Chapter Text
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Nick
Nick leant both elbows on his desk and exhaled whilst rubbing his temples. He pushed his round, tortoiseshell glasses further up his nose and took a deep calming breath as he pressed the "join" button on Microsoft Teams to enter the video call that he had scheduled at 2pm.
He adjusted himself in his seat and put on his best HR Manager smile. This call was a collaborative one involving legal advisor Imogen Heaney from his company's legal department and the Tier A barrister that they had paid an enormous fee to hire and represent the company at an upcoming employment tribunal. Nick would be running through the witness orientation slideshow that he had used countless times, which would explain to the attendees what to expect and their role in court. Nick was used to this. He had been a HR Manager for the last two and a half years and loved it. He had always had an interest in ensuring things were fair, ever since he was a little boy and working in HR was a natural application of this. The Employment Law side of his role fascinated him too and now, as he approached thirty, he was beginning to look at taking the next step in his career and start applying for HR Business Partner roles.
Nick sighed and glanced at the clock in the bottom right corner of his screen. It had been a long day with numerous calls and issues to deal with and he was looking forward to a relaxing evening at home, feet up, watching the new series of 'Bake Off' to unwind.
Suddenly, the telltale Microsoft "beep" signalled that there were guests in the Teams waiting room, ready to be admitted by him. Nick quickly ran a hand through his floppy, auburn fringe and clicked the tile to admit the witnesses and the legal advisor, Imogen, into the call.
Nick smiled widely before beginning his usual spiel.
"Hi everyone, good afternoon, I hope you're all well?"
There were murmurs of greeting from those in attendance as he smiled warmly to put them at ease, when he suddenly noticed Imogen flicking her shoulder length hair and fluttering her eyelashes.
Nick fidgeted in his seat feeling suddenly nervous at being so perceived. He knew Imogen liked him. She had made that abundantly clear in the time they had worked together so far. She had invited him out for drinks, flirted relentlessly and dropped hint after hint about her single status.
When they had first met, Nick had been with his last boyfriend Dean. They'd been together for around eight months before they drifted apart, eventually splitting amicably. When Imogen had heard through the office grapevine that Nick was newly single she had doubled down on her efforts, but Nick simply didn't see her in that way.
Putting on his best professional face Nick glanced at the names in front of him.
"I think we're waiting on just one more attendee, our barrister, erm..."
Nick glanced down at his notebook,
"Charles Spring?" he looked back up at the screen in front of him, again scanning all of the names in front of him and confirming that the barrister was not yet logged into the call.
"I think Charlie might be a little late," Imogen smiled, twirling her hair between her fingers and batting her eyelashes again, "I know he was in court this morning..."
Nick gulped and smiled weakly at the other attendees.
"In that case, I'll start my part of the presentation just to explain what will happen on the day of the tribunal, what you can expect and some do's and don't-"
Nick was suddenly cut off by the Teams "beep" to signify that Charles Spring had finally logged in.
Nick quickly pressed the admit button, casually noting that the barrister had now arrived to the other people on the call.
A grey screen popped up with the initials "CS", signifying that Charles did not have his camera on.
"Good afternoon Charles," Nick began, it's good to meet you finally, " he added, in reference to the numerous emails they had exchanged over the previous weeks, as he again pushed his glasses up his nose.
"Hi all," came a young man's voice, not at all what Nick had expected from someone named 'Charles'.
"I apologise for my lateness, I just rushed back to the office from court and logged on right away."
It was quite clear from the shuffling of papers coming down the microphone that Charles Spring was sitting down and organising himself.
"Oh, apologies all, my camera is off!"
Suddenly, Nick's computer screen was flooded with light as the image of an olive skinned, dark haired man of about his age joined the other attendees on the page.
Nick suddenly became aware that he was staring, open mouthed, at Charles Spring, absolutely mesmerised by his curly hair and piercing blue eyes.
Nick suddenly noticed his own picture in the bottom right hand side of the screen and felt a blush creep onto his cheeks.
He had not expected their barrister to be this young. And HOT. Charles was wearing a grey jumper with a blue collar poking out the top and a navy necktie in a Windsor knot at the base of his slender neck. For a moment Nick imagined loosening the tie and pressing kisses to the barrister's neck before he snapped out of his fantasy and crashed back down to earth.
Nick grabbed the glass of water on his desk and took a massive gulp, suddenly grateful that Imogen was there to fill this awkward silence by wittering on.
"Everyone, this is Charles Spring." Imogen began, before launching into a monologue about how they had previously worked together on some other employment tribunals.
After a minute or so the barrister finally managed to get a word in.
"Please everyone, call me Charlie, " he said with a smile.
Nick felt the air rush from his lungs as he noticed that alongside his dazzling smile, Charlie had dimples. Nick felt dizzy. How on earth was he meant to conduct this witness orientation meeting alongside the most gorgeous man he had ever seen? His brain suddenly screamed FOCUS, as Charlie wrapped up a little background on his impressive career in law.
"Shall I hand over to you now, Nick?" Charlie asked with a smile.
Nick felt the blush rise in his cheeks again as he cursed himself internally.
"Yeah... erm thanks, Charlie," he whispered before clearing his throat gingerly. "OK, so I have the PowerPoint ready to go everyone, I'll just share my... Can everyone see my screen?"
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Charlie
Charlie quickly muted himself as Nick began talking and shared his screen. He let out a long sigh and adjusted his position in his seat as he began doodling on the notepad on his desk.
For weeks Nick and Charlie had been back and forth via email, sending documents to be added to the bundle and verifying details for the hearing. Charlie had not, however, anticipated that Nick Nelson, HR Manager, would be the actual embodiment of every gay fantasy he had conjured up since the age of about fourteen.
Nick was HOT. Well built and smartly dressed, a crisp white long-sleeved shirt cuffed at the elbows and stretched taut across huge biceps with auburn hair swept to the side that he occasionally ran his fingers through to prevent his fringe falling in front of his glasses. Charlie gulped.
He would have to spend the best part of a week with his man (depending on how the tribunal goes), staying in a hotel provided by Nick's company, near to the centre of Leeds for easy access to the court. Oh, and Imogen would also be there.
Charlie glanced at Imogen's little tile on the screen. She was clearly enthralled by Nick's presentation which she had undoubtably witnessed many times before, but then again, who wouldn't be mesmerised by Nick. Charlie let out another sigh.
Nick Nelson was definitely straight. He looked like the straightest man Charlie had ever seen. And he would definitely be in a relationship. Just look at him. Charlie thought to himself. He appeared to be a similar age to himself. He's probably engaged to a very nice, possibly quite boring woman, that he had been with for years.
Charlie sighed again. His brain had a way of inventing scenarios to make him sad and today was no exception. He plastered a smile onto his face and stared intently at Nick's presentation, willing himself to pay attention and focus. He would meet Nick in a week's time, the night before the tribunal at the hotel, and he would have to act cool. He could do this. He was a barrister - his job was to stay cool in stressful situations. And spending time with a man who looked like a Greek God, whilst not letting on how incredibly attractive Charlie found him, was definitely going to be a stressful situation.
Imogen had already planned that the three of them would head out together for a meal to catch up and relax before the stress of the week began. Imogen was nice enough, Charlie had worked with her previously on a few occasions but she had clearly underestimated the level of nerves Charlie had prior to a trial, and that the night before he wouldn't be particularly keen on listening to her prattle on inanely for hours on end. An early night was much more his usual style.
Suddenly Charlie became aware that Nick had finished his presentation and was ready to hand over to him and Imogen for their part of the orientation and so he gave his notes a cursory shuffle and adjusted his position ready to begin.
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Imogen
Man, Nick is looking FINE today, Imogen thought to herself as she stared at his little square on Teams.
He seems more flustered than usual, running his hands through his hair and fidgeting. She pondered on this for a minute. Perhaps Nick had finally picked up on the subtle clues she had been putting out there with all of the extra eye contact and flipping her hair. Imogen had fancied Nick since she moved to the legal department at Magnus two years ago. Nick had only recently moved to the company six months or so before her and they worked together on their first case not long after. Nick would often come to Imogen directly for legal advice on cases he was working on, which just convinced Imogen further that he was interested but too shy to make a move.
Imogen decided when they began working on this new case together that she would finally make her move. She, Nick and Charlie would be in a hotel together during the week of the tribunal, and knowing Charlie, much of his time would be spent preparing for court - hence his rating as a Tier A barrister, and his exorbitant fee.
Imogen shook herself out of her reveries as she realised that Nick was bringing the meeting to an end.
"Thank you all for attending today, and please, if you need anything at all, give me a call, you all have my number." Nick glanced around at those assembled, smiling widely before he continued.
"We've finished five minutes early so I'll give you that time back to get yourselves a cup of tea before your next meeting... Imogen, can I quickly catch you for a chat please after the call, if you could just stay on?"
Imogen felt her face break into a huge grin.
"Yeah, of course, I'll stay on," she beamed.
Good one Im, be cool... Be coooooool.
All of the other attendees said their goodbyes and waved before exiting the meeting, leaving just Nick and Imogen in the call.
"You wanted me, Nick?" Imogen asked, hoping that her hinting would indeed lead him to realise that, yes, he did want her.
"Hi Im," Nick responded, rubbing his neck shyly as he glanced at the screen.
"I was just wondering, what do you know about this Charlie Spring?"