Gillian's eyes widened and she sat up, releasing his arm from around her shoulder. She studied his face for a moment trying to see, something, anything that might give some indication as to what was going on in his head. But he was too good for that. He never let anything show. She sometimes wondered if he used muscle relaxant or something to stop people from reading him. But she also accepted that 6 years of research made him good at what he did and he rarely showed anything.

"What?" she asked finally. She saw him run his tongue along the front of his teeth, under his lip. He sat forward.

"I think…" But Gillian stopped him.

"I heard you. I just, I don't understand where you're coming from. Cal, if we go with Clara, the company's going to suffer a hostile takeover." She knew she had stumbled over her words but it was only because his revelation had momentarily made forget how to speak English.

"Yeah but if we go with Zoe, this, you and me, is going to suffer because you don't trust me when she's around." The statement hit her like a kick in the teeth. She looked down at the ground.

"I didn't say that Cal," she said quietly but he shook his head even though he knew she wasn't looking to see it.

"Yes you did." She turned to him now, eyes widened in…anger? Disgust, oh god, that was worse.

"No I didn't Cal. Stop putting words in my mouth." She stood up and he followed suit, grabbing her arm and pulling her back as she tried to walk away.

"I'm not putting words anywhere. I saw them. On your face. On your face when you suggested that my functionality would be a problem. And you know what? They didn't say 'I'm worried about the company' because you're not. You know the company will work regardless of what's what. We're bloody professionals, it's what we do. No, it said 'I don't trust you'. So don't tell me I'm putting words in your mouth when I can read them right off your face." He released his grip on her arm, realising only then how tightly he'd been grasping her. He smoothed the offended skin with his hand shooting a partial apologetic look before turning away from her.

Gillian looked at the ground and contemplated grabbing her coat and running for the hills but she knew she couldn't do that. Instead she followed him into the kitchen where he was pottering about with cups and washing.

"Cal…" she said softly but he didn't look up. She bit her lip. Maybe it was better. Maybe it would be easier to this if he wasn't watching her face, scrutinising every word she said.

"Cal, you have to see where I'm coming from on this. You've tried to distance yourself, I know that. But it's never worked has it? And I can understand that – you had this connection with someone for so long and I know how difficult it is when it's broken. And sometimes people move on. And sometimes they can't. But putting yourself in a position that makes it more difficult is just…" Cal looked at her then, dropping the cup he was washing back in the sink.

"You really have no idea do you? You actually just, haven't got a clue. I don't want Zoe. The only thing we've had since the divorce are arguments and sex. Sometimes at the same time…" he added as an afterthought and Gillian grimaced.

"But that's not a connection Gill. That's convenience, that's settlement because every time I went to her, it was because I couldn't have you." Gillian frowned and looked at him.

"Are you saying that it's my fault?" He shook his head, taking a few steps toward her.

"No, no, no. I'm not saying that at all. I'm saying that, one look from you would have been enough to stop me from going. I'm saying that if, for once in my life, I'd had the balls to drag an eraser through our line, I'd have done it. Well I have done it now. And if the choice is between having you and not having you, I'm not going to let the company get in the way." He bit the inside of his cheek as Gillian took a step towards him. She smiled at him then and he pulled her into a tight embrace. She turned her lips to his ear.

"You're being stupid Cal." He smirked.

"Oh that's charming, that is." She pulled out of him embrace and kissed him chastely. He rested his forehead against hers.

"I'll call Zoe tomorrow and tell her the deal's off," he said, his thumbs stroking her cheeks.

"No." she said suddenly and he pulled back to look at her. "We should take Zoe's deal." Cal's face contorted into one of utter confusion.

"I thought…" he began but she cut him off.

"Cal, we need to run our company the way we've always done. We need to do what's best for the company." Cal felt like he would if he'd gone into a foreign movie with no subtitles.

"And what about us?"

"We'll be ok." Cal stepped back from her, looked away, still confused, then looked back.

"I don't get it. You just got in my ear about Zoe. And now you want to take her offer? What happened to not trusting me when she's around?" He had to admit he was feeling not only confused, but a bit hurt as well. He'd told her he was picking her over the company. Was she picking the company over him?

"I realised I was being foolish. I realised I could trust you because I saw it. Here. And here." She moved her thumbs to the corner of his eyes, then the corner of his lips. He stared at her, slowly realising what had just happened.

"You never had any intention of letting me take Clara's deal, did you?" His tone was laced with danger and Gillian looked at the ground, her deceptiveness starting to make her feel guilty. She looked up, shaking her head.

"I just had to know Cal."

"You know you could have asked." She shook her head.

"No I couldn't. You know that as well as I do." He nodded his head. She was right of course. There was no way he'd have said what he just had if he hadn't felt like he was about to lose everything. He looked up at her.

"So, let me just get this straight then. You do trust me." She nodded her head and he nodded once in understanding before continuing, "and you do want to take Zoe's deal for the company." Gillian nodded again and he nodded in acknowledgement.

"Well in that case, let's celebrate."

Ok so really not sure about this chapter. It was tricky to write but hopefully people will like it. I struggled with the last few paragraphs but hopefully I'll tease it out more in the next chapter.