by BWWM Club
“I can’t accept that,” she said quickly before he opened the box.
“You don’t even know what it is yet,” he said reproachfully coming to stand in front of her. He opened the box and she stared down at the small necklace sparkling inside the velvet lined container. It was a silver chain with a tiny pendant suspended on it. It was the pendant that caught her attention. It was a girl curled up in a ball with a book in her hands and she remembered how she had told him how much she loved to read. She looked up at him and felt every resolve she had talked herself into melting away. He was starting to get inside her and she was finding it hard to fight what she was feeling. She was finding it hard to remain objective.
“I love it,” She whispered, taking it out for a closer look.
“Good. I wanted to buy you diamonds but I knew you would refuse point blank,” he told her with a gentle smile as he took the chain from her and turned her around, pinning it around her neck. She felt the pendant nestling inside her cleavage.
He turned her back around and lifting her chin he gave her a tender kiss that had her brain spinning.
“Now tell me everything that happened while I was away,” he led her to the sofa and pulled her down beside him.
“Paul,” she began earnestly. “We are supposed to be working. I am here to get your story. You are not supposed to be kissing me and buying me gifts. You are making it hard for me to do my job.”
“I have been doing a lot of thinking in my lonely hotel room for the past two days and I have been questioning God quite a bit as well.” He took her hands in his staring down at them. “I fully expect to get married some day and settle down and have children and I expected it to be with a wife who is totally committed to the Lord the way I am. I never expected to fall in love with a woman who questions the very existence of the God I serve. So you are not the only one this is hard on.”
Leah went still as she stared at him. “What did you say?” she whispered.
“The part about falling in love with you?” he asked her gently, a half smile forming his lips.
“You need to stop it,” she tried pulling her hands away from his but he held on. “It’s a mistake and you don’t know what you are talking about.” She was visibly distressed and there were even tears in her eyes.
“You need time to process it, I know and here I go again plunging in head first,” he said with a wry smile. “So why don’t we talk about something else, like the work at hand. I was thinking of maybe one of the places I have made donations to, like the children’s home downtown. What do you think?”
Leah stared at him as if he had grown two heads. The man had just turned her life upside down by telling her that he was falling in love with her and was now talking about some children’s home. He was crazy.
“I am leaving,” she stood up shakily. “You don’t get to do this to me.” She backed away from him as he stood with her. “I have enough material to write my story so I’ll just tell Mary that I am not staying the entire month.”
“Leah,” he tried to approach her but at the look she gave him, he stopped. “I just told you how I feel.”
“I wish you had kept it to yourself,” she told him bitterly. “Goodbye Mr. Maitland.” She opened the door and left, trying hard not to slam it as she hurried from the offices, barely saying goodbye to Mary-Ann who was staring at her in concern.
*****
Paul stood where she had left him and felt the pain of her leaving stabbing him in the heart. He had prayed about his approach but had gone ahead and rushed it. Seeing her this morning he had wanted to wrap her in the circle of his arms and asked her to marry him but he had controlled himself. He had not been able to control the words from coming out of his mouth. He loved her and wanted her to be his wife. He had paced the floors of his hotel room at odd hours during the night and wondered how he was going to deal with this and he had prayed and asked God to lead him but he had not waited, he had rushed in and now she was gone. He had wanted to follow her but he knew that it would have probably made things worse.
He went around to his desk and pressed the intercom and said to Mary-Ann. “Cancel my afternoon meeting please. I am going out for a little bit.”
“Is everything okay Paul?” she asked in concern.
“Not really,” he said forcing a smile. “But the Lord will work it out.”
He went where he always did. The hill where he had taken her the other day. He had come up there when he had things to think about. He remembered when he had found his mother and had asked God what to say to her and he had also asked to take away the feeling of anger and bitterness from him. He had not been sure if he had really wanted to see her but he had asked the Lord for direction and guidance.
He stared out over the trees. It was an overcast day and his mind drifted back to the day when he had brought her for the picnic and how much she had enjoyed it and he would like to think that she had enjoyed him as well. Had he blown it? He wondered, absently plucking up a blade of grass.
With a sigh he clasped his hands and started to pray.
*****
Leah was furious. She had driven home with the tears blinding her eyes and she had sat outside in the car trying to get control of her emotion.
Maybe she had overreacted. So what if he said he was falling in love with her? She should have just smiled and told him gently that she had a job to do and that was certainly not appropriate. Instead she had run away in tears without getting the job done and she had accused him of being unprofessional.
She had always prided herself on doing whatever it took to get the job done. But your heart was not usually involved. The voice came out of nowhere and Leah sat there in shock. No! she was not falling in love with Paul Maitland, she told herself furiously. It’s just that she had never met anyone like him before and the death and burial of her father was still having an emotional pull on her. She did not know him well enough to be in love with him. She had never been in love before and she had nothing to compare it against but it certainly could not be love. Could it? The voice seemed to be taunting her. With a firm resolve she stepped out of the car and headed inside. She was determined to finish the article and turn it in and maybe when she got another assignment then she would forget all about him.
First, she put on the kettle to boil some tea, realizing that she had left the house without drinking any and went straight into the bedroom to change out of her work clothes. It was then that she discovered she still had on the necklace he had given her.
She removed it from around her neck and looked at the pendant, blinking back the tears. He had found the heart of her and she knew she was going to have to fight hard to forget him
*****
“Leah, I thought you were supposed to be doing the month with Paul Maitland, what are you doing back into office?” Mary Whyte looked at her curiously as she walked in. She had spent the night rehearsing what she was going to say to the editor in chief and had come up with a plausible reason.
“I have all the material I need to write the article so there was no need for me to go back,” she told the woman forcing a smile to her lips. He had not called her and she had told herself that she was happy he had not done so, but it had not sounded too convincing.
“I see,” the woman looked at her searchingly. “His office sent over some additional material and I put them on your desk.”
Leah found it hard put not to show how surprised she was by that and with a nod she headed towards the little space that was hers. She went and behind the small desk that could barely hold her desktop computer and the filing tray and reached for the envelop with her name on it. He had sent it himself, she thought as she looked at the handwriting at the corners of each document. It was a list of the companies he owned and the ones he had shares in and also the different charities he gave to. “Hope this will come in handy. Paul.” The note scribbled at the bottom said. Leah felt the longing searing through her and she wondered what he was doing now.
With a supreme effort she booted up the computer and started writing. It had always managed to get her mind off things but this time it was not working. She had been at it for quite some time when Tammy, the copy editor poked her head inside. “Not eating lunch today?” she was a vivacious red head with cute freckles all over her face and was always dressed in something pink. Today she was wearing a pink blouse and black dress pants and her flaming red curls caught up in a pony tail.
“I didn’t realize it was so late,” Leah glanced at the clock beside her and discovered that it was almost one o’clock.
“Time flies when you’re having fun,” the girl wandered in and took a seat at the only available chair there. “Still writing the Paul Maitland story?”
Leah nodded as she pressed save and shut down.
“How is it going?” Tammy asked.
“It’s going,” Leah stood up and stretched, feeling the muscles in her neck relaxing.
“And I guess that’s all I am going to get right now,” the girl grinned as she got up. “Want to go get something to eat?”
Leah hesitated a little bit then nodded.
“Good. I’ll get to catch you up on the latest gossip.” She said impishly as they left the office.
They went to a Chinese restaurant nearby and Leah ordered the shrimp salad while Tammy had the sweet and sour pork. “I could eat Chinese food every day,” the girl sighed as she tasted the pork. “Mary thinks you’re God’s gift to the newspaper.” She added, looking at the girl curiously. “I know you have a degree in journalism and had been working at this fancy magazine for several years before you came back but apart from that I know absolutely nothing about you. You’re like this mystery woman and I hate mysteries that are hard to solve.”
Leah laughed in genuine amusement. “I am not so much of a mystery. My dad died while I was away and I had to come back; so I quit my job in order to sort things out here and decided to stick around.”
“Don’t you miss it? That glamorous big city living and all the hype. I bet you got to meet some famous people.” The girl sighed dreamily.
“I did,” Leah said with a smile. “But they are just ordinary people with issues just like us Tammy.”
“I doubt that!” the girl retorted polishing off her pork with relish. “The money alone and the fame make them a whole different species. I sometimes wish I had their lives.”
“Be careful what you wish for,” Leah told her dryly, sipping her water in appreciation. The shrimp salad had been a little spicy although delicious. “You should never wish to have someone else’s life. You have your own for a reason.”
“You sound like my dad,” Tammy said with a sigh. “Never found a guy there?” she asked curiously.
Leah shook her head no. “I was too busy building my career to form a relationship.”
“I bet the guys were just swarming around you.” Tammy said dreamily.
“I don’t think so,” Leah said laughingly, genuinely liking the artless girl. She had kept herself aloof from most of the staff, preferring to be by herself but she found herself warming up to Tammy. “They were too busy trying to make it into show business.”
“I wanted to be an actress when I was in high school,” Tammy said with a grimace.
“What happened?”
“I auditioned for the part of Juliet in ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and got turned down because my hair was too red and I was too short. I lost the interest along with my desire and decided to go into editing.” She said with a shrug.
“Have you ever regretted it?” Leah asked her curiously.
“No, and besides I get to be around the printed works and I find pleasure in that.” She hesitated briefly. “Do you regret coming back here?”
“Sometimes I do,” Leah answered honestly.
*****
“Gladys are you feeling okay? I got an urgent call that you needed to see me.” Paul hurried over to the woman who was busy folding some napkins.
“What on earth would give you the idea that I am not okay?” she asked the man standing in front of her mildly. She had often thought that if God had given her a son he would have been like Paul and she thought of him like one. “You’re the one who does not look okay. Sit. I am straining my neck looking up at you.”
He did so immediately, pulling up a chair to sit in front of her. He had just come out of a meeting with a group of people who were interested in investing some money in the children’s home he had adopted. “So what was the emergency?” he asked her mildly. He had tried to get her to see a doctor who specialized in her condition but she had refused.
“I wanted to see you that’s all and I also wanted to ask about that beautiful Leah and how come I have not seen her for a couple of days.” Gladys eyes held his and he felt as if she was seeing inside his soul.
“Her assignment here is finished.” He forced himself to remain neutral but at the mention of her name he wanted to break down.
“Assignment,” Gladys murmured the word as if she was just hearing it. “But of course you wanted more than a working relationship with her.” It was not a question but a bold statement that he could not deny.
“What do you mean?”
“That skittish young lady has been running away from love all her life and she felt cornered by what she feels for you.” The woman looked at him shrewdly.
“You think she feel something for me?” Paul asked the question in spite of himself.
“I am sure that when she just started, it was an assignment but it got to be bigger than that and now she is not sure what to think. She spent the two days you were gone in here and the soup kitchen and she did not have one of those note pads in her hands.” Gladys said with a smile. “She even learned how to bake cookies. She is like a delicate glass Paul and needs to be handled with care. Don’t tell me you have given up on her.”
He opened his mouth to tell her that he had wanted to call her but had decided against it. “I have not given up on her.” He said quietly.
“Good,” Gladys said briskly. “I would have been disappointed in you if you had.”
*****
He sat inside his office spinning his pen around and looking at nothing in particular, Gladys words reverberating inside his head. She was right. Leah was skittish and from what he had learned about her she was bitter and right now she was very confused so he needs to be gentle with her. With a sudden movement, he reached for the phone and dialed her number.
“This is Leah,” her voice sounded professional and incredibly cultured.
“This is Paul,” he said in a teasing voice wanting to put her at ease. “How have been doing?”
There was a brief hesitation as if she was not going to answer. “I am well. How are you?”
He wanted to say missing you like crazy but he was not sure she would respond. “I am doing okay. I have called to invite you to service on Sunday. I will be preaching and I thought you would maybe want to add a worship section to your article.”
She made to tell him that the article was almost finished but for some reason she did not do so. “I think that’s a good idea.” She told him quietly. “What time?”
“It starts at eight.” He told her, his heart racing as he forced himself to be calm. “I look forward to seeing you there.”
“Thank you.” She said. There was a brief moment of hesitation as if she wanted to say something else then she told him goodbye and hung up.
He replaced the phone with a trembling hand; heaving a sigh of relief. That was the first hurdle and she had not told him no. He was praying that he would have the fortitude to carry out the second part of the plan.
He had told Gladys that he would not give up on her and he meant it. When she had stormed out of his office he had felt a sense of loss and had decided to give her some time to calm down before making his next move. He was in love with her and he was a patient man and besides that he had prayer on his side. He had not been sure how much time he should give her but he knew it would not be lo
ng. He had gotten the confirmation from Gladys and this time he was not going to let her get away from him.
*****
Leah sat there in the little cramped office, her body trembling. She should have said no. She thought, almost reaching for the phone, to tell him that she would not be coming after all, but all her life she had never been a coward and she was not going to be one now. Her heart had raced as soon as she heard his voice and she had wanted to dissolve into tears. She missed him and she wanted to see him.
Talking to herself about the wisdom of entering into a relationship and falling in love with a man like him had gotten her nowhere so she was back at square one where confusion was rife within her. She had said yes because she wanted to see him, even if it had to be at church and she was not going to kid herself that it was solely for the article. It was personal.
Chapter 5
She got to the sanctuary at some minutes to eight and could hardly find a place to park. The parking lot was packed to capacity and after driving around a little she finally found a place. She had dressed especially carefully this morning. It was the first week of May and the sun was out in all its glory although it was still a bit cold. She had worn a wine red wool dress with black heels and her hair was caught in a neat chignon at the nape of her neck. Her only jewelry was the necklace he had given her and tiny diamond earrings in her lobes. She had worn her black spring jacket as well.
A smiling usher escorted her to the very front of the massive sanctuary and Leah felt herself giving discreet glances around. It was quite an impressive turn out and the choir decked out in their burgundy and blue robe was seated on the raised dais. She had just taken a seat beside a family of four when she looked up and saw him. Her breath caught inside her throat when she looked at him. He was in his perpetual jeans and a white dress shirt and he was coming from a doorway at the far end of the dais. He had tamed his curls ruthlessly and looked very solemn and so achingly handsome that she felt her breath hitching.