Colleagues Become Lovers -

Author's Note: This story is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places described in this narrative are products of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Although I indicated in "Tutored in Temptation - Part 4" that I would try and write shorter stories, this was one that I had worked on earlier but hadn't published. I've published this Part here in its full length but future Parts will be shorter for improved readability.

Other than the references to Air Nordland, this story will be set in the "real" world and will try to incorporate as much of the feedback, suggestions and requests that I've received from readers over the past several months.

As always, all comments and feedback are welcomed.

HF

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The dull hum of the Air Nordland B787's engines blended into the background as Charlotte Howard flipped through the pages of her meeting notes. The blonde-haired corporate executive sat in a business-class window seat, glancing occasionally out at the inky sky, where no stars were visible through the cloud cover. I just hope it's not too bumpy, she thought. The captain had made an announcement, not long after their departure an hour or so earlier from New York, that it was likely to be a bumpy flight through to London. Something about a weather system, she recalled. Weather wasn't her strong suit; she had an app for that on her phone.

International Strategy. That was her strong suit. As the Executive Director for International Strategy with Everett Consulting Group, a major management consulting firm based in London, she had spent the best part of the last ten years helping international corporations with their business transformations.

Hyde Industries, a major US manufacturing company had engaged Everett to restructure its global operations. It was a major project for the consulting firm and one that Charlotte had been instrumental in winning. Now she was leading the delivery team. With a sigh, she reflected that it sounded better on paper than it did in real life -- endless meetings, presentations, international travel, long hours away from her family. I wonder if it's all worth it, she thought to herself.

At least the people she worked with were good -- even if the workload wasn't as attractive. For this series of meetings, she'd brought Daniel along, his knowledge of business strategy was unparalleled in Everett, and they had worked together on this project for the last several months. She turned her attention back to her notes, glancing briefly at the Black man sitting next to her.

Daniel Richards had his headphones in, seemingly engrossed in an in-flight movie. His tall, dark frame was relaxed in the seat, his broad shoulders slightly angled toward her, as if even in relaxation, he couldn't help but dominate the space. Even with business class seats, I guess it's hard to get comfortable for someone his size, she thought.

At 5'7", Charlotte paled in comparison to Daniel's 6'2" frame -- but that was not the only way the pair contrasted with each other. Charlotte's ancestry, as evidenced by her long, blonde hair, blue eyes and fair, almost alabaster, skin that was covered by a light smattering of freckles on her shoulders and upper arms, was English -- her family tracing their heritage to both England and Ireland. Meanwhile, Daniel was Afro-Caribbean, that ancestry was reflected in his dark brown skin and strong features. Despite his parents emigrating from Jamaica, Daniel had been born in the UK but still retained a strong cultural connection to his ethnic heritage.

Charlotte shifted in her seat, trying to focus on the notes from their last meeting in New York, as she crossed her nylon-covered legs under her pencil skirt. The project they'd been working on for months was gone exceptionally well, but there was always a part of her that felt the need to double-check everything. She sighed quietly, pulling her cardigan tighter around her body. The air-conditioning on planes always felt just a bit too cold. They'd gone directly to the airport from their last meeting, Charlotte swapping her tailored suit jacket for the cardigan to be more comfortable on the flight.

She cast a sidelong glance at Daniel. He hadn't said much since they boarded the plane at JFK two hours earlier, a stark contrast to the easy, playful banter that had developed between them over the past few months. Maybe he was tired, or maybe, like her, he was processing the end of this intense work cycle. Maybe he just wants to catch up on the back catalogue of movies...

But Charlotte knew there was more to it, despite what she told herself. There was a tension between them -- a current that had been building since the early days of their collaboration. It had started innocently enough. Little compliments, shared smiles over coffee, moments of unspoken understanding in meetings. But recently, it had shifted, evolved into something more... charged. The way his gaze would linger just a second too long when they spoke, the accidental brushes of their hands, the easy flirtation in the quiet moments between work. All of it indicated something more. Something under the surface that threatened to explode forth if the circumstances allowed.

Charlotte's eyes drifted over Daniel's profile again. He was handsome -- undeniably so. His dark skin, strong jawline, the way his fitted business shirt outlined his athletic physique, and that air of quiet confidence he carried everywhere made him stand out in every room they entered. But beyond the physical, it was his intelligence, the way he could command a meeting without raising his voice, that she found magnetic. And that laugh -- deep and warm -- had a way of disarming her when she least expected it.

She caught herself staring and quickly looked back at her notes, her heart giving a little flutter. Stop it, Charlie! This is ridiculous, she told herself. I'm a married woman. I have two kids, a life, responsibilities. Besides... there are the... other... aspects. She frowned as she looked at her notebook. Unlike her, Daniel was Black. This aspect alone sometimes made her heart race when she thought about him.

It wasn't as if Charlotte considered herself was racist in any traditional sense of the word, it was just that she'd never explored any relationships outside of her own world, her own culture and ethnic group. Although she had grown up in a fairly liberal environment, Charlotte had never actively sought a relationship with someone who wasn't like her. Her husband, Tom, and the several boyfriends she had before she met him had all been very much like her; middle-class, educated, White.

She cut a figure of a modern British woman, embodying a blend of both traditional and contemporary values she had inherited from both her parents as well as her professional, contemporary work environment. Coming from a relatively well-off family, she had been exposed to the very best opportunities in life, but had always sought to remain grounded and practical, something she wanted to pass on to her children. She had embraced the opportunities offered to her as well as the challenges that professional working mothers faced in UK society. Fortunately, she had found in her husband someone who supported her and worked with her. They had formed a strong team by which to raise their family.

Tom, with his solid build, brown hair, hazel eyes and clean-cut face, was a steady, practical man, clearly devoted to their family. A senior project manager with a construction firm based in central London, his work was demanding, but flexible enough to cater to their young family while Charlotte was away with her work. In their early years at least, their children, Emma and Jack, were the centre of her world and she was determined to be the best possible mother for them.

After Jack had been born four years earlier, Tom and she had discussed the idea of having more children, but with her career really starting to take off at that stage, they had decided that two was a perfect number. Though Charlotte suspected he would have liked to have had more, Tom had gone along with the decision, even as far as having a vasectomy. This had freed her up from the need to remain on the pill, a necessary evil earlier in their marriage, but something she had always been concerned about due to the impact of the hormones on her body.

Looking after two young children as well as juggling the demands of a professional career had been challenging for Charlotte. Tom had been a great help, but she realised the more he'd helped, the more she'd poured herself into her job. The increasing demands of her work, the late nights in the office, her frequent absences, all of it had taken a toll on their marriage. She had prioritised Emma and Jack over intimacy with Tom, both of them falling into a comfortable routine of school pick-ups, gym classes, work meetings and dance sessions -- all the hallmarks of an affluent, middle-class life.

But now, there was something about Daniel that stirred something inside her, something she hadn't felt in a long time. Not with Tom, at least not recently. She loved her husband, but they had allowed their marriage to fall into a predictable, comfortable rhythm. Having been married to him for ten years, it was safe, but it wasn't exciting anymore. With Daniel, though... there was excitement. And that, Charlotte realised, terrified her more than she cared to admit.

She shifted in her seat again, the uncomfortable realisation of the growing attraction she felt towards her Black colleague lingering at the back of her mind. I'd better get this review done... she thought to herself as she focused her attention back on her notes, crossing her legs again, this time back towards Daniel.

The movement caught the attention of the tall Black man sitting next to her, his gaze momentarily sweeping down from the screen towards her legs. Ever since they had started to work together, Daniel had always enjoyed surreptitiously observing Charlotte's legs. She's certainly got a great set, he mused to himself, feeling a faint twitch of excitement between his legs. He loved how she wore tights nearly every day, the sheen of her current pair visible on her legs even in the dim light of the cabin.

It wasn't just her legs that he'd liked about her -- it was well, everything... Since they had started working together on this project several months earlier, it was as if things had changed between them. Sure, he'd known her in the firm, chatted with her many times in the office, but always about work issues. Since they'd started the Hyde Industries restructuring project, they'd grown closer and closer every day. It had started with the planning meeting when they would spend hours together with the rest of the team, moving on the chats over a coffee, discussions about her family, and through to the present and the increasingly flirty and light-hearted banter that seemed to now be the hallmark of their working relationship.

As a British man of Afro-Caribbean descent, with his family originating from Jamaica, Daniel had always found the international corporate world to be challenging for someone with his dark brown skin and strong Caribbean features. Despite the multi-national aspect to it, working mainly in Europe had shown to him that the corporate world was overwhelmingly White. Instead of rebelling against this, Daniel had done his best to work in it, proving his resilience to others and that his worth wasn't dependent on the colour of his skin. That wasn't to say that he didn't value his cultural heritage, his Caribbean roots; he did, but he saw it as a way of enhancing his life, not controlling it.

Growing up in Bermingham, Daniel had been exposed to the multi-racial and multi-cultural mix of that city, having friends that were both Black and White. Although he had dated mainly Black women, there had been several White women in his life over varying periods of time. Most of them had been quite immature, especially when he was dating in his late teens and early 20s, seeing him as some sort of trophy rather than a true partner. However, he had considered the most recent White woman he had dated, Amanda, to be someone who he could settle down with.

However, work and its multitude of demands had always seemed to drive a wedge between him and his partners, the pace of the corporate world being unrelenting. He still remembered the discussion he had with her -- his career was really starting to take off and she had given him an ultimatum: her or work. Unfortunately, he had chosen his career, a decision he still regretted nearly a decade later. He had been single now for the best part of a year; dating casually, but not actively seeking a connection, lest he was burnt again by the demands of his career.

And then along came Charlotte.

She was different, even when compared with Amanda. As he grew to know her better, he found that they connected on a deep, emotional level, both of them coming together to form an effective team on this project, complimenting each other and working together better than either of them had expected. Daniel admired her maturity, strength and intelligence -- something that he hadn't always experienced when dating White women earlier in his life. Her confidence and complexity, as a wife, a mother and a professional woman, captivated him in ways that his earlier relationships never could.

But it was her confidence and complexity that also presented the biggest challenges, especially when it came to her marriage and family. He knew that Charlotte loved Tom, her husband, on a deep, intuitive level and from what she had said about him, Daniel recognised that Tom was a steady, devoted father and husband. But with this recognition came a layer of tension that Daniel was careful to hide in all his interactions with her -- he often wondered whether Tom truly appreciated the depth and intensity of her spirit -- the intelligence and warmth that she brought to every professional interaction that he had witnessed time and again over their months together.

Daniel knew in his heart that there was no malice in his thoughts towards Charlotte's husband, only a curiosity about how he treated Charlotte and perhaps a hint of envy. There were times when he wished he'd been the one to sweep Charlotte off her feet all those years ago, to meet her before Tom did, to build the life that she and Tom had together. He knew from his interactions with Charlotte that her marriage to Tom was stable and her loyalty to her family was strong, but in their quiet moments together, working late, over a coffee, Daniel often wondered if part of her craved something different, something more.

But he knew this could never happen -- not with her commitment to her husband and family. He knew she sacrificed so much for her demanding career and family, perhaps the connection with her husband. But every time she spoke of her husband, Daniel got the impression her relationship with Tom was losing its intimacy, getting swept away by the demands of life, her family and her career. This was something that Daniel could relate to, his relationship with Amanda falling apart in much the same way.

As he lay awake in his bed at night, Daniel often wondered whether he could be someone to give Charlotte that sort of intimacy, the intimacy he knew she truly deserved. He'd push that thought out of his mind, roll over and try to sleep, but the image of her would keep returning to his mind, along with the subtle, incessant voice, like a little devil sitting on his shoulder, reminding him that she came from a different world than him, that she was White and he was Black -- why would she want to be with him?

When that little voice would come to him at night, he'd push it away, telling himself that Charlotte was different -- she was someone who saw him as a person, not for the colour of his skin. And so, he'd continued down this path with her, growing increasingly close to her, watching how she grew increasingly close to him. Hoping that something might happened, but fully aware that it might never occur. All he could do was try to show to her that he was a good friend and colleague and, perhaps, in time, that could lead to more.

Right now, he realised, the best thing that he could do, as a good friend and colleague, was to help her, support her with this project. He'd been watching her over the past few weeks, the long hours, the endless meetings, the extended video calls, now the board meeting in New York. All of it had taken a toll on them. On her. And now she was back in her notes, reviewing, checking. He loved the way she was so dedicated and focused -- he knew she was like this with everything she did. But what she needed was a break. A release from the stress and tension that had consumed them.

"Charlie," Daniel's voice broke through Charlotte's thoughts, calling her by her nickname that her family and close friends used. He'd started to use it several weeks back and she'd actually started to like hearing him say it instead of the more formal Charlotte. She looked over to see him grinning at her, one headphone pulled out. "You're still working? We've barely taken off, and you're already back in business mode."

She smiled, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear, her pale blue eyes sparkling under the glare of the overhead reading light. "Just reviewing a few things from the meeting. You know how I am -- always double-checking."

Daniel chuckled, his deep voice vibrating in the small space between them. "That's what makes you so good at what you do. But come on, we crushed it with the board in New York. You deserve to relax a little." He nudged her playfully with his elbow, and she couldn't help but laugh. They had, it had been an outstanding presentation, one of the best they'd delivered together, the culmination of months of work.

"I know, I know," she said with a weary sigh, closing the folder in front of her and giving him a wry, little grin. "I guess I'm still coming down from the adrenaline of it all. That presentation to the board was intense, but it's been a long few months to get us to here."

He nodded in agreement. Hopefully she'd see that in herself, and start to take her foot off the pedal, at least for a little bit, he thought. She's really driven this project. "Yeah, it has. But you've been brilliant through all of it."

She felt her cheeks warm at the compliment. "Thanks. You haven't been too bad yourself."

He flashed her that smile again, the one that made her stomach do little flips. "I try."

They fell into a comfortable silence after that, the quiet noise of the plane settling around them. Charlotte tried to refocus on her notes, but her mind kept wandering back to Daniel. She couldn't help but wonder if he felt the same pull, the same unspoken tension that simmered between them. The lines between professional and personal had started to blur, and though they hadn't crossed any boundaries -- yet -- there were moments when she'd felt the edges fray. Stay focused, Charlotte, she thought to herself, feeling a sudden twinge of arousal and anxiety twirling together in the pit of her stomach.

Suddenly, the Captain's voice crackled over the intercom as the lights in the cabin turned up to full brightness, causing the passengers to wince and blink.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. I apologise for the interruption, but I have some important news regarding our flight. Due to a severe winter storm moving rapidly down from Greenland, we've been advised to divert from our original route to London. We will be landing at Goose Bay Airport in Newfoundland, Canada, as the storm is making it unsafe to continue on towards the UK. We expect to be grounded there until the weather clears. We appreciate your understanding, and we'll keep you updated as the situation develops. Thank you."