February 21

Brian stood at the front of the conference table, shuffling through some papers in front of him as his chosen team came into the conference room and took their seats at the designated spots. Without looking at them, he handed out a packet of papers to each, and then slid a small tray of cups in front of each of them, ignoring their perplexed expressions as he did so. They would know what was happening soon enough.

Grabbing another packet and his own tray of cups, he rounded the table and sat down at the head of it, meticulously arranging everything in front of him. Looking up, Brian smirked as his three guests stared at the little cups in front of them with confusion for a minute and then looked up at him for an explanation.

"Thank you all for meeting me here today," Brian said, a bland smile on his face as he pulled the packet towards him. "I know that you all have busy schedules, so I do appreciate you taking the time to meet with me for this impromptu task force." He looked up when Emmett hesitantly raised his hand halfway; as if he was still in fucking grade school. Brian arched a brow. "Yes?"

"Um…not that I mind," Emmett said, looking at the other two guests with a bemused smile; which made sense as he was the only non-employee in the room. "But…um…why exactly am I here?"

"I need your expertise as a food service specialist," Brian informed him succinctly; and then turned back to the packet. "Plus, Ted is still on leave and I needed a third person."

"I see," Emmett said, drawing it out in a way that said the exact opposite. He shared another bemused look with Cynthia and Yasmeen, and then shook his head and turned back to Brian.

Brian rose from his seat and gestured to the settings in front of them.

"As you can probably tell from the lettered cups in front of you," he said, turning each of his taster cups to face around, trying to remain as professional as possible. "This is a blind taste test. And in each cup is a different brand of coffee. Beside it, you should also have a lettered information packet for each brand minus the name. If you do not, let me know and I can give you one. What I need, is for you to taste each of these coffees and make notes of what you think of it – taste, color, smell, etcetera; and then rate it, with one being 'I never want to drink it again' and ten being 'this is just as good as, if not better than my current brand.' Any questions?"

This time it was Cynthia that waved her hand.

"Uh, why are we doing this?" she asked as she set aside the packet she'd been studying and faced Brian.

Brian sighed; he knew that if any of them would questioned what he was doing, it would be Cynthia. Not because this was a new thing for her. They were often sent various products to look over and try out all the time, so that they would have a better idea of how to market said item. The problem was that this wasn't for an account. And if anyone knew that information, it would be Cynthia.

But, he had hoped if he'd presented it in a professional manner, she might let it slide for once. He should have known better really. Rolling his lips between his teeth, Brian tried to decide just how much information he wanted to give on the taste testing. Or, well, how little he could get away with saying without it becoming obvious that this was personal request, not a professional one.

"Would you believe me if I said that it was for a potential client and I want to have a blind taste test to see how it stacks up against other brands?" Brian asked, knowing damned well that Cynthia wouldn't buy it even for a minute. But he had to try anyways.

"No," Cynthia said, easily cutting through the bullshit; it was one of the things that Brian loved best about her. He also hated it because she'd always saw right through him, especially when he was trying to spin a story. "If it were a new account, I would have heard about it."

Brian sighed; okay, so half-truth it was.

"I've been thinking about switching my coffee brand," Brian admitted reluctantly; and the thing was, it wasn't lie. It wasn't the whole truth either. "And I wanted to get some expert opinions?"

"Right," Cynthia scoffed, narrowing her eyes as she studied Brian, her brow furrowing in that way that told Brian that she knew something was off, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what yet. "And how are we're your panel of experts?"

"Well," Brian said with a winning smile; one that only seemed to make her all themore suspicious. "I trust all of your judgments and I know you won't bullshit me."

He and Cynthia stared at each other a long moment; the look in her eyes told him that she knew he was full of shit, but she just didn't know why. She really did know him far too well. Brian just smirked and she huffed and turned back to the cups in front of her.

"Uh…if that's the case," Yasmeen piped up, looking at the cups in front of her with barely disguised disgust. "I don't think I'll be much help."

"Why?" Brian asked; and then he scowled as a thought came to mind. "Don't tell me that you drink that instant shit; because if you do, we need to re-educate you on what real coffee truly is."

"Actually, I don't drink coffee at all," Yasmeen shrugged, her nose scrunching up as she continued to stare at the coffee as if it was going to bite her.

"What?" Cynthia said, giving up her staring contest with Brian in favor of looking at the other woman in surprise. Something that Brian fully understood, because really?

"How do you not drink coffee?" Brian asked, staring at his personal assistant as if she'd suddenly sprouted another head. Fuck, he didn't think he could survive one day without his coffee, let alone never drink it again.

"I never cared for the taste of it," Yasmeen said, shrugging again; and still Brian just was not getting it. Who doesn't like coffee? "And a lot of hot drinks make my stomach hurt; so, I don't even drink hot chocolate or cider or anything like that."

Brian stood there, stunned. He'd never heard that before and couldn't wrap his mind around the idea of not liking coffee. It just didn't compute. Yasmeen just stared back unrepentantly and shrugged for a third time, sliding the cups away from her slowly.

"I think you broke him, sweetie," Emmett joked, a smirk on his lips as he watched the interplay. He did, however, pull his tray closer to him; so, at least, Brian knew that he could count on him for this venture."

"How does anyone not drink coffee?" Brian asked, still not getting it. I mean, it was coffee; the elixir of the Gods. "How do you survive the mornings without coffee?"

"Trust me," Yasmeen snorted, a humorous light glint dancing in her eyes. "With my niece living with me; waking up is not an issue in the morning. Now, staying asleep on the other hand; that is a much more pressing problem. Sleeping in does not happen often."

"I can't even begin to fathom…" Brian said, still caught up in the idea of someone not liking coffee. It made no sense to him.

"So, as I said," Yasmeen smiled and stood, getting ready to leave the room. "I doubt I'll be much help as I can guarantee that it will all taste like crap to me."

"Be gone, you heathen," Brian huffed with disgust, shooing her away. "Find me another minion who appreciates a good brew."

Yasmeen just snorted and left the room; hopefully to find him a normal person who understands the beauty of a perfect cup of coffee in the morning. How the hell can you not like coffee? It just seemed so…he didn't even have the words to say what it was. But it was a travesty, that's for sure. Turning back to Cynthia and Emmett, Brian figured he should get started; he could catch the other person up when they got here.

And he opened his mouth to suggest just that when Emmett raised his hand again. Huffing, Brian pinched the bridge of his nose and prayed for strength; if this kept up, their coffee was going to go cold before they ever got around to drinking it. And then, the taste test wouldn't matter because it would all definitely taste for shit. Heaving a put upon sigh, Brian looked at Emmett and said:

"Yes, Emmett?"

"So," Emmett said as he dropped his hand, a knowing smirk in his lips. "What's this really about, Big Bad?"

"What makes you ask that?" Brian hedged, trying to bluff his way through it.

Emmett's smirk broadened. "I know how much you love your current brand; I remember the extensive taste testing you did just to find it. Why change it now?"

Brian cursed silently in his head and wished that his friends were just a little less smart and didn't know him so well. Rolling his lips between his teeth, he quickly thought up a likely excuse that would be close enough to the truth, but not give the entire thing away.

"I'm looking for a healthier alternative," Brian said slowly, running a hand through his hair, trying to be as nonchalant as possible. "You know, like that organic or all-natural stuff."

He failed, of course; because just as he said that Cynthia sat up straight in her chair and fixed him with a narrow-eyed look, her lips pursed. "Please tell me you aren't trying to replace Justin's coffee with decaf again; because, as I recall, that didn't work out so well for you last time."

Brian winced, cursing under his breath as she hit the nail on the head. Cynthia crowed triumphantly, a wide smile on her lips. Emmett's eyes widened with sudden understanding and then he hissed at the cups in front of him as if they'd betrayed him. Brian sighed and slumped into his chair; well, he might as well come clean.

"Last time" Brian huffed, shooting Cynthia an irritated glare. "I didn't taste it beforehand. I just listened to Ted, who swore Blake never noticed the difference."

"Yes, he did," Emmett refuted, shrugging when Brian looked at him funny. "He just learned to humor Ted and switched it right back to his regular brand after Ted swapped out the beans. Ted never figured it out."

And fuck, he hadn't thought of that; but the good thing was, neither had Justin. This was weird, because usually that was a very Justin thing to do; but maybe he'd just not been the mood to deal with it and went for the in your face method that day.

"Considering that's my CFO; you know, the man in charge of all of my money, that statement really doesn't raise my confidence in him any," Brian said with a frown. Although, that wasn't quite a true statement. He knew damned well that Ted was a wiz when it came to money matters and wasn't worried at all. He was just irritated that he'd been found out and was trying to deflect.

"Please," Emmett rolled his eyes and cast a knowing glance Brian's way. "When it comes to money, Ted's mind is a steel trap. It's everything else he has issues with."

"So, here's a question for you," Cynthia piped up, a smirk on her lips and an amused glint in her eyes. "What are you going to do when he's tired and notices the caffeine isn't working? You know, because there is none."

"I'll cross that bridge when I get there," Brian muttered, still feeling a bit disgruntled that his little plan fell apart before it had even begun. "He's pregnant after all; he was warned that he was likely to feel more tired as time went on. I can play it off."

"Yeah," Emmett scoffed in disbelief; he stood and waved his hand towards the coffee. " No way. Not getting involved in this. I like my balls right where they are, thank you very much. As does Drew. But, you have fun with that and let us know how successful you are."

And with that Cynthia snickered and stood as well, joining Emmett as he walked towards the door.

"Disbelievers," Brian called after them, shoving the packet he'd so carefully created aside. "I will win this."

"Sure you will," Cynthia called back over her shoulder, flashing him a smile that said that she was merely humoring him. "But you know what, your funeral. I'm going back to my office."

Brian huffed again and stood up to clean everything the mess he'd made; he definitely needed new friends.