Conquest of the Heart (43 page)

Adrian had to agree. “I’m afraid I have to
agree with your father, Faith. You haven’t even begun to do what I
hired you for. Your job is really going to start picking up. We
need you.”

“I just don’t know if I’m up to it.”

“I’m willing to give you the necessary amount
of time off to grieve, but I need you back in the office as soon as
possible.”

“She doesn’t care about the office. She’s
running,” said Morgan, throwing up his hands. “Stop being so
stubborn.”

“Wonder who I got that from,” she
snapped.

“Okay, enough,” interjected Vivian, as Juliet
walked in.

“Deal with her, Vivian. I can’t do this,”
Morgan said, shooting an angry glare at his daughter as he stormed
out of the kitchen.

“Is everything alright in here?” asked
Juliet.

“It’ll be fine, honey,” said Adrian,
reassuring her. “I’m going to catch Morgan to see if I can calm him
down.”

The mothers watched as Adrian left. Faith was
staring down at her lap, playing with a tissue.

“Faith darling, what is this really about?
Your father knows you better than anyone. What does he mean you’re
running?” asked Vivian.

“Daddy doesn’t understand. I just need time
to think.”

“Think about what, honey?” asked Juliet.
“Does this have to do with Gavin?”

With tears in her eyes, Faith nodded. “I’m
not sure I’m ready to face him. I can’t stop thinking about what
happened.”

Vivian sighed. “He’s a man, Faith. You didn’t
make things easy for him. Put yourself in his shoes. He was already
out of his element when he gave up all of his normal activities to
be with you. After all that the two of you have overcome, don’t you
think your love is worth fighting for? From what you’ve told me,
Gavin has not given up, and probably won’t.”

“Vivian’s right, honey. Gavin is so broken up
over this. He loves you so much, though. He needs you.”

Faith shook her head. “I don’t know. Now is
just not a good time to talk about this. I need some fresh air,”
she said as she stood up from the stool she was sitting on.

As she walked out of the kitchen, Vivian and
Juliet tried to stop her, but were unsuccessful. She went to the
hall closet to grab a coat. Putting it on, she opened the front
door, and Gavin stepped in. Their eyes locked for a few moments,
and all the chatter stopped, everyone now focused on them.

“Faith,” Gavin whispered.

She didn’t speak, just continued out the
door. Gavin stood and watched her as she walked down the street
until she was out of his sight. He sighed and closed the door.

“I’m sorry, honey,” Juliet said as she hugged
her son.

“It’s alright, Mom. I didn’t think she was
ready to deal with me.”

Morgan and Vivian were able to talk Faith
into returning to New York. Gavin was grateful, unsure of what he
would have done if he was unable to see her every day. Faith stayed
home for a few more weeks, getting her affairs in order. Emile left
everything to her, save a few items that were special to his
family.

When she returned to work, Faith managed to
avoid talking to Gavin. She was still a bit angry and hurt from
what had occurred with him and Chandler. However, she couldn’t
prolong the inevitable. As she looked at her remaining to do items,
she realized she was going to have to speak to him sooner than she
wanted, and that didn’t make her happy.

Faith was sitting in her chair facing the
windows. She was staring off into space, tapping her pen on her
desk, and thinking of nothing. After several moments had passed,
she turned toward her desk and reviewed the agendas for two
upcoming press conferences about C&A’s expansion into the
entertainment market, and adding a new office in Denver. She would
be visiting the communities surrounding the Denver office to meet
with the city mayor and residents. Gavin would need to sign off on
her agenda and schedule of meetings with public officials.

Faith grabbed her files, walked out of her
office and down the hall towards Gavin’s office. She stopped just
outside his door, closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and
stepped forward and knocked on the door.

“Do you have a minute?” she asked.

Hearing her voice, Gavin looked up, surprised
to see her standing there. His heart skipped a couple of beats, as
he had not expected this situation to happen so soon. He fumbled
over his words.

“Uh, sure, sure. Come on in,” he said waving
her in. He stood and cleared some space from his desk.

Faith walked toward his desk, keeping her
eyes diverted, either looking at his desk, off to the side, or at
her files. She just didn’t want to make eye contact with Gavin. Not
right now. She stood in between the two chairs, just at the front
of his desk.

“Have a seat,” he motioned towards the
chairs.

“No, thank you. I’ll just be a minute.” She
spoke softly, trying to keep her voice from cracking.

“Okay. What’s up?” He was still standing, and
never stopped looking at her, hoping she would look up. He needed
to see her eyes to determine where he stood with her. His heart
rate was steadily increasing from the anticipation.

“I’m preparing for the trip to Denver and I
need you to review the agenda, my meeting schedules and press
conferences. You need to sign off on them before I go,” still
speaking softly, frowning at times.

To his amazement, she refused to look up. He
watched as she fidgeted with the papers. Afraid to show her
nervousness, she opted to push the files toward him. She gently
cleared her throat. Gavin reached for the files and finally shifted
his eyes from her to them. He sat down and reviewed what she had
brought him.

“This looks good. Will I be attending with
you?” he asked, looking back at her. He knew he wasn’t scheduled to
go, but hoped that would get her to look at him.

It didn’t work. She just looked off to the
left, out the window. “You weren’t originally scheduled to go. That
can change, I suppose.” She crossed her arms, with one hand cupping
her chin. “You can do whatever you like.”

Gavin initialed the pages as Faith patiently
waited. He handed them back to her. As she reached for them, Gavin
gently touched her hand, his eyes still searching for hers. With
both of them holding the files, Faith finally looked up. He saw the
pain and the hurt she was feeling, but he was also able to sense
that her love was still there, burning deep within. Tears began to
fill her eyes.

She broke the silence as she pulled her hand
away from his. “Thanks for signing these. Let me know if you plan
to fly out with me.”

“Faith, can we talk?” he asked as she began
stepping backward toward the door.

She avoided the question. “I’ll be in my
office if you need me.” She was doing her best to fight back the
tears. She turned and walked closer to the door.

“Damn it, Faith, please!” Gavin pleaded,
leaning over his desk. There was sternness in his voice, his heart
breaking. “Please, just talk to me.”

She stopped, looked up and took a breath,
making a fist with her free hand. Her back was still facing him.
She turned her head slightly to the right, and said “You know where
to find me if you need me.” She walked out the door and returned to
her office.

Gavin pushed himself up from his leaning
position and stood straight up, frustrated. He picked up a pen and
flung it across the room. He turned towards the windows and stood
with his hands on his hips. He was torn, and didn’t know what to
do. He rubbed his forehead, and then, out of desperation, he had a
thought.

He picked up his phone and dialed an
extension with urgency. “Yeah, I need to see you in my office … No,
right now.” He hung up.

A few minutes later, Lauren appeared at his
door. “You wanted to see me?”

Gavin had returned to the window. “I need
your help,” he said without turning around.

Lauren assumed this probably had to do with
Faith. She had heard the two of them hadn’t been talking, but
didn’t know why.

“Is this about Faith?”

“Yes. I didn’t know who else to call. The two
of you are close. I thought maybe you could get through to
her.”

“Are you sure she isn’t still upset from
Emile’s death? Maybe it’s not you?”

“No. It’s me. It’s me.”

“Have you talked to her?”

“I’ve tried. We had to meet today. It was a
good opportunity for me to find out where I stood. When I was
finally able to look in her eyes, I could see she was still hurt,
but I know she loves me. Deep down, I know it. She’s just too hurt
to admit it and just won’t open up. I never meant to hurt her. She
has to know that,” he said, now looking back at Lauren.

Gavin went to sit at his desk. Lauren could
feel his frustration.

“Things are different when the two of you
aren’t happy. We can feel your tension.”

“What?”

“Whatever the two of you have, it’s so strong
that the people around you can feel it, too.”

“I really screwed up,” he admitted.

“I don’t need to know what happened.”

“Good.”

“I just want to know what it’s going to take
to get you both happy again. The rest of us want to be happy,” she
chuckled. “What do you normally do to make her smile?”

Gavin didn’t even have to think about it. “I
know exactly what to do.”

“What do you need me to do? How can I
help?”

“Can you take her to lunch today? An extended
lunch?” Gavin asked, picking up the phone.

“I can. You work your magic,” Lauren smiled,
standing up. She went straight to Faith’s office.

Lauren popped her head in Faith’s office, and
said, “Want to get together for lunch? You could probably use some
fresh air.”

Faith looked up tiredly, nodded her head and
said, “Yes, that would be great.”

“You look exhausted, girl. What’s going on?
Better yet, we’ll talk about it at lunch, okay? Meet you in an
hour?” They always met at the elevators.

“Alright.” Faith smiled. Lauren always knew
how to help her de-stress. Today was a good day for that.

After Lauren left, Faith continued to work on
her presentations for the Denver trip. She kept thinking about
Gavin. She really didn’t want him to come on the trip. His coming
meant she would have to deal with her feelings, and she didn’t
quite have the energy for that.

Later at lunch, both Lauren and Faith ate
light, ordering salads. Lauren noticed again how worn out Faith was
looking.

“Have you been sleeping? Are you doing
okay?”

“I’m fine. It’s going to take some time for
me to get used to sleeping alone, without Emile.” She let out a
deep sigh. “You know, no matter what you do to prepare for
something like this, it’s never enough. There’s always something
that you never expected.”

“Like the vice president of the company you
work for being in love with you?” Lauren figured this was as good a
time as any to find out what was going through Faith’s head. She
never wasted time getting to a point. “Why won’t you talk to
Gavin?”

Faith rolled her eyes and shook her head. “I
really don’t want to talk about it. I was supposed to be getting
some fresh air. Seems a bit polluted right now.”

“Don’t even try to get snippy with me. You’re
the one walking around with the weight of the world on your
shoulders.” Lauren’s voice was pretty sarcastic, almost cold.

Faith frowned. “It’s none of your business.”
She was not thrilled with where this was going.

“He made it my business when he called me
into his office and pleaded for me to help him get through to you,”
said Lauren as she took a sip of water.

“He shouldn’t have involved
you. I need some time to think. I can’t deal with him right now.”
‘
I can’t believe he did this,’
she thought. She could feel her blood pressure
rising.

“When Faith? Do you know how miserable he is
without you? I’ve never seen him this way before. He knows he
messed up. Can you at least try to talk to him about it? Do you
realize your heaviness has filled the office? You guys have some
strong mojo going on. It saturates the walls in the office. We can
feel when you are happy and we can feel when you’re not. We prefer
happy.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I don’t know what it is between you two, but
it started at Gavin’s birthday party. You have something really
special.”

Faith could only think about what her mother
had told her all of those years. She still didn’t quite believe
it.

“Gavin loves you, Faith. I know you love him,
too. Don’t let Chandlers’ mess come between you. She wins if you
do.”

“How did you know?”

“Chandler had a big mouth, especially when it
came to you. Don’t worry. It didn’t get far. We shut her down
before she could blab to the whole office. Only a couple of people
know. We were all pretty disgusted with her.” Lauren reached over
and grabbed Faith’s hand. “Hey, Gavin really loves you. He wouldn’t
be fighting so hard if he didn’t. Don’t you think he deserves the
same effort from you?”

Faith took a deep breath and nodded. “Yes, he
does.”

They got to-go boxes for the rest of their
salads. They paid and when they stood to leave, Lauren grabbed
Faith and gave her a big hug. “I love you. I want you to be
happy.”

“I love you, too. Thank you.” Faith squeezed
her hard.

Faith and Lauren returned to
work for the afternoon. When they got off of the elevators, people
were gathering and chatting near Faith’s office. Lauren smiled, as
Faith looked at her, wondering what all the fuss was about. As she
got closer to her door, she could smell the sweet aroma. Looking in
her office, her mouth dropped. Her entire office was filled with
dozens of red roses. They lined the floor, sat on her desk, rested
on the couch. All she could do was smile, and cry. Lauren nodded
her head and thought,
‘Way to go,
Gavin.’