Work Text:
Caroline hummed under her breath. She turned the page of the current file she was working on when she finished checking for crucial information, occasionally glancing at her laptop to spot any missing lines that she’d have to add.
Her feet ached with the pressure of her high heels and she gingerly took them off, thankful for the cover the chairs around the table provided.
Etiquette and manners had not put her sore toes in mind, apparently.
She began the theme of Brooklyn Nine Nine, crossing out one of the paragraphs. Feeling eyes on her, she lifted her head from its bent position, tune stuck in her throat, starting to find her boss staring at her curiously.
“What?”
Klaus smiled her with that smile of his, the one she always believed held a secret she wasn’t privy to.
“I like your outfit, today.”
She touched the strands she’d left to frame her face self-consciously, hoping that her high ponytail wasn’t in complete disarray. She had worn her nicest knee-length pencil skirt and white chemise, had added the pair of suspenders she’d saved for a special occasion.
“Yeah, well, today was a big deal, I wanted to look fancy.”
The foreign trade delegation that they’d recieved had been pretty important and she’d wanted to make a good impression.
He arched his eyebrows, pursued his lips teasingly as if to ask her, ‘really?’ She tilted her head and did the same.
Klaus’s features relaxed, gaze appreciative. “You always look sophisticated, love.”
She wouldn’t blush, she refused to even consider it, yet the heat that flared in her cheeks told her she’d most certainly failed.
Discreetly, she cleared her voice, telling him boldly, “I know.”
Klaus’s eyes danced with mirth, but not mockery and it flared up the warmth in her chest.
She bit her lip and looked away; having her secret crush exposed just would not do.
She’d started working in Mikaelsons, Inc. four years ago. Fresh out of university with her business major and riddled with student loans, she’d been energetic and determined to prove her worth and land a good opportunity to pay off her debts.
The job had been jackpot and she’d poured everything she had into it, and it’d paid off. From beginning as an intern and then an employee to quickly climbing the ladder and becoming assistant manager.
Then Klaus happened.
He laid his elbows on the table, interlacing his fingers together, “I admire your confidence.”
Jutting out her chin, she spoke with a hint of dramatics, “It’s not confidence, I’m just stating facts.”
“Careful, love. Some would call that arrogance.”
“You like it.”
The words were out of her mouth without thought and she swallowed heavily. There it was again; the flirting they found themselves engaging in. It was just so hard to quell her attraction when he could be charming so easily, harder still when she knew him as more than just her tempting manager.
He was the strangest combination of a collection of cliches and utterly unexpected characteristics. One of the sons to the CEO, Caroline had expected him to be loud, brash and pompous when she’d first met him, and he hadn’t disappointed her expectations in any of those aspects. He was everything she’d thought he’d be.
The first days were the worst with him somehow deciding that she and the other interns were total crap, and it’d had fuelled her vindictive streak to work at maximum level.
Caroline wasn’t ashamed to admit she’d spent a healthy portion of her time hating him thoroughly.
That had all changed when she was forced to interact with him on a regular basis. Whether he was a more tolerable person up close - which she thoroughly doubted - or he’d decided to change his stance on dealing with employees, she’d ended up not hating him as much as she used to.
“I do,” Klaus said, breaking her out of her reverie and smiled.“I like you, sweetheart.”
She was going to roll her eyes and laugh, say something smart like, “of course, you do.”
But the words registered in her brain, the way he said it; leaning back in his chair, his eyes sparkling, and her eyes widened, the pen slipping from her hold and onto the table.
“What?” she squeaked.
Klaus smirked.
“I like you,” he spoke each word firmly, leaving her no doubt about what exactly he meant.
Caroline stayed silent, unable to process her thoughts beyond a useless ‘oh my god’ in the light of this revelation.
“Took you that long to figure it out, didn’t it?”
She stumbled over her words, “I… you… what?”
“How about we continue this most anticipated conversation after we finish our work. It’s not productive to talk surrounded by routine paperwork.”
Yeah, it wasn’t.
Sighing, she picked up her pen again, thinking of how much they had to talk about.