Conquest of the Heart (37 page)

“I just had a question to ask,” she said,
remaining at the door.

“What’s that?” Gavin asked, irritated. He
started reading over paperwork as she spoke.

“Did you know that Faith is married?”

Gavin dropped the papers, looked up and said,
“That explains a lot.”

Chandler looked at him, confused. Gavin
hastily stood up and walked to the door. He stopped and looked at
her.

“I’ll deal with you later.” He knew she had
to have done something irrational to uncover this information.

Gavin walked to Faith’s office. Her door was
closed, so he walked in without knocking. As he closed the door
again behind him, he leaned up against it.

Faith glanced up. “What are you doing?”

“I know why you won’t let me make love to
you.”

Faith froze. She waited for him to say
more.

Gavin walked closer to her desk and stopped.
“You’re married. That’s what you were going to tell me, isn’t
it?”

Faith closed her eyes, sucked in her lips and
replied, “Yes.” She sighed deeply, pushed away from the desk, stood
and walked to the window.

Gavin watched her for a moment. Anger began
to rise within him. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he snapped. “All this
time you never said one word.”

Without turning to face him, Faith replied,
“I wanted to tell you. I didn’t expect anything to happen between
us. I tried to get you to leave me alone from the beginning.”

“If you had told me you were married, I would
have left you alone.”

“Really Gavin?” she asked, whipping her head
around. “If you had known months ago that I was off limits, you
would have left me alone? Are you sure about that?”

Gavin stood quietly, thinking about her
question. “Maybe not, but at least I would have known what I was up
against. I can’t help the way I feel about you. It doesn’t change
the fact that you weren’t completely honest with me.”

“You never asked. I never had a chance to lie
about it. Had you asked me, I would have told you.”

Gavin moved towards her, grabbed her left
hand and said, “You don’t wear a ring, Faith. There are no pictures
in here of your husband. How would I even know to ask?”

Faith pulled her hand away, and walked past
him as she said, “I don’t like to be reminded.” She stopped in the
middle of her office.

“What? What does that mean, Faith? Is he
abusive?” he asked, turning around to look at her.

“He’s dying,” she quietly said. Tears were
beginning to well up in her eyes.

Silence filled the room. Gavin didn’t know
what to say as his anger almost instantly subsided. Needing to wipe
her face, Faith walked to her desk to get a tissue.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “Do you want to tell me
about it?” He sat down in one of her chairs.

Closing her eyes for a moment, Faith nodded.
She pulled another tissue from the box and walked back to the
window. “Emile and I have been married for almost three years,” she
began as she nervously played with her necklace. “Six months into
our marriage, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Because it was
discovered early, surgery to remove the gland was our best option.
Chances of the cancer having spread were slim, but in almost forty
percent of the cases, the cancer returns. We tried to stay
positive. Six weeks after the surgery, he was almost back to
normal, except he was unable to function sexually. It was almost a
year before we could enjoy each other again. Things appeared to be
getting back on track. Then one day, Emile and I had gone for a
walk and he stopped, doubled over in excruciating pain. I managed
to get him home and called the doctor. While we waited for the
doctor to arrive, Emile had a sudden urge to go to the bathroom. I
helped him to the powder room. Seconds later, he screamed. I ran in
and found him curled up on the floor. There was blood in his urine,
and the pain had gotten worse. I sat down and held him until the
doctor got there. When he did, he gave Emile some pain medication.
He was taken to the hospital for some tests. Results showed that
the cancer was back, and it had spread. They started him on
chemotherapy immediately. Emile was so weak. I stopped working and
stayed home to take care of him.”

Faith dabbed tears from her eyes, took a deep
breath, and continued. “For six months, I did whatever he needed me
to do. I took him in for treatment, bathed him, fed him on his bad
days. I even kept the house as sterile as I could, keeping fresh
linens on his bed daily. I was exhausted, and he noticed. He
managed to convince me that he would be happier, and so would I, if
I was working and we had a nurse caring for him while I was working
or traveling. Adrian happened to be looking for a PR Director, and
there’s a center here in New York that specializes in prostate
cancer treatment. So we moved. Then I met you,” she said, turning
to face him.

“Again, I’m sorry Faith. How are the
treatments going? Is there a chance he’ll get better?”

“No. The cancer is terminal. Emile stopped
going to his treatments two months after we got here. They made his
so sick that the only thing he could do was stay medicated to deal
with it, and he was always asleep. He still sleeps a lot, but at
least he’s not sick from the chemo.”

“How much longer does he have?” Gavin
asked.

“Two, maybe three months. Four if we’re
lucky.”

“You said you don’t like to be reminded. What
did you mean?”

“I have to be reminded every day or night
that I’m home, that my husband is not going to be with me much
longer,” she said through tears, her voice trembling. “I escape
reality when I’m here. I don’t need the reminders. That’s why I
don’t have any pictures and no longer wear my ring.” Faith sniffed
and reached for another tissue on her desk. She blotted her eyes
and wiped her nose, blowing gently.

Gavin felt nothing but empathy, as he watched
once again, this extremely strong woman, trying to deal with a
great deal of pain the best way she knew how.

“Does he know about us?” asked Gavin.

“Yes. Emile encourages me to be with you. He
has this insane idea that he will be able to go in peace knowing
that there is someone here for me, that I won’t be alone. He’d been
trying to get me to meet another man as soon as we knew the cancer
had returned. He doesn’t even like me to be at home. He kicks me
out most of the time, telling me to go have fun. It’s quite
annoying. That’s why I spend so much time with you.”

“It sounds like he really loves you,” said
Gavin.

“He does,” she sobbed. They were silent for a
minute. “I would have told you sooner, but the trips brought us
closer than I anticipated. Things began to get complicated and I
didn’t want to lose you,” she said, as tears welled up in her eyes
again.

Gavin stood up, stepped in front of where
Faith was standing, and hugged her close. Faith buried her face in
his chest, sobbing uncontrollably.

“Oh, beautiful. It’ll take more than this to
get rid of me.” He pulled back slightly, keeping one arm around
her, wiping tears from her face with his free hand. He gazed into
her eyes and said, “I love you, Faith.”

Faith sighed in relief, thanking him with her
eyes for finally telling her what she already knew. She pulled back
into him, squeezing him hard, not wanting to let go. Then a thought
occurred to her.

With tears still in her eyes, she looked at
Gavin and asked, “How did you find out?”

“What?” Gavin asked, trying to delay the
inevitable. “You don’t,” he paused, “you don’t really want to know
- ”

Faith’s sorrowed turned to anger. Gavin
couldn’t catch her, she was out of the door and down the hall so
fast.

“Faith,” he called. He ran down the hall,
“Faith, wait.”

‘Smack!’
It was too late. Faith slapped Chandler so hard, she flew back
in her chair and almost toppled over. “How dare you violate my
privacy,” Faith steamed. She was red with fire, and tears were
still rolling down her face.

Chandler sat there, shocked and holding her
face. Everyone around her had stopped what they were doing and
watched the scene taking place.

Gavin tried to grab Faith’s arm, but she
shook it away from him.

“You’ve finally gone too far. Get your things
and go. I don’t ever want to see your face again.”

“It was going to come out sooner or later.
You can’t fire me, bitch,” shouted Chandler, getting in Faith’s
face.

As Faith lifted her hand to slap her again,
Gavin caught her arm. She snatched her arm away and said, “I told
you if you ever called me a bitch again, you’re fired!”

“You can’t - ”

“I can,” Gavin interrupted, as he stood
between the two women. “This was uncalled for, Chandler. You were
wrong to meddle in Faith’s private affairs. Leave your things.
You’re taking a leave of absence with pay until further notice. Go
now, before I change my mind and fire you like I’d like to.”

Chandler grabbed her purse and stormed away
from her cube, pushing through the crowd that had formed.

Gavin walked Faith back to her office. She
walked to her desk and grabbed another tissue.

“You’re going home, too.”

“What? She was the - ”

“You’ve had a very emotional morning. The
truth is you shouldn’t have hit her. We could easily have a lawsuit
on our hands if we don’t deal with this with civility.”

Faith shook her head in disbelief, but knew
he was right. “I’m sorry, Gavin. She crossed the line though.”

“Hey,” he said, touching her cheek, “I
understand why you’re upset. You don’t have to convince me. I was
planning to deal with her after we spoke. I probably should’ve done
that first. Go home and get some rest, okay? I’ll call you
later.”

Faith huffed, got her purse and keys from the
drawer and started to walk out. Gavin stopped her, pulling her in
to kiss her. Her hands rested on his arms as she returned the kiss.
With no other words spoken, she left for the day.

Gavin needed to talk to Adrian about
everything that he had just learned, and all that had transpired
afterward. He walked to his office.

“Agnes, is he in?”

“Yes, Gavin. Go ahead.”

Gavin knocked and opened Adrian’s office
door.

“Gavin, we’re not scheduled to meet for
another hour. Is something wrong?”

Gavin sat down and looked at Adrian with a
serious look on his face.

“Did you know Faith was married?”

Adrian held his composure. “I was wondering
when we’d be having this conversation. How much did she tell
you?”

“In a nutshell, her husband is sick and
dying, and that’s why they moved to New York. Is there more?”

“Much more.” Adrian pushed a button on his
phone. “Agnes, hold all of my calls, please.”

“Yes, Adrian.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

“What I’m about to tell you, Faith is unaware
of,” said Adrian.

“Okay, but we don’t like to keep secrets from
each other,” replied Gavin.

“You’ll reconsider when I’m done.” Adrian
proceeded to tell Gavin about Faith and Emile.

* * *

Faith finished the last of the laundry and
took it upstairs. She wanted to get clean linens on Emile’s bed
before he returned from his treatment. She was so tired. After
dressing the bed, she sat in a chair in the room, stared out the
window, and eventually fell asleep.

When Emile got home, he was weak as usual
from the chemo. Faith was normally waiting to help him to his bed.
He looked around, but she wasn’t there. The driver helped him to
his room instead, which is where he found her. She didn’t even move
when they came in. Once comfortable in bed, he thanked the driver,
then gently tried to wake her.

“Faith,” he said, clearing his throat. She
didn’t answer.

“Faith,” he said a little louder. Faith
finally woke up.

“You’re back,” she said, trying to focus.
“How are you doing?”

“Same as always, weak and still sick,” he
forced a smile.

“I’ll go get some soup started for you.” She
started to get up.

“No, I want to talk to you about something.”
He patted the bed for her to sit down.

Faith sat down next to him on the bed.
“What’s going on?”

“I don’t like how tired you look lately. Have
you been out at all? Have you spent time with friends or your
parents?”

“Emile, you need me here. I don’t have time
to go out. Everyone understands that.”

“I would really like it if you got some fresh
air and had a little more fun. I’ll manage around here.”

“Absolutely not. You’re not strong enough to
do things around here on your own. Don’t even think about it.”

“You might meet someone, someone who can take
care of you better than I can.”

“I hate it when you say that. I’m not
interested in meeting someone else. You’re my husband.”

“I’d be okay, even happy, if you did.”

Faith was growing angry. “Stop this nonsense.
I’m your wife. Stop trying to give me away like some piece of
furniture.”

Emile sighed, “Faith, that’s not what I’m
trying to do. I’m not really a husband right now. I can’t touch
you, I can’t please you, I can’t do anything. I feel awful.”

“This is not your fault. It just happened. We
deal with things the best way we know how, but we don’t try to get
rid of our spouses in the process. Whether you can touch me or not
doesn’t change the fact that I’m your wife and you’re my husband. I
don’t want to hear this again from you. Alright?” She gently
touched his face.

Emile nodded. “Alright.”

Faith kissed him and said, “Now, would you
like some soup?”

“Yes, that would be nice.”

“I’ll be back,” she said as she left the
room.

Emile was now frustrated. He had been trying
for weeks to get Faith to listen to him. He hated that she did all
of the work by herself, and she was starting to get thin from
taking care of him first, and not herself. He reached for the phone
and made a call. He was going to need more help.