Done Being Friends (5 page)

It wasn’t until college that she realized how many children were suffering in the rest of the world and ever since then, she had been working hard, trying to make a difference for those children.

It started out with donations and sponsoring of children, but that wasn’t enough. She wanted to do more for them.

Zac remembered it was slightly a year after graduation. She had discussed with Zac about the first mission trip with the church to build an orphanage. The immediate thought that came to Zac’s mind was to give her a list of reasons why she shouldn’t go on the trip and how worried he would be. Yet, when he saw the sparkle in her eyes and realized how excited she was to go on the trip, he held his tongue. Instead, Zac told her that he would support her decision.

At the back of his mind, he started his own plans. He had absolute trust in Faith’s ability, but she had never been on any mission before, and he was afraid that she couldn’t handle the trip physically.
 

She didn’t mind breaking a nail or two, but she wasn’t an outdoorsy person. She didn’t enjoy hiking, and the one time she tried canoeing; she had commented that she actually contemplated on drowning herself being a better option than having to continue paddling.

On top of that, her skin and the sun didn’t get along well; her fair skin burned up easily regardless of the amount of sunscreen she slapped on.
 

Not wanting to dissuade her from something she was passionate about, but uncertain about her welfare, Zac decided to sign up for the mission trip too. He took time off from his busy schedule, clearing all the appointments that he had. Things at work were getting along and there was no harm in taking two weeks off work.
 

At that thought, he smiled wryly. He knew that even if he were swamped with work, there was no way he would have let her go on the trip alone.

Her family, on the other hand, had tried to talk her out of going. When that failed, they started teasing her, and tried making her think there was no way she would survive it.

Their strategy missed a crucial point. Faith’s stubbornness. Their jesting only made her more determined to go, to prove to her family that she wasn’t just the pampered girl everyone made her out to be. She was more than a rich, spoilt brat. Of course, Zac’s announcement of accompanying her on the trip immediately eased away all of her family’s and her own concerns.

Throughout dinner, Zac kept his eyes on Faith. He chatted and joked with Faith, brushing her hand and arm every now and then.
 

After the failed attempt, Tim tried, a few more times, to start a conversation with Faith. She would be polite, giving him a smile and nod; sometimes, gracing him with short and simple answers, before returning her attention back to Zac. It was as though a wall with a wide moot had surrounded Faith and Zac, setting them apart from the rest of the world.

About halfway through dinner, Tim had completely given up on having any proper conversation with Faith.
 

“Enough of me talking, how’s work?” Faith asked as she rubbed her palms against her elbow.
 

“The new building should be ready by the end of the year. Since it’s in cooperation with the government, I have got substantial funding. The only downside is the paperwork.” As he spoke, he shrugged out of his coat and draped it over her shoulders.

“Well, thank God that you are successful enough to hire people to take care of that for you.” Faith laughed and pulled the coat closer around her.

“Yes, that’s true. It also means that I am free to accompany you for the next few days.”

Zac knew that the rest of the people at the table were looking at them, but he didn’t bother. He did once look at Mrs. Preston briefly and caught the disapproval in her eye. It was however, disapproval that was given with indulgent. Mrs. Preston knew that Faith probably would have come up with some flimsy excuse and got out of the dinner if Zac hadn’t been entertaining her.

Then he saw Mrs. Preston picking up her phone and texting away, followed by a buzz in Faith’s bag. Faith took it out and indeed, it was a warning message from her mother.
 

“Ask Zac to stop hoarding you, and stop being rude to Tim.” Faith kept her face straight and looked at her mother for a brief second before replying with her own text.

“I have got nothing to say to him and Zac is not hoarding me. I am using him as my lifeline for the situation YOU have created.” She added an icon with a smiling face and then another line. “I still love you though.”

Mrs. Preston stared at Faith for a second after receiving and reading the text, but Zac could see that there was no anger in her eyes. Faith winked at her mother and the corners of her lips turned up slightly as she shook her head.

“How long are you staying this time?” Zac asked, turning Faith’s attention back onto him. “You have been traveling a lot this year, stay longer this time.”
 

“Did my parents make you say this?” Faith narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

It took him a moment to get what she meant, “I guess you have gotten yourself a long lecture earlier today?”

Nodding, she continued, “They went on and on about it, refusing to let me put in a word. If they had only listened, they would have saved much of their breath. I am intending to stay put for a while anyway.”

“Great.” Zac had missed her so much; she was always flying off somewhere before he had enough time with her. He was prepared to coax, quarrel or even beg her into staying longer.
 

After the dinner, Mrs. Preston moved away from the table to entertain her friends. Before leaving the table, she walked over to Zac’s seat, placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. Then, she walked over and pulled Tim from his seat, taking him over to the other tables, introducing him to some of the other guests.

Faith sighed. “Looks like my mum got the message that I will not be entertaining him.”

“Yes. Then why do you look so unhappy? If you want to join him, you can go ahead. I will be fine.” Zac knew he had no right hoarding her like that. She didn’t belong to him; however, he couldn’t help but sound slightly sour about Faith wanting to spend time with someone else rather than him.

Faith smiled and shook her head. “I spent the whole night ignoring him, what makes you think I want to join him? I just feel rather awful for the way I treated him. My mum was right you know, we were really rude. I think we really embarrassed him.”

Zac had to smile from the pure relief that he was her choice. At least for tonight, she had chosen to spend time with him rather than Tim. “Don’t worry angel, your mum will make sure that she finds someone else to keep him entertained. And with the way you behaved right from the start, I’m sure no one knew that he was your date in the first place. Therefore, no embarrassment to talk about.”

Faith nodded and smiled. “Yes, my mum will take care of him, and though I can hear your words laced with sarcasm, I am willing to take that and ease the guilt pounding in me.”

When she finished her sentence, her hand went to her neck and kneaded along her shoulders. Closing her eyes, she gave a soft sigh.
 

“Tired?” Zac took her hand and replaced it with his, gentle massaging her neck.
 

His voice and touch were warm and gentle. When she opened her eyes, she found herself looking into his deep ocean blue eyes. His face was so close that he could feel his warm breath.
 

Suddenly, Zac’s jaw tightened. He sat up straight and withdrew his hand from Faith. Looking away for awhile before he took in a deep breath.

Faith straightened in her seat and bit her lips. Zac was always behaving like this with her. For a moment, he would be all sweet and loving toward her. Then the next, he would turn away and behave as though he couldn’t get away fast enough.

Those were the times when she felt like a complete fool. She couldn’t understand why each time Zac pulled one of his sudden detachment stunts, she would have the urge to walk away. No, to run, to put as much space as she could between them and never turn back. She closed her eyes and tried to get a hold of her feelings.

Though they were still seated side by side, Faith felt as though Zac was light years away.
 

They sat that way for a few minutes before Zac reached over and took her hand. “Your grandmother and mother hosted the dinner; so you need to show your face around for awhile. After that, I’ll get you home.”

As he ended his sentence, his brushed the back of his index finger under her chin. Smiling as though nothing had happened, he pulled Faith up from her seat and placed her hand on his arm before leading her around the room. They smiled and dutifully made small, polite conversations with guests.
 

Faith placed a polite smile on her face and moved around the room on Zac’s arm. Though she knew she was supposed to be participating in the conversation which was occurring, she couldn’t concentrate. She wished Zac was truly her date, and that he was walking beside her because he was more than just a friend.
 

Despite having been friends forever, she had never been out in such a formal location with him. Having her hand on his elbow, walking right beside him as they moved around in the room was exhausting her more than usual. It was heart breaking to see what they could have but would never be.
 

She thought she had kept her feelings for Zac locked and hidden away, but it wasn’t until now that she realized how wrong she was.

“Faith! Zac.”

Zac nodded in acknowledgement. “Hi Jessica.”
 

Faith looked up and saw her best friend, Jessica Kane. Jessica was a petite woman who packed a punch. Faith and Jessica met in high school, and they had been best friends ever since. In college, they had rented an apartment together, and when Jessica’s parents ran into debt, Faith’s father had stepped in to help pay for her tuition.

Being the grateful sort, Jessica turned down all the offers she had received, and came back to work for the Preston company.

“I didn’t know you were here,” Faith stated, genuinely surprised.
 

“If the two of you had just looked away from each other for a few moments during dinner, you would have noticed me sitting in the table right across from yours.”

Faith had always laughed off or ignored the frequent comments that Jessica made about Zac and her. Though she wished they were more than friends, she was sure it was a silly one-sided emotion that wouldn’t yield any results. That night however, she couldn’t laugh it off. Faith simply gave a small smile.

Immediately, Jessica knew something was wrong. Hooking her arm around Faith’s, she began to pull her away, but Zac’s hand covered over Faith’s and held her where she was.

“Where are you taking her?”

Jessica scowled at him. “Girl talk.” Then she tugged again. “Don’t be nosy.”

Zac let go, but even as he conversed, he kept his eyes on Faith.

“What’s wrong?” Jessica asked as she dragged Faith away from the crowd.
 

Faith shook her head and answered, “Nothing. Just tired, I guess.”

“You’re not tired. You’re just upset about Zac.” Even though Faith had never confessed her feelings for Zac, Jessica knew that the two of them were more than just friends. The only problem was that both were either too foolish or stubborn to admit it.
 

“I have told you...there’s nothing between the two of us.”

“But you wish there were.”

Faith closed her eyes. “No. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“I know, and it’s not just you. It’s something wrong with both of you.”

Too exhausted to find her rebuttal, Faith gave Jessica a hug. “Sorry Jess, I’m exhausted. I’m going home to get a good night’s rest, and I’ll be fine in the morning.”

When Zac saw the hug, he knew Faith was ready to call it a day. He strode toward her and met her halfway. “Is everything all right?”

“Yes, I just need to sleep.”

Chapter Three

Zac looked at his watch as he sat down across the table from Dylan. “I’m not late, am I?”

“No, I was early,” Dylan replied monotonously, without looking up from the menu.

Zac immediately knew Dylan wasn’t in a good mood. Glancing around, every table of his restaurant was occupied. Dylan was good in managing his business. Dylan’s father had brought him up, teaching him how to run their chain restaurant. He was extremely shrewd with numbers and was a born businessman.

Laughter and chatter rang high in the air, but the joyous atmosphere seemed to have crept right past their table.

“Business looks good.”

“Of course,” Dylan replied curtly.
 

Joy was definitely not present.
“What is your problem?”

Dylan finally raised his eyes and stared straight into Zac’s. “Faith is back.”

“And I thought
you
, of all people, would be happy about that.” Zac returned his stare, refusing to back down.

The battle of wills persisted for mere moments before Dylan continued in a brusque tone, “I asked her out for dinner tonight, and she said she had already agreed to meet you. I have asked her twice and
twice
,” setting down his menu, Dylan leaned forward on the table. “She has apologized and said that she was already meeting you.”
 

Zac reached for the menu and pretended to pour through it, avoiding eye contact. He didn’t want Dylan to see the guilt in his eyes. He had been meeting her for dinner every night since she had been back, except for the first day. He had dropped by her house, but George had informed him that she was already asleep. Not wanting to disturb her, he left her a note to let her know that he had dropped by and left.

Zac could still feel the dagger-piercing eyes of Dylan’s on him and he knew Dylan was waiting for some sort of reply. “She is free to cancel. Or, if you want, you can join us tonight,” Zac tried to say it as nonchalantly as possible.