My [Task] Master

"I had thought that if you and I had any future together I'd take the job, but it would be too hard to work with you after this."

"After this? I don't know why this would have to end."

"Well it doesn't have to end because it never really began," Laura concluded.

Greg's eyebrows knitted in anger. "Laura, I didn't-"

"You don't need to defend yourself. I don't blame you," Laura cut him off. "We never discussed what this was and by the time I realized you saw this as just a physical thing, it was too late for me to put up that boundary. I can't be just your friend, Greg, and I certainly can't just go back to the innocent crush I had."

"I don't know where this is coming from," Greg said.

Laura looked him in the eye, "I think that it's easier this way. You'll go back to London and I'll go back to Chicago and this will be a really funny memory. And I'll have this to remember it by." She picked up the golden bust and tucked it under her arm.

Laura leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on Greg's cheek.

"You'd better get to that party," she smiled sadly and walked out of the studio.

Chapter 9

**Six months later**

Greg pushed the key into the lock of the door to his flat and pushed the door open. He dropped the shopping bags just inside and saw his phone flashing on the counter where he'd forgotten it when he ran down to the shops just a half hour before. Greg picked up the phone and saw three missed calls and two texts from Alex Horne.

Have you looked over the resumes I sent over?

I'm not doing another season by myself.

Then as the phone was in his hand it began to ring again with Alex's name on the screen.

Greg rolled his eyes but swiped the answer button.

"Yeah, Alex?"

"Greg, I asked you to have an answer on those resumes by Friday. It is now Sunday."

The aggravation in Alex's voice was not subtle and honestly his impatience with Greg had only been mounting over the last half year. Alex was over worked and Greg was underprepared.

"The resumes are here somewhere, Alex. I'll find them now."

"Do that. It's literally the least you can do," and he ended the call.

Greg and Alex had never been best friends, but they had been close over the seven years of TaskMaster; they even went on a camping trip together once. But in the last six months their genial working relationship had deteriorated into passive aggressive one sentence interactions.

Greg knew why Alex was angry, but didn't agree that he was at fault for it. Laura Whittmann's decision to turn down the TaskMaster job had been shocking, but Greg didn't blame himself.

Okay, sometimes the thought came to his mind. She crossed his mind more often than he would ever care to admit. Late at night when he was laying in bed alone, he did wonder where she was as he missed her soft body against his. In the mornings he missed her sweet laugh and her quick wit. But those memories were usually quickly erased with another swallow of vodka or an easy hookup.

He saw the manilla envelope that had arrived by courier a week before and he tore it open to see the resumes of a handful of young comics who were fresh out of school without any real world experience. Not a single one of them had television writing credits.

Greg grabbed his phone again and dialed Alex.

"Hello?" He answered with a more droll than usual tone.

"Alex, these resumes are rubbish," he said bluntly.

"Of course they are, Greg."

"I can't imagine you couldn't find more experienced writers who are interested in the job."

"There were plenty of more experienced applicants. And all of them had plans to take the show in a completely different direction. None of them understood the vision."

"Well I'm not going to pick one of these imbeciles!"

"Well you lost us the only perfect candidate we were going to find, Greg!"

And for the second time in a quarter of an hour, Alex hung up on Greg in a fit of anger.

A few days after the resume argument, Greg and Alex sat silently in Andy Devonshire's office at Avalon studios. Andy sat in his high backed chair looking at the men with impatience.

"We start studio production on Series 13 in less than a week and you two can barely be in the same room. I don't know what happened between you at the end of the American series, but you have got to get it out of your systems!"

"We're fine, Andy," Greg said stubbornly.

"Is that so? Then you two won't have any issues spending time together this evening. If there's nothing for you two to work out, you can just have a lovely night of comradery."

"There's no need for that," Alex started, but Andy held up a hand to stop him.

"It's too late. I made the booking on both your schedules for dinner tonight followed by a stop at the Comedy Club to see some fresh faces. I've had enough of your bickering and it ends tonight."

Greg and Alex both looked angry at the idea of spending any time together but they were sent down to a waiting car and off to dinner before they could muster excuses. They were silent as they rode across town and didn't say a word to each other until after they had been seated at Balthazar in Covent Garden.

Greg saw Alex angrily eyeing him over his menu and Greg slammed his down onto the table.

"Listen mate, I know you think it's my fault that your little protege turned down your job offer, but she did that all on her own."

Alex gave a long sigh and set down his own menu. His eyes lost their anger for the first time that day.

"Why in the world would she turn down what was admittedly her dream job other than having her heart broken by you?"

"Heart broken? Alex, Laura broke things off with me, not the other way round. It was a total shock to me as well!"

"She ended it? Why?" Alex looked confused.

Greg threw up one hand in exasperation, "I don't know! We had a very comfortable thing going and then suddenly she bailed."

Alex fiddled with the fork on the table in front of him. "I suppose I've been a bit hard on you."

"You think?" Greg said sarcastically.

"I'm sorry. Things have been quite stressful. Laura seemed like the perfect fit for the team and I was afraid she'd been taken advantage of."

"Taken advantage of? If anyone was getting taken advantage of, it was me! A fifty-four year old can hardly keep up with a thirty year old! She was on me all the time!"

Alex's face broke into an embarrassed laugh at Greg's mention of his sex life.

"I'm sorry, Greg. I should have spoken to you sooner," Alex looked truly apologetic.

"Nah, mate. I didn't want to talk about Laura ending things...I took it a bit harder than I expected. I suppose I have been phoning it in a bit."

Both men awkwardly picked up their menus in time for the waitress to arrive with their drinks and take their order. They were able to make light chat through the rest of their meal then walked over to the Covent Garden Comedy Club where they watched a handful of young comics. They didn't laugh at any of their jokes but they did crack each other up with their scathing reviews.

As they stood outside the club waiting to hail cabs, they were laughing and cajoling again like pals.

"Say, Greg," Alex said before they parted ways. "Have you talked to Laura at all since we came back from LA for the last time?"

"No. Not at all."

"I can't help but wonder if something I said upset her," Alex admitted. "When I gave her the job offer packet I mentioned that I hoped you two could work together even after your... relationship ended and I would say she seemed unnerved by the comment."

Greg pondered a moment which made Alex fear Greg would be angry with him, but instead he shook his head and waved it off, "Nah. You were probably right anyway. Don't worry about it."

"Alex! Thank you so much for coming!" Morgan hugged him tight as he appeared backstage after Morgan's opening night of her three night engagement at the Palladium in London. It was the first stop on her first European tour.

"I wouldn't miss it, Morgan! Congratulations on your first London show! It was great!"

"Aw, thanks Alex! Do you have to run or do you want to catch a bite?" Morgan asked.

"No, I'd best get home and help with bedtime, but I didn't want to miss you while you're in town," Alex explained. "Is Laura here? I'd love to say hello, make sure she knows there's no hard feelings."

Morgan's smile cracked for a moment but then bounced back.

"She got tickets to a new West End show.."

"Well tell her I'm sorry to have missed her." Alex made a move toward the door, but Morgan called him back.

"Since you brought her up," Morgan said in a low voice. "I was wondering if the writing job is still available. I've been working on her to reconsider."

Alex was surprised, but hopeful. "It is, in fact...but I was under the impression her reasons for turning it down were more personal than professional."

Morgan nodded with a knowing look. Obviously as Laura's best friend she knew the real reasons for Laura's decision.

"Yeah, well she's pretty adamant that she made the right decision, but...does Greg know that we're here? I know Laura sent you the tickets and I wonder if she didn't leave him off the list 'accidentally on purpose'."

"I think Greg is visiting his mum in Shropshire this week," Alex answered.

"Damn it," Morgan swore and chewed her lower lip in thought.

"Alex, Laura would kill me if she knew I was asking you this, but do you think you could convince him to come back early? I really think a conversation would be good for the two of them."

Alex's face showed his confusion. "I don't know."

"Please, Alex. Just see what you can do."

"Alright, I'll call him."

"Thanks!" Morgan gave him another quick hug before he was off.

Alex headed down the corridor backstage heading for the exit when he saw a woman out of the corner of his eye. He did a double take and realized it was Laura Whittmann standing in the stage manager's office. She wasn't at the theater as Morgan had said.

'Why would she lie about that?' he wondered. Alex took a step toward Laura when she turned and Alex immediately knew the reason that Greg needed to get back to London.

Chapter 10

"Yes, Alex, I'm on my way back to town now," Greg said as he drove down the M40 toward London. "I'll have you know my mum was quite put out that I cut my visit short so this meeting had better be worth it."

"Yes, it will be. And remember it's the Parlour Kensal on Regent Street."

"Yes, just North of the studio. I got it."

"Alright I'll see you there," Alex ended the call and took a deep breath. He had convinced Greg to come back to London for a last minute meeting with a potential writer who was only in the country for the weekend. Alex had also spoken to Laura that morning and after quite a bit of convincing, talked her into meeting him for tea that afternoon. He had not outright lied to either of them because it really was a potential writer meeting for Greg and he genuinely wanted to catch up with Laura but Alex had quite flagrantly omitted the fact that the other would be there to both his tea companions.

When Alex arrived at Parlour Kensal, Laura was already there and already seated in a corner of the back room. Alex noted that she was wearing an oversized, fluffy sweater and she didn't stand to greet him when he approached her.

"Hello Alex."

She did smile and look genuinely happy to see him.

"Hello Laura, you look well."

Laura gave Alex a small puzzled look like she didn't believe him but thanked him all the same.

"Laura, I'm so glad you agreed to meet because I wanted you to know that there is no bad blood between us ,and at the moment the job is still open and available for you."

Laura shifted uncomfortably and Alex noticed her run a protective hand over her sweater.

"Alex, I assume Morgan put you up to this. I know you were at the Palladium last night, and I begged her not to bring me up."

"She didn't," Alex defended Morgan. "I asked about you."

Laura smiled and picked up the menu to avoid speaking any more at the moment.

Greg was right on time as he found a car park near the restaurant and walked the rest of the way. He stepped into the little shop and the woman behind the bar saw him and her eyes widened at his massive size.

"Hello," he said to her. "I'm here for a meeting with Alex Horne?"

The woman blinked a few times before saying that the people he was looking for were in the back room. He strode to the back and saw Alex sitting at a little corner table with the full tea setting already on the table. He came round the partition wall and saw a mess of blonde hair pulled up in a bun.

"I'm sorry, I thought I was on time but I seem to be late," he said approaching the table. He turned to the woman in the fluffy blue sweater to offer his hand and met eyes with Laura.

"Laura!"

"Hi, Greg," Laura said with a forced smile followed by a cold glare at Alex.

"Alex you didn't mention that our meeting was with someone we already offered the job to," Greg said a bit aggressively.

"You're right, Greg. But I had hoped that the both of us might be able to get Laura to reconsider." Alex gestured to the open chair at the small table. Greg sat angrily, feeling ambushed.

"I'm sorry Greg, I didn't know you would be here either," she said looking down at her cup of tea and not at him.

"No, I'm sure Alex thinks he's being extremely clever," Greg said.

"I'm not trying to be clever," Alex said. "I have realized that there were some things left uncommunicated after the American series wrapped and I think you owe it to each other to discuss them."

Greg and Laura both said nothing. Alex nudged Greg with his knee under the table which got him another cold glare.

"Well as inappropriate as I think this is, I will say it is lovely to see you again, Laura."

She gave just a small nod in response.

Greg looked around anxiously. "Well can I least run to the loo before you start the therapy?" he asked Alex.

Alex gave him an unimpressed look, "As long as you're not planning to disappear."

"I'll be back," he said bitterly, rolling his eyes and heading toward the restrooms.

Alex began, "Laura, I'm sorry that I didn't tell you-"

"No!" Laura cut him off. "I don't know what you think you're doing, but I can assure you I have things under control!"

"Laura, I know why you're wearing that bulky sweater," Alex said pointedly Laura's eyes widened for a moment and she didn't respond right away.

"I'm wearing a sweater because it's cold in London in October, Alex"

Alex looked extremely uncomfortable as he formulated what he would say next.

"I saw you backstage last night, Laura," he revealed.

Laura paused again. She bit her lip and swallowed hard, "It still has nothing to do with you."

"But it has everything to do with Greg."

"You don't know that. Maybe it's not his."

Alex sat back. He assumed Laura was bluffing, but her poker face was currently quite convincing. He decided, quite out of his comfort zone, to ask her point blank.

"Laura, are you pregnant with Greg's child?"

Laura's lips flattened into a tight line as she considered her answer, trying to decide if a lie was worth it.

"...Yes," she finally answered honestly.

"How long have you known?"

"Since three weeks after the TaskMaster final."

"Why didn't you tell Greg?"

"Tell the notorious ex-teacher and hater of children that I'm pregnant? Alex, it was hard enough to accept when it was just my love he didn't want."

"Greg deserves to know." Alex concluded.

"Ignorance is bliss, Alex. This isn't something he wants in his life. Why should I tell him something he doesn't want to know?"

They both fell silent as Greg reappeared.

"Alright, let's do this," he said, retaking his seat. "But if I'm going to have a candid conversation with Laura, I don't think you need to be here." He turned to Alex with a look of expectation.

Alex looked from Greg to Laura and back to Greg.

"Are you sure?" Alex asked them.

"Yes, that's probably for the best," Laura agreed. Alex stood awkwardly and took a biscuit and left the back room of the restaurant.

As soon as he was out of ear shot, Laura said, "I don't know what he told you-"

"He didn't tell me anything. I had no idea you would be here. I specifically scheduled my trip to my mum's so I had an excuse to not go to Morgan's show because I figured you didn't actually want me to show up."

Laura looked up at Greg, "It's not that I didn't want to see you. I always want to see you, Greg."

Laura set down her tea and her hand stayed on the table.

"I've wanted to see you too," Greg said, putting his massive hand on top of hers on the table. "I've picked up the phone to finally call you so many times... because I have missed you, Laura. More than I expected to. And for the life of me I still don't know why it ended like it did."

"Greg, what did you think was going to happen with us?" Laura asked, pulling her hand out from under his.

"I don't know. I hadn't given it much thought."

"Well I thought about it enough for the both of us. Our relationship was so fun and sensual and exciting but it wasn't meant to last. People don't actually meet and fall in love with their celebrity crushes. That just doesn't happen. I had convinced myself that we were more than a fling but then I realized you didn't see us as a real couple...and you confirmed that when you were on Jimmy Kimmel."

"Jimmy Kimmel?"

"Do you really not remember? We had been hooking up for a month and we had just gotten back from a week in London and when Jimmy asked you if you were in a relationship you said-and I quote, 'Nope. I'm very single at the moment.' And then I didn't hear a word from you the entire week."

Greg's mouth opened and closed as he tried to think of something to say in response.

"We hadn't discussed it," he tried to defend himself. "I wouldn't say we were a couple."

"Exactly," Laura forced herself to smile. "So there's no reason to dwell on it because it wasn't meant to be. I've seen all your interviews where you say how unromantic you are and how you hate children and that you're too old for a family, so I just decided to take you at your word. I wasn't going to try to make something happen between us when eventually it would end with me wanting more than you were willing to give."

"But why didn't you tell me that?"

Laura smiled wistfully, "Because I know how easily you could have persuaded me to change my mind if I gave you the chance. You almost did just with our little fun in the studio that night of the final. If you had told me that you wanted me to take the job and keep sleeping with you I probably would have, but to draw out our...relationship any longer would have just made the ending even more painful."

Laura took a sip of her tea before continuing, "And honestly, Greg, ending things then was painful enough."

Greg leaned back, adjusting his glasses while he took in Laura's words.

A waitress approached the table and asked if they needed anything else.

"No, thank you," Laura smiled. "We were just finishing up." She grabbed her large purse and pulled it on to her lap and draped her tartan trench coat over her arm as she stood up from the table.

"It was really nice to see you again. You know I'm a huge fan." She gave him one more smile and walked out of the restaurant.

Greg watched her go and felt an unfamiliar lump in his throat. He had the sudden urge to follow her and to tell her she was wrong about him, that he could be the commited man she wanted, but his ego held him back.

Alex peered around the corner. He hadn't left the restaurant after all.

"Did you hear all of it?" Greg asked.

"Most of it," Alex admitted. "I had hoped she would be more straightforward with you."