I decided to write a Younger fanfic to hold me over while I wait for new episodes. Hope you guys enjoy!
"I am just so grateful that you are in my life, but for my girls' sake I need to figure out where things stand with Pauline. I hope you understand." His words kept running through her mind. She couldn't help it. She told herself that she was okay with the way things ended. His motives were clear, he wanted what was best for his girls and she completely understood. She would have stayed with David—even with all the shit he put her through—if Caitlin was younger when she learned of his infidelity. Every time she thought about it, it became clear to her just how easily she and Charles connected and how much they truly understood each other.
And then the truth would hit her like a ton of bricks. She understood Charles but he didn't understand her. He thought she was a carefree twenty something with so much life to live. He had no idea about her failed marriage or how truly desperate she was to provide for her daughter. No one at Empirical except Kelsey knew the truth and as far she knew that was still the case.
She did her best to push her feelings aside and not think about the night where her and Charles almost "consummated and deflated" as Maggie would say. It usually worked until she would catch him staring at her out of the corner of her eye. Or worse she was the one doing the staring. She used to be able to compartmentalize when she was work but that was no longer the case. She would catch him deep in thought during a meeting and wonder what it would be like to kiss his jawline or how his small hints of stubble would feel as he kissed along her clavicle. Or even worse, she would remember her dream where they did up against his bookcase and not be able to think of anything else for the rest of the day. Would being with him be as good as she imagined? Would it be even better? She would never know for sure.
One day she got caught off guard while lost in thought and immediately felt guilty afterwards. Pauline came into the office to meet with her—because her first editing assignment would of course be the thinly veiled tell-all about her boss' marriage—but this time she also had Bianca and Nicole in tow. Pauline said it was so the girls could see where their father worked but Liza couldn't help but wonder if there was something else behind it. Liza did her best to put on a happy face and put any jealous thoughts she had behind her but the longer it took to publish Pauline's book, the harder it became.
That was what led her toward making one of the hardest decisions of her life. She left Empirical and almost left the publishing industry for good. Maggie was the one who told her to look for another editing job. She had the experience now, no one would turn her away but Liza still felt unsure about it. The idea of working anywhere but Empirical made her feel guilty and she was tired of lying. In order to stay in the publishing world, she would have to keep her secret and she was ready for that part of her life to finally be over.
And so it was. She kept in contact with Kelsey and when they hung out they hardly ever talked about work. Instead they used the time to catch up. They learned very quickly that they missed out on a lot when they didn't see each other every day. It was during one their catch-up sessions that Liza learned about Kelsey's new boyfriend and that Kelsey learned the real reason why Liza and Josh broke up. Liza hated to admit it but she had fallen hard for Charles and he always was way more than a scapegoat from her relationship with Josh. Even though she hated to admit it, Charles was the one who got away. She had tried dating others and every single relationship had gone absolutely nowhere. She could never find the spark that she had with Josh or the strong connection that she had with Charles. Both Maggie and Kelsey said that she was overthinking everything but she didn't care. She didn't want to have a fling, she wanted something real. She had spent half of her life settling and she was going to make sure that never happened again.
"Liza? Are you okay?" Jay asked shaking her out of her thoughts, "You look distracted."
She nodded and then replied, "Yeah I'm fine. I guess. I'm just a little preoccupied thinking about this weekend."
"Awe yes the wedding. It sounds like it's going to be the event of the season. I bet you'll have fun."
She did her best to keep smiling as she replied, "Yeah I hope so. Unless Kelsey turns into a total bridezilla. It wouldn't surprise me."
Jay laughed as he turned in his chair, "You know what? This can wait until Monday. Why don't you take the rest of the day off? That way you can beat the traffic."
"Are you sure?" she wondered.
"Of course it's not every day one of your best friends gets married. Go have fun."
Liza didn't even question it she just smiled and thanked him as she made her way to her office. She had worked for Jay for a little over two years and had quickly become a vital member of his team. She started as a ghostwriter and then made her way to editor. She was grateful for the opportunity and so was Jay. He even told her on multiple occasions that she had arrived at just the right moment. The new imprint wasn't doing very well and they desperately needed her expertise. Even though she was no longer lying about her age, she still had an idea of what millennials would want to read. Because of that she found herself offering her input on many different occasions.
Her time working with Jay was very beneficial. The few novels she had ghost written had sold very well and one even made it to the best seller list in record time. She eventually tried her hand at writing a book herself. A memoir actually. It was something that she never saw herself doing but what started off as a hobby had turned into something she felt needed to be out in the public. And so once she was ready, she sent it off. She figured it was the perfect book for the ever-growing Millennial to publish. She just had one request: publish it anonymously. She didn't need her secret being exposed to the whole world but she had learned a lot from time as a 26 year old and she wanted to share it.
She grabbed her stuff off her desk and glanced at her phone. She expected to see messages from Caitlin and Maggie. But she was surprised when she saw a missed call from the expectant bride-to-be. Lauren had advised her to avoid all forms of technology and to have her maid-of-honor-Lauren-be in charge of contacting people. Kelsey had surprisingly agreed and Liza wasn't supposed to see or hear from her until she arrived at the Hamptons rental house that evening. Whatever it was it must have been major. She made her way to the elevator and made sure that she was alone before she dialed the all-too familiar Empirical number.
"Kelsey Peters' office," she heard an unfamiliar voice say.
"Hi is Kelsey still there?" she asked doing her best to sound like the peppy millennial she used to be.
"No. She didn't come in today and now she's off for two weeks," the bored voice said, "Please hold."
The other end started playing some random song with a trumpet as Liza became very confused. Why would she have to hold if Kelsey wasn't there? Who would go to such extremes just to talk to her?
"Hello Liza," she heard Diana say matter-of-factly.
"Hi Diana. How are you?" she replied doing her best to make small talk as she left the McMillian building and started to hail a cab.
She heard Diana huff on the other end before answering, "How do you think I am? Kelsey gets married in two days and I have no idea what to get her. I can't very well get my assistant to do it because she can't even get my coffee right and she's been here for a month already. Really, how long does it take?"
"Do you need some ideas?" Liza asked while doing her best not to laugh. She hadn't talked to Diana in almost three years and here she was expecting her to help with a snap of her fingers.
"What do you think this is, a courtesy call? Of course I need ideas otherwise I'm just going to go with Richard's idea and give them a certificate for counseling. God knows they'll need it at one point or another."
Liza cringed as she stepped into the cab that pulled up in front of her. She quickly told the driver her destination and then turned her attention back to Diana. "Well Kelsey and Scott love to travel, you could get them a luggage set. Or you get them something for their new loft. Oh and they're always spoiling their dog, I'm sure they'd love a BarkBox subscription."
"Their dog?" Diana questioned in outrage, "I knew that you quit Empirical to pursue other opportunities I didn't know that you had also gone insane."
"How about I send you a link to their wedding website instead. You can access their registry from there."
"I guess that will work. But I was hoping that you would have better ideas than that ridiculous wedding registry. It must have been put together by that silly redhead Kelsey keeps running around with. I'll just give them the gift certificate and they'll thank me later for it."
"Diana, I'm sure we can come up with something better."
"No it's settled. I've made up my mind. I'm assuming you'll be at the wedding?"
Liza took a deep breath and then replied, "Yes I will be."
"Well then I will see you there. As much I'd love to have a weekend getaway with Richard, Charles insists that we go and support our coworker."
"If you don't want to go…" she started.
Diana quickly interrupted her and said, "I have to go Liza." The next thing Liza heard was a click and then the call was over. She did her best to stay calm but she wasn't succeeding. Charles would be there. She figured that he would be but a part of her had hoped that he either wouldn't come or that he'd be busy. She wasn't sure if she could face him after all this time. Now it looked like she had to whether she wanted to or not. This was going to be the longest weekend of her life. For better or for worse.
Hope you liked it! Feel free to leave a review and let me know what you thought!
