by R. J. Dillon
Carter grabbed Gavin’s shoulder, trying to hold in his chuckle. “Are you alright, man?” He was sure that Gavin would be discouraged, and put a halt to pursuing Faith. To his surprise, the opposite occurred.
Gavin followed Faith with his eyes as she walked away, and said, “She just called me out in front of my peers, and then said it was nice to meet me.” He paused. “Damn that’s sexy!” He shook his head, smiling, as he walked around to speak with other employees. Her actions aroused him.
Chandler overheard their conversation. She was starting to get drunk. Her view of her relationship with Gavin was distorted. She seemed to think that after Gavin had had his way with everyone else, he would realize that he loved her. She also believed that as vice president, he should be able to do whatever he wanted. That was, she thought, a benefit to being an executive.
She stumbled over to where Faith was standing, who was now talking to a couple of other directors, and a few managers. Gavin wasn’t standing too far away. Chandler’s speech was slurred as she spoke.
“Gavin can dure whatever he wants,” she said as she stumbled before catching herself, pointing her finger in Faith’s face. “He’ll have you eventurely. After he does, he’ll come running back tur me. I can give him what he really wants. You’ll just be another notch on his belt.” She smiled as she took another drink.
Faith calmly said, “First of all, I’m no one’s ‘notch’. Secondly, I really don’t care to know about your personal affair with Gavin. Keep it to yourself. I personally won’t allow myself to sink your level.”
“You durnt know him. Not like I do. You’ll give in. We all do,” she said as she almost tripped this time. “You shurdn’t have said what you did, though. It’s only your first week and you’re already being a bitch.”
Gavin almost jumped in, but was stopped in his tracks by what happened next. Faith stepped closer to Chandler, looked her in the eyes and sternly said, “I’ll let that one slide because you’re drunk. You don’t know anything about me, and you don’t know what you’re talking about, but I promise you this. Call me a bitch one more time and you’ll be looking for another job.”
“You can’t - ” Chandler tried to react as she fell. Gavin walked over and picked her up, pissed that she stuck her nose in what he was trying to do. She looked around to see who was helping her.
“Oh, hey honey. I told that woman not to be messin’ with you,” she laughed as her drunken weight was almost too much for him to handle. He dragged her out front where cabs were lined up. Adrian and Gavin always made sure they had cabs available for guests who’d had a little too much to drink.
He shoved her in the front cab, and angrily said, “I don’t need your help and I don’t want you meddling in my business. You’re drunk and you need to go home. Don’t call me, alright? I’ll deal with you on Monday.” He told the driver where to take Chandler, slammed the door shut, and hit the roof of the car letting the driver know it was okay to leave.
As he walked back to the house, he saw Faith talking to Adrian. He stopped and thought about her encounter with Chandler. No one had ever stood up to Chandler like that, drunk or sober. This woman was fearless. “Damn, that’s even sexier,” he said.
Gavin was becoming extremely aroused by how Faith had carried herself at the party. He knew he couldn’t have her, so he would have to find someone else to help relieve his tension. A young lady was standing on the steps out front. ‘Perfect,’ he thought.
“Hi, I’m Gavin.” He stood on one of the steps to talk to her.
“Hi,” she said shyly. “I’m Tiffany. I know who you are.” She smiled and looked around.
“Did you have fun tonight? Do you need a ride home?” he asked with deception in his voice. She was too naïve to catch on.
“No, I came with a friend. I’m just wai- ”
“You said you know who I am,” Gavin interrupted, “so you know what I want. Do you need a ride home?”
“Okay.”
Gavin directed her to his car. When they got to her apartment, she invited him in. Gavin had his way with her and was relieved of the tension caused by his arousal from Faith, but he wouldn’t be satisfied until he had her.
CHAPTER THREE
First thing Monday morning, Gavin, disgusted with Chandler, called her into his office to discuss what had happened at the party.
“What’s up, baby?” she asked as she walked in without knocking.
Sternly he said, “I want you to apologize to Faith for the way you acted on Saturday. Today.”
“I will do no such thing. That little hussy deserved it.” She crossed her arms and shook her head.
“You will, and I don’t want to hear another thing about it. You won’t call, you won’t email. You will march right down to her office, right now, and tell her that you’re sorry.” He looked directly at her, without smiling.
“She should be apologizing to you! That bi- ”
“I would watch my words, if I were you,” Gavin said, interrupting before she could get herself into more trouble.
“I’m not afraid of her,” Chandler snapped.
“You should be. One wrong move, and you’re out of here. If you weren’t one of the best marketers that we have, you’d be packing your things right now. Consider yourself warned.”
“She’s not my boss.”
“Maybe not directly. She only has to say the word, and you’re gone. Don’t cross her again. Now, do as I told you.”
Chandler rolled her eyes, swung around and stormed out his office. She walked down to Faith’s office and knocked on the door.
Faith looked up. ‘Oh, lucky me,’ she thought.
“Can I come in?” Chandler asked, as nicely as she could. It was killing her.
Faith didn’t speak, she only nodded.
“I just wanted to come by and apologize for the things that I said to you on Saturday. I was drunk and I was wrong.” Chandler waited for a response.
“You don’t have to apologize, Chandler. You didn’t hurt my feelings. I think you know where I stand. As long you understand that, we won’t have any problems,” Faith said without smiling.
“Okay, well, thank you for your time.” Chandler left the office. As soon as she got around the corner, she clinched her teeth and made fists with her hands. She huffed, and went to her desk to start working.
A little later, Gavin went to talk to Faith about the upcoming weeks, and to follow up on Chandler.
“Knock, knock.” He stood in Faith’s doorway.
“Good morning,” she said, wondering what to expect.
“Did Chandler come apologize? I told her not to do anything else until she did.” Gavin was hoping this would soften her attitude a little.
“You didn’t have to do that. You really should get control over your girlfriend,” Faith chimed.
Gavin was both irritated and aroused. ‘Damn, it’s too early in the morning for this,’ he thought. “She’s not my girlfriend.” He walked in and sat down.
“Oh, that’s right. She’s just a prize, or notch, or whatever you call them.”
“Look, I just thought it was necessary. I hope it didn’t ruin your evening at the party. I really hope you enjoyed yourself.”
“You lie,” she smirked playfully. “I embarrassed the shit out of you.”
He laughed, “Yes, you did. Are you proud of yourself?”
“Hmm, not really. I’ll be proud when you stop acting like that altogether.”
“But I’m not here to talk about me. We need to go over the plans I have for you over the next few weeks and beyond. So, if you don’t mind, I would like to discuss some business. That is, after all, why you were hired.” Gavin had gotten serious really quick. Faith was treading pretty lightly and he didn’t like it.
“Sure. What do we have going on?” ‘Phew. Calm down girl. He’s your boss, like it or not,’ she thought.
“The day that you started, I was going over some things in my head, like I normally do. I’ve wanted to
do something new to take the company to a higher level. I talked it over with Adrian, and we’d like to expand our marketing services into entertainment. We’ll be traveling a lot, to test the demand for these services in several cities over the next several months. I hope you’re okay with that. You’ll also be pulling some late nights to work on presentations and such. I will be available to help, as will Carter and others, so don’t get overwhelmed just yet.
“Our schedule will be very busy, as we’ll be meeting with public officials, community organizers, and potential clients. We’ll have our laptops at all times, and we’ll need to have access to our calendars at all times, so if you haven’t done so already, please get your cell phone synced up with Outlook. Agnes has already set up your calendar for these events and meetings. Any questions?”
“Since I have a laptop, will I be able to work some of the late nights from home?” Faith asked, as she had other activities that couldn’t be rescheduled.
“I’ll try to make it so that you can do that as much as possible. However, there will be nights that we’ll need to be together, so unless you want me coming to your house, or you to mine, we’ll need to be in the office, alright?” Gavin didn’t want to scare her, but there was a lot to be done, and he was told that she was very capable of handling the load.
“Alright. When do we start?”
“I’ll give you some time to take a look at your calendar. Here’s a copy of our agenda with corresponding dates.” He handed her a packet of information. “Let me know what nights you want to work from home, and I’ll tell you what will, and will not work. Once we’ve agreed on those changes, I’ll have Agnes update our schedules, and we’ll go from there. How about we touch base this afternoon, say, after lunch?” He looked at his watch to see what time it was. It was nine thirty-five. “It’s my turn to take you to lunch, by the way. Carter, and the Director of Human Resources, Lauren Martinez, will be joining us.”
“Okay, what time?” Faith was ready for this meeting to be over so she could get some things accomplished.
“Eleven thirty. I’ll stop by and get you,” he finally smiled. Gavin always had his game face on when focused on business. He was very no nonsense.
“Great. Is there anything else? I’d like to get going on this right now, if you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind at all.” He stood up to leave and added, “I trust you won’t be embarrassing me at lunch today?” He smiled as he said this. Faith’s toughness was exciting to him.
She just smiled back as he walked out.
Faith took a look at the agenda that Gavin left for her. The good thing was she had time to plan for the upcoming trips. The tricky part was trying to work from home as much as possible, while staying flexible to work some nights in the office with the team. Based on the agenda, those nights would be starting immediately. Since this was somewhat short notice, she requested to work the current week from home. All of the following weeks, she requested to work three out of five nights from home. This way, she had some breathing room, figuring it was best to ask for more than less. She made a few phone calls before completing her counterproposal to the calendar.
At eleven thirty sharp, Gavin appeared at her door. “Ready?”
“I am.” Faith closed her laptop, grabbed her purse, and walked toward the door. Gavin moved to the side so she could pass. He was able to smell her perfume as she walked by, and thought of saying something, but decided to leave it for later. If she got snappy about it, it would only turn him on, and he’d be searching out some poor assistant to be with again for release. He was doing his best to control himself, but it wasn’t easy.
“Carter and Lauren are going to meet us there.”
Faith was not thrilled to be riding with Gavin alone, but maybe they wouldn’t be in the car that long.
They took the elevator to the garage, and Faith followed Gavin to his car.
“Nice car,” she said. “Should I remove my shoes before getting in? I’m afraid to touch it.”
“No,” Gavin chuckled as he opened the door for her. “But feel free to remove articles of clothing,” he said, smiling as she got in. She ignored the comment, knowing that she walked into that one.
Gavin got in the driver’s seat and put on his seatbelt. Faith already had hers on. They were quiet as they drove out of the garage onto the busy New York City streets.
“And what fine restaurant have you chosen for us to eat at?” she asked, breaking the silence. She just wanted to know if she would be forced to engage in normal conversation for an extended period of time.
“Planet Hollywood. I thought it would be the perfect place to get a sense for the type of market we’re expanding into. I’ve actually never eaten there.”
“There’s one in Paris at the Disneyland Resorts. My father had quite a few meetings there with clients.”
“Good food? Did you ever run into any celebrities there?”
“The food in France is fantastic anyhow, so yes, the food is good. I met Johnny Depp and Molly Ringwald there a couple of times.” Faith was looking out of her window, or straight ahead as she talked. She didn’t feel like looking at Gavin.
“A couple of times?” Gavin was shocked. He wanted to take her in a bit more, but had to pay attention to traffic. He figured he would get his chance during lunch.
“Yeah, they’re regulars. Johnny is very handsome in person, although he’s a little odd. That can be bypassed since he’s so hot.” Faith was smiling now. Johnny Depp was her favorite actor. She had gotten a few autographs, taken some pictures with him, and had even been invited to a few of his “Invitation Only” parties where she was able to meet his girlfriend and daughter.
“So, you have a crush on him?” Gavin was quite pleased that this was going so smoothly. He didn’t have to pry anything out of her. She was being herself.
“I wouldn’t call it a crush. Let’s just say if he ever wanted to leave his girlfriend, my door is always open.”
They laughed. Gavin thought this was a perfect opportunity to inject himself and his desires for Faith into the conversation, but decided there would be other times. Getting to know her right now would help his plans in the long run.
“How do you like New York?” he asked.
“It’s okay. It’s busy, crowded, and smoggy. But I’ll adjust. I’m glad I chose to live away from the city. The noise would drive me crazy.” She finally decided to direct her words toward Gavin.
“I know what you mean. I still haven’t gotten used to the noise. But I love the nightlife. It’s electric.”
“If that’s your cup of tea. Me, I just like to go home and relax after a long day.” Faith was thinking that talking like this wasn’t so bad, yet never let her guard down. Gavin was being too nice, and he was probably up to something.
They finally arrived at the restaurant where Carter and Lauren were waiting at their reserved table.
“Hey, we meet again,” said Carter.
“Hi, Carter,” said Faith, smiling.
Gavin glanced over at Lauren and introduced her. “Faith, this is Lauren. She’s the Director of Human Resources.”
“Hi. Nice to meet you,” they both said, as Lauren stood up to shake Faith’s hand.
They all sat down and picked up their menus, making small talk.
“So Faith, did you grow up in Paris?” asked Lauren.
“Yes I did. It was wonderful. The culture there is so rich. I know we’re not America’s favorite, but aside from Italy, it’s one of the most romantic places in the world. I love it there.”
“You’re a fan of Italy, huh?” said Gavin.
“Oh brother, here he goes,” said Carter.
“What? I’m simply asking a question.” He looked at Faith and said, “You know I’m Italian.”
Faith giggled and said, “Yes, Gavin. I kind of put two and two together knowing that both your mother and Adrian were born and raised there.”
They all laughed. “Alright, alright,” he smiled. “What a
re we all having?”
“Can we get an order of the Zucchini Chips? Those are so good.” Lauren smacked her lips.
“Okay. Those sound delicious.” Gavin continued to look at the menu, and then said, “I’m ready.” He put down his menu and waited for the server while the others made up their minds.
When the server returned the ladies ordered first. Faith ordered the Chicken Parmigiana, Lauren the Teriyaki Salmon, Carter the Ribeye Steak, and Gavin the Blackened Mahi-Mahi, as well as the appetizer for all of them.
“Since you’ve been to Italy, do you speak Italian, Faith?” Lauren was just curious.
“I speak it fluently. My father was big on languages. He sent me to live with some friends in Tuscany so I could attend school and learn how to speak it. I was there for two years.”
“How old were you?”
“Ten. I loved it. It gave me an opportunity to explore a different culture.”
“Tu sei molto bella e avro cio che voglio,” said Gavin, glaring at Faith. (You are extremely beautiful and I will have what I want.)
“Apprezzo la vostra adulazione, ma io non sono interessato a diventare il premio,” responded Faith, smiling. (I appreciate your flattery, but I am not interested in becoming your prize.)
Lauren and Carter were caught off guard. They weren’t aware Gavin actually spoke Italian.
“You two want to let us in on the conversation,” said Carter. “What did you just say to each other?”
“Gavin was just saying how hungry he was, and I said I was too and was looking forward to the appetizer,” said Faith, as she and Gavin continued to glare at each other.
“I wanna learn. That was really cool. How do you say, ‘I want a raise’?” Carter laughed.
“Non e un caso. That means ‘Not a chance’,” chuckled Gavin.