My [Task] Master

"Hello Laura," Alex started.

"Hi Alex, hello Andy."

"Did you enjoy London?" Alex asked.

Laura was not aware that Alex knew she had been in London with Greg.

"Oh-it was-um lovely. Thanks."

"Oh, was it your first time in London?" Andy asked.

"Yes."

"Visiting a friend?" Andy continued.

Laura's eyes flitted to Alex who was avoiding eye contact.

"Traveled...with a friend," she said with a forced smile.

"Laura, this should be no surprise," said Andy. "But we have a job offer for you."

Alex picked up a large envelope from his table and handed it to Laura.

"In this envelope is a job description, compensation and benefits offer, a non disclosure agreement and a contract for three years to be the associate writer of TaskMaster and a guest writer for other Avalon comedies."

Laura stared down speechlessly at the envelope.

"Obviously you'll need some time to go over the contract with your lawyer, but we would like your answer by the finale show next week." Andy stood from the couch and offered Laura his hand to shake then he left the room.

Laura looked at Alex.

"Alex, this is a big deal. Are you sure you want me for your team?"

"Laura, I have been wanting to bring someone on to work with me for a couple series' now. My sons are at an age where I'd like to be able to go to more of their activities and spend less time coming up with ridiculous tasks. I've really just been hoping that someone new and fresh would appear. When you came with Morgan to the task tapings I knew right away that you were a great choice."

"Oh, Alex. That's so flattering-" Laura started but Alex continued.

"I did not anticipate, however, that your obvious crush on Greg would turn into...an entanglement."

Laura flushed and could not think of anything to say in response.

"I know that you really like Greg and I truly hope that what's going on between you two won't hinder your career advancement."

Laura tried to lighten the mood with a joke, "Wouldn't you think sleeping with the TaskMaster would help my career?" She laughed awkwardly.

"I'm more worried about your emotional wellbeing when it ends, Laura," Alex said seriously.

"If it ends?" Laura replied trying to sound confident.

Alex gave her a half smile, "Of course."

Laura excused herself and walked to the green room in a bit of a daze. The comedians were called up to the stage soon after and once alone, Laura opened the envelope and read through the job packet. It was an incredible offer at almost twice what she was making working for Morgan with the stability and freedom that came with a steady studio job. It would require her to move to London and after what Alex had said, Laura's fantasy of a life with Greg didn't seem so definite.

Laura managed to sit through the show taping and with only one show to go Morgan was neck and neck for the lead with Donald Glover. She and Greg hadn't talked about their plans for after the taping and usually she would wait for him to go to his dressing room and for the studio to clear out a bit before seeking him out but this time she went right to his room and knocked on the door.

"Yeah?" Came the call from inside.

Laura stepped in and Greg was peeling off his jacket. Laura felt the familiar fluttering of her stomach at watching him undress.

"Hey! Good show," she smiled, trying to sound as cheerful as possible.

"Thanks," he leaned down to peck her on the cheek while he unbuttoned the black vest and then the black button down shirt.

Laura cheekily reached for the button and zip on his trousers. "What are we doing tonight?" she asked with the wink.

Greg kissed her again, with a bit more conviction. But soon he pulled back.

"As much as I'd like to throw you on to the sofa right now and give you a go 'round, I just got a call from my agent that they got me on Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight to promote the show."

"Oh wow! Jimmy Kimmel-that's a big deal! It will be your first American late-night appearance, right?"

"Yeah, I'm sure it will be the first time that a lot of Americans experience this," Greg referenced his massive stature and Laura giggled.

"...Should I come along?" she asked cautiously.

"Nah; they're just expecting me and I'm sure it will be a long night. Besides, aren't you tired of me yet?"

"I don't think I'll ever be tired of you," Laura said honestly. "But I'll go home with Morgan. I should catch up on her schedule anyway...brunch tomorrow, maybe?"

"I have an early flight," Greg answered while pulling on a fresh shirt.

"Oh, then I won't see you till next weekend?"

Greg wasn't really listening anymore as he pulled on his dark jeans then sat to pull on his sneakers.

Laura tried again, "Well maybe we can video call sometime over the week?"

"Yeah, maybe."

"I'd like to get your input on the job offer I got from Alex," she confessed.

"Oh, yeah, he mentioned that earlier," Greg said, finishing tying his shoes. "Well it is what it is, innit? You should take it if you want, or don't. It's your career."

Laura stood frozen, hurt by Greg's callous opinion. He stood and grabbed his wallet and a garment bag that held a fresh suit for the talk show.

"I'll see you next week, yeah?" Greg leaned down and kissed Laura once more before exiting the room and heading out the stage door. Laura stood in the doorway of his dressing room staring at the door he had just disappeared through.

Laura sat on the edge of the bed in her room down at the Anaheim extended stay hotel, remote in hand turning the channel to ABC, hoping she hadn't missed Greg's appearance. As she landed on the right channel, the show was just coming back from commercial break.

Jimmy Kimmel sat behind his large desk, looking straight down the camera.

"Our next guest is a household name in the United Kingdom where he is a stand up comedian and the host of the wildly popular game show TaskMaster for eleven seasons. Now he's bringing the show to the states and he's here to tell us all about it! Please welcome, Greg Davies!"

Greg appeared through the curtain and stepped up to shake Jimmy's hand before taking a seat on the armchair next to the desk.

"Greg, thank you so much for being here."

"Thank you for having me!" he responded with a smile. Laura noted that, as with most of his interviews, Greg wasn't wearing his glasses and his grey eyes were shining bright.

"Greg, some people here in the US might have seen your Netflix comedy special that came out in 2020, but you haven't toured here before. Is that correct?"

"Yeah, I have stuck to the UK. I've visited America before, but not really for work."

"I've read you've been in comedy for almost twenty years, but before that you were a teacher?"

Greg chuckled and gave his common answer for leaving teaching, "a noble profession, but just not for me." He told a quick story about his teaching method of just having the students write their own play everyday for the entire school year to get out of writing lesson plans.

"Well for the past seven years you've been the TaskMaster," continued Jimmy Kimmel. "I was not familiar with the show until recently, but I've gotta say it is riotously funny."

Greg nodded laughing before Jimmy went on.

"Now we have a special sneak preview look at the American series that you've been taping over the last couple months."

Jimmy gestured to an in-studio monitor and the video took over the screen. It was a scene from the very first episode and Greg was awarding points for the 'Best interpretive dance to a national anthem' task. Donald Glover wasn't satisfied with the points he was given and Greg shot him a raised eyebrow followed by, "Well, I'm the TaskMaster and my word is final," which had made the audience explode in laughter then the screen faded to black and cut back to Greg and Jimmy.

"That's probably a good feel for the show," Greg laughed. "The contestants try their hardest and then I shut them down."

"Holding all the power must be a trip," Jimmy responded. "Are you the TaskMaster at home as well or is it all a persona?"

"Well I think anyone who knows me will tell you I have a very fragile ego and an overwhelming need to be liked like many other comedians."

Jimmy and the audience laughed at that admission.

"But no, I'd like to think I'm more easy going in actuality...and at home there's no one to order around."

"You're not married?" Jimmy asked.

"No, I am not," Greg confirmed and a hoot came from a woman in the audience which made Greg laugh.

"Girlfriend?" Jimmy asked and Laura felt her heart jump up into her throat.

Greg shook his head slowly, "Nope. Very single at the moment."

Jimmy looked straight down the camera, "You heard it here first America. 6-foot-eight, Greg Davies is single."

More hollars came from the audience made Greg give one of his smoldering looks to the camera.

"Thank you again for being here, Greg," Jimmy said before going to a commercial break.

A commercial for cottage cheese started and Laura hit the power button on the remote to turn the television off. She leaned back against the headboard of the bed.

"Well I guess that answers my question," she said out loud as the words that Greg had just said on live national television sunk in.

She felt tears start to sting in the corners of her eyes and instead of crying she quickly got in bed and pulled the pillows over her face willing herself to sleep as fast as possible.

Chapter 8

"Another huge round of applause to our champion, Morgan Campbell! Thank you for watching!"

Greg signed off the final episode of Taskmaster and Morgan held the gold painted bust of Greg Davies head over her own as the cast and audience cheered for her. Laura was seated in the stage right opera box so she had a perfect view of Morgan's smile as she hugged her fellow competitors. Laura was so happy for her friend and she tried to focus on that happiness but when Morgan got to Greg on the stage and hugged him, Laura was again overwhelmed with the hurt and angry feelings that she had been dealing with all week. The entire episode, she had been staring at the back of his head over the giant throne and vacillating between seething anger and bursting into tears.

The studio audience was quickly ushered out of the theatre and Laura stood, straightening her dress and made her way backstage to congratulate Morgan. In the greenroom champagne had already been popped as the cast, crew, and support staff celebrated the wrap. The wrap party was being held at the historic Stahl house in West Hollywood and Laura heard a stage manager announcing that the cars to take people from the studio to the house were already pulling up.

Morgan saw Laura in the corner of the room and ran over to her friend.

"Congratulations Morgan! I knew you'd win!" Laura smiled, hugging her.

Morgan held the trophy out to Laura, "I always told you if I won it, it would be yours."

Laura looked at the trophy for a moment before accepting it, "Well I'm not sure I want it anymore."

"I know," Morgan understood having watched the video of Greg on Jimmy Kimmel the next day when Laura told her what had happened.

Laura attempted to smile, "I always hated that this trophy looked nothing like Greg, but now I guess that's a good thing."

"Exactly," they both laughed.

"Are you sure I can't convince you to come to the wrap party?" Morgan asked again even though Laura had said no about a dozen times.

"Nope. I'm going to avoid British men at all costs this evening." Morgan hugged her friend once more and she was off to mingle with the others and get in a car to the party.

Laura looked around the room for someone else to talk to, but Eugene Mirman was in a small group with Alex Horne and Greg stood between her and the others that she knew. She eyed the door instead and escaped to the hallway.

She pulled out her phone to hail an Uber but then her eye caught the stairs to the stage. She assumed the studio would be nearly empty now, but wasn't being disassembled until the next day. She made her way up the stairs and pulled open the heavy door. The theatre was still warm from the recent masses of bodies and stage lights but now it was completely silent.

She walked up onto the plush red carpet and over to the gold gilded chairs. She looked around the theatre again to make sure she was alone before taking a seat on Greg's massive throne. And the chair was enormous; its top stood a full foot higher than Laura's head and she knew if she were to sit all the way back, her feet wouldn't reach the ground.

Laura looked at the trophy she was still holding. It was surprisingly light and now that she had it in her hands it was obviously a cheaply made plastic head, spray painted gold and mounted on a black wooden cube. She sniggered at the irony of how long she had admired the seemingly worthless prize.

"You're in my seat."

Greg's booming voice from behind her startled Laura.

"Oh! Greg!"

Greg chuckled as he stepped into the dim lights that were still on.

"Congratulations on Morgan winning. I know that your help and support was a major part of that."

Laura gave him a small smile, "Thank you." She stood slowly and eyed the door, considering escape.

"Laura, I wanted to apologise for not calling you this week. I know you had wanted to talk about the job offer."

Laura looked up into Greg's face for the first time that evening and the hurt and anger that she'd been simmering suddenly weren't the focus in her mind. His eyes were on hers and she felt the heat in her cheeks and realized she was still so intimidated by him...and so attracted to him.

"It's alright. I know you're busy."

"I did think of you," he said.

"I thought a lot about you too," Laura admitted. Greg stepped forward and took the golden trophy of his head in his massive hand. Laura watched as he set the trophy back down on the little gilded side table where the bust had sat all season. Laura knew this was probably her best chance to talk to Greg about everything that was going on in her head and she took a deep breath while he took his seat in the giant throne.

"Listen, Greg. I-"

She was cut off by Greg grabbing her by the hand and pulling her onto his lap. He pressed his lips to hers and she felt his arms wrap around her waist. She hesitated for just a moment but his arms holding her to his chest and the wonderful feeling of his mouth on hers very quickly disarmed her.

Greg's tongue danced around her lips and she opened her mouth to him.

Greg's left arm kept holding her tightly to him while his right went to Laura's knee where he quickly pulled her legs up over the armrest of the chair then snaked that hand up her inner thigh. Laura gasped as Greg's thumb made contact with the gusset of her knickers.

"Oh my God," she gasped as he pushed the material to the side and found her wet opening. Greg's mouth moved to Laura's neck as his thick finger entered her. He suckled an inch of her soft skin then moved to the next and the next and his finger slowly pulsed in and out of her wetness gently.

Laura was so overwhelmed with the pleasure he was bringing her so quickly she barely remembered where she was. She realized his cock was growing quickly in his trousers and she could feel it under her thigh.

Laura placed her hand on Greg's that was between her legs. She pulled his hand away from her centre and brought his thick, damp finger to her lips, cleaning her juices from his hand.

"Oh, fuck," he moaned watching her intently. Laura dropped his hand and put her hands on his shoulders. Greg caught on to her movement and helped to lift her over his lap so she could straddle his legs. The massive, red velvet seat on the chair just allowed her legs to rest either side of Greg's.

Laura sat back and perched on Greg's knees to access the front of his trousers. She opened his belt, button and zipper and thrust her hand into his pants and grasped his now fully erect cock.

"God, yes!" He exclaimed as Laura took him in hand. She wasted little time and Greg pushed the billowy skirt of her cocktail dress up her thighs as she lifted her hips above his shaft and lined him up to penetrate her then dropped her hips to sheath him inside herself. They both sighed with relief.

Laura pressed her lips to Greg's again and her hands caressed the back of his neck while their tongues danced. She pulsed her hips in small circles, savoring the feeling of him inside her again but they both wanted more. Greg's hands went to Laura's arse and he began to lift her just an inch then drop her back down.

Laura's hands moved up to grip the gilded crest rail of the chair as she upped the pace and intensity of her bounces on Greg's lap. She began to moan with each drop of her hips onto his solid member.

She knew she could orgasm as soon as she allowed herself over that edge but she held off, wanting to get there the same time as Greg. She bit her lip and grit her teeth to hold back and looking down at Greg she realized he was gazing up at her while she rode him and for the first time she felt like the boss of their sexual liaison.

"Cum for me, Greg," she murmured near his ear and she was rewarded with a long moan from his throat. Greg's hands gripped her arse harder.

"I need you to cum for me, Greg," she said a bit louder and her hands tightened on the chair rail as she struggled to hold back her own climax.

"Cum for me, Greg!" She nearly shouted as her pussy clamped down on his shaft in orgasm. Her eyes slammed shut and her head fell back and just as she reached the very peak of pleasure, Greg drove her hips down onto his lap as he exploded up into her.

He grunted with each spurt of his cum inside her, his fingers digging into the soft flesh of her asscheeks.

Laura let herself collapse against Greg's chest as her body continued to twitch and Greg's cock spasmed inside her. After a minute or two, Laura felt Greg's hands rubbing her back and she pushed herself up.

"I've never fucked someone in the throne before."

Laura chuckled and she lifted herself off of Greg's cock. She returned her knickers to their proper place and straightened her skirt as Greg tucked himself back into his pants and did up his trousers.

"I imagine the hired cars for the party have all gone," Greg said. "Would you like to share a taxi with me?"

Laura cleared her throat awkwardly, "Oh, I wasn't planning to go to the wrap party. I've had a long week. I had a headache that wouldn't go away and I've been exhausted..."

"Are you sure? I know Alex has some party tasks planned and I'm sure you'd excel at them."

"Yeah," Laura nodded. "I think I should just go get some sleep."

"Alright," Greg looked a bit disappointed. "I had thought you'd want to come to my room after the party since it's my last night in LA for a while."

Laura gave him an apologetic look but no response.

"Would it be too bold of me to ask if these rendezvous can continue when you get to London?"

Laura sighed knowing Greg hadn't been told her decision.

"Greg, I'm not moving to London."

"Well not permanently of course, but when you come for writing sessions with Alex, we could-"

"No, Greg. I turned the job down."

Greg sat up in the massive chair. "What, why?"

"Well, I weighed the pros and cons and I didn't think that upending my life was worth the risk."

Greg now looked completely baffled, "Laura, this a huge opportunity. Imagine what this could do for your career!"

"It's not just about my career advancement," Laura explained. "As much as I would love to write for TaskMaster, I need more of a solid reason to leave everything else behind. I had hoped-"

Laura's voice caught in her throat and she stopped talking.

"Tell me," Greg urged her.