Conquest of the Heart (11 page)

“Well, I didn’t graduate, and I’m not a
military general or anything. This position hasn’t changed me, even
though I’ll be more involved than ever before. No, no special
treatment is necessary,” he said smiling and taking a sip of his
drink.

Every single woman in the group was hanging
on every word he said. It was uncanny.

“Okay. Hey, you don’t know everyone here.”
From left to right, Carter began to introduce the people Gavin
didn’t know. They raised their drinks to each other with each
introduction. “To my immediate left is Donovan, there’s Michele,
Lauren, Jim, Christopher, Shannon, Tracey, and last but not least,
Chandler.”

Chandler had been waiting a long time to meet
Gavin. She knew of his reputation to choose specific women to meet
his needs, and she wanted to be a part of that elite group. The
opportunity just never presented itself in the office. She knew
there was still a lot of time left in the evening, so when she
could get him alone, she’d talk to him.

“It’s nice to meet you all. Is everyone
having a good time?” They answered yes, and nodded their heads.

“Good,” said Gavin. “I’m sure there’s going
to be a few surprises as the night goes on, so stay tuned.”

Carter pulled him to the side and said, “Hey,
did you see anyone of interest for you in the group? Chandler looks
like a good choice.”

Gavin shook his head, “No. She’s not my type.
She’s your type,” he said pointing at Carter with his drink
hand.

“I’m thinking she’s more interested in you.
She didn’t look at me once.”

“You know I’m not into that kind of woman,
Carter.” They were walking alone together across the yard.

“Oh, that’s right. You like classy
whores.”

“I don’t like whores at all. I’m offended
that you think that of me. I like classy women. If, and only if,
our feelings are mutual about sleeping together, then I’m all over
it. If not, then we part ways. It’s that simple.”

“Sorry. I was just kidding.”

“I don’t joke about that, okay? I’m not into
things like that, and never will be.” He patted Carter on the back
and said, “Hey, enough serious talk. Let’s go have a good
time.”

Carter nodded his head as they turned back to
join the rest of the party.

Adrian proposed a toast, briefly recognized
Gavin’s accomplishments, and welcomed the newcomers to the family.
Gavin didn’t want a big deal being made of his promotion, which
Adrian appreciated. Afterwards, Gavin wanted to spend some time
alone, and went to sit in the lounge chairs that overlooked the
ocean. His time was short lived, as Chandler had been waiting for
this moment all night.

“Hi, Gavin,” she said, sitting in the other
chair.

“Hi.” He looked over. “Chandler, right?”

“Yes. I’m glad you remembered,” she said,
smiling a sultry smile.

“So, what do you do for the company?”

“I’m one of the marketers.”

“Oh, okay. Are you one of the new members to
the family?”

“I am. I started six months ago exactly.”
Chandler was wearing a very short skirt, and an extremely low cut
blouse. She hoped Gavin was looking, although it was kind of hard
not to be.

“What are your thoughts about the company? Do
you like working for us?” Gavin liked to ask this question. He had
yet, even among the women he chose to be with, to get an
intelligent answer.

“It’s good. I’m still getting used to
everything, but everyone seems really nice.” Wrong answer.

Gavin rolled his eyes. “I’m glad things are
going well for you.”

“How’s your new role going?
You’ve done a lot in the past few years from what I’ve heard. It
shocks me that you had to work for it.”
‘Here we go,’
he thought.

“Chandler, what do you really want?”

“You mean, like in life, or in the next five
years?” she asked, confused.

“No.” He kept his eyes ahead of him, watching
the waves. “What do you want from me?”

Since Gavin’s lifestyle was not a secret, he
was often approached by women who were willing to please him
whenever he wanted. He always turned them down. He liked to be the
pursuer.

“I guess I don’t understand.”

‘Now she thinks I’m
stupid,’
he thought again.
‘Bad idea.’

“You’ve been watching me all night. You’ve
been waiting for an opportunity to get me alone. So I’ll ask you
again? What do you want from me?”

She sat silent for a moment, shuffled her
feet, and poked her lips out as she tried to think of the best way
to say it. “I was wondering if I could perhaps be one of your ‘go
to’ women?”

“So you want to sleep with me?”

“I suppose that’s what I’m trying to say,”
she said, looking directly at him now.

“You’re not my type. I’m sorry. Maybe you can
talk to - ”

“I can do things for you
that your other women won’t do,” she interrupted.
‘He has to say yes,’
she
thought.

Gavin was somewhat interested now. “Like
what?”

“I can be available to you whenever you need
me to be. Day or night. That way things are convenient for you at
all times. I would be exclusively yours so you don’t have to
concern yourself with STD’s.”

“Well the last part is not something I’m
worried about because I’m always protected, and I’m very picky
about my women. The women I sleep with don’t sleep around and I
never sleep with prostitutes. Ever.”

“I knew that. I’m sorry if I implied that you
did. The thing is, I’ve been waiting for you to approach me, and
well, you haven’t.”

“Like I said, you’re not my type. I don’t
like to be approached.” He paused. “But what you said about being
easily accessible intrigues me. Give me your number. If it becomes
necessary for me to call on you, I will.”

Chandler fumbled around in her purse and
found a business card. “This has my cell phone number on it. It’s
on all the time.”

“Thanks. I’m not guaranteeing that I’ll call,
okay? I don’t want to get your hopes up. But, you never know.”

“That’s all I can ask, right?” Chandler stood
up, smiled and said, “Nice to finally meet you, Gavin.”

She walked away, excited that she at least
had her foot in the door. If she could get him to fall in love with
her, she would be sitting pretty financially.

Gavin just sat quietly, flipping the card in
his hands.

Chandler waited patiently, and Gavin called
on her a month later. She had become his ‘go to’ girl.

* * *

Monday morning, Chandler made a point to get
to work early. She didn’t want to wait until the end of the day to
speak with Faith about Gavin.

She logged on to the network, checked her
email and her schedule. Faith usually came in around seven, so she
was watching the clock obsessively. She distracted herself by
performing more menial tasks to get ready for the day. Before she
knew it, it was time. “Let’s go get this over with,” she said
aloud.

She walked away from her desk and began to
stroll down the hallway towards the executive offices. Gavin and
Carter’s office doors were still closed, the rooms vacant for now.
She continued down the hallway, reaching her destination. Faith’s
door was open.

Faith had come in early again to work on the
outlines. This week was going to be extremely busy with project
meetings both in the morning and afternoon. She was going to be
working at least three nights this week.

Chandler knocked on her door. When Faith
looked up, she showed no emotion, and spoke very coldly.

“What is it Chandler?” she asked, sitting
back in her chair.

“I need to talk to you about Gavin,” Chandler
said as she walked into the office.

She was about to sit down when Faith said,
“Don’t sit. I can’t imagine this conversation lasting very
long.”

“If that’s the way you’d like it, okay. I’ll
stand. Is this the way you treat all of your guests?”

“You’re not a guest. What do you want?” Faith
asked, practically snarling. This was not how she wanted to start
her morning.

“I want you to leave Gavin alone.”

“Before you come into this office thinking
you can tell me what to do, you need to have your facts straight.
It’s Gavin you need to be talking to.”

“Oh, I’ve talked to Gavin. Seems you’re
messing with his head, making him want you. He gets all riled up
and is a complete mess when he comes to see me. You need to stop
playing games with him,” she said sternly.

“Sounds like a personal problem. I’m only
going to tell you this once more. Don’t tell me what to do. You
don’t know what you’re talking about. If you’re not careful, this
will be the last conversation you have as an employee of C&A.”
Faith held her composure, and continued to look at her,
emotionless. Not an ounce of anger showed on her face, though she
was raging inside.

“He’s mine. You will never have him.”

“Right, because I’m just a ‘notch’ as you
called it. Well, if that’s the case, when he’s all done with me,
he’ll come running back to you, and this conversation was never
necessary.” She stared at Chandler, waiting for her to leave
because that was her cue.

And leave she did. She didn’t have anything
else to say, nor could she. She just turned around and walked out
Faith’s office.

Faith waited a moment before
she allowed her anger to show. She stood up and paced back and
forth in front of her window. She pinched her lips, frowning as she
went along. “Humph. Femme stupide. Elle a beaucoup de nerf.
Eloignez-vous de Gavin mon cul.” (
Stupid
woman. She has a lot of nerve. Stay away from Gavin, my
ass.
)
At that
moment, Gavin appeared at her door. He heard her speaking, but this
time, she wasn’t on the phone. He looked and no one was there. She
continued to pace, with her hands balled up into fists.

She continued cussing
Chandler out, “Dites-moi quoi faire. Je tire ton cul si vous ne
quittez pas me deranger. Ne sais meme pas ce que voul parlez. Vous
avez besoin a l’esprit de votre propre entreprise.”
(
Tell me what to do. I’ll kick your ass if
you don’t stop bothering me. Don’t even know what you’re talking
about. You need to mind your own business.
)
She stopped, faced the window, and
crossed her arms, still unaware that Gavin was there.

‘
It’s one thing for you to
speak in French, but to be angry and speaking it? I’m going to have
to go back home,’
Gavin thought. He figured
he’d better let her know he was there, or he would have to jump her
right in her office.

He cleared his throat. “Who pissed you off
this morning?”

She whipped around and glared at him. If
looks could kill, he would surely have been dead at that moment.
“No, let me ask that again. Who are you going to kill this
morning?”

“I need coffee,” she angrily said. “I can’t
go to our meeting like this.”

“Who’ve you been talking to? Did something
happen at home? Did someone cut you off this morning on your way
in? I mean, I don’t even get this kind of rise out of you. What
happened?”

Faith just looked at him with fire in her
eyes. “If she talks to me again, she’s fired.”

That was all she had to say.
Gavin knew that Chandler had been there.
‘Damn it!’
he thought.

Faith grabbed her purse and started walking
towards her door before pausing, “You comin’?”

Gavin didn’t know if it was safe. If he
didn’t go, she would kill him. If he went with her, she would kill
him. “Um, if I go with you, do you promise not to kill me?”

She chuckled. “I’m sorry. I promise. The
fresh air will calm me down.”

They walked out together,
heading towards the nearest Starbucks. Agnes watched as they left
the office. ‘
This is something
positive,’
she thought.

When they returned, Gavin thought it would be
a good idea for the two of them to discuss their schedule for the
week.

“We will be in meetings all day, every day
this week, which means we’ll have to work evenings to prepare for
next week. You were anticipating that, correct?”

“Yes I was. Three nights, right? Will Carter
be joining us?”

“Again, Carter will cover the promotions side
of things on his own.”

“Would you like to tell me what’s going on
with the two of you? It can’t be me.”

“Honestly, it is you. But I’m not prepared to
discuss why.”

“A fight would be worth more your while if
you were actually going to get something out of it. Neither of you
will get anything from me.”

“Maybe he won’t, but I will,” Gavin smiled
with confidence.

“Just because you have a little bit of
information about me that no one else does, doesn’t mean it’s going
to work to your advantage.”

“I beg to differ. You’re strong, but you’re
not that strong. I don’t care who you are, there is no way that
you’ll be able to resist me for too much longer. You’ll give
in.”

Faith rolled her eyes. “Who brought this up
anyway?”

“You did,” Gavin chuckled. He noticed she was
becoming uncomfortable, which was good for him. Perhaps she was
beginning to break.

“On a different note, can we talk about what
happened this morning, that is, if you’ve calmed down enough to
talk about it?”

“No,” Faith said flatly.

“Okay, how about, I’m your boss, and I want
you to talk to me about it?” Gavin needed to know how this would
impact her work.

“What can I say Gavin? The woman is over the
top in love with you, and she seems to think I’m standing in the
way.”

“She’s not in love with me, she’s in love
with my money,” Gavin said sternly. “What happened?”