Done Being Friends (24 page)

Chuckling, she turned around and took his hand. “Yes...and I will be fine. It’s just a resort, and judging from how difficult it is to get there, I will be pretty safe.”

Zac tightened his grip on her hand and pulled her close. “Pretty safe is not good enough. Take someone. Jessica? Then she can look through any documents and so forth.”
 

Faith controlled her urge to laugh. Zac could be ridiculous at times like this, but laughing would only make matters worse. “Don’t worry Zac, I will be fine. Uncle Roger arranged the lodgings personally.”

“Roger Tuner?”

“Yes.”

“How long would you be gone?”
 

“A day or two, at most three.” Then seeing his sigh, Faith continued, “Dad said to ask you along, and I would have but I know it is last minute. I didn’t want to mess up your plans. However, if you have the time to spare, you are extremely welcome to join me.”

“There are some things that I need to do today. Maybe I can join you tonight or tomorrow?”

“Sure, I’ll call you with the information, and when you can make it, you can arrange with them to set up transport.”

Zac’s mood brightened a little. At least he wouldn’t be missing her the entire three days, he could get his work done and meet her there. He did after all, own a company jet too.
 

“Will you consider asking Jessica to go along with you?” Zac asked again, trying his chance.

“No. You’ll be there tonight or tomorrow morning, right? I can survive a day alone.” Stretching up to give him a light kiss and a stern look to warn him that she would hear no more of it.

The moment Zac dropped Faith off at the Preston building; he called Mindy.

“Push all my necessary meetings to as early as you can and then cancel everything else.”

“All right.”

“Then arrange for the company jet to be ready once my last meeting is over. Also, I will need you to pick up my bag from Margaret anytime before that.”

“All right. Anything else?”

“No. That’s all for now.”

“Do not hang up!” Mindy got her words before her boss could hang up on her. “Mr. Charles called. He left a message for you to call back when you’re free.”

The name that was so familiar was the last person whom he would have guessed left the message. “Dylan? You sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure. Dylan Charles.”

“Got it.”
 

Zac ran through the possibilities of why Dylan was calling. He couldn’t help but have an inkling that something wasn’t right. The last time he walked out of his office; he knew it would be some time before they would be speaking to each other.
 

Whatever it was, he wanted to get it over and done with. Once he hung up the call with Mindy; he immediately called Dylan. “You looking for me?”

“Free to talk? Say over dinner?”

Zac groaned internally. He was intending to clear up all the necessary work and meet up with Faith as soon as he could. Of all the days, Dylan had to choose the worst.
 

“Busy?” Dylan probed when there was no reaction.

“No, dinner is fine.”

Chapter Fourteen

Faith brushed her hand against the neutral beige colors of the walls within the villa while her bare feet sashayed along the floor that was paved with polished dark brown parquet. The neutral settings of the room were given a buzz of life with small orange pillows on the long couch and a bed cover of shimmering bronze over the bed. Every decor in the room was placed to exude a sense of peace and relaxation.
 

She slide the glass panels aside and walked out to the balcony, which was furnished with a Jacuzzi and two sunbathing chairs. Leaning against the railing, Faith closed her eyes and tilted her head back as she listened to the sound of waves crushing and took in the sea breeze.
 

The management had arranged a perfect villa for her. It was one of those villas which were more like a small apartment being built slightly beyond the edge of the beach, with the sea directly below it.

It had been some time since she had spent time on a holiday like this. Before taking over the company, she split her time between reading novels and missionary work overseas.
 

She had stayed over in good hotels while on mission trips. Her father had made her promise that whenever she was in a major city, she would check into a good hotel with good security. Other than the hotel room, she never saw much of each city that she had gone to.
 

Even in the hotel, she would be so tired that the only thing she enjoyed would be a good bath, and then crash onto her bed to have a good sleep before heading home.

Letting out a soft, satisfied sigh, Faith opened her eyes and took in the surroundings. It was a picture perfect scene from where she was standing. The small waves came in continuously, gently washing up against the wooden beams of the villa.

When the manager had walked her to the villa, she realized that the villas were placed far apart from one another. A wooden bridge from the shore stretched out toward the villas that seemed to be floating on the sea. The whole setting was extremely romantic. She closed her eyes again, indulging in the rhythmic waves and allowed the gentle sea breeze to ruffle her hair.

Before leaving, the manager had informed her that due to some delays in Mr. Turner’s flight, he would only arrive later in the afternoon. Faith knew about it already. Her father had given Roger Turner her phone number and his personal assistant had already called to inform her of the delay and apologized.
 

After admiring the scenic view, Faith realized that it was relatively early, and she still had a few hours before having to meet Uncle Roger. She looked out at the sea again, and this time, she sighed softly.
If only Zac is here, the picture will be complete.

She had told the manager she was expecting Mr. Hayden later that day and the manager had promised Faith that she would personally ensure that the transport be arranged once he called.
 

Glancing over at the luxurious bed, it was tempting to just laze on the bed and read a novel but she knew she had work to do, so she grabbed her cellphone and decided to do some exploring. She rang up the front desk and just fifteen minutes later, the manager showed up at her door; ready to give her a tour of the place.

Faith took pictures and notes on her cellphone while they took a tour of the resort grounds. Her father had given her full reign on the decision for the acquisition of the private resort, but Faith would definitely want to run it through with Zac, and a few of the senior employees back in the office.
 

Personally, she loved the place and wouldn’t hesitate to return as a paying visitor. Still, if Solomon, being the wisest person who ever lived had surrounded himself with counsels, she was definitely going to follow in his footsteps.

When she got back to her room, she scribbled down all her thoughts as she scanned through the photographs on her laptop. She made a list of all the things she disliked and liked about the place and the improvements that needed to be done.

When she was done, she looked at the clock and decided to take a quick shower before meeting Uncle Roger.
 

“Hello Faith,” Uncle Roger smiled warmly and opened his arms for a hug.
 

Faith leaned in and gave him a quick hug. “Hello Uncle Roger.”

“Faith! All grown up and taking over your old man’s job!” His booming laughter attracted quite a few stares from the patrons, but he was nonchalant about it. “If only I have a child to take over my business.”

Faith smiled, uncertain of the right response to his statement.
 

“Oh don’t worry, I was the one who chose not to have children when I was younger. I made my choice, and I live with it.”
 

As they both settled into their chairs and ordered their dinner, Roger Turner broached the subject about selling the resort. “Well Faith, you can see that your Uncle Roger is no longer a young brute. I’m intending to liquidate some of my assets and businesses to prepare for my retirement.”

“This place is beautiful, but I can’t give you an answer right now. I need to think about it and look through the figures a little.”
 

“Yes, yes, of course. I don’t expect you to give me an answer now. Your old man is a good friend; so I’m giving him the heads up. If you’re not interested, I will find someone else.
 

Faith nodded. “Thanks, give me a week, and I will get back to you?”

“Not a problem. You know my number.”

When work was done, they made some small talk on their respective families, with Faith assuring Uncle Roger that her father’s health was well on the road to recovery. Then, with a playful look, Uncle Roger went on, “So, I heard you are dating one of the most eligible bachelors available.”

Faith smiled shyly; she hadn’t thought of Uncle Roger as one would flip through the gossip magazines.
 

He registered the shock and perhaps, confusion, on her face and laughed. “You know how the wives’ networks are. My wife heard it from both your grandmother and mother. Then, the information flowed down to me.”

Faith nodded in understanding. Yes, she had heard about the amazing wives network. Information flowed among the wives really quickly and rather freely.
 

“Yes, I’m dating one of the most eligible bachelors.”
 

“Great, that’s great. You guys have been friends since you were little, right? I remember seeing the two of you together quite often.”
 

“Yes.” Faith beamed unconsciously as she thought about the young Zac.

“Why isn’t he here with you?”

“He has some business to take care of, but he should be coming over when he is done.”

“Great, my wife will be coming in tomorrow afternoon. Join us for lunch.” Uncle Roger had made it a statement rather than a question. Faith knew that if his wife was coming, it would definitely be an hour of drilling of information about Zac, but she couldn’t push it away, it was impolite.
 

“Sure,” Faith managed to keep the polite smile on her face despite the dread that was building up in her heart.
 

After saying their goodbyes at the restaurant, Faith was escorted back to her villa by the manager. She spent the rest of the night lounging on the couch, reading. She had left the doors to the balcony opened so that she could read to the symphony of the crashing waves.

She was completely lost in her book, and before she knew it, hours had gone by. Faith glanced over at the clock and noticed that it was nearly midnight. Perhaps Zac wouldn’t be coming that night after all. She put down her book and checked her phone again. Nothing.
 

Would it kill him to drop me a text message?

Faith sighed. She was behaving ridiculously. He did only say he would try to meet her that night. Perhaps he was really busy at work, and there was no reason for her to be frustrated. Zac didn’t tell her to wait for him. She could set her book down and go to sleep anytime she wanted.
 

She slammed her book close.
Stop behaving like a spoilt brat Faith.

She stood up from the couch, plugged in the adaptor to charge her phone, and got into the bed. She closed her eyes and forced herself to go to sleep. She tried counting sheep, imagining herself to be floating serenely in a peaceful river, but the result of it all was more tossing and turning in bed.
 

Zac glanced at his watch again; it was already nearing midnight. He had intended to meet Faith after dinner, but there he was in a night club with Dylan.
 

Over dinner, Dylan apologized and even said he was happy for them. Though something in his gut wasn’t sitting right, Zac was still elated to get his old pal back. He knew Faith would be delighted with the news and would understand why he was late.

But right now, every cell within him wanted to be with Faith, not at some night club. He had told Dylan that he was supposed to meet Faith, but Dylan insisted they go out for awhile, and promised he would inform Faith about their outing.
 

He would have informed her on his own, if his cellphone hadn’t died on him.

The whole day was chaotic; since he was meeting Dylan at night, he told Mindy to stick to the original schedule. The meetings dragged, and Zac rushed to complete additional work so that he could free up the next few days.

The
for awhile
that Dylan promised was dragging longer than expected and the women who were coming on to him were starting to irritate him. The last thing he wanted was for some paparazzi to snap a photo of him with another girl. He had politely stepped away from the women, pushing them away as lightly as possible without offending anyone, but his patience was wearing thin.

“Hi handsome!”

Not another one.
Zac turned and smiled wryly. “Nicole.”
I need to get out of here.
He scanned his eyes around the club’s floor for Dylan; he had to tell him that he was leaving; he wasn’t interested in staying there any longer.

“I missed you, how are you?” Nicole came around and draped her arm over his.
 

Zac drew his arm back and took two steps back. He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’m fine, and I’m on my way out. Goodbye Nicole.”

He had turned to leave, not knowing that Nicole followed him right outside. From behind, she wrapped her arms around his waist and clung to him. “Oh, come on Zac. We haven’t met in awhile, let’s hang out.”

Zac sighed. He pried her hands from his waist and turned around. “My girlfriend is waiting for me. Goodbye Nicole.”

He turned away from her, intending to leave, but she threw her hands around his neck and before he could think, her lips were on his.
 

Zac gripped her shoulders and ripped her from him, holding her at arm’s length. “Nicole, stop this! I’m not interested and for the last time, goodbye.”