A/N: This story was originally published on Archive of Our Own
The sun shone outside, another beautiful day in North Carolina. The view from the gym's windows was stunning, warm sunlight streaming through the large windows. Not that the heat bothered the gym's inhabitants. The AC certainly took care of them in that regard, allowing them to work out in the sweltering heat without overheating.
"Excellent, we're making good progress Mrs. Fanene," the blonde spoke warmly to her client, ending their scheduled session.
The plus-sized woman grunted as she put down her weights, before turning to her personal trainer with an amused smile before pouting and rolling her eyes in faux annoyance. "Come on Charlotte, we're friends, you don't need to speak to me so formally."
Charlotte Flair smiled back; they'd had this exact conversation many times over the past few weeks, and she expected it to be repeated more times in the future. "As you are well aware by now, I am a professional. I treat all of my clients equally." Charlotte looked around to ensure none of her other clients or employees were nearby before leaning an inch closer to her client. "But now that our weekly session is over Nia, I'll see you and Alexa this weekend."
"I'll see you later girl," Nia responded in a purposefully slightly higher-pitched tone than her regular speaking voice, adding in a wink for comic effect, one of the many endearing qualities of the large woman's personality.
A quiet chuckle escaped from Charlotte's lips as she watched her client- no, friend - leave. She smoothed her tank top and leggings to double check she still looked presentable, ran a hand to smooth her long blonde hair, before walking out of the room and down the hallway, in the direction of the gym's receptionist.
Approaching the desk, she took note of the receptionist's immaculate clothing, her hair swept back in a perfect bun, glasses perched on the bridge of her nose without a hint of being askew. Charlotte took pride in this. Even her employees projected a professional image. Combined with her professional yet kind attitude to her clients, her gym had a strong reputation for professionalism.
"Hey Dana, has my next client arrived yet?" the tall blonde asked the shorter blonde seated behind the computer. Though Charlotte insisted on a strictly professional attitude when dealing with her clients and while in the proximity of gymgoers, she maintained a much looser attitude when speaking privately to her employees.
The receptionist took a second to smooth out her already meticulous blouse before answering the query. "No Mrs. Flair, though Mr. Dansereau isn't scheduled until 4:15."
Charlotte briefly glanced at the clock, realising that she had approximately ten minutes to spare. Looking back toward Dana, she realised that she had to try, yet again, to put the nervous receptionist at ease.
"Please Dana, I don't know how many times I have to ask you this, but call me Charlotte. I may be your boss, but I'm still just an ordinary person. By all means, refer to me as 'Mrs. Flair' if a client is around, but if it's just you and me, we're just two women talking." Finishing her plea, Charlotte made sure to shoot a reassuring smile as the exclamation point. She hoped that would be enough to finally allow the younger woman to relax.
"Sorry Mrs. Flai- I mean, Charlotte. I guess I just get anxious when talking to people in authority." Dana responded while looking down, a nervous tick Charlotte often observed while having this conversation.
"Yeah, I get that," Charlotte spoke with understanding, empathising with the young, eager receptionist, trying her hardest to relate to her. "Look, I might sign your cheques, but believe it or not, I was an employee once too. And that experience taught me how NOT to treat your employees." Charlotte shuddered at the brief memory, before mentally shoving it back to where it usually lay dormant and looking back up at Dana Brooke. "The point is, the clients love you. I wouldn't be able to run this place without you. So unless you screw up repeatedly in a major way, you don't have anything to worry about. Okay?" Charlotte's lips curved upward one more time to ensure her point was made, pearly white teeth on show, smile as radiant as the sun outside.
Dana finally seemed to get the message. "Thank you Charlotte, I'll try to be more relaxed." In an effort to physically communicate this, Dana let her shoulders relax, her posture immediately appearing looser.
"Glad to hear it," Charlotte couldn't help but grin at the satisfaction of finally getting through to the apprehensive receptionist. "I'm going to head to my office, could you give me a buzz when Mr. Dansereau arrives?"
"Sure thing…Charlotte," Dana replied with a momentary pause, evidently still getting used to the new sense of informality between employer and employee.
Turning around to hide her grin at the unintentional humour, the tall blonde walked towards her office. Perhaps she could use these scant few minutes remaining to finally down some coffee to get her through her last few clients.
Turning the door handle, Charlotte entered her immaculate looking office and sat down in her perfectly adjusted office chair. The room looked pristine, not a speck of dirt or dust in sight. She didn't hire a cleaner for this; she routinely polished the room herself. After all, why waste money hiring someone else to do it when she was perfectly capable of performing the task herself? Charlotte firmly believed in making a good impression on her clients, whether it be their first or tenth impression. To this end, she always ensured that her office be kept spotless. Of course this meant that every working day began hours before the gym opened, but she was okay with sacrificing personal enjoyment for professional success. Some of her personal friends jokingly accused Charlotte of being excessively anal when it came to her work life, but deep down, she knew they were speaking the truth. She was indeed meticulous, and proud of it.
But lately, she couldn't deny that she had been wondering if it had all been worth it. Whether she was right to have fully devoted herself to her career, instead of getting out there and being more relaxed in her life. For so many years now, perhaps for the thirty-three years she'd been alive, she'd been so uptight, doing whatever it took to ensure that her gym ran perfectly, like clockwork. Skipping out on family events, social gathering, sacrificing hours of sleep and personal enjoyment, doing whatever it took. Had it all been worth it? That was something that Charlotte Flair was still contemplating, and she suspected she was likely to keep pondering over it for some time.
Closing her eyes, she supposed she had time to shut her eyes for a minute or two. She didn't notice as a vivid blue beam of light shone down through her ceiling and wrapped around her body. As she quickly fell asleep, she didn't realise that when she woke up, she would no longer be inside her office. Indeed, she would no longer even be on Earth.
"Mrs. Flair? Mr. Dansereau is here for his appointment," Dana Brooke's business-like tone buzzed through the intercom. "Mrs. Flair?" No response. "Mrs. Flair?" She tried again, only to be met with a cold silence. The only reminder of her boss' previous presence in her office was the desk chair, swivelling from the jolt created by the teleportation of Charlotte Flair.