Chapter Seventeen

Gavin

"What's going on?" I ask Sandra, Peter's assistant, as I walk into my cubicle. She was leaned over writing something but stood up when she heard my voice.

"I was writing you a note. Peter wants to talk to you."

"I thought he was out of town."

"He is. It's a phone meeting. He'll call in a few minutes. He wants you to go in the conference room."

"Why can't I do it here?"

She shrugs. "Don't know. He didn't say." She walks off.

Great. I'm probably in trouble for being late. I'm only an hour late, which is nothing. Besides, after all the overtime I've put in, I deserve to come in late now and then.

I go to the conference room and wait. Ten minutes later the phone rings.

I pick it up. "Mr. Farrell?"

"Gavin, it's Jett," he says in his usual upbeat tone. He should've gone into sales. He's always on, always full of energy, always got that huge grin on his face. Those traits works for politics too but a lot of politicians are dry and serious. Jett brings an energy wherever he goes. It's why people listen to him and why he's so persuasive. You talk to him for less than five minutes and find yourself agreeing to whatever he asked you to do, which explains how I ended up working for him.

"Where's Mr. Farrell?" I ask.

"He'll get on soon. He had another call to take care of. So how's Gavin doing today?"

"I'm fine. Busy."

"It's good to be busy. Successful people are busy."

There he goes again, trying to convince me to accept his definition of success. He does this all the time, not just to me, but the entire staff. He tells us what we should believe and what we should think is important, but he does so in a way that you don't really know he's doing it.

"You're going places, Bishop," he says. "Stick with me and you'll rise to the top."

Good thing this isn't a videoconference because I just rolled my eyes. I used to admire Jett and found his words to be inspiring, but that was before I was forced to listen to him constantly complimenting himself. He does it at every staff meeting, and then he reminds us how lucky we are to work for him. I'll admit he's smart and is an expert at persuasion, but as a person, I don't like him. He's fake and full of himself, even more so than the rich, pompous people I grew up around.

"Good morning, Gavin." It's Peter joining the call. "Sorry I was late. I was in a meeting. So how's everything at the office today?"

"I have the revised proposal ready for you to review."

"Excellent. I'll read it when I get back. Or better yet, email it to me. I'll review it on the plane. So anyway, we wanted to talk to you about the campaign."

"What about it?"

"Jett needs more people on staff, and given what a great job you've done so far, he's asked if he could have you full-time."

"And Peter was generous enough to agree to it," Jett says. "You'll be starting on Monday. I want you to go with me to a speech I'm giving next week in Philadelphia. It's at a convention for—"

"Wait," I say, stopping him. "I need to think about this. I don't know if I want the job."

Jett laughs. "Of course you want the job. Any kid your age interested in politics would kill for this job. And I'm not even making you apply. You've proved your worth, kid, and because of that, I'm willing to take you under my wing."

I roll my eyes again. He's such an egomaniac.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Peter says. "You'll be working alongside a man who might be president someday."

"I understand that," I say, "and I'm honored that you've offered this to me, but I'd prefer to stay where I'm at. I'm learning a lot about proposal writing and that's really what I want to do going forward."

"Then you'll have to find a job elsewhere," Peter says. "I've already found your replacement. In fact, she started today. I've had Sandra transfer all your projects to her so as of now, you're working full-time for Peter."

"Welcome to the team, Gavin," Jett says. "We'll get together for a drink next week and discuss your future."

I squeeze my eyes shut and clench my jaw, trying to hold in the anger I'm feeling right now. I just got fired from my job and told I have to work for Jett. And they expect me to be excited about it? If I tell them no, there's a chance they'll ruin my career. They're both well-connected in the field I want to work in, which means they could keep me from getting a job elsewhere. I can't risk that happening.

"So what do you think?" Jett asks. "Ready to get started?"

"Um, yeah, sure." I don't sound excited and I can't even fake it. Working full-time for Jett is the last thing I wanted. I was already spending too much time at that job. Now my whole life will be consumed by it. And I have to travel!

I'm going to have to tell Kate. I can't keep waiting. I'm going to have to tell her tonight.

"Clean out your desk and head over to your new office," Peter says. "Congratulations, Gavin! Your father would be proud."

My father would be proud, but only if he knew this is what I wanted to do. My dad never pushed me to go into politics. He let me choose what I wanted to do and he knew working in politics wasn't what I wanted long-term.

"I have to get going," Peter says. "Just so you know, Gavin, this isn't the end for us. I'd still welcome your input on future proposals if you're interested in a little moonlighting, but I doubt you'll have time. Jett keeps his staff very busy."

"Yeah, about that," I say. "I can't work beyond my regular hours. Kate needs help at the restaurant, especially once it's up and running. I promised her I'd be there on nights and weekends."

"She can hire some help," Peter says. "You're not a busboy, Gavin. You didn't go to college to clean up dirty dishes. You've got a future in politics and you're being trained by the best."

"I understand that but—"

"We'll discuss it later," Jett says. "For now, go check out your new office. I've left a list of items for you to get started on. Have a productive day!"

"Goodbye, Gavin," Peter says.

"Bye," I mutter as I hear the call disconnect. I drop my head and rub my temples. "Shit. What the hell am I gonna tell Kate? How do I explain this?"

A text pops up from her. I love you. Hope you're having a great day!

Yeah, it's great. Perfect. Actually, it was perfect this morning before I got to work. Being home and having breakfast with Kate is how I'd like to start every day, but this job will never let me do it.

Love you too, I text her back.

After packing up the few items I have in my cubicle, I head downtown to the campaign office. It's in a sleek, modern building with big windows that have great views of the city. I should love working here but it doesn't feel right, because it's not where I want to be. I didn't choose it, so being here feels more like a prison sentence than a great opportunity.

"What are you doing here?" I hear someone say. I look behind me and see Jess standing there, holding her laptop. "I thought you worked at your other job today."

"I did too," I mutter as I continue walking. I'm not in the mood to deal with Jess today.

"What's wrong?" she asks, following me. "You look like shit."

"I just got fired."

She laughs. "Oh, yeah? What'd you do?"

"I don't want to talk about it." I stop at my cubicle and see it's been cleaned out. The computer. My files. They're not there anymore.

"What happened to my office?" I ask.

"Maybe you got fired from here too," Jess says, laughing, as she walks away.

"Gavin." Ana, Jett's assistant, appears. "Your new office is right this way."

I follow her to an actual office with an actual door. The only people who have offices here are the people who are at least twice my age and have way more experience. Why is Jett giving me an office? Now everyone here who's close to my age is going to hate me. Even Jess doesn't have an office. As much as she annoys me, she deserves an office more than I do.

"I'll let you get settled," Ana says. She closes my door on her way out.

Sitting down at my fancy new desk in my fancy new chair, I check out the list Jett left me. It's printed out and sitting next to my computer, or computers, plural. I have both a laptop and a desktop computer with a huge screen. The list is labeled 'Action Steps' and next to each one are expected completion dates, most of which are next week. There's no way I can get all this done, not unless I work day and night, which I can't do with the restaurant opening.

What am I going to do? Kate was already angry about me working for Jett and she'll be even angrier when she finds out how much I'll be working. But if I quit, I won't have a job and may not be able to find a new one.

I leave at five, despite having enough work to keep me there past midnight. It'll just have to wait.

When I get home, Kate's not there. She's still at the restaurant. I told her I'd meet her there but she said she wouldn't be much longer and would be heading home soon. It's strange to be home this early. It wasn't that long ago I used to have a normal schedule and end my day at five, but now that I've been working later it feels odd to not be at the office.

While I'm waiting for Kate, I go in the bedroom and change clothes. I open my drawer and see the note I found from my dad and the key that was with it. I have to find out what this key is for. Not knowing has been bothering me since I found it. I have a feeling it has to do with his mistress. Was it a key to her building? Her apartment? Does she live in the city or somewhere else?

I get out my laptop and do a search for Kendal Properties, which are the only words written on the key. The property company pops up first in the search engine and I click on it and find that they own condos and apartments all over the country. I do a search for the New York City metro area and find twenty properties. This key could be for any one of those properties, or maybe it's for a place out of town. My dad travelled all the time. Maybe this woman he was seeing lived in a different state.

"Gavin," I hear Kate say. "I'm home!"

"I'm here." I close my laptop and go out to the living room.

"I love that you're here." She runs up to me and gives me a kiss. "Does this mean you're back to working regular hours?"

"Well, actually I wanted to—"

"Oh! I forgot to tell you." She races off to the kitchen and opens the fridge. "I'm going to Moorhurst."

"This fall?"

"Yeah." She takes a water from the fridge. "Classes start in a few weeks."

"I thought it was too late to register."

"Mr. Walcott pulled some strings and got me in. And he's paying for everything, just like he said he would."

"Are you going to have time for this? Running a restaurant is a full-time job."

"I know, but I feel like I'd be better at running my business if I took a class or two." She comes up and puts her arms around me. "I really want the restaurant to do well. Did you know most restaurants fail within the first year or two?"

"That's not going to happen to yours. You have a great location, great concept, great menu." I kiss her. "And you're great at everything you do. The restaurant isn't going to fail."

She smiles. "You're sweet. Did I tell you how much I love you?"

"I love you too."

She's so happy right now that I hate to bring this up. Maybe I should wait. I could wait until after dinner.

"Let's go out," I tell her.

"Out where?"

"Let's go get a pizza. We haven't had pizza in weeks and I'm craving it."

"That does sound good." She pauses. "Maybe I should add pizza to my menu. Everyone likes pizza. What do you think?"

"It doesn't go with the diner theme."

"It would if I had meatloaf pizza." She laughs. "Actually, that sounds disgusting."

I take her hand. "C'mon. Let's go. Then we'll come back here and do what we did last night."

"I'd love to but I have to go back to the restaurant later," she says as we walk to the door. "Will you come with me?"

"Can't you take tonight off? I'm really tired and I know you are too."

"I just have to go there and check that the new freezer is working. They installed it today."

"Okay, but after we do that, we're coming home."

Later that night, when we're back at the apartment, I'm about to tell Kate about my job but then her mom calls. Angie tells Kate that someone tried to break into her apartment. She was sleeping and heard someone trying to open the door. She was going to call the police but when she looked out the peephole into the hall, the person was gone. Now she's freaking out, thinking this person might come back.

"We have to go see her," Kate says, tossing her phone in her purse and putting her shoes on. "We have to calm her down. She won't sleep when she's this upset."

"Why don't you call your dad? He only lives a few miles from her. He could go check on her."

"I don't think she'd be comfortable with that. Let's just go there ourselves." She waits at the door. "Are you coming?"

Telling her about my job will have to wait. It's not a good time. She's too worried about her mom.

On the hour-long drive to her mom's apartment, I say, "I still think you should call your dad. He could keep an eye on the place. See if anyone suspicious is lurking around. I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

"I don't know if my mom would be okay with that."

"If she doesn't want your dad doing it, he could have the guy who works for him do it. Just call him. See what he says."

She makes the call. "Hey, Dad. Got a question for you." She explains the situation. She ends the call just as I'm pulling up to her mom's building.

"What'd he say?"

"He's coming over. He wants to check for any evidence."

"Do you think your mom will be mad that you called him?"

"No, but she might feel awkward about it. Trying to keep her safe is something a husband would do, not an ex-husband."

"I'm sure a part of him still cares about her."

"I know, but it's still awkward, especially since she knows he's dating your mom."

We go up to Angie's apartment. When we knock, we announce ourselves but she still cautiously opens the door and keeps the chain connected.

"Mom, it's us," Kate says. 

"I know. I was just being careful."

She undoes the chain and opens the door.

Kate hugs her. "You okay?"

"I'm better now. Thanks for coming." She smiles at me. "Gavin, it's good to see you."

"Yeah, sorry about what happened."

"I still don't know who it was."

"Maybe someone was just confused and went to the wrong apartment," Kate says.

"Could be," she says, "but he seemed awfully determined to get in."

"Angie." Craig walks through the door, ignoring Kate and me. He races up to Angie and puts his hands on her shoulders. "Are you okay?" He looks her up and down.

"Craig, what are you doing here?"

"Kate called me. She told me what happened."

Angie looks at Kate. "You shouldn't have called your father. He's a busy man. He doesn't need to be bothered by this."

"Angie, don't be ridiculous," Craig says. "It's not a bother. This is my job. This is what I do. I track down criminals. Keep people safe."

"You catch cheating spouses," she says. "You're not in the business of catching criminals anymore and I don't want you doing it again. It's too dangerous."

"Sweetheart, you know I—" He stops and clears his throat. I don't think he meant to say 'sweetheart'. He must've called her that when they were married. "Angie, you know I will always do anything to keep you safe. It doesn't matter that we're divorced. I wouldn't let anything happen to you."

Their eyes are locked on each other and I'm feeling like this has suddenly turned into an intimate moment I shouldn't be part of. I glance at Kate, who's staring at them with a confused look on her face. She keeps saying her mom no longer has feelings for her dad but after witnessing this, I'm thinking she's wrong.

"Well," Angie says, looking away. "Thank you for coming." She walks around Craig to the kitchen. "Would anyone like something to drink?"

"Tell us what happened," Craig says.

Angie returns to the living room and we all sit down. She replays the story but there isn't much to tell. She heard a guy talking in the hall, then heard him trying to open her door. That's about it.

"Did he sound drunk?" Craig asks.

"No, but I really didn't hear him say much. I just heard a man's voice in the hall and then heard my door handle being jiggled." She sighs. "Maybe I'm overreacting. Like you said, maybe he just stopped at the wrong door."

"You can never be too safe," Craig says. "I'll start keeping watch on your apartment. If I see anything, I'll let you know."

"Craig, I don't want you doing that," Angie says. "You don't have time for that."

"I'll do it remotely. I have cameras that link to my phone. I'll install some in the hall and around your door. I could put one inside as well if you're okay with that."

"Let's hold off on that for now."

He nods. "That's fine. I'll go back to my place and get the equipment. I'll install the cameras tonight. It won't take long."

"Thanks," she tells him. "I really appreciate this."

"And I think..." He hesitates, his eyes on her. "I think you should stay with me tonight."

The room goes silent. Kate's eyes move back and forth between her parents. We wait for her mom to say something but she doesn't.

Craig finally speaks. "I have a guest room. It's where Kate stays when she comes over. I think you'd feel better staying there than staying here tonight. Wouldn't you agree?"

Angie nods. "Yes. You're probably right. I would feel better not being here."

He stands up. "Then it's settled. Pack a bag. I'll go get the cameras." He looks at Kate. "Can you stay here with your mother until I get back?"

"Yeah, we'll be here."

He leaves and Angie goes in her room to pack.

"That was weird," Kate says quietly to me. "It's almost like they still have feelings for each other."

I laugh. "Yeah. That's pretty obvious."

She grabs my arm. "What do you mean? You think they really do?"

"Kate, did you see them just now? Did you see how they looked at each other?"

"My dad was just concerned about my mom. And she thought it was sweet that he offered to help. That's all that was."

"It was more than that. They still have feelings for each other. They may not want to act on those feelings, but they're definitely there."

"There's no way my parents are getting back together."

"Maybe not, but that doesn't mean they don't have feelings for each other."

"This is so weird." She sinks down on the couch. "I don't know how I feel about this."

I sit next to her. "Just be happy they get along and that your dad is helping her."

"I am. But it's still weird."

Craig returns and Kate and I head home. On the drive back, I say something to her and she doesn't even hear me. She's too distracted, her mind still on her parents.

Once again, I can't tell her about my job. It's not the right time. It's never the right time. And yet I have to tell her. Soon.