Done Being Friends (15 page)

The private lift would bring her up straight to her father’s office; and no one would see her, except for the two security guards and Chelsea. All of whom, she prayed for their own sake, knew when to keep their comments to themselves.

As Faith stalked out from the lift, the security guards looked at each other briefly before returning to pretend that they didn’t notice anything while Chelsea let out a gasp.
 

“Oh my! Miss Preston!” Chelsea jumped from her seat.

Raising her index finger, Faith barked, “Don’t ask. Don’t ask me if I’m all right.” Faith couldn’t handle sympathy now, any concern or sympathy would send her crying immediately. With that command, Chelsea immediately sat back down and glued her eyes to the computer screen.
 

Closing the office door behind her, Faith dropped everything she was holding and walked into the bathroom. Despite her greatest effort, tears of frustration streamed down her cheeks. Refusing to dwell further in what had happened, she took off her clothes and turned on the shower head. Stepping in, she allowed the water to run down her already wet hair and down her body.
 

As the warm water glided down her arms, she felt a stinging pain on both her arms. It was then that Faith realized both her arms had wounds up to her elbow. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, keeping her hands under the stream of water. The pain radiated from her wounds and burnt slightly, but she knew that it would go away soon enough.

As the pain faded, her mind went back to the memories of what had happened.

Turning, she let her face go under the stream of warm water. “Ugh.”

The sudden pain on her lip made her cringed. She could taste the blood in her mouth, and her hand flew to her lip.
Stupid paparazzi.

Grabbing the towel hung neatly by the shower, she avoided her hands and toweled the rest of her dry. Checking her wounds, she knew that they were much too large for plasters. She pressed her towel against her wounds, putting some pressure on it. Again, the wounds burned under the towel. It didn’t help when the fibers of the towel clung to the open wounds as she pulled it off.
 

When she was done, she wrapped the towel around her and stepped out of the shower.
 

Grabbing a face towel, she pressed it against her lip to stop the bleeding. After a few moments, she leaned nearer to the mirror to examine the wound. It was starting to swell, and she knew that it would be rather obvious even if she tried to cover it with lipstick.
 

Shaking her head, she gave up trying to think about how to conceal her wounds and turned her attention to something more important. Finding something to wear, something that wasn’t dripping wet. Faith remembered that she had seen her father’s clothes hanging in the wardrobe the day before. She opened the wardrobe, but it was empty except for a few hangers.

Faith smirked.
Why am I not surprised?

She wasn’t one who believed in conspiracy theories; but somehow, she couldn’t help but feel that she had missed the memo on
screw-Faith-over-day.

Taking a hanger, she hung up her wet clothes. Her hands reached toward the hair dryer but froze when she heard Zac’s voice.

“Faith?”
 

No. He wasn’t supposed to be here so early. Faith didn’t want Zac to see her in such a state. She had nothing on, but the bath towel and he would go crazy if he saw her wounds.

Panic rose in her and she braced her hands against the sink, forcing herself to take a few deep breaths and relax. Her brain never functioned well under stress.

“Faith? Are you all right? Chelsea said...What happened to your heels?”

Tears brimmed at her eyes again.
Don’t let Zac see you like this. He will be worried.

Forcing herself to swallow her tears, she cleared her throat to make sure that she wouldn’t sound like she was hurt or had been crying. “I’m fine. Don’t worry, just give me a few minutes.”

“Faith, you’re scaring me. Come out here and let me look at you,” Zac’s voice was thick with worry.
 

“A few minutes Zac, please.” Faith looked into the mirror. Her hair was still dripping with water. She glanced around the private bathroom, looking for something that might help to conceal her wounds or at least give her more coverage than the towel she had on, but there was nothing.

There really were only two choices left. She could either face Zac or hide in the bathroom until she could arrange for George to bring her another set of clothes. The latter wasn’t really viable; for she knew Zac well enough to know that he wouldn’t hesitate to kick down the door to make sure she was fine.

Taking a deep breath, she forced a smile on her face and opened the door.

Zac was pacing outside the bathroom while Faith was inside. When Faith finally stepped out, he spun around and for a moment, he was shocked silent. He stood for a few moments, gaping, before blinking his eyes a few times and regaining his voice.

“Are you all right angel? Chelsea said you looked horrible when you walked in. Did the reporters hurt you? What happened to your clothes? And where the hell is Dylan?” With each question, his voice inched up a decibel.
 

When Zac neared, he saw that her lashes were wet and her eyes were slightly red. He lifted her chin gently and bent down toward her face. Faith squirmed and shifted her face away.
 

“Have you been crying?”

Faith smiled. “Nothing happened, I got caught in the rain and fell down outside the office. That’s all.”
 

“Where is Dylan?” Zac spoke through clenched teeth.

Faith shrugged. “He dropped me off a couple of blocks away and left.”

“He left you to walk here in the rain and to the mob downstairs?”
 

He had tried to control his tone, but Faith knew that he was seething. Faith raised her hand and brushed it across Zac’s cheek. His jaws were tightened from anger, and she didn’t want him irate or worried. She sighed and spoke softly, “I am fine, really.”

Faith spoke slowly and enunciated each and every word, hoping that the words would sink into him.
 

Still, Zac knew that she hadn’t let out all that had happened. He shut his eyes, he wasn’t going to let anger get the better of him; Faith’s safety and feelings were his first priority. He opened his eyes and let out a deliberate and slow breath.

“Why didn’t you call me to pick you up?”
 

Silence. Faith didn’t know how to reply.
 

“You promised.”

Faith could hear the anger in his words. “I know...I just thought...”

Zac nodded and looked away. He knew that Faith was waiting for his reaction, so he placed a forced smile on his face and took her hand. He squeezed it gently, hoping that his assuring touch could soothe her somehow. Little did he know that it was where the trail of her wounds began.
 

Instead of the relieve he sought, Faith winced in response.
 

Immediately, he frowned and flipped her palm over. Without her clothes, the bright red wounds were obvious against her fair skin. “Faith!” The word came out as a gasp as Zac turned her hands around in his, trying to avoid touching the wounds.

He frowned and looked at Faith, concern and worry was clearly written on his face. “How did you fall?”

“It’s nothing.” Faith snatched her hand back and turned away from Zac, keeping her arms in front of her. “Stop looking at it, it’s ugly.”
 

He placed his hands on her shoulder and turned her around, slowly and barely using any strength. He was treating her like a bubble, afraid that the slightest touch could hurt her.
 

He leaned in and Faith saw his eyes widened. “Your lips...”

Zac had forced himself not to push Faith for an answer and not make her day any worse than it already was, but when he saw the wound on her lips, he couldn’t contain his anger. He needed to know who did that to her, and he was ready to pounce on whoever it was. He was going to make sure that the person would pay.

“What happened? Tell me the truth, Faith. Don’t try to lighten it or brush me off with some excuse!” His command came so forcefully that Faith shrank away from him.
 

Her reaction brought instant remorse and he softened his tone, “Sorry Faith, I didn’t mean to shout at you. Just...just tell me what happened. Please.”

Since he had already seen all the wounds, there was no point in hiding; it would only anger him further, so she told him what had happened.

Even though he didn’t say a word and merely nodded while Faith spoke, she could see his jaws tightening and his grip on her shoulders grew stronger. He had no idea that he was hurting her until Faith squirmed slightly in his hands. Immediately, he released his grip and stood up straight, slotting his hands into his pockets.

Faith continued to recount the events as she walked toward the black leather chair behind her desk. She settled down, pulling at the edge of the towel as she felt its inadequate length.
 

Zac remained at the very spot he stood. His eyes were closed, his jaws were still snapped shut, and the muscles on his cheeks taut. Faith sat quietly in the chair, waiting for his anger to subside.

This is not the time to be angry; Faith is the first priority, and everything else can wait.
He repeated the words in his head. When he felt that he was in control, he walked over and knelt down beside her chair again. Holding just her fingers and being careful not to touch her wounds, he raised her hand to his lips.
 

Kissing the back of her hand gently, he brushed his thumb softly on her lips, avoiding the wound. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here. I should have sent you here myself. I promise you that this will not happen again.”
And I will personally strangle Dylan...soon.

Standing up, Zac shrugged off his coat and threw it over to the couch. Then, he unbuttoned his shirt and handed it over to Faith, gesturing her to change into it.

“Are you going to walk around topless?”

“There is no way I am allowing you to walk out of here in that towel. Your fingers are ice cold, wear it before you fall sick. I will call George to bring you a set of clothes. Until then, you can wear my shirt.”

Faith nodded. She was freezing, and the towel was really just scanty.

Taking his shirt, she stood up and walked into the bathroom. When she stepped out, she had already folded the sleeve over her elbow, and the shirt covered almost to her mid thighs.
 

Zac couldn’t help but notice her long slim legs. She looked incredibly sexy and Zac had to use all his determination to fight the urge to go over, pick her up and kiss her.

Faith moved over to the sofa and sat down beside Zac, completely unaware of the how Zac was looking at her.

“Are you all right? You must have been frightened.” Zac brushed her still damped hair aside, smiling warmly.
 

“Yes, but more angry than afraid.” Her lips pouted slightly before she tightened her jaws. Zac brushed her cheeks and Faith closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath.
 

“Are you hurt anywhere else? Let me take you to the doctor.” Zac eyed her wounds, turning her hands in his carefully.

Faith chuckled. “No, it’s just my arms, and they are not serious. The doctor will think I’m wasting his time.”

Zac opened his mouth to protest, but Faith placed a finger on his lips. “I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

He wrapped his arm around Faith’s shoulder and pulled her into his chest while making sure he did not touch her wounds. Her wet hair sent a shiver down Zac’s chest. Faith sniggered and tried to get up, but Zac’s arm refused to budge and he continued to hold her close.

“Fine, I won’t take you to a doctor, but I have already told Chelsea to bring a first aid kit.”

As if on cue, a soft knock came on the door and Chelsea stepped in with the first aid kit in her hand.
 
She stood still by the door with her eyes on Zac. Faith knew that Chelsea was afraid of doing anything that might set her off.
 

Faith felt a tinge of guilt for snapping at Chelsea before. She placed a gentle smile on her face and looked at Chelsea, hoping that Chelsea would see her remorse, but she never glanced her way.
 

Zac had sat her up and strode over to take the kit from Chelsea’s hand. “Thanks, that’s all for now.”

“I shouldn’t have snapped at her just now. She seemed so afraid of me,” Faith sighed as the door closed shut.

Zac laughed. “My angel, she will be fine. I’m sure she had been through worse with your dad.”

With that, Zac sat back down on the sofa and fussed over her wounds. Though Faith had tried her best not to flinch or show any other signs of pain, every slight narrowing of her brows and shutting of her eyes were noticed by Zac.
 

Silently, Zac cursed Dylan as he applied the medication. It broke his heart to know that Faith was hurting, and it was worse when she kept quiet. He had rather she screamed, complained or whined.
 

His heart ached each time Faith tightened her jaw when the cotton swap touched the wound. Zac had tried to be as gentle as possible, but he knew pain was unavoidable. The only thing that kept him in the office and not out to confront Dylan was the fact that Faith needed him there. There was no way that he was going to leave Faith alone. His anger and Dylan’s impending doom would have to wait.

“You know, you promised you’d call me whenever you needed something.” There was no blame or anger in the sentence; he was simply reminding her.

“I know...I’m sorry.”
 

“Promise me then, this will not happen again.”

Faith gave him a small smile. Zac was always trusting and forgiving when it came to her. “I promise. This will not happen again, and I
will
call you whenever I need anything.”

When he was done, he set the box aside on the coffee table and pulled Faith close again. “Close your eyes and get some rest. You had a horrible morning.”