Chapter 9

The rest of the week leading up to Friday seemed to last forever, Liza thought, but went by in a total blur. She had barely seen Charles for the past 4 days. She herself had been all consumed with both her work with Kelsey and with Diana. Kelsey was in the midst of putting the finishing touches on two books, and Diana was just, well Diana. On top of that, Kelsey had handed off the editing for the Emily Burns advice book to her. Which was a huge task in itself. The book was just plain bad. Liza secretly thought that Kelsey may be doing it to punish her, just a little, but she also knew that she deserved it. She was waiting for the other shoe to drop with Kelsey, waiting for her to blow up on her the way she had been expecting.

Charles had been out of the office for most of the week, so she had hardly seen him. With the exception of one way too short elevator ride at lunch on Thursday she hadn't had a chance to be alone with him all week. Closing her eyes for a moment, her mind wandered back to that moment…

She had forsaken her lunch hour to run an errand for Diana, and had just stepped onto the elevator to head back up the office when he had stepped in behind her. He had broken into a wide grin when he saw her.

"Hey you."

"Hey yourself." She reached over to press the button to close the door and felt him come up behind her and place his hands on her waist, pulling her flush with him. Sighing contentedly, she turned her head partially to meet his lips. They embraced like that for a moment, breaking apart just in time for the elevator bell to ding and the doors to open, ushering in a half dozen people. They stepped to the back of the elevator and she struggled to maintain her composure as he had discreetly grazed her leg with his hand and fingered the hemline of her dress. He had whispered "I can't wait to take you out tomorrow" before stepping off of the elevator and glancing back at her with that smile he had come to save only for her. She hadn't seen him since.

"Earth to Liza. You alive in there?" Liza opened her eyes to see Kelsey perched on the side of her desk.

"Hey! Sorry. Just lost my train of thought for a moment. What's up?" She glanced down at her cell phone. It was almost 6:00. She had told Charles that she would meet him on the steps of the New York Public Library at 7:00.

"I was going to ask you if you wanted to go out for drinks with me and Lauren tonight. We could swing by the loft and pick Maggie up too. I need to unwind. This week has been killer, am I right?"

Liza looked around Kelsey to confirm that Diana was not within earshot. It looked as if she was gone for the night, thank god. "Actually, Charles and I are going on our first official date tonight. I'm meeting him in about an hour. I was actually just going to go and get changed."

"Look at you girl, you're all nervous! I haven't seen you like this since your first date with Josh! Sorry, I know you probably don't want to hear about him. Listen," she said, reaching over to grab Liza's hand "I am going to do my best to be supportive of whatever this thing is between you and Charles. But I need you to understand that this puts me in a weird position. He's my boss, Liza, and yours too. I'm just worried about what might happen if things end badly. And I'm not saying that things will end, but I need you to be careful. There is collateral damage in this situation."

Liza squeezed her hand before letting it go. "I understand. I know I'm putting you in a weird situation here, and I'm sorry, but my feeling for Charles are there, and they're real. It's not like it was with Josh, Kelsey. I'm not sure how to explain it. I know this is just the beginning, but I can really see a future with him. I couldn't see that with Josh. And you don't have to go out of your way to not mention him to me. I'm hoping that he and I can get back to being friends at some point. I love Josh, but I'm not in love with him anymore."

"I'm glad to hear you say that, because I may be his new roommate. I moved out of Lauren's parents house this week. Max moved in and it's just too much. I've been staying at a hotel – "

"You could have come to stay with me and Maggie!"

"No, no, it's okay. But anyways, I saw Josh at the bar last night and he said I could stay with him if I couldn't find a decent place that didn't smell like cats. Long story. Is that too weird?"

"No! I mean, a little bit, but that's my problem, right? That's nice of him to offer."

"Yeah, it is. But enough about Josh. You need to start getting ready if you're going to be on time to meet Mr. Brooks. Need help with your makeup?"

Half an hour later Liza was climbing the steps to the NYPL. Charles, all 6'4" of him was leaning against the stone wall halfway up the steps. He swept her into his arms and kissed her before wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "Let's get going, shall we?"

It was the best first date that either of them had ever had. Charles took her to Nica Trattoria, a small, romantically lit, Italian restaurant on the Upper East Side before escorting her to a waiting town car. They kissed for the entire ride, ending up at Battery Park, where he showed her the most amazing carousel. The Sea Glass Carousel, he told her, and it was so beautiful. They had laughed and held hands as they spun around in circles. The conversation flowed easily and comfortably, and they kept talk of work to a minimum. Tonight, they agreed, was all about them.

After the carousel, Charles suggested a walk through the park. They held hands and stopped at an ice cream stand and ordered gelato. Sitting on a nearby bench, Liza fed him spoonfuls of gelato, leaning in to kiss him after every bite. She was giggling and joking and Charles thought he had never seen anyone so utterly joyful. Being around her is just intoxicating, he thought. I can't get enough of her.

They continued their walk, slowly making their way towards the street. Coming to a stop, Charles turned to look at her.

"So," he said, intertwining his fingers with hers and pulling her to him. "What's next?"

Liza smiled shyly and glanced down briefly before meeting his eyes. She leaned in and kissed him before whispering in his ear. "Your place or mine?"