Done Being Friends (30 page)

He let out a heavy sigh and stood up. Walking over to Faith, he reached for Faith’s hand.
 

“Don’t touch me,” Faith said contemptuously, as she took a step away from him.

Dylan froze and took a step back. “I didn’t mean to get you this upset.”

“Yes, you didn’t care if I would get hurt. You just wanted to win.”

“No, that’s not it.”
 

“Really?” Faith asked. “Which part of Zac cheating on me would I not be upset about, Dylan? The truth is you don’t care about me. You don’t love me. You love winning. Because if you did, you would have realized that losing Zac would break my heart.”

Faith turned away, closed her eyes and let out a sigh.
 

Dylan wanted to say something; to defend himself, but he had never seen Faith this incensed before and he didn’t know what to do.

“Doesn’t matter, I’m not here to talk about this anyway.”

Dylan nodded. “What do you want to talk about?”

“Are you behind Zac’s problem?” she asked, without turning back to look at Dylan.

“What? No!” Dylan mouth dropped. “I know you’re still irate over the fiasco I caused from the picture issue, but I didn’t do this.” Running his hand through his hair, Dylan stepped forward again. “Faith, I swear, I have
nothing
to do with that.”

Giving him a wry smile, Faith finally returned her gaze to Dylan. “Your words mean nothing to me anymore.”
 

The harsh words were nothing compared to the disdain glowing in her eyes.
 

Dylan finally realized the enormity on his foolishness. What he had thought was determination was, in fact, selfishness. Not only did it not break up Zac and Faith, it had caused Faith to lose all sense of respect she had for him.

“No matter what ridiculous stunt you have installed, I promise you, it will do nothing to drive us apart. If I get any proof, I will not hesitate to turn it over to the authorities.” With that, she turned and stormed out of his office.

When his rattled brain finally worked, he shouted after her, “Faith, wait! Please!” But she was nowhere in sight.

Dylan collapsed back into his chair and buried his face in his hands.
What a mess.

“You screwed things up, no point crying over spilt milk now. Go fix it.”

Dylan lifted his head and saw Jessica standing by the door. “You here to berate me too?”

“George called and told me that Faith seemed flustered and said she was heading here. He wanted to call Zac, but knew he was having problems at work, so he called me instead. I just wanted to make sure she’s fine.”

“You just missed her.”

“So what did you do to Zac?” Jessica settled into the seat across from him.

“Nothing! Why do all of you think that I did something?”

“Cos’ you really did try to break them up, didn’t you? You did it once.” Shaking her head, she reached across and took his hand. “Find a solution. You’re good at that.”

Smiling, she stood up and left.

Minutes after Jessica left, Dylan sped all the way down to the Preston’s office building, but Chelsea refused to buzz him in.
 

“If Faith wants to help Zac, then she needs to let me in.” He had snatched the phone off the counter receptionist, thinking that his words would yield better results than the receptionist. “Please, Chelsea. Just tell her that. Pass on the message before you kick me out of here.”

“Sorry, Mr. Charles. The moment she got in this morning, she specifically stated that you are barred from entering any part of the building and that she had no interest in whatever you have to say. She’s still boiling with whatever happened in the morning, so maybe you can try again later this evening.”

Chelsea hung up before he could get in his defense.
Jessica!
Pulling out his phone, he immediately called Jessica.

“Jess, you need to come down to the lobby and let me in.”

“Dylan, please. Just leave Faith alone for a couple of days. She wouldn’t listen to a word you have to say now.”
 

“No, it’s not that. I know how to help Zac. Just let me talk to her. Trust me, one more time. That’s all I’m asking.”
 

Dylan could hear her sigh over the phone. “Give me five minutes.”

Though Chelsea refused to let Dylan get anywhere near Faith, Jessica easily got access. But when Chelsea saw Dylan alongside Jessica, she gasped.

“Miss Kane! Miss Preston said —”

“I know, I will deal with her. I will make sure to tell her that this had nothing to do with you.” Then pulling Dylan, she hurried him across the office and toward the Faith’s door.

Faith glowered when she saw Dylan stepping into her office. “Jess! Seriously!” She got up from her seat, seemingly ready to pounce on both of them. “The scumbag planned the whole shenanigan with the Smith girl.”

Jessica put up her palms, “I figured that out when I saw him wallowing in self pity.”

“Then why did you bring him up?”
 
“I wasn’t wallowing in self pity!”

“Get out of here!”
 
“Would you just listen!”

“Why? So you can sprout more nonsense?”
 
“I just want to help!”

Jessica stood, uncertain about what she should do. The two of them kept shouting at each other, and it seemed precarious to step in and help. Before she could make her decision, a shrill whistle pierced through all the screams.

The sudden silence was deafening. “The three of you are grown-ups. Even though there aren’t many people around on this level, there are people, and I’m referring mainly to myself, who do not wish to spend the afternoon in a scream fest. So, please be considerate.”

The three of them looked at the floor, not daring to lift up their eyes till the door was closed. For a moment, they were like a bunch of nine-year old getting scolded by their Catholic Headmistress.

When the door closed behind Chelsea, Faith turned her glare toward Jessica. Jessica wanted to explain herself, but Dylan stepped in front of her, shielding her from Faith’s wrath. “It was me. All me.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Faith answered sarcastically.

“I meant I was the one who made Jess take me up. I have nothing to do with Zac’s current problem.”
 

“What do you want Dylan?” Faith snapped. She had been racking her brain all morning, but she couldn’t come up with a single useful idea. She hated being so pathetically useless.

Dylan could see that she was troubled. Even after knowing her for years, he had never seen her scream the way she just did. Figuring that he only had a couple of seconds before Faith started to throw her heels or whatever she could lay her hands on at him, and he was sure that even Chelsea wouldn’t be that stupid to get involve in that fight, he made sure to slip Zac’s name right into the beginning of the sentence. “Zac. I know how to help Zac.”

Instantly, she softened, and everyone else sighed, relieved that she wasn’t going to erupt, at least, not for the moment. She sat back down in all royalty and nodded her head, gesturing for Dylan to continue.

“I know Zac would never build his apartments with shoddy materials. Once you find out who is behind this whole clown show, it will blow this thing right open. I’m sure there’s no real report to prove whatever nonsense they said, right?”

“That’s the problem. No one is talking; Zac can’t find out.” Faith said, exasperated.

Smiling the devilish smile that he had whenever there was something up his sleeve, he grinned at Faith. “With something happening to such a major company, someone higher up in the food chain would definitely be involved in the situation. The men wouldn’t talk...but their wives never stop.”

“Wives network.”

“Yes! Get your mother or grandma in and I bet you will be able to find out who it was by the end of the day!”

“Oh Dylan.” Faith broke into a wide grin. “You’re a genius.”

Then she pulled Jessica into a hug. “I take it that you’re no longer angry with me?”

“I love you Jess. Thanks...both of you.”

Once the words were out of her mouth, she grabbed her bag and flew out of the office.

“She didn’t give me a hug. Didn’t even thank me properly.” Dylan grumbled as Faith went running out the door.

“She did thank you,” Jessica replied, irritated.

“Not properly! Both of you—”

“You just pissed her off big time. Be glad you’re going to make out of her office alive.”

“But I gave her the solution that she needed.”

Jessica walked out without answering him. She had placed herself in a potentially life threatening situation, and all he could do was complain that she didn’t thank him probably and that he didn’t get a hug from Faith.
 

No more. I’m done with you Dylan.

“Hey,” Dylan said, as he held onto her hand. “Thank you, Jess. Thanks for believing in me.” Without notice, he pulled her in and gave her a hug.

All the resolve she had built to stay away from Dylan melted. No. I can’t keep making the same mistake.

Stepping out of the hug, Jessica strode out of the room. “I sure am popular today. Wonder who else is going to hug me.”

“Mum! Grandma!”

Both the ladies jumped, but when they saw that it was Faith, they hugged and immediately sat her down to ask if Zac was all right.
 

“So you have heard? Do you know who is behind it? You know, like from the other wives? Does anyone know who submitted the report? The Hayden empire is a big company, and someone big must be involved in watching the case. One of the wives would know who submitted the initial report, right?”

Faith’s mother took her hand and gave her a reassuring squeeze while her grandmother burst into laughter. “Now! Who needs a piece of gossip?”

“Grandma! I’m serious. Please, I would never ask if it wasn’t serious. I think the situation could really be getting out of hand.”

Her grandmother shook her head. “Zac is our family too. We have a tea-date with someone who might know. But Faith, the key to getting information that you need, is to beable to share something in return. If you’re stubborn about being private and keeping things to yourself...”

Faith understood what her grandmother meant. “I promise I will play nice.”

At tea, Faith shifted uncomfortably as she waited for Mrs. Taylor to arrive. “Stop fidgeting dear, you don’t want her to think that you got her here specifically to pry information out of her. It is already obvious enough that you turned up for tea with us right at the time when Zac needed help.”

Faith nodded and taking in a deep breath; she placed a small smile on her face. She sipped the tea before her, concentrating on the warmth that was radiating out into her chest with each sip.
 

When Mrs. Taylor arrived, her mother introduced her, and they set down to talk idly about the food. Faith knew that she couldn’t rush into forcing the information out of her.
Exchanging information.

They continued chatting about random topics until Mrs. Taylor asked about her engagement.
 

Faith jumped at the chance and smiled broadly. She turned on her best storytelling mode and supplied all the information about Zac and her, telling Mrs. Taylor about the resort stay and the proposal.

Faith answered all of Mrs. Taylor’s questions, chatting with her with every ounce of enthusiasm she could muster. She shared everything except for the inscription in the ring. She had revealed all the information and wanted to hold back something that no one else would know except
 
for Zac and her.
 

Finally after
sharing
all the information that couldn’t be read on the gossip magazines and taking in all the advice that Mrs. Taylor had offered for the wedding, she finally steered the conversation in the way that Faith had been waiting for.

“Zac must be devastated about the report.”

Faith nodded and looked forlornly at Mrs. Taylor. “Yes, he is. I wish there was something I could do to help. When daddy fell sick, he was there with me throughout the whole time. He settled all the work for me and now that he needs help, there is nothing that I can do.” Faith sighed and added in a little pout in her lips.

Faith’s mother reached over and squeezed her hand. “Don’t worry dear, he is so capable. He can handle this.”

She nodded. “Yes, but I still can’t help worrying, you know.” Then looking at her mother, she continued, “If only we knew who submitted the report in the first place, it would be much easier to settle the whole problem.” Faith let out another soft sigh.

This time, it was Mrs. Taylor’s hand that reached over. “Well dear,
that
I might be able to help with.”

Faith had been waiting for this moment for the longest time. She could barely contain the yelp from the surge of excitement, but she cocked her head to the side and feigned ignorance.
 

Mrs. Taylor smiled sweetly, “The report was filed along with a letter that has your company’s letterhead. It was made to look as if your company sent it. That was why it was taken so seriously and no one is talking.”
 

A sick feeling came over Faith as she wondered who would betray her like this.

Then without any prompting, Mrs. Taylor went on. “It is someone you know, someone from your company.”

Faith knew that Mrs. Taylor was being a good story teller too. She knew all the facts, knew who the
someone
was but was waiting for the climax to reveal it. She was definitely holding Faith’s attention.

Faith’s brows furrowed and drawing in a deep breath; she braced herself for the news. “Who is it? Please, tell me.”

Mrs. Taylor leaned in and whispered into her ears. “Wilson Miller.”

“But he’s no longer in our company, I’m sure you saw how he tried to hurt me, it was on the news!”
 

Mrs. Preston cleared her throat and glared at her. “We’re in a restaurant dear, watch your volume.”

Faith didn’t realize that she had raised her voice. “I’m sorry. I’m just completely shocked. Why would anyone take his words after knowing what happened when he left our company?”