Disclaimer: I only own the story specific characters I created. The originals belong to Cecily von Zeigesar and The CW.
"Three day work week and then your mother's favorite day of the year," Chuck spoke with his daughter when she joined him for breakfast the morning she was going back to work.
"I picked a good week to go back," Charlotte accepted the cup of coffee from Dorota.
"You've been having quite a few meals with your family over the past several days," Blair entered the dining room and broached the subject she and her husband had discussed the previous evening. They were a bit concerned. "You're always welcome, of course, and we love having you, but…"
"Eddie and I are fine," Charlotte reassured them, "Justin and his wife are back in the states. Cedric, Justin and Eddie went to Vermont for a guys' ski weekend. They got back late last night." She didn't feel the need to add that Eddie had slept at her place. The less her father knew the better.
"You should have known about that," Blair backhanded her husband, "Don't you ever ask Eugenia what's going on in her life?"
"I knew Justin and his wife were coming home," Chuck rubbed at his shoulder, "I just didn't know about the guys' weekend. I would have offered the Bass jet."
"I didn't know you were so invested in my relationship with Eddie," Charlotte giggled.
"We just want you to be happy," Blair responded, "From what we've seen of your time spent with Mister Fraser, he most certainly makes you happy."
"Which I'm sure thrills Dad," Charlotte muttered.
"Is he good to you, Charlotte?" Chuck asked.
"Very good," Charlotte reached for the charm around her neck, "I care about him quite a bit."
"No one is ever going to be good enough for my princess, but Mister Fraser is about as close as they come," Chuck replied.
"Is that some sort of round about way of saying you approve?" Charlotte bit her lip.
Chuck grumbled a bit in response.
"Approval might be a relative term where your father is concerned," Blair snickered.
Charlotte glanced at the clock. "I'd better get my satchel. I'd hate to make a bad impression on my new boss."
"I think you'll really like Ms. Washington," Chuck replied.
"She has to be an improvement over my previous boss," Charlotte smiled before leaving her parents' penthouse.
"Promise me you did your homework this time, Bass," Blair demanded.
"I didn't really have to," Chuck replied, "I've worked with Ms. Washington on several occasions, and her superiors sing her phrases."
"Yes, but will she do what is right by our daughter?" Blair asked, "Charlotte doesn't want to be coddled."
"She won't be," Chuck replied, "She'll be expected to pull her own weight."
"Good," Blair smiled. "One bogus suspension is all I'm allowing before I start to make waves myself."
"What kind of waves would you start making, Beautiful?" Chuck wagged a suggestive brow.
"Trust me, you don't want to find out," Blair popped a piece of fruit into her mouth with an innocent sort of smile, reminiscent of one she had used in their youth when she was up to something sinister.
"There's my beautiful Queen B," Chuck reached for her hand and brought it to his lips.
"Don't you forget it, Bass," she gave him a cautionary stare, "I certainly still have that bitch in me when I need it."
"I'm well aware," Chuck gave her a leering smile just as the elevator chimed. "I'd best get to the office before I have other thoughts."
"I hope the ones you're currently having will keep for later," Blair smiled when her husband bent over and pecked at her lips, "Be brilliant today, Bass."
"You too, Beautiful," Chuck lingered against her lips.
"Seriously," Charlotte rolled her eyes as she reentered the dining room to see what was taking so long for her father to join her and of course instantly regretted it. "Tell me again how I don't have fifty siblings?"
"Have a good day, Charlotte," Blair snickered as Chuck followed his daughter to the elevator muttering about how she needed to find herself a new way to the office.
Charlotte stepped off the elevator after taking a deep breath to settle her nerves. She had no idea what to expect upon her return to the office.
Nothing seemed too different as Charlotte stepped across the department towards her office. A few people looked up from their desks to acknowledge her, but there wasn't any anger or jealousy in their eyes. If anything they appeared happy to see her.
"You must be Charlotte," a pretty woman in her mid-thirties entered her office after knocking on the door. "I'm Octavia Washington. I've heard good things about you."
"I've heard great things about you too, Ms. Washington," Charlotte reached out to shake her hand.
"You may call me Octavia," the woman laughed musically, "Goodness, I hear Ms. Washington, and I look around for my mother-in-law and break out into a cold sweat."
"She can't be that bad, can she?" Charlotte fought to contain a chuckle.
"That is a story for another day," Octavia sent her a wink, "We're holding a group meeting in the conference room in thirty minutes. Get yourself settled and join us."
Charlotte bobbed her head.
Thirty minutes later in the conference room, Charlotte only recognized a few of the faces from before she left on her suspension. Her father hadn't exaggerated when he said there would be changes in her department.
"Thank you everyone for being here," Octavia started the meeting, "I've meet each one of you individually, and I intend to have more in depth discussions with each of you in the coming week to discuss your role within the department and more importantly within the corporation. Before I give you my spiel, I'd like to go around the room and introduce ourselves. I want to know your names, which college you graduated from, and something personal about yourself you feel like sharing with the group. I'll start.
"My name is Octavia Washington. I graduated with a degree in business from Howard University. I married my college sweetheart just after graduating, and we have three children, twin boys and a little girl."
Around the room they went. Charlotte tried to remember the names and personal tidbits the group was offering, and then suddenly it was her turn. "I'm Charlotte Bass. I graduated with a degree in business from Columbia University…I…um…" She struggled to come up with a personal tidbit to share as she felt all eyes boring down on her.
"Anything you'd like, Ms. Bass," Octavia gave her an encouraging smile, "It can be a hobby, your favorite book…anything."
"I have a lot of hobbies," Charlotte bit her lip nervously, "I like to ride horses. When I was younger, I was a New York state champion show jumper. My horse, who's retired now, is named Licorice."
The last couple of people went, and then Octavia began her spiel about her vision for the division and how the mistakes of the past regime would not be tolerated under her watch. She had an air of authority about her, but her way of delivering her message was quite friendly. There was an eagerness about her delivery which seemed to spread to her team. Charlotte could see instantly how different things were going to be at the office.
"Hey, Charlotte," one of her coworkers, Charlotte thought her name was Hannah, called out to her on her way back to her office after the meeting, "Would you like to join us for lunch? We're all going to Serrento's as a group as kind of a get to know each other gathering."
"I'd like that," Charlotte smiled.
"Great," Hannah smiled, "And I just wanted to say, you handled things with those allegations really well. Brittney and Tish were rotten to the core. I told HR as much when they asked. You didn't deserve the treatment they gave you. I wish I'd had the backbone to stand up to them, but I was afraid I'd become targets."
"I don't blame you," Charlotte assured her, "I'm just glad things worked out. I really want to do this job well."
"Just so you know, things have gotten a lot better since Octavia came into the department last week," Hannah replied, "At least she doesn't shake when she hands out assignments."
"He did that for you too?" Charlotte laughed, "I thought it was just me because of my last name."
"No, I think he just had some sort of nervous twitch whenever he was handing out work," Hannah smiled as they approached the door to Charlotte's office. "We're leaving at eleven thirty. Octavia is giving us an extra half hour for lunch, since it's a team building sort of exercise…oh, maybe I shouldn't have told you that. I mean what would your father think, being CEO and all."
"Don't you worry about my father," Charlotte winked at her, "What he doesn't know won't hurt him, and he certainly won't hear anything from me."
"Okay," Hannah sighed in relief, "We'll see you at the elevator at eleven thirty."
"I'll be ready," Charlotte nodded.
Charlotte returned to her desk and looked at the stack of papers in her inbox. She was just about to dive in when her boss popped her head into her office.
"Oh good, you found your next assignment," Octavia smiled, "I was just coming to speak to you about it. I read your work on the last project and it was quite good, but I was a bit surprised by the conclusion."
"I know, I didn't follow through. I look our directions too literal. We were told to cut fifty percent, so I stuck to fifty," Charlotte frowned, "I've already been coached…twice actually."
"I want you to know if you ever have any questions about your assignment or want to bounce ideas off me, my door is always open," Octavia stated, "This isn't a one way street anymore. I'm not just going to hand out assignments and then only pop up on the due date to collect the results. I'm here to make sure everyone has the tools they need to get their work done."
"I appreciate that," Charlotte nodded.
"I know I told everyone I'd set up time with them this week to discuss their roles within the division and within Bass, but do you think you have a bit of time right now?" Octavia came further into Charlotte's office.
"Right now?" Charlotte gulped nervously.
"No time like the present," Octavia shut the door and took a seat across the desk from Charlotte. "These are meant to be informal anyways, and there are a few tricky bits we'll need to navigate."
"I'm guessing my last name is one of them," Charlotte came around the desk and took the chair next to Octavia. If it was an informal discussion, Charlotte wanted to treat it as one.
"That is a particularly tricky bit," Octavia nodded, "It's no secret you'll eventually be groomed to take over your father's job as CEO. While it's not likely to happen for several more years, there are going to be some people within the corporation who are always going to treat you with kid gloves. You need to know, I will not be one of them.
"I expect you to do the work I give you without any questions or second guessing. Your assignments must be fully proofed and made available four days before they are due to the executive office. That will give me a chance to review and provide feedback before they make their way upstairs."
"I think I can handle that," Charlotte nodded.
"You won't be getting any preferential treatment either," Octavia stated, "If I see you trying to pull rank or go over my head, I promise it will not end well. Yes, you are the CEO's daughter, but you are my employee. I'll treat you with the respect you are do, so long as you do the same for me."
"That's fair," Charlotte nodded.
"Now, the second tricky bit," Octavia smiled, "This bogus bullying claim. That's going to follow you for awhile."
"I know," Charlotte frowned.
"Even though you've been fully exonerated by HR, there are going to be some who believe you were given preferential treatment because of your last name, especially since nearly this entire department turned over as a result of the nonsense that went on around here before I came on board," Octavia replied, "You'll need to win your colleagues' trust. I know Hannah has already invited you to today's team luncheon. I would suggest you go out of your way to make a good impression on everyone."
"I will do my best," Charlotte nodded in understanding.
"And lastly, your relationship with Mister Fraser," Octavia stated.
Charlotte's jaw dropped in surprise. She thought she and Eddie had been discreet so far.
"Eddie and I are good friends," Octavia elaborated, "I could tell by the way his eyes sparkled as he sung your praises when we had lunch last week that there was more going on than professional observations. It's not against company policy for you to be involved since you do not work in the same division, but I do expect you two to remain professional with each other while in the office."
"That certainly is our intention," Charlotte replied.
"Like I said, Eddie is a good friend. He's one of the first people I met when coming to work for Bass. I've never seen him quite so happy as I did last week. He's good at his job, and he's a terrific person."
"I agree on both counts," Charlotte nodded her head, "If you're worried about Eddie professionally if things don't work out between us, don't. I've known Eddie my entire life, and I know what kind of man he is. It's important to me that he succeeds no matter our relationship. I've already had discussions with my father, and no matter what happens between me and Eddie personally Eddie will professionally be protected."
"That's good to hear," Octavia smiled, "Now, this next assignment I gave you, we're already a bit behind schedule. We've been asked to have our recommendations to the executive team by the first of the year. With the holidays and extra time off, we're all going to have to hustle a bit. As you'll have less time than the rest, you've been given the smallest division to review, but I expect if you finish early to chip in if you can."
"That's part of how I got in trouble with the last assignment," Charlotte sighed. "I offered to help someone and it blew up in my face."
"If it blows up in your face this time, I promise things will not end well for the person who takes advantage of you," Octavia stated, "I think you'll find I can be your best friend or your worst enemy."
"Let's hope for more of the former than the ladder," Charlotte smiled.
"My door is always open," Octavia rose to her feet, "I'll let you get started."
"Thank you," Charlotte walked back around to have a seat at her desk.
She was elbow deep in her report when Eddie popped in to see if she was available for lunch.
"I should have called you," Charlotte frowned slightly, "We're having lunch as a division today, as sort of a get to know you thing. I'm sorry."
"Nothing to be sorry for," Eddie assured her, "You definitely should go. I can entertain myself for lunch."
"I have a question first," Charlotte glanced over his shoulder to make sure no one was eavesdropping. "Would it be a bad idea if I bought lunch for everyone today?"
"Why would that be a bad idea?" Eddie asked.
"I don't know," she sighed heavily, "Maybe they'll take it as me showing off all the money I have…I'm so skittish around everyone. I don't even know how to act anymore."
"I think it would be a nice gesture," he assured her, "Just make sure you leave the server a good tip."
"I tip my doorman at my building twenty bucks every time he opens the door for me," Charlotte pointed out, "If it's one thing Charlotte Bass knows how to do, it's tip. I was just a little girl the first time I tipped someone. The poor guy was afraid to take it until my dad reassured him it was okay."
"You remember such an event?" he raised a curious brow.
"Yes, my father likes to tell the story at parties," Charlotte explained, "I've lost count of the number of times I've heard it."
"Parents are like that," Eddie chuckled.
"Am I going to see you tonight?" Charlotte lowered her voice when a coworker walked passed her office. It was nearly meeting time, so Charlotte knew she had to be quick with her conversation.
"Justin, Abigail and I are doing a bit of sightseeing," Eddie replied, "Abigail has never really seen much of New York. I'd invite you except…"
"It's okay," Charlotte assured him, "I can dine with my parents again this evening. I guess until we start telling people I'm going to have to get used to seeing you less."
"We can't sightsee all night," Eddie pointed out.
"I suppose it is getting a bit cramped at your parents' apartment now with Justin and Abigail staying with them," Charlotte smiled, "I do have a lot of extra space."
"And we do tend to sleep better when we're together," Eddie went with the thoughts she was also having.
"You can let yourself in if I'm already asleep," Charlotte handed him a keycard to the elevator. "Just make sure to keep that on you when you're coming to my place. It allows you access even if the doorman doesn't let you up."
"Is this the Bass equivalent of giving me a key to your place?" he teased.
"It might be," she played coy, "I'll see you tonight."
TBC…