Hey guys! New story here. I love the idea of EvilCharming and decided to try my hand at writing about this couple. I hope you enjoy!
Beauregard Gold ran a tight ship. His employees were top recruits in their field and he liked to keep them on their toes. He was never disappointed with the final results of the projects he assigned his teams. Today was going to be the start of a new project with new clients. The clients made it very clear they were taking a big chance going with his company and they hoped he wouldn't disappoint them. This company also liked to micro manage. While Mr. Gold held his employees in high regard and knew they were the best of the best, The Neverland Company didn't know his employees as well as he did. They wanted to bring in their own project manager to be their head piece. Mr. Gold felt a little insulted but the company was very firm they would pick another agency if Mr. Gold did not agree to their terms and so it was with great reluctance he agreed to host a representative from their company. Even though Mr. Gold ruled with a heavy hand, even he knew to have a healthy fear. A healthy fear of one of his most cut throat employees. A Miss Regina Mills. She worked hard to climb the ranks in his company. His wife, Belle, who was also co owner of The Enchancted Forest management firm, insisted he hire the fresh upstart. Mr. Gold wasn't immediately impressed with her first interview, she seemed a bit timid and unsure of herself, but Belle thought she saw a spark in the young woman's eye. It was quite refreshing to see her perk up and become quite focused once she got to the practical portion of the interview. Belle had never led her husband astray when it came to hiring people for the company, she could read people like a book. Even though it was with great reluctance he hired Miss Mills, he decided that now it was her turn to take lead on a project. Her face after he told her she would finally get to take lead on a project after being in the company for five years will forever be seared in his memory. She stood from her seat, shook his hand confidently and headed straight for her office to being researching the new company. She wanted to be well prepared for their first meeting. He glanced down at his office phone. His secretary was calling him, probably to let him know the representative from The Neverland Company was there. Yes, Mr. Gold had a healthy fear of Regina Mills and right now, he was deathly afraid how she would take the news that while she was taking the lead on this project, she would still have to answer to this representative.
"Gold here," he answered after picking up the phone.
"Yes Mr. Gold, there is a David Nolan here from The Neverland Company to see you."
"Yes, I was expecting him. Please, send him in."
A few moments later, his secretary, Tink, as she liked to be called, knocked lightly on his office door before opening it and showing in David Nolan.
"Is there anything I can get you gentlemen, coffee? Water? Soda?"
"We'll both have scotch, a double, if you don't mind." Tink dropped her eyes as she walked over to the mini bar Mr. Gold kept in his office. She poured up the drinks and sat them in front of Mr. Gold and Mr. Nolan. "Thanks Tink."
"If there's anything else you need, let me know," Tink offered as she departed from Mr. Gold's office. Once the door shut, Mr. Gold picked up his glass and drank it straight. He nodded to Mr. Nolan who seemed to hesitate a brief moment.
"Go on, drink it. You'll need the liquid courage."
"I'm sorry?" David nervously chuckled out.
"Yes, your first day is going to be quite a challenge. I'm just trying to help you out."
"I'm sure I can take on any challenge you can give me, although, I'm not here for that."
"No, you're here to oversee our progress on handling your company's account. The employee I assigned to your company's account isn't going to appreciate your presence and they will have no problem making sure you know that."
"Oh? Well he'll just have to get used to it. We don't always get what we want." Mr. Gold chuckled, stood and poured himself another shot of scotch. He drank that down as well and stood to the side of David's chair.
"Well then, are you ready?" David nodded and stood up. Mr. Gold extended his arm, indicating David pass in front. Mr. Gold picked up David's glass and followed behind him. He shut his office door and took the lead.
"Let me show you around. First we have my office and Tink. Don't ever just come straight into my office. Even my wife stops at Tink's desk." David nodded in understanding and offered a wave to Tink who just stared at him with a most sorrowful look. David shook it off. "Next," Mr. Gold said as he began walking away from his office down the hall, "we have the conference room. There are three conference rooms, but most team members prefer our open space to collaborate on projects so these rooms are usually empty, but feel free to use them as you see fit. Tink can help you schedule reservations." David nodded as he followed Mr. Gold a little further down the hall. "This is the breakroom. It has quite the accommodations, at the behest of my wife who says I work my poor employees to the bone. I can't help if they sacrifice their sleep and health in order to produce quality work. There's a stove, two fridges, plenty of cabinet space, coffee maker, drink machine, soda, water and juices only, I'm afraid. And we have fresh fruit delivered everyday. If you do bring your own food please remember to label them. We have one employee who is a bit OCD and will not hesitate to throw stuff away if it is not properly labeled, name and date. Everything is tossed at the end of the week." David nodded his head and followed Mr. Gold to the open work space. There were sets of tables pushed together with employees huddled around computers and papers. Some were sketching, some were balling up papers and tossing them around. It seemed to be a very relaxed working atmosphere. Certainly not what he pictured the atmosphere to be like considering the high quality work Mr. Gold's company produced. Mr. Gold then led David to a group of tables towards the back of the room. There was a single occupant seated, scrutinizing a very large plan spread out before her. Her face was fixed in a scowl biting the eraser end of the pencil she had perched in her plump red stained lips. She popped the pencil out of her mouth and exclaimed an 'Aha!', standing out of her chair, leaning forward and sketching something on the plan.
"Miss Mills."
"Not now Beau. I'm on to something." Mr. Gold turned his head a bit towards David before clearing his throat. That caught Ms. Mills attention. She looked up with her hands planted on the table before her.
"Miss Mills, allow me to introduce David Nolan." She stared at David, looked him up and down for a minute. Mr. Gold extended his arm, indicating to David he should offer his hand for Miss Mills to take. David picked up the cue and extended his hand. Miss Mills took it into her hand. It was a firm grasp, but her hands were soft. She withdrew after a few shakes and turned her attention to Mr. Gold.
"Who is this?" She questioned after a moment. David let out a chuckle, shaking his head. Miss Mills whipped her head back in his direction.
"Find something funny Mr. David Nolan?"
"Uh, Regina, David is here from The Neverland Company. He is their liaison." Her mouth dropped open. "You two will be working together on their new project. I do hope you'll play nice." Mr. Gold turned to David, "I'll leave you to it. Mr. Pan said you were his best employee. I have no doubt you two will come up with something spectacular. And, uh, here, you might be needing this," he said, handing David the glass of scotch he picked up before their little tour started. Mr. Gold pivoted on his heel to head back towards his office. He hoped it wasn't obvious that he was trying to make it to his office before Regina Mills had a chance to attack him. Everyone respected his closed door, even Regina. He quick stepped to his office and shut the door. He took what precious few moments he had to fix himself another drink.
Regina finally closed her mouth. Her lips pursed shut and her scowl deepened. She seemed to be thinking really hard about this situation she found herself thrust into. David wasn't quite sure what was going on. Mr. Pan informed him he would be working with Mr. Gold's top project lead but no one told him who it was. He was bit taken aback when they ended their tour in front of this stunning woman in front of him. At first glance she wasn't what he expected. For one thing, he was certain it would be a man he would be working with. When she took his hand in hers after their introductions, he could tell this was all quite unexpected. No worries, David thought. He was a charmer and was quite certain he could handle whatever this Miss Mills could throw at him. He didn't need liquid courage as Mr. Gold suggested. He realized he was staring when the woman before him finally cleared her throat to get his attention.
"I hope you liked what you saw because this is the last time you'll get to see it." She stalked off in the direction of Mr. Gold's office. What a fire cracker she was. He followed her down the hall to see what exactly it was she thought she could do about their working arrangement. She approached Tink's desk. If she followed the rule of stopping by Tink's desk first, David was certain there was no way Regina would get her way of not working with David. His eyes widened however when Tink only looked up from her computer as Regina walked right by without stopping, without knocking on the door and barged into Mr. Gold's office. The door slammed shut and Tink jumped in her chair. David walked up to Tink's desk. She held up a hand to stop him.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. It would probably be best if you just waited. Did Mr. Gold show you your office? Although I'm not so sure you'll be here very long," she leaned forward to whisper the last part, "I wouldn't get too comfortable if I were you." David laughed at the absurdity of her statement.
"I'm here on behalf of my company. Mr. Gold can't exactly get rid of me."
"Oh no, Mr. Gold never breaks a deal. Regina, on the other hand," David quirked an eyebrow, "uh, Miss Mills. Miss Mills doesn't take too kindly to newcomers."
"I see." David stood awkwardly at Tink's desk, curious as to what was going on behind the closed door of Mr. Gold's office. He could hear Regina's raised voice, but it was muffled. After a few moments, the door opened. Regina stalked out of the office. When she saw David standing next to Tink's desk, she paused and looked him up and down again. Another young woman came around the corner. She cleared her throat upon seeing the tense scene before her.
"Mrs. Gold! Didn't see you standing there!" Tink exclaimed. "Have you had a chance to meet Mr. Nolan? The team lead from the Neverland Company? Miss Mills just met him." Belle Gold mouthed a silent 'oh'. She looked at her husband who was standing in the doorway of his office. She shook her head at him. He was certainly a tough business man, but when it came to dealing with women in a business setting he was useless. He was even more useless when it came to Regina Mills. He was a hard ass on her but, he was also secretly afraid of her. He pawned it off by ignoring her, hoping she would sort her own issues out, which they usually did. This situation however, appeared to need some managing. Belle stepped forward and grasped the other woman by the elbow.
"Hey Regina, ready for our meeting?" Regina tore her eyes from David and looked confusedly at Belle Gold.
"What meeting?"
"You know, the meeting we schedule for ten o'clock." Regina was so wrapped up with David Nolan she couldn't understand the exit Belle was trying to give her to save herself from any further embarrassment. Luckily the subtlety wasn't lost on Tink. She stood up quickly from her desk.
"Yes, Regina, you remember the meeting you had me schedule with Mrs. Gold? Something about the new local coffee company you were raving about last week?"
"Yes, you wanted to put together a business proposal, remember?" Belle took Tink's lead on coming up with a plausible suggestion for getting Regina back down the hall towards her office. Tink grabbed Regina's other elbow and she and Belle escorted the young woman down the hall.
"That bad, eh?" David said to Mr. Gold.
"Welcome to Storybrooke Management Firm."
"You coulda warned me what I was walking into."
"I did."
"No you didn't."
"I gave you a double scotch, didn't I?"
"So you did, so you did." David raised the glass, nodded his head at Mr. Gold and drank down the drink.
"Need another?"
"Is that a suggestion?"
"It is, one I strongly recommend you take." David nodded his head and followed Mr. Gold back into his office.
There you have it! Let me know what you think!