Done Being Friends (4 page)

“Our clothes. We’re wearing the same colors,” he announced matter-of-factly as they continued back to their table.
 

Faith smiled and leaned a little closer to him. “That’s the shirt I bought you for your birthday.”

Zac nodded.

“Oh Zac, I want to go home,” Faith whined softly.

Zac chuckled.

“Faith! I was just about to go look for you!” Tim’s gusto statement startled Faith. She instinctively scooted closer to Zac, pressing up against his arm while her hand tightened on his elbow.
 

In reaction, Zac’s free hand flew over and covered her hand on his elbow to reassure her.

Tim saw the scene unfolding before him and eyed the hand placed protectively over Faith’s. Faith followed his eyes and realizing what he was looking at, withdrew her hands from under Zac’s and smiled. “I ran into Zac and we got to talking. Zac, this is Tim Jefferson and Tim, Zac Hayden.”

They nodded and Tim took a step toward them. Placing his hand on Faith’s bareback, he led her to her seat. Zac tugged on his collar and cranked his neck, trying to ease the uncomfortable tingling. He had no idea why he was feeling that way.
 

He certainly didn’t like how Faith had pulled her hand away immediately when she noticed that Tim was staring, but he knew that she was just minding her manners, something that her parents had drilled right into her bones.
 

However, seeing the hand that was placed on her back was driving him mad. Zac clenched his jaw, and thrust his hands into his pockets to fight the urge of ripping Tim’s hand away and pulling Faith into his arms.

When they were seated, Tim put his arms on the chair behind Faith and leaned in to talk to her while Faith leaned forward in her chair, resting her head on her hand. Zac glowered at the hand behind Faith and jealousy coursed through him. Tim had only met Faith that night, and he was behaving as though she belonged to him.
 

He sat back in his chair to clear his head and observed Faith for a moment. She wasn’t one who would warm up to strangers instantly and she was clearly leaning away from Tim’s hand.

As they conversed, Faith gave short, polite answers, never revealing any of her own stories or thoughts. She was constantly like that, even with her friends. She never spoke much, never giving too much of her opinion unless she felt strongly about the subject.

Without thinking, he placed his hand gently on Faith’s bare back to get her attention. She turned and leaned toward him. “If I were your date, would you be finding excuses to leave early?” Zac whispered softly, making sure that no one else heard the words except for her.
 

Faith chuckled. “No. But despite our matching colors, you are not my date. So, rack that brilliant brain of yours and help me think of one.” Faith leaned in and nudged him gently with her shoulders.

The brief touched sent a waved of heat radiating through him. He held his hand in place, keeping her close to him. “You can pretend that I am your date and that the person beside you does not exist. Then, we don’t have to think of any excuses, and we can enjoy ourselves tonight.”
 

Faith narrowed her eyes and took a breath slowly. “That seems...rather mean, and not to mention childish.” It was difficult for her to think of anything but the warm hand on her back. Her heart palpitated and raced. Not wanting to break away from his touch, she turned her face away, trying to straighten her thoughts.

Million of thoughts raced through his mind as Faith turned away. He tried to think of a stronger argument. “It will be a clear statement to your mum that you don’t like how they are cheating on their agreement.”

Faith gave him a quick glance before turning to look at her mother with the corners of her lips turned up.
 

He knew that he was making progress. “You can choose to be polite and suffer for the night, or be mean and childish, and have my company the whole night,” Zac continued, before smiling broadly at her.

Faith laughed softly before turning back to look at him. “You are incorrigible. How come you didn’t come with a date? It’s not like you to attend a formal dinner without a lady in tow.”

“Women, not ladies. I think the only lady I know is you. And...I thought you didn’t have a date. I was prepared to be your escort tonight.”
 

An apologetic look came over Faith. “Oh Zac, that is so sweet, and I’m so sorry. I
was
intending to come alone...”

Zac took her hand and whispered again, “Don’t be silly. I should have asked you about it yesterday. It would have saved you from this situation too.”

Zac had never asked Faith out to such formal events. One, he knew Faith didn’t like to attend such events and always tried to find excuses to avoid them. Two, there were always reporters, and scandals would follow straight after. There was no way he would cause Faith to get entangled up in such nonsense.

Along with his sudden inheritance of the Hayden empire, Zac also inherited the paparazzi that watched and criticized his every move. Besides his business, he had graced the front page of many gossip magazines with quite a few women as well.

Faith cast a brief glance at Tim and bit her lips. Zac knew it was ridiculous for him to offer such a senseless plan. Faith had been drilled with minding her manners since she was young; there was little chance of her abandoning all that had been instilled in her to ditch her date.

She sighed again.
 

Her sigh suddenly made Zac nervous. The exact tingling sensation returned, meandering down his spine. “You aren’t interested, are you? If you are, then forget that I said anything.”

Faith rolled her eyes and scowled. “Don’t be silly. I barely know him! He could be a serial killer for all I know.”

Zac laughed out loud, more from relief than at the actual statement which Faith had made. His laughter drew attention to the two of them and everyone at the table soon noticed Zac’s hand on hers. It would be impossible not to notice the stares, but Faith didn’t draw her hand back or lean away from him. Instead, her mesmerizing smile was back on her face.

“Faith, I heard you have just gotten back from a mission trip. Was it fruitful?” One of her parent’s guests voiced from across the table.

“Yes. Very,” Faith replied, and smiled sweetly.

“Mission trip? What do you actually do there?” Tim asked.

“Teaching, building schools.”

“Building schools?” A cynical expression came over Tim’s face. “I thought you girls hated breaking your nails?”
 

Several different reactions occurred simultaneously after Tim posed the question. Zac smirked and shook his head; Faith’s grandmother took in a deep breath and looked away; while Mrs. Preston rubbed the bridge between her closed eyes. Then there was Faith, who simply stared back at him blankly.

Faith never understood why she kept receiving this particular comment throughout her life. Each time she did something such as carrying a heavy box by herself; someone would wear an annoyingly incredulous look on their face and make the comment about her nails. Of all the things in the world she hated being accused of, hearing statements about her worrying over her nails were the worst.
 

Her lips pursed into thin lines as she grabbled with containing her anger.
 

Zac turned his head away to conceal the broadening smile he had on his face. He knew that Faith was trying to stop herself from lashing out at Tim, and he couldn’t help but enjoy it.

Faith loved her trips. She had always loved being able to make a difference in the lives of others. She had said that God had blessed her with more than enough to be a blessing. Although what she said was true, at times, Zac couldn’t help but hate these trips that were taking her away from him for weeks and at times, months. The only thing that kept Zac supporting her was the fact that he couldn’t deny her of anything she loved, and she did so love the trips.

The silence at the table was deafening. Even though only a few at the table knew exactly what was wrong, everyone else could feel the awkward tension.

After a few tense moments, Faith rearranged her features and placed a political smile on her face. She turned to Tim and gave him an aloof shrug.
 

Zac recognized the reaction and knew then, that there would be no more conversation between Faith and Tim.
 

If Faith bothered to quarrel or reason with the person, she cared for the person enough to try to come to an understanding. If she didn’t even bother to do that, it was a statement that the person wasn’t of enough relevance to her.

Zac was truly enjoying the turn of events, but he couldn’t let someone’s silly comment destroy Faith’s mood.

“These mission trips are extremely important to her,” Zac said. Instantly, all eyes were on Zac. He brushed a loose tendril behind her ear and continued, “She loves what she does and is definitely not worried about her nails.”

He was always good at coaxing Faith into a smile. She turned and beamed at him, and then leaning toward him, they shut the rest of the world out.

“Oh, I need to complain about a very rude staff I encountered yesterday! I can’t believe I forgot about it.”

Zac raised his brow; it wasn’t like Faith to complain to him about his staff. She knew that anyone who crossed her was as good as being dead. “Who? Say his name and I’ll get it settled.”

Faith chuckled. “Zac, you don’t have to turn into my dragon slayer each time I’m unhappy about something. Otherwise, I may end up keeping things from you.”
 

Her words and thoughts were in complete opposites. She knew she could trust Zac with anything, and most of the time, if she was being truthful, she must admit that she enjoyed the way he protected her.
 

Leaning closer to Faith, his hand stretched behind her and rested casually across the arms of her chair. “Who?”

Using her shoulders, she gave him a light push in his chest, putting some space in between them. It was difficult for her to concentrate when he was so close. “I don’t know, and the whole thing was really your fault.”

“What did I do now?”
 

“Your hysteria over the waiting-at-the-lobby issue, and getting me that card. When one of your staffs saw that I have access to your office, he stared at me as if I was an alien.”

“Maybe I should put up some posters and make an announcement about it. That way, everyone will know.”

Faith narrowed her eyes and stared at him. His index finger gestured for her to wait; for he had more in mind. “Then, in the announcement, I will add that no one is allowed to stare at you, or immediate dismissal shall follow. Will that please you?”

“It would please me if you just take the stupid card back.”

“The card cannot be stupid. We both know that you are referring to me.”

Faith smiled. “Maybe.”

Shaking his head, he wrapped his hand around her waist and gave her a tight squeeze. “Tell me about your trip. Other than the broken needle that was nowhere to be found, did you break anything else?”

“No. I did have some trouble while negotiating with local stores about carrying the products. They didn’t really believe a woman’s words, or they simply assumed that I could be fleeced because I was a foreigner. They kept going on and on about some preposterous charges and tried to cut our margin.”

The same dragon slayer mode was reactivated in Zac, but one thing that Faith loved about him was that he didn’t jump into problem-solving mode all the time. He listened and asked questions before cutting in with some solutions or statements. “Don’t they know that the factory is not for profit and that you need to cover the cost to provide wages for those who work?”
 

Faith nodded and rolled her eyes. “Right! But no matter what I said, all they did was to shake their heads and roll their eyes at me like I was some bimbo who didn’t know what I was doing.” She paused and let out a breath. “Though partially true, it was exasperating.”
 

“But you found a way,” Zac announced in a matter-of-fact tone.
 

She smiled at the confidence he had in her. “There is always a way, but not with them. They were stuck in the view that we were foreigners; we were rich, and they had the rights to demand exorbitant conditions. So, I decided to source for bigger tourist retailers and gift shops instead.”

“Right, you mentioned you managed to clinch a deal with a tour agency?”

“Yes, they were much more understanding. They really appreciated our efforts in helping the locals and so, were really cooperative.”

Zac wasn’t surprised. When Faith was determined, she could be extremely persuasive. She had a knack for reading people and then morphing her personality to fit into any situation, making her endearing to everyone. With that, she was always able to talk her way into getting people to agree with her. That was if she bothered to do so.

He watched as Tim leaned close to Faith, trying to get into the conversation. “You talking about your trip?”

Faith briefly nodded. “Yes,” she answered. Then she turned back to Zac and continued to answer all the questions he had for her.

As she spoke, Zac watched how she spoke animatedly with a smile.

Faith was unlike any other girl he had ever known. She didn’t waste hours before the mirror, or spent her time gossiping and complaining like a rich brat. Lamenting about how the world was unfair to her by denying her the latest handbag.

Zac had always noticed how she would spend hours reading on the swing that her father had built for her when she was born. Her world was beyond the small, pathetic problems that the other privileged and spoilt girls surrounded themselves with.
 

She was kind, smart and breathtakingly beautiful. Despite the fact that she was privileged, she had never stuck her nose up at anyone.

However, Faith did grow up sheltered. Even until then, she had never stepped into an office to work. Her father’s success in business had allowed her to spend all of her time on her favorite pastime, reading. Many of her friends teased her about being a bookworm, but she always smiled, admitted it, and continued on with her life.