Making Proposals

Kayleigh approached Joey's desk almost as soon as he arrived at it the next morning.

"Hey, how was date night?"

"Yeah good, just a meal at a nice restaurant. Liv seemed to enjoy herself" it was time to change the subject already "Anyway, what's new with you?"

"Well, I've been doing some thinking... "

Joey was hoping this was going to be a return to the 'boyfriend and girlfriend' conversation that had preceded their cuddling session a couple of days back. It wasn't.

"That environmental article of ours didn't do anything at all"

"It definitely will have worked. It always does when I type stuff up"

"I know, that's exactly my point" Kayleigh clarified "I was dumb enough to think if our politicians actually believed the trouble our planet was in they might do the right thing to try and save it. Apparently not"

"Yeah, bunch of self interested psychopaths, the lot of 'em, eh?" Joey sympathised, echoing a sentiment Charlie had expressed to him not long ago.

"That's why I'm wondering if you and I should start to get a little more proactive. You know, make the news rather than just write it. Like you did with the former Senator White"

That instinctively caused Joey to feel a little uneasy. But, if it gave him an excuse to spend more time with Kayleigh, and made her happy with him..

"What did you have in mind?"

"I don't know exactly. Maybe you can find some time in your busy schedule to come to mine later in the week and we can discuss it over a beer"

"Yes, definitely" Joey agreed a little more emphatically than he had intended, with memories of their prolonged holding session last time still burning strong.

"Okay, great" Kayleigh seemed pleasantly surprised at her friend;s enthusiasm for her idea "Happy to have you on board!"

"Howdy Pardner!" Dawn greeted Joey as she walked into the room and hung up her jacket "Oh, hey Kayleigh!"

"Hey Dawn!" Kayleigh smiled a little nervously, still slightly in awe of the hot shot reporter "I should leave you guys to it"

"No, actually I have an idea I want to discuss with you" Dawn told her.

"With me?" Kayleigh reacted with surprise "What about?"

"Not here. Come on, let's go find a meeting room where we can talk in private"

"That lying fucking bitch of an agent pisses me off so much"

Charlie was cuddled up to Joey while getting increasingly frustrated by the actions of corrupt ATF operative June Stahl on their television screen, despite the cast iron knowledge that her days were numbered.

"Yeah, she's the worst" Joey admitted "Um, while Liv is out I needed to have a quick word with you about something"

"Sure, lemme pause"

Once Charlie had done her duty with the remote she gazed up at Joey, her head rested on his arm, as a cue for him to speak.

"So, I've told Liv it's okay for her to wear clothes in the apartment. Also, I've stopped you being able to mind control her. You've established those powers work when I give them to you by now"

"Okay" Charlie shrugged, without a hint of resentment "We still need to keep her around though, considering the connections she has"

More than happy for Liv to stay, and relieved at how unexpectedly easy that was, Joey decided to push a little further.

"She also doesn't like us being like this when she's home"

"Like what?"

"You know" Joey felt his cheeks burn a little as he tried to find the right words "In such close physical contact. She thinks it's disrespectful to her"

"Okay" Charlie agreed amiably again, before smiling up at Joey with a mischievous glint in her eye "But you're okay with it, when it's just the two of us?"

Joey said nothing, which gave Charlie enough room to keep on teasing him.

"How about now?"

She moved in even tighter and placed her hand on his thigh. Again, Joey didn't resist.

"How about now?"

Charlie spoke the words slowly and seductively, having shifted position upwards so her lips were mere inches from Joeys, while her fingers were even closer to finding the raging hard-on that had now sprung up underneath his jeans.

She lingered there for a moment, Joey seemingly frozen and helpless, before moving herself back to where she had been before.

"That's fine, I'll be less tactile when your girlfriend is here from now on. But FYI, I'm big on physical touch with the people I like. It's also my love language"

"Charlie..." Joey wasn't sure if he should ask this, but felt he needed to know "What am I to you?"

"You're my buddy, who also happens to be an asset I'm assigned to" She shovelled a handful of chocolate raisins casually into her mouth, then let them go down before she continued "Most of the people I get put with with are total douchebags, so I'm appreciating your company while I'm here"

"So what happens after this mission, or whatever it is you call it, ends?"

"Assignment. I'll be moved straight onto another one, and you'll never hear from me again"

"What?" Joey physically jolted at the bluntness of that statement "Well that sucks!"

Much like when they were under the stairs, Charlie's mask of being unfazed by everything briefly slipped, and she looked genuinely touched by the strength of Joey's reaction.

"If it's any consolation, it will suck for me too. And I won't be leaving any time soon"

"So how do you have relationships in your line of work, then?"

"What's a relationship?" Charlie joked "My cause is my relationship. It's what I willingly signed up for, and I've never regretted that for a minute. Well, maybe the occasional minute here and there."

"You had a relationship with me, according to Kayleigh"

"Yeah, I've been working on an interesting backstory for us in my down time" Charlie replied, completely unapologetically "I figure you broke my heart, but you did it for a noble reason"

"Fine. A heads-up would be nice next time you decide to improvise like that on my behalf, though"

"Okay"

"Doesn't it get lonely, being married to your cause?" Joey moved back from that diversion.

"It can do, but not for as long as I have you with me" Charlie stroked Joey's arm with what seemed to be genuine fondness "Actually, now we've built up so much trust with each other, I had a bit of an idea"

"Yeah? What was that?"

"Maybe we can have you mind control me, when it's just us hanging out. You know, a bit like you do with Liv, but obviously not to that extent. We can make it more fun for both of us than just sending me to my happy place, though"

"What, really?" Joey asked, trying not to sound as excited as he suddenly was.

"Yeah, I mean we'd have to agree everything in advance and have plenty of safe words and safe guards and all that. But when else will I get the chance to experience the effects of powers like yours? When you sent me back to my birth country, that was mind blowing"

"So, uh, when you say 'fun', what kind of things did you have in mind?" Joey asked with great interest.

Charlie was about to reply, when the door rattled and opened. She quickly shuffled away from Joey, until she was right on the other side of the couch. His question would go unanswered until the next time they were alone together, whenever that might be.

"Hey Charlie!" Liv smiled as she entered "Joey, can I have a word with you? There's something I'd like us to talk about"

She ushered Joey into their room, where she pushed him backwards onto the bed, and threw herself on top of him with a giggle. Joey had noticed Liv was becoming a lot more spontaneously affectionate with him lately.

"So, I have a favour to ask"

Okay, so that was a hardly fair negotiating position to put him in. While she was physically lying on him, Liv could ask Joey to sign all of his worldly goods and future earnings over to her and he would happily oblige.

"So, it's pretty obvious after last night that you have some kind of mind controlling abilities which work on just about anyone"

"Okay"

Joey couldn't really deny it. He'd hardly been discrete with his powers around Liv.

"So far, you've only used them with me for fucking. And, don't get me wrong, we'll be doing a lot more of that" she paused to eye Joey with a seductive smirk "a LOT more, but..."

Joey was already nervous where that 'but' was headed.

"Wouldn't it be nice for us to do something altruistic as well? My father has so many influential contacts. Not just politicians, but heads of industry, lobbyists, bankers. Now you and I are starting to become more serious and official, I'm going to be dragging you along to some of the events where those types congregate anyway. I'm not saying we do anything crazy, just encourage some very rich and powerful people to behave more ethically, or we could set up a charity, and persuade them to donate some of the money they'd never even spend so we can give it to people who actually need it. I've always had everything handed to me on a plate and never got the chance to give anything back to the world. You could help me to do that"

Joey had to admit, there was a lot of sense in what Liv was saying. This might be the most effective route to immediate, tangible, positive impact available to him so far, and if he got to make his girlfriend happy in the process, it felt like a total win-win situation.

"Okay, I think I can help you with that"

"Thanks Joey, you're the best! I'm going to call my father now and tell him that, from now on, wherever I go, you go!"

Liv gave her boyfriend a quick kiss on the lips, then climbed off him and grabbed her phone. Meanwhile, It was time for Joey to make a strategic trip to the bathroom. All that pent up excitement from frequent close, physical contact with hot women had to be released somewhere, and soon.