Slipperless Series (Book #4)(8)

Fiona lowered her head a bit and dropped her hands in her lap. “Okay.”

“Look Fiona, I realize that what’s happened in the past day or so has been very stressful. However, this is not the time to give up and not see things through to their conclusion.”

Fiona shook her head and pinched her lip between her teeth as she looked up at me. “I’m not giving up, Gabe. That’s not what’s happening.”

“All right, then tell me,” I said, as I spread my arms wide. “Please explain to me why you’re in here, alone, as opposed to spending time with me working on the presentation as we’d discussed.”

Fiona held my gaze for a couple of moments before looking away.

“I don’t expect you to understand, Gabe,” she said, in a voice barely above a whisper.

I glared at her. “Fiona, don’t give me that. I’m not about to stand here and let you wallow in self-pity. Now, you can either tell me what’s going on with you, or I drag you kicking and screaming back out into the living room and we get to work.”

As she continued to avoid my gaze, Fiona dropped her head. Silky, blonde strands of hair wrapped around her face, concealing it and her state of mind from me.

“I’m not wallowing in self-pity,” she grumbled. “As I said before, I don’t expect you to understand.”

“Fiona, I’m going to be perfectly frank with you. What you’re doing—this behavior that you’re engaging in right now—has the very real potential of impacting the business in a negative way. This is not just something between you and me, but something far bigger. There are literally thousands of jobs at stake and hundreds of billions of dollars. Now, we—you and I—have an obligation to fulfill our commitment to the investors tomorrow. If this were something that I could manage on my own, believe me I would.”

As I finished my thought, Fiona looked up at me.

“What are you trying to say, Gabe?” she asked.

“I’m not trying to say anything, Fiona. I believe I just did. You are taking a personal issue and allowing it to affect a work-related outcome. Not only that, but the decision you’ve made affects the lives of many, many people.”

Fiona shook her head and stood from the bed. “Gabe, I know you don’t understand or you don’t want to believe that I’m telling you the truth, but I am. I can’t explain any of this to you right now. I just want to be left alone.”

I almost couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I’d thought we’d come so far, but in that moment I realized that, in many ways, she was still the same scared girl I met at the bar that night. Even so, getting angry, lashing out and saying things I’d probably regret later, wouldn’t get me anywhere. And so, going against my gut, I decided to leave things as they were.

“All right, Fiona,” I said, as I exhaled an exhausted breath. “Let’s forget about this for the time being. I’ll leave you alone and give you some time to think.”

Fiona nodded as she looked at me. “Thank you, Gabe I really appreciate it, and believe it or not, I’m very sorry.”

I nodded my head. “Let’s hope we don’t all wind up sorry as well.”



FIONA

I awoke to the sound of my cell phone vibrating on the night stand nearby. Through half-opened eyes I groped for it, grabbing it and bringing it towards my face for a closer look. Swiping it on, I noticed I’d received an email from the lab.

I opened it, read through it, and shot into a seated position.

“Holy shit!” I exclaimed, covering my mouth with my hand.

Reaching down, I ripped the sheets away from my body and within seconds I’d exited the bedroom.

“Gabe!” I called out. “Gabe! Where are you?”

Frantic, I scanned the interior of the suite but didn’t see him anywhere.

“Gabe!”

Just then, from out on the veranda, he yelled back, “I’m here!”

I walked as fast as I could, nearly to the point of jogging, as I exited the suite and made my way out into the warm night air. I noticed Gabe at the far end of the veranda, leaning against the railing and looking out towards the bay.

“Hey, you’re up,” he said, as I approached. His tone, far from sounding annoyed, carried a hint of concern. “Feeling better?”

I’d continued to walk towards him, only half-listening. Still flabbergasted by the email I’d received, I stuttered in response, “What?”

Gabe frowned at my frazzled demeanor. “I asked you if you are feeling better.”

By then, I’d closed to within a foot or so of him. “Yes. I-I’m feeling better.”