little sadly
"well more time to plan I suppose." Thomas said brightly "oh I wanted to ask, what do you think of having all your guests wear Stetson's?"
"absolutely not!" Elsie said sharply, fixing him with her famous death glare as he quickly skipped out of the office.
"Oh and Thomas" Charles called after him "if I ever catch you in 'a t-shirt and cowboy boots' you'll be fired immediately."
Please let me know what you think! Free dodgy legal advise to those who review ;)