by R. J. Dillon
“Anything else?” Gavin said, continuing with their discussion.
“If our goal is to break into all areas of entertainment, Nashville may not be the place for us. Their film industry is very small. The music industry is limited to country and Christian music, with a little jazz. We may want to consider a location that will offer us access to all facets of the industry. Nashville is not centrally located for us to do that. We’d probably be travelling more often than not to get to our film industry clients, and our clients connected to other genres of music,” said Faith.
“I’ll break this up then in the ‘con’ section. Not centrally located, small film industry, limited music genres,” Gavin said as he wrote. “Okay, anymore?”
They shook their heads no. Gavin looked back at the white board, and said, “Alright. I’ll have Agnes type these up and we’ll add them to our files. Good job you two. Since we’ve managed to complete our discussions early, we won’t have to meet this afternoon. Carter, that should give you a chance to get started on your assignment.” He looked at Carter, who nodded in agreement.
“Great. Have a good afternoon.” He walked over to his seat and began to unplug his laptop. Faith reached over and turned off the monitor, unplugged it and returned the remote to its storing place.
Carter looked at Faith and said, “Hey, since we’re done early, would you like to go grab some lunch?”
“I brought my lunch today, but could use some fresh air, so sure. I’ll eat what I brought tomorrow,” she said as she continued to pack up.
“Okay. I’ll swing by and pick you up in about ten minutes.” Carter glanced at Gavin and smiled as he walked out of the room. Gavin didn’t smile back, and wasn’t happy. He didn’t know what Carter was up to, but he was going to get to the bottom of it. First, he had to talk to Adrian.
Gavin walked down the hall and into Adrian’s office. As he passed and looked at Agnes, he pointed towards the door. Agnes nodded her head, as if to say that Adrian is in. He knocked and walked in at the same time.
“Adrian.”
Adrian turned and said, “Gavin. How did the meeting go this morning?”
“Faith is more than capable to do this job. Like I told Carter, you’ve outdone yourself.”
Adrian smiled and looked down in his lap, “I was hoping that would happen.”
“What do you mean? Tell me about her background,” Gavin said as he sat down.
Adrian was glad he was asking. Their plan might be working. “Faith is so good at what she does because she was in charge of public relations for her father’s company, Spring Entertainment.” He paused and waited for this to register with Gavin.
“Your friend in France,” he thought some more. “Morgan Scott. Faith is his daughter?” Gavin was shocked.
“Yes.”
“I didn’t know that Morgan and Vivian had a daughter.”
“So you remember them?” Adrian asked, curious to know how much he was going to have to explain.
“Vaguely. I remember meeting them before I went to college. I can’t recall meeting them before that.” He sat back in his seat and waited for Adrian to tell him more.
“You were just a little boy when we first took you with us to see them. I wouldn’t expect you to remember that. Faith wasn’t born then.” He looked at Gavin, who was waiting for him to continue. “I knew that we needed to make some changes around here, so I went to see Morgan a couple of months ago. His company is well-known in the community, the media loves them, and they’ve become the company to work for. They receive thousands of applications each year from young adults desiring to work there. I wanted to know how they managed this status. We’re a good company, Gavin, and we make a lot of money. However, my goal is for us to be great. Morgan said that he wanted me to meet someone who might be able to help. Imagine my surprise when Faith joined us for lunch that afternoon. I was amazed at how much she had grown. The last time I had seen her was shortly before she herself had left for college. That was over sixteen years ago.
“Morgan told me that before Faith joined the company, they had no community presence, they weren’t involved in any volunteer efforts, and that the media had not acknowledged their existence. Faith connected them with the people. She gave them a reason to discover what Spring Entertainment was all about. They began to get involved in activities to aid in building the communities. They donated to, and sponsored, various charities. She represented them in front of the media, and they absolutely loved talking to her. Morgan said she was just a natural. He credits her exposure to various cultures over the years. She has an appreciation for all races, creeds, and colors. She was like a light that brightened up their atmosphere.
“Faith wasn’t planning to move to the states. Since I had expressed that we had a need for someone with public relations expertise, Morgan thought she would be the perfect fit. Sounds like he was right.” Adrian wasn’t telling Gavin everything. He hoped this was enough.
“Well, based on her performance today, I would say you were both right. Our meeting schedules were structured so that we could discuss one of the cities we’re looking to expand to each day. I expected it to take us at least three or four weeks to get through them all. She already had city facts, contact names and numbers, annual activities, and potential office sites organized in an outline. She took over the meeting. I was totally taken off guard. It was incredible.” He handed him the outline that Faith had prepared. “She has a file like this for all of the cities we were scheduled to discuss this week.”
“Impressive,” Adrian said as he looked it over. “How many cities were you going to go over this week?”
“Three. Nashville, Jacksonville, and Denver. I gave her the agenda yesterday.”
“What?” Adrian exclaimed. “Did she stay up all night?”
“She said she didn’t. She says she just knows how to use her resources.” Gavin smiled, still amazed about it.
“When is your next meeting? I’d like to sit in, if you don’t mind,” he said as he handed the outline back to Gavin.
“I thought you would. We’ll be meeting tomorrow morning at nine. I think we’ll be able to cut our schedule down to two weeks if it’s going to be this organized. I’m going to talk to her about it this afternoon.”
“That’s great, Gavin. I’ll see you tomorrow morning,” Adrian nodded, smiling proudly at his son.
Gavin stood up and walked out of the office. As soon as he left, Adrian made a phone call.
“Yes, it’s Adrian … It’s starting. I’ll call you when I have more news. Talk to you soon,” he said and hung up the phone.
Gavin was hungry, so he decided to get some lunch before talking to Faith. Before he spoke to her, he was going to deal with Carter.
Carter and Faith were enjoying lunch together not too far from the office. It was a beautiful spring day, so they opted to eat outside.
“So, it looks like you’re adjusting well to the position. How long have you been in public relations?” Carter asked.
“Almost ten years, but I’ve always been involved publicly, in some form or fashion. I love people. I love connecting with what really matters.” She took a bite of her salad.
“Wow, so you actually enjoy all of the press conferences, being in the public eye all of the time? Doesn’t it scare you, even just a little bit? I mean, you’re exposing yourself, risking your privacy.”
“Not really. I’m not out there talking about myself. I’m representing the firm. As long as the firm has nothing to hide, then I can do my job accordingly.”
“What if the company you worked for had things to hide?” he prodded, as he stuck a French fry in his mouth. He had ordered a burger.
“I wouldn’t work for a company like that,” she plainly said.
“How would you know?” he asked, curious as to how she could avoid such a company. There were plenty of them out there that had legal issues, or had poor reputations.
“I do my homework, just like I did with C&A. I wouldn’t
have accepted a position if I thought I was going to have to compromise my integrity.” Faith finished her salad, and then took a drink of her lemonade. She sat back in her chair, and looked at Carter. He was just smiling at her, listening to what she had to say.
“I’m sorry, I was just taking in what you said. You’re a very rare person. Most people in this world would compromise even just a little for their own personal gain. I’ve met my share of athletes and I’m here to tell you, money is their main concern. It’s not about the love of the sport anymore. It’s about getting paid first.”
“Pay me before I prove I’m worth anything, so to speak.”
“Pretty much. Do you watch sports?” he asked.
“A little. I like basketball.” She really didn’t have time for sports. There were too many other things to do. Faith was more of a reader and a music lover.
“Maybe we can go to a game some time.” Carter was trying to get his foot in the door. He figured if he asked nicely, rather than telling, like Gavin, he would have a better chance.
“Perhaps. I just need some time to get into a routine,” she smiled kindly. Faith really wasn’t interested in Carter, and didn’t feel comfortable with him trying to ask her out. He was nice to work with, but that was as far as it was going to go.
“Here’s your check. No rush, I’ll be back to take that when you’re ready,” said their server.
Carter went to grab his wallet, as did Faith. “I can get this,” he said.
“Oh no. I’ll take care of mine. I’ve gotten enough free lunches this week and last,” she smiled as she picked up the ticket to see what she owed. She didn’t want this to seem like a date.
Carter wasn’t getting the hint. He thought he had a good chance for sure. “Alright, but let me treat the next time, okay?”
“Sure,” she said. ‘That won’t happen too soon, cowboy,’ she thought. She was anxious to get back to the office and get some more work done with her presentations.
They both paid, signed their receipts, and got up to leave. As they walked back, Carter made more small talk, and Faith obliged as much as she could. When they got off the elevator on their floor, Carter thanked her for joining him for lunch.
“We’ll do this again, okay?”
“Sure. Have a good afternoon, Carter.” Gavin watched Faith walk toward her office, and Carter return to his. He wasn’t going to waste one minute.
Gavin walked out of his office and into Carter’s. He closed the door behind him. Carter heard the door close, and looked up. He saw that Gavin didn’t look happy.
“Hey, what are you doing? Is something wrong?”
“How was your lunch?” Gavin asked, in a very dry tone.
“It was good. Faith is a very classy woman.”
“Which is why I’m wondering what you’re up to? You’ve never asked any of these other women out to lunch. Why now?”
“Gavin, face it. You can’t have them all. You knew this might happen at some point.”
“This was not what we agreed to. Faith is not even your type, Carter. None of the women I’ve gone out with are your type. That’s on purpose.”
“Maybe things have changed,” Carter smirked.
Gavin stepped closer to Carter, “Not for you. I don’t like what you’re doing. She doesn’t fit your mold. I think you should back off.”
“Because what you’re doing is so much better. Treating her like she’s some prize to be won. What will you do with her when you’ve had your way? Go back to Chandler, or one of your other women? Do you really think a woman of Faith’s caliber deserves to be treated like that?” Carter was now standing, making fists with his hands.
“What I plan to do is much better than what you would do. By the way, you don’t have a clue about what I’m doing, or what I’m feeling. You’re the last person that I would share that with. I haven’t trusted you in years,” Gavin hissed.
“That was fifteen years ago, Gavin. I don’t know what else you want me to do.” Carter was disappointed that he had brought that up.
“Sixteen years. I want you to leave Faith alone.” Gavin was now getting angry.
“I’m not sure I can do that,” said Carter, very serious.
“Then we have a problem.”
“I guess we do.” Carter didn’t want to lose his friend, or his job. He couldn’t seem to help himself.
Gavin opened the door and walked out. He was pissed. He didn’t want Faith to be at the receiving end of his anger. This wasn’t her fault. He went back to his office to get some water before going to speak with her.
Faith was sitting in her office, listening to her iPod. Whenever she needed to focus, she ‘plugged in,’ blocking outside noises from disturbing her. Gavin knocked on her door, but she didn’t hear him. When she didn’t look up, he saw the cords and walked in. He walked around her desk and touched her gently on her shoulder.
She jumped, looked up, saw Gavin and took her earbuds out.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you but you didn’t hear me knock or see me.”
“It’s okay. I needed to concentrate. Did you need something?”
“I just wanted to talk to you about your presentations,” he said, as he walked back around her desk to sit down.
“Okay. What’s up?”
“I was thinking that we could accelerate our meetings with your help. Right now, we’re scheduled to discuss one city a day, except for Fridays. You were able to put your outlines together for three cities in one night, and we finished about eighty-five percent our discussion on Nashville this morning, freeing up our afternoon. If we could add an afternoon meeting, discussing two cities a day, we could narrow our list down a lot sooner.”
“So what are you thinking? What would you like me to do?” she asked. He liked that she didn’t hesitate. He let his mind wander for a split second, wondering if she was the same way in bed. “Gavin, are you there?”
He refocused. “I’m sorry. I lost my train of thought.” He sat up a little more straight and answered her question. “Do you think you can pull information together for, say, eight cities at a time without working too many late nights, or over the weekend? I’d be willing to help if it would keep you from working too much overtime.”
“Absolutely,” she paused and thought for a second. “I like that plan. It would allow us to start our city trips earlier than anticipated. Now is the best time, since it’s spring, with summer approaching. If our meetings this week are only going to be in the mornings, we can work on presentations in the afternoons, and all day Friday. Our schedules should be blocked off for the whole day tomorrow and Thursday anyway. We could leave them blocked. I’m not sure what your Friday looks like.”
“I can have it cleared,” he said as he stood up. “I’m going to have Agnes change our schedules. I’ll be back.”
“Will Carter be joining us?” Faith asked.
“No. Carter will be busy working through the promotional aspect. He’ll fill us in at the meetings.” He continued out the door. Gavin’s plan was three-fold. First, he wanted to finish the city reviews early, and this would allow them to do so. Second, he would be able to spend more time with Faith, and third, he could keep Carter away from her. Carter should have known better than to cross him. Gavin made it clear that he wanted Faith and that meant no one else was going to stand in his way.
When Gavin returned, Faith asked him, “Do you want to start on this tonight?”
“Don’t you need to get home? You weren’t supposed to be working late this week?”
“I know, but you’ve got me all excited. I’d probably end up working anyway.”
Gavin thought, ‘You’ve always got me excited.’ He said, “No, we’d better not. There’s enough time to get things done during the day. You keep your evening schedule.”
“Alright then, since we’re not meeting this afternoon, I’ll start working right now on the list of cities for next week.”
“That’s a good idea. I’ll get going on the
potential clients for this weeks’ list. Oh, I’ve been meaning to ask you. How was your lunch with Carter?”
Faith looked up. “Talk about flipping a switch.” He smiled, glad she remembered his comment from their lunch at Hard Rock. “It was okay. Jealous?”
“As a matter of fact, I was,” Gavin said. A strong trait he possessed was his honesty, even if he appeared arrogant. “Did he show interest in you?”
“Seriously?” She looked at him with bewilderment on her face.
Gavin didn’t move, obviously wanting an answer.
She rolled her eyes and kept typing on her laptop while speaking. “He seemed to. He offered to take me to a football or basketball game when the season starts.” She then looked directly at him and asked, “Why were you jealous? It’s not like you and I are dating or anything. I mean, that would be pretty serious for you. The whole dating thing. You just have sex, right?” She was getting agitated.
“My intentions for you are more than you might think. I don’t need any interference from anyone.”
“Ooh. Sounds mysterious,” she said sarcastically. “Wouldn’t this work better if I actually wanted to play an active part in your so-called intentions?”
“Like I’ve said before, I want you. We can play this game as long as you want to. I will have you in the end,” he said without flinching. As usual, her uneasiness and sarcasm was arousing to him.
Faith just shook her head. “You are absolutely amazing. Just fifteen minutes ago, we were talking about the expansion project, and now this. Why would you think you’ll have me? How have I given you that impression?”
“You haven’t – yet. You will. I’m not an easy person to resist for long. Everyone can be persuaded.”
“People who want to be persuaded, are persuaded, Gavin,” she said, looking back at her computer, her frustration growing. They had had such a good day.