Disclaimer: I only own the story specific characters I created. The originals belong to Cecily von Zeigesar and The CW.
"How's my dinner buddy today?" Eddie strolled into her office the next afternoon.
"A bit busy at the moment," Charlotte was scribbling notes feverishly, "Department meeting in a few minutes."
"I know," he responded, "I'll be in attendance."
"You're not in my department," she looked visibly startled when she looked up.
"You're department will be working with mine on this upcoming acquisition," Eddie explained, "I'm the department representative from my group."
"Finally someone to walk with," she mumbled while jotting down her last minute thoughts.
"We'd better get to the conference room," he glanced towards the clock on her wall, "We'll want to get a good seat."
Charlotte gathered her notes and stepped out from behind her desk. Eddie's hand went to the small of her back. The gesture was becoming more natural each time he did it.
Charlotte was taken aback by the presence of her father in the conference room when she and Eddie arrived.
"Mister Bass," Charlotte nodded politely.
"Ms. Bass," Chuck returned her greeting with a twinkle in his eye before addressing Eddie, "Drew the short straw, Mister Fraser?"
"Volunteered," Eddie shook Chuck's hand.
"Glutton for punishment, I see," Chuck gave him a half smirk.
"Always have been," Eddie responded, taking a seat next to Charlotte while everyone else filed in.
"Thank you everyone for coming," Chuck spoke once everyone was settled, "As you may be aware, we are working on the newest acquisition." A few buttons were pressed and the Power Point presentation began. Chuck went through the outline of the pros and cons of the acquisition. "The job of everyone in here is to focus on the areas to be merged. Mister Fraser has been brought in to represent the executive team. While I will have final say over the executives we will be bringing on board from our newly acquired company, Mister Fraser will be bringing the recommendations forth. The rest of you will be looking towards the rank and file. Any questions?"
None in the room dared raise their hands until Charlotte's hand popped up, "Mister Bass, I noticed several departments overlap significantly with us already. Is there a reason we didn't simply acquire the assets and dissolve the company?"
"Good question, Ms. Bass," Chuck nodded, "Yes, there are several talents within Idle Corp which are important for us to retain, most notably within the Research and Development Department. Recommended cuts should come from any other department...Any other questions?"
Again no one dared speak up.
"Is there a target for how many cuts we should be making?" Charlotte asked.
"Yes, we should expect a reduction in workforce at Idle Corp by twenty-five percent at minimum," Chuck stated, "It's not out of the realm of possibilities that the number could be closer to fifty percent...Anything further?"
Charlotte looked at her notes. She dare not ask anything further. Her coworkers were starting to glare at her. Eddie glanced over her shoulder to eye her notes. Charlotte's fingers pointed to the one question she really wanted answered.
"What is the deadline for our proposals?" Eddie responded.
"Yes, Mister Fraser, we'd like to have our presentation ready for the next Board of Director's meeting. You have thirty days, which also means a lot of late nights for everyone in this room," Chuck stated, "To compensate, dinner will be provided each night in this room."
There was a chorus of groans in response.
"I have another meeting to get to," Chuck glanced at the clock, "Mister Walters should be able to answer any additional questions. Good luck, everyone."
There was another chorus of groans when Chuck left the room. With the big boss out of the office, everyone seemed to regain their verbal ability enough to complain about the assignment. Charlotte felt excited. It was her first real opportunity to make a contribution which would come to the attention of the board.
After a few more bits of information provided by their boss, they were dismissed with their assignments.
"Meet for lunch in your office?" Eddie spoke quietly.
Charlotte nodded before disappearing into her office with her mound of paperwork, eager to begin. Her co-workers were all whining about their assignments while they filed passed her office. She distinctly heard two of her female coworkers cackling about what a kiss up Charlotte had been and several other choice words civilized people in an office workplace wouldn't use in the course of normal conversation.
Charlotte tried to block out all the noise and get to work. She didn't realize she was crying until Eddie came in with his lunch.
"What's wrong?" he quickly closed the door upon noticing the tears.
"Nothing," Charlotte quickly pushed the drops away and reached for her packed lunch.
"Those aren't nothing tears," he reached for a tissue and handed it to her.
"Really, it's no big deal," she insisted while dabbing at her eyes.
"You can talk to me," Eddie replied.
"I know," she responded, "It's really no big deal. I need to develop a thick skin."
"Charlotte," he held her gaze for a moment.
"Let it go," she insisted.
"Char," he began.
"Let it go," she repeated with an edge in her voice.
Eddie sat himself down in one of the chairs across from her desk and engaged Charlotte in a staring contest. He didn't stand a chance as Charlotte had been regularly winning staring contests with her father since she was a little girl.
"If you want to help, be my friend and let me deal with my own issues," Charlotte requested.
"I'm sorry," he replied, "I feel protective of you. I've known you all your life. I held you at your christening. I gave you a stuffed bunny."
"You gave me Hoppy?" Charlotte was surprised by his revelation. She'd always assumed it was a gift from her father. "Pink bunny with floppy ears..."
"And a rainbow bow tie," Eddie nodded, "I can't take all the credit. I was five and didn't have an allowance. Mom took me and Justin to the toy story. We each picked out a toy to give you."
"What did Justin pick out?" she asked.
"A puzzle, I think," he responded after a moment of thought.
"So you think of yourself as my big brother?" she concluded.
"No," he shook his head vigorously. His reaction was too strong. The feelings he was developing for her were coming to the surface. He could remember watching her grow up, but he couldn't deny the attraction he was developing. She was a beautiful woman, much like her mother, but there were subtle differences.
Charlotte bit her lip to keep back the laugh she felt trying to escape. The scenario before them was ridiculous. She'd pestered him to no end growing up, always trying to tag along with him and Justin when they were together, but there was no denying his attractiveness and his attraction to her.
"What are we doing here?" she reached for her lunch and then went around to sit next to him while she ate.
"Having lunch," he held up his container of food.
"You know what I mean," Charlotte glared at him. He remained silent. "Fine, I'll start. This is crazy. We've known each other like you said since I was born and there is a familiarity there, but there is also the chemistry which wasn't there when we were younger. I'm attracted to you. I guess I need to know if you can see beyond the little girl I was with pigtails who chased you and Justin around each holiday."
"I don't see a little girl when I look at you anymore," he admitted, "I don't know what is going on, but I do know I like spending time with you. I feel protective of you...I'm attracted to you too, but..."
"My dad is our boss," Charlotte knew where his thoughts were taking him.
"Not just our boss, my mother's boss," Eddie stated, "If things get weird, it could get weird for them."
"Why would it get weird?" she plopped in a bite with her chopsticks.
"If this thing between us is just a passing thing," he offered.
"So we don't tell them," Charlotte shrugged the entire situation off like it was no big deal, even though Eddie could already tell what was happening was a very big deal, "At least until we figure this thing out."
"I'm not a fling type of guy," he stated.
"Good," she smiled, "I'm not a fling type of girl."
"We're going to be busy for at least the next month," he reminded her, "Late nights, maybe even weekends."
"So we wait," she shrugged, "If whatever this is fizzles out within the month, then we've saved ourselves the trouble."
"How about one month from today, I take you out for dinner...a proper dinner," he suggested.
"Deal," she set down her chopsticks and extended her hand, a smile lighting up her face.
"Deal," he shook her hand to seal the deal. A current of electricity passed through them. It was clear their 'thing' was not going to fizzle out in a month's time.
TBC…
Those darn mean girls. No matter where you go in life, you can never get away from them completely. You just got to keep your head up.