March 29, 2019

Ahhh! TODAY IS THE DAY. But also here's a chapter, haha. Little heads up: I have an idea for another AU that I've half-started, but it will probably not come out right away because of work and because I'm so invested in this one. But keep an eye out! If I get it going sooner than expected, I'll toss it up on here. At least the first chapter, anyway, to see what y'all think. :)

In the following days, Michael felt himself slowly going a bit mad with confusion when it came to Fallon. He overheard her on the way into his office one morning as she spoke on the phone to someone, inquiring about when the Carrington's new chauffeur would be free to drive her to the doctor's for an appointment. She evidently didn't mind driving there herself, but Cristal wanted to come with her. Someone walked down the hall towards the copy room and he was too worried about being caught eavesdropping, so he didn't catch the rest of her call.

At lunch that day, he could've sworn he heard her talking to one of her team members about good names. She looked the same to him, but he knew better than to assume that something visibly changed right away. The most confusing part, though, was the fact that she'd come back from Paris saying she wanted to make sure there was distance between them. But now she'd practically told him he was going to be a father. Hadn't she?

His afternoon meeting came and went, but Michael realized he hadn't actually heard everything that happened, because she was sitting several seats down from him, commanding the room and looking just as she always had, regardless of his presence.

The most shocking thing, he determined, was that she seemed okay with blocking him. With keeping him out of what was happening. As someone who had lost his own father, and knowing how Fallon felt about the drama of her parents and the parentage of Steven, of Adam, of Jeff and Monica's mother – of far too many people - … He could not believe that she would feel truly comfortable keeping him out in the long run.

Hearing about how she was being treated at home almost made him feel bad, as well, for taking Ada with him to their party. Whatever she personally wanted to do, he'd been the one to suggest the party as a means of getting a DNA test done before Blake even met Adam. Why waste time on someone that wasn't right? Michael was far more curious now, though, at the mention of how uncomfortable he made Fallon.

At the end of the meeting, everyone stood, including Fallon, but Michael stepped over to catch her arm before she could leave. "Got a minute?" He asked, meaning it more as an expectation than a question.

"No," she replied, snatching up her bag and turning to leave.

Michael stepped between her and the door. "Fallon. We need to talk."

Her eyes narrowed sharply. "I don't think we do. Now, if you'll excuse me." Fallon took a step to the side, ignoring the frown that deepened across Michael's face.

"If you don't answer me, Fallon, I swear-"

Fallon spun around in the now-open doorway, lifting her voice in her anger. "Are you threatening me, Culhane?" She slammed the door behind her as she stormed up to him, facing off but keeping her body still – perhaps because of what happened before, with Jeff in that elevator. "Don't you dare. You have no right to demand anything from me. Especially not now."

He stared after her as she walked out properly that time, only realizing after she'd gone that people were eyeing him through the windows of the conference room. Sighing heavily, he made his way to the elevators, careful to let her take a different one, before him.

Liam sent off an email to his editor, thanking them for their speedy response to his notes the previous Friday. In doing so, he completely missed the knock at his door. But the cleared throat he did not. Looking over, he was quite surprised to see Michael standing there, hands in his pockets, and clearly waiting for a reaction.

"Did I miss a meeting?" Liam asked, only a little concerned by the idea. Maybe they'd let him leave sooner than the expected six months if they thought he was being unhelpful.

"No." Michael stepped in, glancing at the door but leaving it open. He did drop his voice a little, though. "You brought Fallon on board, right?"

"We needed someone who knows the company. She knows it better than anybody."

Michael shook his head. "Not my point. You two aren't on the outs anymore, are you?"

Liam tilted his head slightly, looking confused. "Well, I wouldn't say we're anywhere near what we used to be. But as far as being in a fight or something? No, we're not."

"Then maybe you can answer something for me since she won't." Michael waited for acknowledgment before laying it out there. "Is Fallon pregnant?"

If Liam had been taking a drink of the coffee he'd just started reaching for, it definitely would've ended up all over his computer. After he spat it out. Luckily, he hadn't brought the cup to his mouth yet. Instead, he set it down, shock washing over him. "Uh, I don't know," he said after a moment. "I'd assume you'd know more about the likelihood of that than I would," Liam added bitterly, shrugging. "She broke things off weeks ago, didn't she? You only just found out?"

"Well, it would've been a bit more recent than when the engagement was called off."

Liam froze, staring at Michael. "Oh?"

Culhane shrugged nonchalantly, clearly enjoying Liam's discomfort. "Maybe three or four weeks ago. Just before she went to Paris. Before I started here."

"Well, regardless, she hasn't said anything about it."

Michael nodded, lingering just a moment or two, before he turned and walked out. As soon as he was gone, Liam pulled out his phone and let Fallon know, via text, that they needed to talk right away. He definitely didn't expect the response he got: I would, but I'm about to meet with your mother.

Taken aback, he picked up his coffee again and headed out in a rush towards his mother's office.

Fallon sat across from Laura Van Kirk, wondering in the back of her mind what sort of man Liam's father used to be. Laura had kept her name, but Fallon had never thought to look into the Ridley-Lowden side of Liam's lineage. Not that it mattered, perhaps.

But Laura was looking at the brunette across from her with something Fallon had never seen before. Sympathy. And you'd better believe Fallon was playing into it. Hard.

"I didn't realize I was going to be called in for this," Fallon said cautiously. Shouldn't Laura, of all people, be furious with her? Or was the woman's lack of faith in son's ability to be, well, a man, so strong that she wasn't surprised?

"I do not take kindly to men making threats towards the female employees within any company I'm part of."

"Ah," Fallon replied, finally understanding what was happening. This wasn't about her. It was about Michael. She wanted to smirk harder than she had in a long while, but didn't. The interruption of Liam's arrival certainly helped her keep it in.

"What's going on?" He asked, his eyes jumping between them.

"Close the door, Liam," Laura replied, waving a hand.

Fallon managed to halt the lifting eyebrow that started moving when Laura didn't even trip in the slightest over the name her son had chosen to use. Liam sank into the chair next to Fallon after doing as his mother requested.

"Are you sure you want to-?" Fallon began, only for Laura to hold up a hand.

"Of course I am. We took Michael Culhane on under contract, and breaking it would be difficult, but it's possible."

"What-?" Liam shook his head, completely lost. "You want to fire Culhane?"

Laura tilted her head from side to side, almost wishy-washy in a way Fallon didn't trust. "Maybe. If he's directing threats at people, then-"

"Threats?" Liam looked at Fallon sharply. It was the first time he'd seen her since hearing Michael's theory, of course, and he immediately found himself trying to read her. Was Culhane right? And why would he threaten Fallon one minute, then ask Liam for information the next?

"It was at the meeting after lunch," Fallon explained, appearing reluctant. "He cornered me before I could leave. And after the other day in his office..."

"What happened then?" Laura nudged.

"I went to him for advice," she glanced at Liam, letting him know that was the part he'd been left out of before. "But I got too... nervous. He tried to stop me when I left."

"And has this ever happened before?"

Fallon sighed heavily, wondering just how far off the question really was. The two of them had gone back and forth for longer than she'd even known Liam. And she was about to ruin his career for fear of Ada using him again. She'd never even stopped to think that Michael would've done anything on his own. Yet here he was, getting worked up and actually throwing down a threat, however weak and likely empty it might've been.

"We always had a complicated relationship," she admitted, lifting her eyes to Laura to see if she could gauge what the woman was thinking. But Laura didn't bring up the overlap that had happened between Culhane and the fake marriage to Liam. How much had the woman changed? Or, alternately, how much about Laura's history wasn't yet clear to Fallon?

"Well, I'll keep eyes on him over the next couple of days. If anything happens, we'll pay the severance and let him go."

Truly shocked, Fallon actually didn't know what to say. But then Laura pointed between Fallon and Liam.

"This baby people are talking about... it's not yours is it? I can't imagine it could be."

"Uh, no," Fallon said, almost cracking a smile in her discomfort and amazement that this was even happening. Almost. She was admittedly too irked by Laura's insult to manage it. "I'm not having Liam's child."

"All the better," Laura shrugged.

Fallon reacted strongly to that, surprising all of them. "What? Liam would be an excellent father."

Laura leaned forward on her elbows, unconvinced. "And yet you divorced him and climbed into bed with the guy you pretended meant nothing."

"Respectfully, Mrs. Van Kirk, why are you helping me if you still hate me so much?"

"You've done valuable work for this company. I see no benefit in letting men continue to step over women on their rise to what they want. And beyond that, … perhaps I just pity you."

Fallon's jaw tightened, but she managed to keep her retort back. Liam, still overwhelmed but sensing the tension, stood up and offered a hand to Fallon. "We should get out of your hair."

"Of course," Laura drawled. "If anything happens, I'll let you know."

Liam led Fallon out of his mother's office, but instead of letting her go back up to her office, he kept hold of her hand and led her to his. Once they were inside, she spun around to stare at him as he released her and closed the door behind them.

"What?"

"Are you kidding, Fallon?" He threw his hands up, already in a mood far too like their last fight. "When were you going to tell me?"

"Tell you what?" She asked. "You mean about the whole Michael thinking I'm pregnant thing? I never said that I was. He just assumed-"

"You're letting him think he might be a father?"

Fallon's shoulders fell as she watched the disapproval on his face. "This is why I didn't tell you. I knew you wouldn't like it, so I didn't want to get you wrapped up in it. I never suggested to him that he might be a father. He took things the wrong way, and is being aggressive, like I knew he would be as soon as he made the assumption. He'll be out of here before you know it, now," she swallowed roughly, shifting her weight. "And then so will I. If your mother doesn't fire me, I'll resign. And you can get back to your - your book tour plans and I'll- …find something new. The old me always did, right? I can do it again. Now get out of my way."

He did step aside, but stared after her, running a hand through his hair as he took a moment to just try and process.