Friday Night

Liza sat at her desk, squinting at the words on the screen in front of her. It was 7:30 on a Friday night, and work was the last place she wanted to be. She had been ready to head home an hour and a half ago after spending the entire day with Pauline, finetuning several more chapters, when she had received a text from Maggie letting her know that Josh and Lauren were at the loft. They had apparently invited themselves over for a "wine and weed" night. She loved Lauren and Josh, but the last thing she wanted to deal with this week was their overwhelming personalities tonight.

What she wanted, more than anything, was some time with Charles. She glanced back at his office, but it was dark. She had been meeting with Pauline at her hotel today, and by the time she got back into the office, he was already gone. She didn't know if he was avoiding her or just avoiding having to deal with Pauline, but her stomach was in knots. Pauline had spent the afternoon pestering Liza with roundabout questions about Charles and if he was seeing anyone. Liza had never considered herself a jealous person, but her fuse when it came to Pauline was short. She wanted to get this book done, get it published and get Pauline out of their lives.

She leaned her elbows onto her desk, resting her head in her hands. She hated feeling like this. It wasn't fair. She and Charles had just settled into this relationship and now the rug was being pulled out from underneath them. Maybe it's karma, she thought, for lying to the people I love. She loved Charles, and he loved her, but what if he decided to reconcile with Pauline? It was clearly what she wanted. Her novel was basically "Eat, Pray, Win my Husband Back." Charles had young daughters who needed a mother in their lives. What if he decided to try and give them the big, happy, united family that they deserved? Liza put herself in his shoes – if she had found out about David's indiscretions when Caitlin was still a young girl, she wasn't entirely sure that she would have walked away. Her instinct would have been to try and make it work. She couldn't, she wouldn't, be the person who stood in the way of a family getting back together. Even if it broke her heart.

She tried to refocus on the page in front of her, but her thoughts got the better of her. She saved her work on the chapter she was editing and emailed it to Kelsey for review. She stared at the blank desktop for a few minutes, lost in her thoughts. She didn't hear the elevator ding or see who stepped off.

Charles didn't expect anyone to still be at the office, especially on a Friday night. He had just finished a dinner with an author who was an old friend of his father's. It had been hard to focus on the old man's words. He hadn't seen or spoken to Liza all day, and she kept creeping into all his thoughts. He knew that the situation had to be overwhelming for her, and he felt a massive sense of guilt. To have all of this thrown at her in the span of a week. It would make anyone anxious. And knowing Liza, he thought, she's overthinking everything, and trying to make sure everyone else is okay before taking care of herself. He wanted to take care of her. To take her in his arms and smooth her hair and kiss her and tell her everything would be okay. But now he wasn't even supposed to do that.

He didn't want to go home to an empty house, so when he finished his dinner, he decided to head back to the office. There was always work to do, and maybe, he thought, reviewing financial reports and contracts might get Liza out of his head. As he stepped off of the elevator, a light in the bullpen caught his eye. There she was. He paused, watching her for a moment. She sat at her desk; her hair pulled up into a ponytail. He recognized the dress she was wearing as the one she had been wearing that fateful night in the Hamptons. He felt another wave of guilt wash over him as he registered her posture. Her shoulders were hunched, and he could see her head resting in her hands, out of sight. Charles hated seeing her like this.

"Liza?" He called gently, striding over to her. She jumped, startled. He studied her for a moment. Beautiful, as always, but tired. He could see the exhaustion, the worry, the faintly red eyes. Part of him hated himself, resented Pauline, for putting her into this situation.

"Hey," she said, smiling weakly. "What are you doing here?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing. I had dinner with a friend of my Dad's and thought I would get some more work done. Why aren't you at home?"

"Maggie has Josh and Lauren over right now. I didn't really want to go home to that."

"I'm sorry, Liza. For all of this." She nodded, picking up her bag and cell phone.

"It's okay, Charles. I'm the one that got us into this whole mess anyways. I'll leave you to your work. Let's talk this weekend, if that's okay?" She didn't wait for an answer, just walked to the elevator doors and pressed the down button. Charles caught up to her, reaching out to grab her arm and pull her around to face him.

"Don't shut me out, Liza. Please." He pleaded, searching her eyes. "I can't do this without you."

"It's okay. I'm okay." Liza blew out a shaky breath and stepped onto the elevator. Charles stepped on as well, all thoughts of work erased from his mind. He leaned against the wall of the elevator.

"I don't want to go home tonight. Not to that empty house."

Liza turned to glance at him. "I don't want to go home either."

As the elevator doors opened, Charles reached out to grab Liza's hand. "I have an idea. Come with me." And before she could say anything, he guided her out into the night.

Liza leaned against a pillar in the hotel lobby as Charles stood at the reception desk, booking them a room. Given the situation, was this a good idea? No, she thought, but it's what I want to do. She typed out a text to Maggie. Not coming home tonight. See you tomorrow morning. Xx

Don't do anything I wouldn't do

She slipped her phone back into her bag as Charles strode over, a black hotel key in his hand. He held out his hand and she took it, letting him guide her to the elevator doors. They climbed in with several other people and Charles reached over and pressed the button for the top floor. He pulled her towards the back of the elevator and pulled her to him so that her back was pressed flush against his chest. He let one hand rest on her waist and the other toyed with the hem of her dress, dancing light lines across her thigh. She could feel his warm breath on her neck, and she pressed her back a little harder against him.

It was a torturous climb to the top floor, but as soon as the doors opened Charles stood up and grabbed her hand again, pulling her down the hallway. He slipped the key into a door at the end of the hall and stepped into the room and let Liza step in after him.

He had booked the most expensive room available. It was a massive bedroom with a luxurious king-sized bed dominating most of the space. But the view was breathtaking. On the far side of the room stood a wall of windows, through which you could see the glittering lights of the city. The lights danced shadows across their faces.

He turned as Liza dropped her purse on the floor and took a step back, reaching back to close and lock the door behind her. She stood, leaning against the door.

"Liza," He said quietly, huskily, taking a step closer to her. She smiled seductively at him as she shut the door. She could feel her blood pumping through her as he said her name and stepped closer to her, invading her personal space.

"Charles." She whispered. She could see his eyes darken with desire and knew that her eyes were reflecting the same back to him. Her eyes flicked down to his slightly parted lips and she licked hers, instinctively. She started to say something but within seconds his lips were on hers, crushing her against the wall. Her hands reached up to grasp his shoulders, but he took her hands in his, sliding them up over her head, their fingers intertwined. He ground his body against hers, pressing all his weight onto her. She moaned, loudly, and pulled slightly away, just far enough that he could see her face.

"Do you want me to stop?" He asked, his voice deep and husky. She shook her head and bit her lip. "Don't stop. Never stop," she whispered, and he crushed his lips against hers again. His tongue flicked over her lips, and she opened her mouth, inviting him in. He nipped at her bottom lip and let go of her hands so that he could trail his over her body.

"I've wanted to take this dress off of you since that night in the Hamptons." He pulled her a little further into the room, the pair of them kicking off their shoes. He spun her around and slowly unzipped the dress, leaning down to trail kisses down her spin that sent shivers running through her body. He stood and pushed the dress off of her shoulders, raking his eyes over her body as he slipped his jacket off. Liza grabbed his tie with one hand and pulled him back to her. Their lips met again as she loosened his tie and he reached back to undo her bra, both articles of clothing quickly discarded onto the floor.

Charles grabbed her hips and pulled her tight against him so that she would feel how ready for her he was. She bucked her hips back against him and he let out a low, guttural growl that lit a fire in her veins. She undid his belt buckle and zipper, her fingers pushing both articles of clothing down over his hips as he unbuttoned his shirt. They stood together in front of the window for a moment, embracing passionately. Charles reached over to push back the plush comforter and sheets before pulling Liza back to him and onto the bed.

They were a tangle of limbs and it was hard to tell where one began and the other ended. Liza writhed and moaned with pleasure underneath Charles, her nails scraping across his bare back and her legs intertwined with his. Charles let out another low, guttural growl as he felt Liza arch her hips up against him and it was only moments before their bodies were joined together. He rocked into her, slowly at first, his mouth covering hers as he began to move faster, but slowing down as he felt her tighten around him. They continued like this until he could feel them both reaching their limits, and together they pushed each other over the edge.

Charles and Liza lay there for a moment, bodies intertwined, satiated. It was as if they both had just poured all of their emotions, all of the words they both wanted to say but couldn't into that moment. Liza couldn't explain the comfort she felt in that moment, with Charles' body pressed against her, covering her, protecting her. But that feeling was something she never wanted to let go of. Ever.