Chapter 7

Her train ride into Manhattan had been in a fog of confusion. She looked at the faces of her fellow commuters and wondered if they could guess her turmoil. She'd awakened in her small Brooklyn apartment still feeling his touch, remembering each kiss. Was she losing her mind? Or had Cassandra's teas given her hallucinations? Either way, she ached for some missing part of herself and she didn't know how to fix it. Recklessly, she thought of going to Cassandra's shop. Demanding some answers. Would she sound like a fool? On the other hand, had she been so exhausted from a lack of sleep, her dreams were of her own doing? She needed to know. Her desire to return home and to fall back into bed to find him again. How reckless was that?

As her train pulled into her familiar station on 86th street, her mind still had not cleared. She walked up to the bustling sidewalk from the subway in a daze. Even at that early hour, the city had already sprung to life, if it ever had gone to sleep. She pushed through the sea of people, mindlessly. When she arrived at her desk, she had no memory of how she had gotten there. Not surprisingly, Kiera had not arrived. She took the time to gather herself, focus on the here and now. She went through her morning routine of making coffee, gathering papers, and checking emails, going through correspondence before Kiera arrived. Before long, the dream faded enough for her to concentrate. By the time Kiera walked through the elevator doors, Gwen seemed back to herself.

Keira stopped at her desk, in a flurry of perfume and excitement. There seemed to be heightened layer of delight in her voice, her smile wider, and her eyes brighter. Gwen noticed a new necklace, a deep blue sapphire, surrounded by a circle of brilliant diamonds. Keira fingered it nervously and smiled when she realized Gwen had noticed.

"It's beautiful," Gwen said. Keira flushed and dismissed the compliment way too easily.

"You look wonderful," Keira said, redirecting the conversation. "Well rested, almost glowing."

This time Gwen flushed hot with the memory of the dream. Her breath quickened, and she had to look away and busy herself with papers on the desk.

"If I didn't know better Gwen, I think you were blushing," Keira teased.

"Our Gwen what does she have to blush about?" The familiar voice of Merlyn said as he came up behind Keira. Kiera gave Gwen a questioning look as if to discern some secret.

"Maybe she met someone on the way home," Kiera said, smiling wickedly.

"No… stop." Gwen said, getting up from her desk to file papers that really didn't need filing.

"You do look better," Merlyn said coming closer.

Conceding that they truly cared about her, she relaxed a bit. "I do feel better."

Kiera seemed appeased with her response, took the correspondence from Gwen, a cup of coffee, and headed for her office to make phone calls. She offered Merlyn coffee, and he gladly accepted. Before she handed it to him, she looked about the office.

"Where's Arthur?"

"He's having his early morning torture session at the gym. He has court later, and he likes to be in fighting trim." Merlyn said. He didn't hide the amusement in his voice. Gwen breathed a sigh of relief to the news Arthur was out of the office. Considering how she felt, the sight of him might send her over the edge. The edge of what she didn't know.

"He's not that bad," Merlyn said as he sipped his coffee.

Gwen made a face to the delight of Merlyn.

"I take it you found Cassandra satisfactory?" He said. To Gwen, his tone seemed suspect, as if she might find Cassandra otherwise. She didn't know what to make of the woman. From Merlyn's tone, he suspected as much. His blue eyes peered over his cup, awaiting her response.

Gwen tried to find the right words, recalling the sights and smell of the little shop, Cassandra's customers, and the woman herself.

"I think…." Gwen shook her head, refusing to say the words she'd wanted to say all morning. Merlyn gave her an encouraging looked. She took a deep breath.

"I think she drugged me." She didn't sound to certain and even laughed.

This only garnished a raised brow from Merlyn. His lack of surprise surprised her.

"Cassandra has a way of getting to the root of a problem," he said tentatively. Not sure how to take it, Gwen crossed her arms and stared at him for more.

"You've known her long?"

Merlyn smiled a nodded. "If I tell you about her, promise not to mention her to anyone, including Keira."

Gwen reluctantly agreed and surprised at the request.

"She used to work here."

"What!" Gwen said much too loudly. Merlyn put a finger to his lips.

"She used to work in the technology division," he said.

Gwen couldn't hide her surprise. "With Grey, he's the department head. Is that where he knows her?"

"Separate departments, but he did know her there. She worked for Aldrich for nearly seven years before she left."

An image of Cassandra filled her head and she couldn't imagine the woman at Penn or any corporate environment. Where Aldrich was steel and hard edges, Cassandra seemed like smoke and earth. They had to be more to the story, then what Merlyn say.

"Why not bring it up to Keira, surly she must have known the woman?"

Merlyn shook his head adamantly. "Keira never knew of Cassandra, nor did Arthur. So please don't."

Gwen thought Arthur knew everything about his father's business. Why would Aldrich keep Cassandra a secret? Considering what she thought Cassandra had given her, keeping her a secret might be a good thing.

"Why weren't you surprise when I said I thought Cassandra had drugged me."

Merlyn shrugged.

"It something she'd do. Don't get me wrong, she's an expert when it comes to those teas and she wouldn't so anything to arm you. Obviously, something must have worked because you do look well rested."

Gwen couldn't deny that. She did feel better and more focus. She still had questions about the woman and her concoctions.

"Grey swears by her," Merlyn added.

"I guess he doesn't talk to Aldrich about her?" she asked. Merlyn shook her head. Before she could say another word, her desk phone rang.

"Oh crap!" Gwen said, reading the name on the phone display. "It's Arthur." She let the phone ring a few more times before she picked up to answer.

"Hello Mr. Penn would you like to speak to Kiera, she just walked in?" she said. She felt a nervousness rise in the pit of her stomach.

"No, I would like to speak to Merlyn, my so called assistant, who should be at his desk getting work for the Randall case, but instead his chatting with you, no doubt." he said sternly.

Even the harshness of his tone didn't stop the wave of memories that hit her. They had the same nuance, inflection… same voice.

"I'm sorry." She sounded pathetic, but she didn't care. She didn't want to talk to him.

"Never mind, tell him to stay right there. I'll be there in a minute." Arthur growled.

"No… you can't" She nearly shouted.

"What?" He sounded surprised by her boldness.

"You can't come… I don't want to see you…" the words exploded out of her mouth before she could stop them.

"What in god name are you jabbering about?"

She had no words to explain, so she hung up. Merlyn's shocked expression mirrored her own. She covered her face with her hands.

"Oh my God!" It was all she could say before jumping up from her desk and running to the woman's bathroom to hide. She heard Merlyn call after her but she didn't care. Once inside, she found an empty stall and stay there trying desperately to get control. She'd just hung up on Arthur Penn. He could have her fired or drawn and quartered or something. It took her ten minutes to stop pacing in the tiny space. When she finally stepped out of the stall, her reflection in the mirrors above the sinks said everything. She'd lost her mind. When her heart stopped racing, she splashed some water on her face and took one last look in the mirror to gather her nerves.

She opened the door to the ladies' bathroom to see him standing there. Tall, blond, and very annoyed. Merlyn stood behind him, with a look of concern on his face. It took all her effort not to shake.

"I want to say I'm very sorry," she said meekly. She wouldn't look at him.

"Do you often yell at your superiors and dictate where they can and cannot go?" he said.

"No sir." She said. If she could disappear, she would.

"That's all you have to say for yourself?" He said tightly. He took a step closer and stared down at her. Freshly showered from the gym, the fresh clean scent of him filled her nostrils. She found the nerve to search those blue eyes for pity, consolation, and solace. There was none, these were the hard stormy blue eyes of Arthur Penn, righter of wrongs, legal champion, and slayer of dragons.

Something in her clicked, as if two poles at opposite ends connected with a snap. Her body eased. Her mind that had gone a hundred miles an hour came to rest on one sure thing – he could not hurt her. She stared into that stern face that broached no rebuke and knew that he could no more hurt a child than her. Though he may not be the Arthur of her dreams, they felt oddly the same, two sides of the same coin.

"I… apologize again for my…. I don't know what got into me," she said to him softly.

Arthur's brow furrowed even deeper. She smiled. She recognized the pout.

"One minute you're avoiding me and the next… are you psychotic?" he said.

She couldn't help but laugh.

"I don't think you can ask her that," Merlyn interjected.

"Shut up Merlyn." Arthur turned to glower at his assistant before returning his attention back to her. "Are you?"

She shook her head.

"Then why did you run?" He said with a keen eye on her.

She couldn't tell him she ran because the Arthur in her dreams made her scream with passion. The Arthur in her dream, professed his love and called her wife. This Arthur wouldn't understand that and considered her mad. She took a deep breath and found the calm center again.

"You can be fearsome at times," she said, her words tentative at first.

"You seemed unperturbed now, so I doubt that." The coolness had returned in his voice.

Gwen cocked her head to the side, given him the full measure of her attention. Arthur blinked and shifted away. Possibly surprised by her sudden boldness.

"I promised," she smiled and sighed. "I will never run from you again."