A/N: This idea popped into my head after the last episode aired. I don't own any of the characters.
Liza and Kelsey were in the lobby of the hotel and Liza got a text from Charles asking her if she could meet him because he had a surprise. They would definitely be missing their flight for New York. She replied back that she would meet him. He texted her the address and she said she'd be there as soon as she could.
"Kelse, I need to go."
"Why?"
"Charles wants me to meet him and he said we would definitely miss the flight. Can you cover for me with Diana?"
"I'll come up with something. You really care about him, don't you?"
"I really do."
"There's no chance for you and Josh?"
"No. As far as I'm concerned, that is over and has been for a while. I told him we could be friends. I'm not sure he feels that way but he knows that I'm with Charles. He's not happy but it is what it is. I just wish you could be happy for me."
"Liza, Josh really loves you."
"He sure has a funny way of showing it. I don't love him anymore and my feelings for Charles are very real. If you can't accept that, then there is no place for you in my life. You know what? Don't even bother covering for me. I don't care anymore."
Liza headed out.
"Liza, don't go!"
"Don't try stopping me. I need to go with my heart on this one. Charles means so much to me. More than you will ever know. I need to do what's best for me and right now, that's being with him."
Liza walked out of the hotel with her luggage and got a cab. She told the driver the address and the driver took her there. When they arrived, Liza realized where she was. She got her suitcase and went inside. She saw Charles waiting for her.
"Hi."
"Hey. What is all this?"
"After you left early this morning, I decided that I wanted to take you to Paris after all. I needed a few days alone with you. It's only about a 4 hour trip."
"Charles, you didn't have to do this."
"I did. I want to be with you. I want to be able to kiss you, touch you and make love to you and not have to worry about anyone. In New York, I feel like there are always people watching us and I know that it was a little risky here. I need to tell you something."
"Ok."
"When you went to get shots for everyone, Cheryl Sussman kissed me."
"Oh. She saw me come out of your room this morning."
"She knocked on my door just to see whose room you came out of. Liza, I don't want you taking the job with her."
"I don't have any other choice. We can't be together otherwise."
"There has to be another way."
"Right now, I don't think there is."
"There is and I will figure something out. Can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"You ran out of that HR meeting when Bob came in because he knows you're older, didn't you?"
"Yes. He knows me as his daughter's roommate's mother and I didn't want him to know I was lying. I had every intention of meeting you at the Carlisle that night but seeing you with Bob and Julia scared me off."
"He knows I have very strong feelings for a 20-something year old assistant. Even though he said it was wrong for many reasons, I could promote you or marry you."
"This is why I said no when you asked me to stay with you at Pound Ridge. I didn't want to go to the next step with you until you knew the truth. I'm getting tired of all the lies."
Liza had tears running down her cheeks.
"Hey, don't cry. We'll figure this out."
"I…"
"You what?"
"I don't want to mess this up."
"Neither do I because apparently I wasn't attentive enough to Pauline."
Charles kissed her and then they boarded the train. About 4 hours later, it arrived in Paris. They got off the train and got a cab to the hotel.
"This is great."
They went in and went to check in. Liza was impressed hearing Charles speak French. They were taken up to their suite and then Charles tipped the Bellhop before he left.
"I hope you don't mind sharing the suite."
"Oh, no, I don't mind at all. I'm guessing us having some time alone is why we're here in the first place."
"That is true."
"I have to say that hearing you speak French is kind of sexy."
"Oh, is it?"
"Uh huh! Very sexy."
Charles grabbed Liza and started kissing her. They headed to the bedroom and shut the door. Liza undid Charles' shirt and kissed his neck and chest. Charles undid Liza's blouse and kissed her neck and chest. They continued undressing each other, got on the bed and made love. Afterwards they were holding each other.
"Charles, can I tell you something?"
"Of course you can."
"I love you."
"I love you too."
"Really?"
"Why are you so surprised?"
"I guess I'm really not that surprised."
"I know I'm not Josh."
"No, you're not. You make me so much happier than he ever did. He still has a lot of growing up to do."
"I assume he knew."
"Yeah. I really don't want to talk about Josh. I would much rather concentrate on us."
Charles kissed Liza and then they made love again before she fell asleep in his arms. Charles ended up falling asleep as well. By the time they woke up, it was time for dinner. They got dressed and headed to the restaurant where Charles had made reservations. After dinner, they walked over to the Eiffel Tower as they held hands.
"This is so beautiful. Thank you so much for this."
"You're welcome. I'm glad you like it. I wanted to do this to show you how much you mean to me. I also thought we needed some time alone before we headed back to New York."
"Last night was amazing and so was our first time."
"Why do I sense a 'but' coming? What did I do now?"
"Absolutely nothing. I want to be with you and only you. I meant it what I told you I loved you. Other than my daughter, you mean more to me than anyone."
"Even Kelsey?"
"Yeah. Even Kelsey. I just wish she could support this."
Liza kissed Charles and then he took selfies of the two of them. They went back to the hotel and made love before they fell asleep in each other's arms. The next morning, Charles was awake first. He loved waking up with Liza after a night of lovemaking. She had changed his life so much ever since they had first met. Charles started kissing her neck and she opened one eye.
"Good morning, Beautiful."
"Morning. You are way too cheerful this morning."
"Why wouldn't I be? I'm with you, which is exactly where I want to be and we're in the most romantic city in the world."
"I thought I was dreaming. We are in Paris."
"No, you're not dreaming. We're really here."
"I love you so much."
"I love you too. Why don't we order Room Service and then we can decide where we want to go."
"Ok. I need some strong coffee."
"Ok. Anything in particular you want to eat?"
"Surprise me."
"I will do that."
Liza got up and went into the bathroom, while Charles ordered from Room Service. Liza came back and then Charles went into the bathroom. Once he came back, he got back into bed with Liza and they started kissing. Just as they were about to make love, there was a knock at the door.
"Hold that thought."
Charles got up and put his robe on, while Liza grabbed Charles' shirt and put it on. Charles went to answer the door and then Liza joined him in the other room. Room Service left and then they ate breakfast. After breakfast, they made love before they went to take a shower together. During the shower, they could not keep their hands and lips off of each other. Once they got out, they made love again. They finished getting ready and went to see some of the sights in Paris as they held hands. They stayed out pretty much the entire day taking in the sights and they had even done some shopping. They had dinner and headed back to the hotel. As soon as they got back, they started kissing, headed for the bedroom, undressed each other and made love. Afterwards Charles had his arms around her and she had her head on his chest.
"I really appreciate you doing this for us."
"We really needed this. We can't do this in New York."
"I don't want to leave here. Of course, it's pretty hard leaving this bed."
"That's the idea. I wanted to show you just how much you mean to me."
Liza had tears running down her cheeks.
"I didn't mean to make you cry. I just want things between us to be perfect."
"They are, Charles. I have never had anyone treat me the way you have. All I want is someone that would never hurt me or would never cheat on me. David, my ex husband, cheated on me and gambled away the money we had saved up to put Caitlin through college. I hated lying to get a job but no one would hire me because I was too old."
"I don't care about that. I realized that you meant more to me than anyone else except for my girls. I have wanted to be with you a lot longer that I am willing to admit."
"Me too. I don't regret what happened between us at the department store or at the Book Fair in The Hamptons. I had no idea Josh was going to show up. I have often wondered what would have happened that night if Josh hadn't shown up."
"I do too."
"I was actually kind of jealous when you were dating Rahda."
"I don't know what I was thinking. She didn't like that I wanted to go see you when you were in the hospital."
"Wait, so I'm the reason you two broke up?"
"Yes."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be."
"Well, you were the reason Josh and I broke up. He did see us kissing in The Hamptons."
"Should I be sorry?"
"No. I wasn't really sure where that was even going. The age difference was too significant and he wants kids."
"You don't want more kids?"
"Not really. Don't get me wrong, I love Bianca and Nicole and I am looking forward to being a bigger part of their lives but I really don't want to raise a baby again. I hope this isn't a deal breaker for us."
"Not at all."
"I had a pregnancy scare with Josh. There is no way that I'd want to raise a baby with him. He's too immature."
"I got that when he punched me."
"I am so sorry about that."
"Don't be. I obviously deserved it."
"How long are we actually staying here?"
"We leave the day after tomorrow. I figured we could use some more time alone in our bubble."
"I love being in our bubble."
"I do too."
"How do you think the girls will handle us?"
"I think they'll be ok with it. They really like you."
"I really like them too. I know we're going to have a lot of explaining to do about my age."
"I'm still working on that. I want to be as open and honest as possible with them. The divorce has been pretty hard on them but I made Pauline promise not to say anything to them about you and me. I'm not actually sure I can trust her but I'm hoping I can."
"Does she know that nothing happened between us until around Christmas?"
"Pretty much. She said she'd keep quiet as long as I gave up the rights to her sequel."
"Cheryl Sussman knows I'm lying about my age. She and I worked together years ago at Random House and I had run into her while I had gone out to lunch with Diana. This was around the time we were trying to bid on Ellen Degeneres' new book. She wanted our figures for it or she'd spill the beans about me. I thought about it but I didn't do it. I told her to do whatever she had to do. Remember Dr. Wray's case study that everyone wanted to have a meeting with but I said no?"
"That was you, wasn't it?"
"Guilty. Cheryl was blackmailing me then too. There were so many times I tried telling you. I can't do this anymore. I have hurt too many people already."
"Liza, listen to me. Yes, I was hurt when I found out but then I realized that my feelings for you still hadn't changed. If they had, I could have chosen to stay with Pauline just to be miserable. Whatever Cheryl tries to do you now, we are in this together. This is our fight. This is why I don't want you going to work for her."
"I just don't see there being any other way. We can't be together if you are still my Boss."
"Like I said yesterday, I will come up with something and I mean that. I love you, Liza Miller."
"I love you too, Charles Brooks."
They started kissing and made love again before falling asleep in each other's arms. The next day, they went into Wine Country and spent time at some wineries. Early the following day, they got their things together and headed to the airport for their return trip to New York. Liza had fallen asleep on Charles' shoulder and neither of them were really ready to return to New York after spending the last couple days alone. They both knew there was going to be a lot they were going to have to deal with but they would get through it together.
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