Chapter 10

Liza watches Kelsey leave her loft and slumps on the sofa. 'Well it's all out there now and Kelsey is very upset with me.' She hopes that Kelsey will eventually forgive her for the lies. She knows it may take a bit for this to smooth over.

Maggie walks back into the room "She was very upset, I thought she may take it better than that. It seems she can't get past the idea that what you and Charles are doing is going to be bad for her somehow. Liza, its Kelsey's immaturity coming out, we do have to remember she is only 26. Her reaction to your lie is different than Charles' reaction, he's mature and knows that some things don't need to be blown out of proportion."

"But Maggie, I did lie to her and I just through a whole lot at her, I think she has a right to over react. I'm going to take a shower and get in bed, hopefully tomorrow won't be so bad at work." She doesn't believe it, but she hopes.

"Liza, just remember that we did have a great time with Charles tonight, if anything just remember that, don't beat yourself up for how this evening ended, ok sweetie?" she hugs Liza tightly.

After her shower she crawls into her bed and attempts to fall asleep, but her mind is racing. She reaches for her phone and sends a text to Charles. 'Are you still up?' She watches the three dots appear immediately and waits for his response.

'I'm up and was just getting ready to check on you before I crawled into bed' he replies.

'I had a great time with you and Maggie tonight, I hope you did as well' Liza texts.

'Liza you know I had a great time, I loved spending time with you and getting to know Maggie'

'Charles, Kelsey came by after you left tonight, she spotted us on the curb before you got in your uber'

Liza's phone rings immediately, it's Charles. She answers "Hey baby" she says sadly.

"Liza are you ok? I'm guessing if she spotted us on the curb then she witnessed us kissing goodnight?"

"Yes, she did, and she is very upset. She kept accusing me of 'sleeping with the boss' and that I'm ruining everything she has built with Millennial and at Empirical. It was horrible Charles. I tried to explain that I'm not just 'sleeping with my boss' but that we are more than that, that we have been connecting for a very long time and we just started a new dating relationship. That we do care for each other and are making each other happy. I also told her about my age and she finally just got up and left, she said it was too much to take in."

"Liza, do you want to come over? I'll hold and comfort you. The girls are in bed, we can just lay in each other's arms tonight." He never wants Liza to be sad, it breaks his heart that she is upset.

"Charles you know that we can't do that yet. We need to let the girls know that we are dating before I just start walking out of your bedroom in the mornings. I'd love to sneak over, but we really shouldn't do that to the girls."

"Do you want me to talk to Kelsey tomorrow? We can have a meeting with her if you like."

"I'm hoping that she will be ready to talk to me tomorrow at work, we'll see how it goes. And yes, I do think that you should talk to her at some point. I know that she's always looked up to you, so maybe you can explain that what we are doing is not going to harm her and Millennial. I don't think she will tell anyone about us or my age, she seems to think it could really screw things up, so I think for now she will keep quiet about what she discovered tonight."

"Liza we'll get though this I promise. Kelsey will eventually feel better about this situation, I think she was just overwhelmed with all that she learned tonight. Please don't worry too much."

"Charles, I can see why she's so mad, I've been lying to her since the beginning. I'm supposed to be her good friend, and I've been lying to her every day that I've known her! God I'm a horrible human being!" she cries.

"Liza, please don't cry. It's going to be ok. You haven't lost her, just give her the time and space that she needs."

He continues to try to make her feel better, they both fall asleep without hanging up. The next morning, she wakes up laying next to her phone, she can hear Charles breathing as he sleeps against his phone. She speaks into her phone to wake him, they both need to be getting up and starting there day.

"Charles, can you hear me? Charles?"

"Liza? We must have fallen asleep together after all. What time is it?"

"It's time to get up, we have to get ready for work."

Liza gets to work. She goes by Kelsey's office, but Kelsey is not there yet. She then texts Charles 'I'm in the office, are you in yet?'

'I'm in my office, want to come in and talk?' Charles replies.

'I'm getting a coffee and I'll be in shortly.'

Charles walks out of his office with his coffee mug and meets Liza at the coffee bar. "Good morning Liza" he says and looks her over, wanting to see that she isn't as sad this morning as she was the night before. "Liza, can I see you in my office? I've got a few questions about the last edit on your author's latest chapters." It's a lie he says out loud, so that their office mates won't suspect something other than work related conversation.

They walk into his office and he closes the door. "Are you okay baby? I don't like that you are upset. It was all I could do, not to call the babysitter last night and come straight to you."

Liza loves that he is so sweet and wants to know she is okay. She knows she is lucky to have him. "I'm better this morning, I've just got to give her time and hope she forgives me. She was overwhelmed by everything last night, I'm hoping that she has calmed down." She is lying to herself, she knows that Kelsey was very upset last night, it may take more than a night sleep to get them back on track.

"Liza, I want to talk to her, I want her to know that we are more than just a boss sleeping with his employee." He thinks 'I want everyone to know how I feel about this beautiful and smart woman.'

"Charles, she accused me of sleeping with you to get my promotion, to get ahead with the company. Please know that was never my intention. My feelings for you have always been real and there has never been any ulterior motive. I would never be with you for fame or fortune, the only reason I'm with you is because of the man you are on the inside."

"Baby, I know that. The promotion was all Kelsey and I, we felt you deserved it. I know you would have gotten that promotion no matter what, you didn't have to be sleeping with me to get it, I promise."

"I'm going to get to work and we'll see what happens with Kelsey. Hopefully she'll want to continue to work with me. It may be a bit awkward, but we'll work through it." Liza get up to leave.

He grabs her hand and kisses it. "Come see me if you need anything, I'm free most of the day. Do you want to have lunch today?"

"I'd love to have lunch with you. Is 12:30 okay?"

"12:30 is great, I'll meet you at your desk and we'll head out."

Liza leaves and as she is walking out of Charles' office Kelsey is at the coffee bar and she give both Liza and Charles a look that is full of disappointment and disapproval.

Charles thinks to himself 'I'll give Liza time to talk to Kelsey, but I will also explain to her that I will not accept her judging me for my choices I make when it comes to Liza and my personal life.'

Liza follows Kelsey to her office. "Kelsey are you okay?"

"Sure, why wouldn't I be?" Kelsey snaps.

"Well you don't seem okay, that look you just gave Charles and I was very judgmental. I just want us to figure out how to get past this. I truly am sorry for not being honest with you about my age and about Charles."

"Liza, I really don't want to talk about it. You've made choices that kept you from telling me the truth, you need to just live with it. I'm not happy about it and I'm not expecting anything more than a working relationship with you. I don't want to nor do I think I can be friends right now!"

Liza looks at her and wants to cry. "I'm truly sorry Kels."

Kelsey gives her a look of annoyance and asks, "Is there anything else you need, work wise that is?"

"No, I'll be working at my desk on the edits for my author." Liza leaves and her heart is breaking. She does her best to compose herself, she works straight through to lunchtime, barely looking up from her editing.

Lunch at there little diner is a nice break from a day of tension between Liza and Kelsey. Charles is doing his best to be understanding, but he is very upset with Kelsey and the way she is reacting.

"But Charles, she has every right to be mad, I'm been lying to her and I'm supposed to be her good friend, if I'm such a good friend I would have told her long ago."

Getting back to the office Charles and Liza exit the elevator. They are met by Kelsey. Again, she gives them both a look and rolls her eyes. Charles has had enough. He clenches his jaw. "Liza, thanks for lunch. I'll talk to you later." Liza gives him a look and she can see that he is pissed.

Charles turns to Kelsey. "Kelsey, do you have a few minutes? I need to see you in my office." He holds out his hand as to direct her towards his office.

"Charles, I really don't think now is a good time." Kelsey squares her shoulders and attempts to hold her ground, she is being so defiant towards her boss, she really doesn't realize how much she is pissing Charles off right now.

"Why? Do you have an appointment you are on your way too?" He looks at her with a frown, his eyes hardening.

"No, I just think we should wait for a better time to talk." She snaps.

"Kelsey, I'm thinking now is a good time. My office please." He states and again moves his hand in the direction of his office.

She turns on her heels and walks swiftly to his office. Charles shuts the door behind them.

"Please have a seat Kelsey." He sits behind his desk and looks at her for a moment. Taking time to think about how he is going to handle this. He's trying to stay calm, but he is fed up with her attitude.

"Do you have anything to say to me Kelsey?"

She shakes her head; her arms are crossed around her stomach; her body language is one of defiance as she sits in front of him. "No, nothing. I have nothing to say to you or to Liza right now."

"I'm thinking that you do have plenty to say to me, the way you've been throwing looks, rolling your eyes and the defiant attitude towards me." He pauses as her watches her.

She looks at him with widened eyes. "Charles, what you and Liza are doing it going to screw things up, you know that right?"

"Kelsey, what Liza and I are doing is building a wonderful and loving relationship. We are making each other very happy. I'd think you'd be happy that we've found each other."

"Charles I'm not happy at all! You both have been lying to me! How do you expect me to feel or act?"

"Look, you are upset I understand, but I'm going to just say that I'm not going to accept any disrespect from you. Kelsey I am your boss, you haven't forgotten that have you? I sign your paycheck, and unless you don't want that anymore, then I suggest you straighten up your attitude." He is watching her with a stern look, he's being tough, but he's not going to let her treat him with disrespect. He continues, "What I do with my life and my company is my business, not yours. Do you understand?"

She is not understanding his threat, she immediately spits out. "Charles did you give her that promotion because she was sleeping with you? It seems that you may be playing favoritism with her because she is in your bed!"

Charles jaw tightens again and then he looks her square in the eyes. "Kelsey, you're treading on thin ice young lady! You know that you brought up that promotion to me. I don't want to hear that accusation ever again. And I'm only going to say this one more time, please understand I will not accept the looks, the eye rolling and the disrespectful attitude from you one more second. I'm your boss, you need to remember that." He threatens.

Charles continues, "You need to find a way to work professionally with Liza and myself. If you and Liza can't be friends because she lied about her age, then okay, but you are colleagues and you both need to figure out how to make that work in the office. You need to be civil towards each other."

She looks at him and knows she may never be able to trust him again. She knows that she needs to try to make a working relationship civil between Liza, Charles and herself or she may be looking for a new job.

"Charles, I'll make it work, I'll be civil towards you and Liza as far as work is concerned, but I'm not sure if our friendships will survive the lies. Can I go now and get back to work?"

"Okay Kelsey, I can accept that, our working relationships are to remain civil. If we aren't friends anymore then I'll also accept that. I'm sorry about that though, just know that I've always liked you and I do hope that some day you will get over the lies. You are free to go. Have a good day."

She leaves his office and she is fuming, but she does her best to hide it. She knows Charles will expect her to be civil, or else she could be fired.

Charles follows her out and walks to Liza's desk. Liza looks up to see Kelsey walk by and straight to her office, she looks pissed. "Liza can I see you in my office." Liza looks up at Charles, nods and follows him to his office.

"Liza, I know that you wanted me to wait to talk to her, but her disrespect towards myself and to you was not anything I could accept for one more second. The eye rolling and the looks she has given us today were unacceptable. She is very upset, but I told her she will need to stay professional and be civil to both of us. She promises to stay civil at work, but she could not promise that friendships would stay intact. I'm sorry about that Liza. She may someday get over it and I hope that for you, I know you care about her."

"Charles, I understand you needing to talk to her. She should at least treat you with respect, you are her boss."

"Liza, I know that I don't have to say this, but please stay professional with her. We need to keep our Empirical and Millennial family strong."

"I'd never compromise Empirical and Millennial just because her and I can't be friends. I promise to be a professional." She confirms.

Liza gets back to her desk and starts to work. She didn't see Kelsey the rest of the day. She had left an email to Liza stating she was out of the office on a business meeting.