Okey dokey! Apologies for the delay, I was still away and planned on posting yesterday but my laptop died on me so I couldn't.
But here we go, just a little transitional chapter before...well, I will explain later.
Tori, we have a long way to go so sit back and relax!
The day after was back to business as usual, at least until the afternoon.
They had a debrief meeting with Connor at 11am and both Gillian and Cal arrived early to prepare and get together the evidence the DA might have needed for prosecution. Emily joined them later, just in time for the meeting: her presence had been non negotiable and Cal honestly thought that she had more than earned the right to attend, but he had let her sleep in for the boring part.
Mr Connor was beyond pleased with the results, after all his intuition to hire the Lightman Group had solved one important and delicate case and uncovered a second one he could tackle successfully, and in that grand scheme of things the fact that a 19 years old woman was sitting on the meeting to discuss all of that did not bother him in the least.
With the case wrapped up and the check in the bank, Cal figured the three of them deserved a nice lunch and they all left for a couple of hours. Nobody in the office noticed anything different in the two bosses: sure, Lightman seemed to be overly attentive with Foster but after all she had been hurt and from what they had been told it had been quite an intense couple of days for Emily too.
The strange stuff, at least for the Group's employees, started when the trio returned. Whatever they've had for lunch must have not been enough, at least for Emily and Gillian who were enjoying massive ice cream cones. That on itself might have not been that weird, but the real red flag was Cal not making a mockery of it. Without fail, he never held back when it came to make fun of Gillian's sweet tooth, yet that day when they waltz back in there was no comment whatsoever, not even when she made a spectacle of forcing the ice cream on him and smearing some on his nose as he tried to avoid the cold treat. Loker and Anna were there to witness that strange phenomenon and immediately looked at each other with confused expressions. Foster certainly had that playful side to her, but to see Lightman go along with it with only a soft grumble as he wiped his nose clean was something to behold.
From then on they started to pay more attention to their interaction, enlisting Torres in a team stalking effort that followed the bosses everywhere they went together. They were so focused on watching them, for obvious reasons, that they failed to pay attention to Emily. The girl was following them following her father and Gillian, keeping her eyes and ears peeled ready to catch any sign that the employees might finally be getting the hint that something big had happened. Granted, her dad and Gillian were keeping it very professional and tasteful, even more than what she had witnessed thus far, but to her it was clear that they had decided not to hide and let things unfold.
But after two hours the seemingly experienced observers still seemed to be mostly clueless, or perhaps simply in denial. Which was grating Emily the wrong way.
"Dad!" She called out, marching into his office and walking straight up to the desk where he was trying to summarise his interrogation with Trepkos. "You have to do something about it."
"About what?" Cal asked absently without looking up from his computer.
"They are not seeing it!" She pouted, dropping on the chair in front of his deck.
Then Cal did look up and removed his glasses, staring at his upset daughter with a confused expression.
"What are you on about Em?"
"You and Gillian," she huffed with a duh expression, then threw her hands in the air. "Eli, Ria…why is it taking them so long to figure it out?"
"I don't know Em," he sighed and leaned back on the chair with a shrug. "Maybe they don't care."
"How could they not care? This is huge!"
Cal smirked, thinking that if she kept screaming so loud she might just get what she wanted, then he stood up and walked around the desk to sit in front of her.
"Maybe not for them. Em, have you considered that maybe it's not really a big deal?"
Emily opened her mouth to rebut but didn't quite know what to say, the thought actually coming through her mind for the first time. But then she shook her head no, vehemently.
"C'mon Dad, they have seen the way you two acted over the years. No way they've never thought something like this could happen."
"Em, I don't think there's much we can do about it."
"Oh, there's plenty you can do about it, Dad!"
"Well, I'm not going to create a scene with Gillian just to show 'em!"
He protested, knowing that was exactly what she was implying. Truth to be told, so far that day they had been overly friendly and touchy, even more than usual, but the lips barrier had not been broken yet. Cal had thought that the ice cream thing would have been enough, but clearly things hadn't worked out that way. But short of grabbing Gillian in the middle of the lobby and ravish her in front of everybody there wasn't much he could do, and as much as he liked the idea he doubted Gillian would have gone for it-
"I think we should tell them."
Cal nearly jumped on his seat when Gillian's voice came from behind, and he felt his heart beating in his throat when he turned around and saw her storming in from the library. Taken aback, confused and a touch intrigued, Cal watched speechless as she walked over to the chair he had left empty on the other side of the desk and sat down, propping her feet on his desk. It clearly wasn't the moment for it but Cal took in the view and meaning of it. His office was his temple, his space, sometimes even more than his own home, but since they had gotten together Gillian had crept her way in and he was more than ok with it. The way she took hold of his power post in that moment, like she belonged there, was enticing and mesmerising…and in the long run, he hoped that might lead to bringing one of his most sought after fantasies to reality.
For the time being he had to put that thought aside and focus, swivelling on the chair to look at her.
"Tell who what love?" He asked.
"Our staff, about us."
Cal could feel Emily lighten up next to him as Gillian spoke, her entire being positively beaming at the thought she had an ally.
"Gill-"
"We agreed to come clean, Cal." She cut him off, not even trying to hide her frustration. "We tried your way, it's clearly not working."
"Are you serious?" Emily shoved him. "Dad, why would you play it safe?"
"Excuse me for not wanting to make a show of my private life!" He protested, although he was the first one being surprised by the fact that he was the one holding back. So he groaned and looked over at Gillian, wiggling his eyebrows and deciding he could definitely play along if that was what she wanted. "Well love, I'm all for giving them something they can't ignore."
"I said tell them, Cal, not show them," Gillian clarified with a stern look, then she leaned forward on the desk and dialled the reception number.
"Yes, Dr Lightman?" Anna's voice responded immediately.
"Anna, it's Dr Foster. Would you be so kind as to gather the staff in the meeting room?"
"Uh, yeah sure." Anna was far too polite and well trained to question the request, but her voice betrayed some concern. "Do you want everybody?"
"Whoever is free, it's not mandatory. We- Hold on a moment." Gillian let go of the button and looked at Cal, who was staring at her with a shocked expression on his face, beyond surprised that she had taken the lead in that fashion. "I'm not waiting anymore, Cal." She clarified, ignoring whatever protest he was trying to put together, then got back to Anna. "In five minutes, ok Anna?"
"Five minutes, of course Dr Foster."
The moment the conversation was over Gillian stood up and walked around the desk, grabbing his arm and pulling him to his feet. Cal was too dumbfounded to say anything coherent or react, even more when he saw Emily bolting on her feet to follow them as Gillian literally dragged him out of the room. He thought about saying something, but he knew better. Gillias was on a mission, clearly, and if he had tried to stop that train he was likely to be branded as a coward and buzz-killer. The second one he could take, actually with some pride, but a coward he was not. So Cal grinned and before they made it out of his office he had gone from tailing Gillian to leading the way, brushing his hand against hers as he did so. She smiled at him, glad to see he was on board, then back at Emily who was following them with a grin on her face, and Gillian made room between them for her.
They were less close when they reached the meeting room, not wanting to give away the big reveal before the time was right, and when they entered they were only mildly surprised to see quite the crowd despite the fact that the meeting had been branded as optional. High attendance made sense after all; when it came to non urgent communication for the entire staff they used emails, and calling a meeting was usually for big announcements with huge impacts on the company. When they entered the room all attention was immediately on them, switching for a second to Emily since her presence was definitely a factor none of them knew how to fit with the rest. If she noticed the curious eyes on her she didn't show, and instead just looked for a spot from where she could have a good view of the room. Cal looked at her, impressed that she had managed to get rid of her grin and was displaying no strong emotions of sorts, then he followed Gillian to the head of the table that had been left free for them.
They stood there looking at each other, Gillian with her hands on the table and Cal with his inside his pockets. She looked at him and he nodded, giving her a grin.
"Your show, love," he said in a low voice.
Gillian seemed to have no problem with that, showing a level of confidence and certainty that was a major turn on for him. Then she lifted her chin up to him, the ultimate 'my show indeed' gesture, then she turned toward the room and spoke.
"Thank you everybody for coming, it won't take long. First of all, I can assure there's nothing to worry about."
"We'll see about that," Cal mumbled, and Gillian rolled her eyes before addressing the audience again.
"Dr Lightman and I just wanted to inform you that we are dating." There was no detectable reaction coming from the people in front of them,which was kind of scary, but Gillian was undeterred and took Cal's hand, leaning into him a bit more. "We're together, as in an actual relationship."
Crickets. That was the reaction of the room. A room full of people trained to see things in people's faces, and to some extent to control their own if needed, and yet the only response to the announcement was a stunned silence. Emily was looking around, scanning everybody's face to see who would be the first one to crack, but there was absolutely nothing. On his side, Cal too was struggling to pick up anything at all and he looked at Gillian, who like him was confused and, he could swear, massively disappointed.
Then he leaned in into her more, his arm around her waist as he whispered in her ear while keeping her eyes on the room.
"I don't think you're selling this well, love. Maybe we should just make out."
Gillian kicked him under the table for that, but his inappropriate comment seemed to finally elicit some kind of reaction. Not the one she had expected but still something, when Loker tore his eyes away from her and instead looked at Emily.
"Are they for real?" He asked, as if Cal and Gillian weren't even in the room.
"Yep!" Emily confirmed with a nod, wishing badly that she had thought about recording the moment.
The entire room was staring at her now, but in the blink of an eye they all moved to the power couple on the other side. They were still standing there, as close as they could be, Gillian smiling at them and Cal smiling at her. Then something happened, something neither of them was ready for: the small crowd broke out in whispers and mumbles, hands going into pockets and wallets to retrieve crisp notes that ended up in Torres' hands.
For the first time since she had taken the lead Gillian found herself at a loss, words and actions failing her as the realisation their staff had an ongoing bet on them getting there slowly sunk in. She looked at Cal, hoping and expecting to see outrage on his face, but instead he was grinning amused at the scene and its implication.
"What?" He shrugged at her when he realised Gillian was looking at him as if he had grown a second head. "I have nothing to do with that!"
"Hold on," Loker then spoke again, only half recovered by the announcement. "Did this happen now? During this case?"
Now utterly confused, wondering when and how the tables had turned on her, Gillian shook her head no with Cal doing the same. Loker nodded too, more to himself, then glanced at Torres who clenched her hands around the wad of cash with a tremor in her eyes, and eventually looked at Emily again after a quick passage with Anna.
"They've been together for a couple of months," Emily explained then, understanding what information Loker was after.
Her revelation unleashed another round of whispers and muttered comments, but most importantly caused Torres to part from the money with great regret and pass the loot on to Anna.
"I knew it!" She proclaimed triumphantly, amazed by the sum in her hands. Then she seemed to remember the situation, that it was her bosses they were talking about, and looked at them with a frightened face. "I mean, I thought there was something different and I figured that maybe-"
"Alright then!" Cal spoke then, his booming voice immediately getting everybody's attention and back to a certain degree of discipline. "Seems like this worked out pretty well, for some of us at least." He nodded and grinned at Anna, honestly pleased to know she had figured it out. "Now, I'd say the meeting is over so you can all go back to work. And just to be safe," he pulled Gillian closer, way closer then what they had been, smoothing his hand on her hip in a way none of them had even seen before, "from now on you might want to remember to knock when entering either of our offices."
With that said, it was Cal's turn to grab her hand and drag her away, and it was Gillian's turn to be too surprised to oppose any resistance. Still, a few minutes later, when Cal's hasty exit brought both of them to her office, when he dragged her gently but firmly to the blind corner of the room and kissed her, when he held her and whispered softly to her, she was more than happy to follow his lead.
As it turned out, them being together wasn't really that big of a deal for their employees. Once past the shock of the revelation, what most of them thought was that it wasn't at all surprising and that after all the pair had been acting like a couple way before actually becoming one. Emily was still a bit sour about the fact that they didn't see exactly what a huge deal that really was, but did enjoy the attention and the power she held. The moment Cal and Gillian left the meeting room all eyes were on her again, this time accompanied by questions that her father and Gillian would have hardly found opportune. Emily knew better, and then of course there were things that she actually didn't know, but she still managed to enjoy being the person with the answers.
The following couple of days weren't too different from before the big reveal, mostly because Cal did end up taking some time off to spend it with his daughter. Gillian went to work, feeling light as a feather and smiling nearly constantly, looking so unquestionably happy that nobody felt like bothering her on personal matters. Funny enough, she wouldn't have minded a bit of probing since after all she had been the one forcing the hand in going public, but she appreciated that their staff showed some boundaries. Sure, they were probably too afraid to be pushy with her only to have Cal think that they would find it easier to go after her when he wasn't around, but after all coming clean didn't mean that she was looking forward to everybody trying to get a peek of their private affairs.
In the following weeks, especially after Emily's holiday was over and she went back to college, they all fell into a new normal that seemed to suit everybody just fine. Keeping work and private life separate wasn't all that difficult, after all they had done it already for a few months, but it was refreshing to be able to enjoy some down time together around the office when the workload allowed it. Most of the time they were mindful of the fact that other people might be watching, but sometimes, when they were 100% sure nobody would see them, they'd let go a bit more.
With the staff, the novelty wore thin quickly, also because they were being so careful and respectful that soon there was hardly any difference to notice. Which worked more than ok for them, especially for Cal; he didn't like the idea of being the object of water-cooler gossip, and quite frankly he didn't mind keeping their need for intimacy under control during the day if that could be fully unleashed once they were at home.