Mine to Steal (Mine to Love)

by T. K. Rapp

  In the future, I suggest if you have concerns about Ms. Young’s career, you take it up with her, as her decisions are her own and none of my business. I am certain wherever she goes, her professionalism and abilities will take her far in this industry.

  Regards,

  Trey Miller

  CEO

  T.M. Enterprises

  I hit send and try to focus on the day ahead. Faith hasn’t called me, and I haven’t attempted to contact her either, but this time it’s different. It was a choice I had to make for my own sanity, so I’m not on edge and lashing out at everyone like I did last week.

  I miss her, but I had to do it. And it’s obvious that she felt the same way because I haven’t heard from her either.

  * * *

  Fiona sent me a text earlier to confirm our date for tonight and although I’m not up for it, I’m going to do my best to enjoy it. The Bistro has an excellent menu, and it’s been far too long since I’ve been there.

  Dinner at this place at seven is packed, so I got her a few minutes early to get our table. I gave the hostess my name and Fiona’s so she would know I’m already here. The waiter comes by and I order a bottle of wine; I hope she likes red.

  “Trey?” a soft southern voice asks, drawing my eyes up. I smile at her timid appearance and stand to introduce myself.

  “You must be Fiona,” I offer for her as I reach out for her hand. She takes a seat across from me and sets her purse on the empty chair between us.

  “It’s nice to finally meet you,” she says. “I had to fly out to Texas when we were supposed to meet last time. My dad was sick, and I was really worried.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “Oh thanks, but he’s okay now.”

  “That’s good.” The waiter comes by and brings the wine. “Do you like red?”

  “I do,” she beams, her dark blue eyes shining in the candlelight. Damn, she’s got a great smile. “Will you excuse me, I need to go to the ladies’ room.”

  She walks away and it gives me a moment to scan over her body, which is a nice view. Her olive complexion and dark brown hair give her an exotic look, and if it weren’t for thick heavy drawl, I’d think she was from California. Of course I compare her to Faith whose fair complexion is flawless, like porcelain, and the amount of sass she can deliver with the narrowing of her eyes is sexy and I’m not sure she realizes it. Fiona is beautiful, but there is something about Faith that hooks me every time I see her.

  Fiona emerges from the restroom hallway, sauntering toward our table with a sexy grin. The waiter is pouring the wine into our glasses and leaves as she takes her seat. We settle into easy conversation about the typical get to know you questions.

  “So what is it you do?” I ask before taking a sip of my wine.

  “I’m a second grade teacher.”

  “You must be a patient person,” I laugh because there’s no way I could do what she does. “How long have you been a teacher?”

  “This is my second year, so I’m not burnt out yet.” She smiles. “But really, I love it. I always wanted to be a teacher. I used to get my younger sisters and make them sit at a table so I could tell them what to do.” She laughs at the memory and then furrows her brow. “On second thought, maybe I like telling people what to do. What about you, Kayla tells me you own a marketing company?”

  “Yeah, I’ve been doing this since I got out of college, but I started my own business almost four years ago.”

  “That’s great,” she says as she rests her elbows on the table. She seems to truly enjoy our conversation and I do, too. “It must be nice to be your own boss and not have to answer to anyone.”

  I can’t help but laugh at the notion. “Most people think that, but I have clients to I answer to, so I’m not really my own boss. But it is nice to pick and choose whom I take on. Which right now, is pretty much anyone.”

  “Would I recognize anything you’ve done?” She leans forward and rests her chin on her clasped hands. I think about the local clients I have and the first one that pops into my head is the local grocery chain. Everyone around here knows them, and when I give their name, she recognizes them. “That’s so neat,” she remarks before the waiter comes out to take our order, halting any further conversation.

  The remainder of the evening has been enjoyable. To say Fiona is only beautiful, charming, and smart would be an understatement. I actually enjoy her company, it’s easy. Granted it’s a first date, but easy nonetheless. The waiter brings out the bill, and I stuff my credit card into the sleeve and hand it back to him.

  “This was nice, Trey, thank you.” I’m not sure show long we’ve been here, but the restaurant crowd is thinning.

  We stand up to leave, and I walk behind her as we are hit with the cold night air. Her coat is draped over her arm, so I take it from her and help her put it on. She gives me a look of, ‘what next,’ but there is no next. Not tonight.

  “It was really great meeting you, Trey,” she says in a shaky tone, revealing that awkward moment of how to end the night.

  “You, too,” I laugh softly.

  “I’m sorry, I’m out of practice.” She smiles. “Do we hug? Shake hands? Walk away?”

  I like her vulnerability and candidness, it’s cute. I open my arms and step forward to give her, what can only be described as an incredibly awkward hug. I thought it was the way to go, but clearly I was wrong. It feels strange and forced hugging her; she’s too rigid and seems as put off by it as I am. When we let each other go, the tone has shifted. “Thanks for tonight, Fiona. I had fun.”

  “Me, too.” She walks off, and her smile disappears from her lips.

  Since she demanded an update when the date ended, I shoot of a text to Kayla

  Me: Date’s over

  Kayla: Give me five minutes. Call in a sec

  I climb into my car and start making the twenty-minute drive back to my place and think about how the evening went. My thoughts are interrupted by Kayla, who’s itching for information.

  “So,” she asks when I answer. “What did you think? She’s great, right?”

  “Yeah, she is.”

  “But?”

  “But what?”

  “There was a pause, that translates to ‘she is, but.’ So what is it?”

  “Honestly Kay, I’m too busy lately to pursue anything. I need to focus on work.”

  “Are you kidding me? Is that what you’re going to pass off as your excuse for letting an amazing woman slip through your fingers?”

  “It’s not an excuse; it’s the truth,” I argue, irritated at her dissection of my words.

  “Don’t take me for a fool, Trey. We’ve been friends far too long, and I know you. This has nothing to do with work and nothing to do with Fiona. This is about Faith.”

  “How is this about Faith? I haven’t talked to her.”

  “Exactly. You’re not talking to her, yet it’s preventing you from giving anyone else a shot. So why don’t you admit it; you’re in love with that woman.”

  First Jett, now Kayla, what are they seeing that I’m not.

  “We’re friends - well, we would be if we were speaking. She’s with someone else, so friends is all we can be.”

  “That doesn’t mean you don’t love her.”

  “Alright, on that note, I just got home and I have some things I need to take care of, so I’ll let you go. Bye, Kay.”

  I pull the phone from my ear to hang up but I hear her call my name so I bring it back to my ear.

  “You know I love you, Trey, and I want the best for you. You have to stop falling for unavailable women. I think it’s your way of protecting yourself, but you’re missing out on so much by closing yourself off. Think about what I’m saying, okay?”

  “Yeah, I will,” I concede.

  “And, Trey?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Stop calling me Kay.”

  I let out a soft laugh in response, and she does as well. “Bye Kay-La.”

  Chapter
26

  I hate Mondays.

  It seems there are always fires I have to put out from something that happens on Friday, but everyone fails to deal with it until Monday. No matter how nicely things appear on Friday, Monday shows up and kicks our ass.

  As soon as I walked in this morning, I was inundated with phone calls and emails I have to handle since half the office is out sick with the flu, Jett included.

  I suppose it was good Cheyenne wasn’t around because by the time I got home from my date with Fiona, I saw my brother laid out on the couch shivering with a trashcan on the floor next to him. I’m not good with taking care of sick people, so I gave him some Sprite and medicine and told him to go to his room to sleep. Yesterday, he was much worse so I drove him to the urgent care to see what he had. After a quick swab, turned out he had both strains of the flu virus, and they dosed him with meds and instructed him to get lots of rest.

  I’m glad I got my flu shot when I went in for my physical last month.

  Hattie walks into my office and starts to say something but I stop her. Her nose is red and her eyes look glassy. “Are you getting sick, too?”

  “I think so. Evan’s been sick for a week, and I’ve been taking care of him; I think it finally got me.”

  “Jeez, Hattie, have you felt like this all day? It’s almost three, you need to go to the doctor or go home.” I point to the door.

  “But there’s barely anyone here,” she argues through a cough.

  “I appreciate your dedication but anyone that is here doesn’t want what you have. Please, go home and get some rest, we can handle it.”

  She nods and turns to leave but spins back around and almost falls from the sudden movement. “Cal called while you were on the phone. He needs you to call him back.”

  “Alright, I’ll do that right now. Are you sure you’re okay to get home?”

  “Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

  Cavette’s pull up his number and wait for him to answer the call.

  “Cal. How are you doing?”

  I hear him muttering something to someone, but it’s muffled and I can’t make heads or tails of what he’s saying. When he finally responds, I hear the edge in his voice. “Trey, we have a big problem, and I really need your help.”

  “What’s going on?” I ask, concerned about the project.

  “I need you to send a contract over immediately for you to handle our public relations. Can you do that?”

  I’m stunned by the request, but I’ll do whatever needs to be done. “Absolutely. Can you tell me what’s going on?”

  “I sent some information over to Rock Solid for them to include in a press release regarding my son, Joel. He was arrested this weekend for a DUI and the local news got wind of it and ran it in the early morning news. I was doing my best to keep it out of the spotlight, but as things do, it got out. The email I sent contained information that was not in the police report. I highlighted the information to be included, but instead of rewriting the information, they sent out the entire forwarded email.”

  Shit, this is Faith’s gig.

  “Cal, I have to say, I’m a little shocked by this news.”

  “You’re shocked?” he almost yells through the phone. “How do you think I feel? I pay them good money, and they don’t seem to care a lick about this.”

  “Cal, you have to know Faith is incredibly dedicated to your project, and she thinks very highly of you. I can assure you there’s no way that she would let this happen.”

  “It doesn’t matter, I’ve talked to their president and told him effective immediately, I no longer require their services. So go ahead and send those contracts over so we can send a new release out to remedy this situation as best as possible.”

  “I’ll send that right away. Have you talked to Faith about this?” I have to ask; because there’s no way she’d allow this to happen, especially to Cal.

  “It wasn’t Ms. Young,” he expels a heavy sigh, and I cringe because I know she’s going to take the flack.

  “Then who was it?”

  “Bradley Emerson.”

  Son of a bitch.

  “You have to tell Faith this. It’s not fair to her that she’s going to take the fall.”

  “Look, I like Ms. Young, she’s incredibly talented, but right now my concern is with my company and more importantly, my family. I need to fix this problem that Rock Solid has made ten times worse. Are you onboard?”

  “Absolutely,” I push a few buttons before continuing; “I’ve sent the contracts over to you.”

  “Thank you, Trey.”

  The conversation replays in my head as I try to piece together everything that’s taken place in the last twenty minutes.

  There was an incident. Cavette needed a press release to address the issue and Brad botched it up, but there’s not a doubt in my mind Faith is going to be the one it all comes down on.

  My mind immediately goes back to the email from Brad on Saturday. Does that somehow play into this whole mess?

  What does Brad have to gain from screwing Faith over and losing a client for Rock Solid?

  He did everything he could to persuade Faith to stay with the company, going so far as to say it would be a step back to work for me. And his email to me, he was pretty confident she would stay where she was.

  I click the send and receive button for email to see if Cavette has sent over the information that needs to be corrected, and there’s an email from Faith.

  Young, Faith

  October 15, 2014

  To: Miller, Trey

  Subject: Cave

  Trey,

  As I am sure you are aware, Cal Cavette has fired Rock Solid as his PR company. At the very least, I thought we were friends; I never expect my friends to screw me over, yet here I am knee-deep in a mess not of my making.

  I should have listened. Early on, you told me you wanted the entire job. Hell, I wanted it, too. But I would never stoop to the underhanded measures you took to make me look bad. So I hope you are happy with your new contract.

  Do not call me.

  Faith

  When I finish reading her email, my confusion is dissipating, and the pieces are coming together in a rush. Brad knew about the job offer and wasn’t happy about it. The open relationship was his idea, and though I’m not sure how forthcoming the two of them are about whom they’re seeing, he knows we were working together on the project. If he suspected for a second something was going on between us, there’s nothing he wouldn’t do to get me out of the way.

  He doesn’t like to lose. Faith’s words about Brad repeat in my head.

  I need more answers, so I dial Cavette’s number again, and I’m thankful when he answers on the first ring. “We’re finishing up the contract right now, Trey.”

  “That’s fine, I’m already working on some things for you, but Cal, how did you know it was handled by Brad?” I ask, already sure of the answer.

  “I called her this weekend as soon as it happened, and he answered her phone. He informed me she was sick, and he would handle it for her.”

  “Who did he tell you to send the email to?”

  “He told me to send it to him,” he answers tersely.

  “I’m going to take care of this. As soon as you send the information, I’ll put a spin on the whole thing, and we’ll move on as planned. Maybe we can work up some sort of ‘give back,’ thing from this.”

  “Grayson should be sending this over in a few minutes. I appreciate your help, Trey.”

  We hang up and a part of the conversation comes back to me - Brad came to town after all. What made him come out after refusing because of their fight? Was Faith really sick, or was it a ploy by Brad to finally get what he wanted?

  One thing is for certain, Cave Camo and Outdoor and the Cavette family aren’t the only ones getting screwed over by this whole debacle. Faith’s career is on the chopping block because this nightmare can, and most likely will, get her fired, and no other public relations firms is going to go n
ear her.

  Brad is an envious person, and if the rumors are true about Faith, she was set to beat his record and there were sure to be accolades. I can’t imagine anyone being so selfish that they would purposely ruin the career of someone they are involved with.

  Chapter 27

  She has to know I would never do anything like this to ruin her career. Hell, I didn’t offer her a job as a ploy; I know she would be good for me - my company. Why would she think this is something I’m capable of? I need answers.

  When I call, I’m sent to her voicemail at the first ring, and I know she’s rejecting my calls, but I leave a message anyway.

  “Faith, it’s Trey. We need to talk. Now. You don’t know everything, and I don’t want to do this over the phone. But Brad is setting you up. You need to call me.”

  Somehow walking around the office, pacing back and forth, isn’t relieving my stress. Not that I really thought it would. I’m so anxious and pissed that if Brad were standing in front of me right now, I might be inclined to lay the asshole out.

  I grab my phone and send a text to her.

  Me: Did you get my message?

  When she doesn’t respond I text again.

  Me: We need to talk. Call me.

  I wait for a response, but after five minutes, I hear nothing so I fire off another one.

  Me: This isn’t how I wanted the job. You have to know that.

  She still doesn’t respond, and I run a frustrated hand through my hair groaning at her absolute hardheadedness. She has to know the truth, but she’s so pissed, I don’t know if she’ll answer. I take a chance and call her office and ask the receptionist for her, but she informs me she went home at noon - sick.

  I decide to send one more text to her.

  Me: You don’t know everything.

  I know she won’t respond because ‘stubborn’ is her unofficial middle name, as far as I’m concerned.

  Cavette emails the information and I read it over as more puzzle pieces coming into place. He also forwarded the email he sent to Brad and the timestamps are close to the same time Brad was emailing me. That means he was with Faith, and she was finally going to have the talk with him. Though, I’m not sure it would have gone in my favor anyway, Brad did his best to ensure she would see me the way he wanted her to.