A/N - I'm a bit confused. I received a review yesterday from someone named Shirl that simply said 'farfetched'. I wish she'd elaborated a bit more and explained what she felt was farfetched about the story/chapter.

I feel that in Frank's shoes, I would have done/said the same thing. He's a very secretive and private man that keeps his personal life separated from his work. What's to say that he wouldn't have said that to keep Hope safe in his mind?

Love makes people do strange things, and say even stranger things.

OK - end of note ~L~ enjoy the comedy of errors!

-Gypsy

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Frank looked up at the high-rise building in front of him. This was where Hope worked according to Alex and Jake's snooping. So why couldn't he get his feet to move? If the truth were known, he was terrified of seeing her. That terror stemmed from the letter she left him when she departed Chicago. He looked down at the note in his hand with Alex's handwriting, giving the number and the name of Hope's Editor.

'An opportunity has come up that I can't pass on. It seems there is nothing to hold me here, Frank. I'm sorry it's come to this, but you can't tell me what I need to hear and I can't stop being who I am. I do love you Frank, but you've never said that you love me and I can't explain why, but I need to hear it. Oh, Frank, if only I could make you understand what it feels like to be in second place to the people you work with, to be thought of second and sometimes last. No matter what happens Frank, you will always be the first of my heart and in my heart. Know that I love you even as I write this and know that I will love you even if you never see me again.'

She spoke in her letter as if she never expected to see him again, as if he wouldn't try to find her again. Until Alex stuck her nose into this affair, she was partly right. He would have come after her eventually. He had just wanted to give her time to realize that what she'd done wasn't fair to either of them. Hope knew above all else that she could always talk to him. So why didn't she? Because, he'd said plainly that his team came first. Stupid him… in his own defense, Frank reasoned with himself, he was slightly sleepy and half asleep when he'd said it. But that didn't make him or Hope feel any better.

"Best to get it over with." Frank sighed and walked into the lobby of the building. He stepped into an elevator and waited patiently as the car ascended the floors. One of the women in the car smiled prettily at him, to which he returned the smile tepidly. He didn't want to be in here… he wanted to be right in front of Hope, gathering her into his arms and kissing her speechless.

Mellody noticed the man in the car with her. He was handsome, even sexy if he'd smile genuinely and stop looking at the floor counter in irritation. When the elevator chimed for her floor, she smiled again and stepped through the doors. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the man get off of the elevator with her and stop to look around.

"Are you lost?"

Frank startled and turned around to see the woman from the elevator. "Yes. I'm looking for a Mackenzie Frasier. He's the Editor of the Times."

"Ah. He's this way. I work for him. Follow me please." Mellody smiled as she turned around and led the man down the hallway. "So, you're not from New York, are you?"

"Ah, No." Frank answered. "I'm looking for someone and was told that Mr. Frasier could answer some questions for me."

"How mysterious. Just who are you looking for?"

Frank looked at the woman for a moment. After all, she might know where Hope was if she worked for Mackenzie Frasier as well. "You might know her. I'm looking for Hope Weathers."

Mellody stopped in her tracks and stared at him with wide eyes. "H-Hope?"

"You know her?"

"Uhm…" Mellody bit her lip. This wasn't part of the plan. If he was looking for Hope, then chances were this was Frank Donovan. "She's… uhm, she's not here."

"What do you mean?" Frank leaned over the woman, intentionally intimidating her. If he scared her enough, she'd probably tell him everything, including her mother's maiden name.

Mellody's eyes widened even more and she squeaked. "She… she's, uhm, on assignment. Left just a few hours ago for Chicago to do a story."

"SHE.. DID.. WHAT?!" Frank thundered. The woman let out a soft shriek and jumped back as he turned back towards the elevators.

"Mr. Donovan! WAIT!!" Mellody darted after him and put herself between him and the elevator doors. "Wait Mr. Donovan, I need to explain something!"

Frank looked down with a scowl. How the blue bloody blazes did she know his name? "I'm waiting," he growled dangerously.

"She… she didn't want to go. Mac.. Mackenzie and I cooked up a plot to get her to go back to Chicago so she could talk to you! Mr. Donovan, she loves you and misses you terribly. The assignment was a fluff job that an intern could do with their eyes closed. We were hoping that it would be done in a moment or two and she'd have some time to seek you out."

Frank stepped back a moment. This woman was playing matchmaker with he and Hope? "When is she due back?"

"A day, maybe two. Mr. Donovan, we can put you up in a hotel until she comes back."

"No. I'm flying back to Chicago immediately. I'll find her a lot faster there than if I waited here to talk to her." Frank nodded curtly as the doors to the elevator opened. Stepping in, he turned around. "Call Hope. Suggest she meet me at the Tribune building."

Mellody sighed as the doors closed. This was a twist she hadn't imagined – Frank Donovan coming in search of Hope. With a shrug, she turned and moved down the hallway towards her desk as she pulled out her cell phone to call Hope.

--

Hope stared up at the high-rise apartment building. Would Frank even be home at this time of day? Was he even in town? That and a million other thoughts she'd repeated to herself over and over again as the plane flew into Chicago. That Frank might not even be in Chicago was something that Mellody hadn't taken into consideration when she'd conned Mac into making Hope take this pitiful assignment. She shook her head as she stood on the sidewalk, feet rooted into the concrete pavement. What did she say to him when she found him?

"Hi, Frank… it's me… So sorry about running away from you, but I felt like you didn't love me enough for me to stay. Oh yeah, that'll win him over for sure." She chastised herself as she moved towards the door.

"Miss Weathers!!"

Hope jumped at the booming welcome, then regained her composure as she saw Gerard smiling brightly at her. "Oh, hello again Gerard." She walked towards the desk he sat behind and put her purse on the counter as she hugged him hello. "Gerard…"

"He's not here Miss Weathers. He called me and asked me to put a hold on his mail. Said he was flying out of town for a day or two."

Hope's face fell a bit as she processed Gerard's news. Frank wasn't there.

"He sure was broken up by your leaving and your letter Miss Weathers. I've never seen a man so dejected looking as the morning you left."

"Oh Gerard… I know he was hurt.. At the time I didn't feel like I had any alternative. I needed something he couldn't give me."

"What was that Miss Weathers?"

"To know beyond any doubt that he loved me."

"And when did you think he didn't?"

"Ahh Gerard…" Hope chuckled as she slid her purse back on her shoulder. "I needed to hear it from his lips. At the time, I didn't think he loved me unless he told me. Looking back I can tell you that he didn't have to tell me."

"No, Miss Weathers. I saw it in his face each time he thought of you. It's not hard to tell when a man is in love, especially Mr. Donovan. He wears his love for you on his face. It's easy to see with him. I think that's why he was so frightened for you, of hurting you. I know what Mr. Donovan does for a living and it's scary work. Being an FBI agent isn't easy and it's harder on the families. But he loves you Miss Weathers."

Hope smiled and tapped her nails on the desk a few times. "Hmm… yes, I suppose so. Still, it'd be nice to hear it once or twice from his lips. A whisper will do when he thinks I'm not listening, you know." She leaned over the counter and kissed Gerard's cheek. "Good Bye Gerard."

"Where are you going?"

"Back to New York. There's no point in my staying if he's not here in Chicago."

Monica stepped out of the taxi in front of Frank's apartment building and paid the driver. She'd promised him that she'd water his plants while he was gone. It was a laugh that Frank Donovan had live plants in his apartment. But, ever since he'd taken up with Hope Quinn Weathers, he'd changed a lot of things about himself. Live plants, he smiled more often, they even heard him laugh at one of Cody's jokes… She shook her head as she walked into the building. At the desk was Hope talking with the lobby man. "Hope!!"

Hope turned around to see Monica walking in the door. "Monica! How nice to see you again. What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing Hope. I told Frank I'd come by and water his plants while he's in New York. Which begs the inevitable question – what are you doing here if Frank's looking for you in New York?"

"Looking for me?" Hope blinked slowly. "Frank's in New York, looking for me?!"

"Yes. Alex, Jake and I chipped in and bought him a ticket, told him to get off of his ass and go looking for you. We even got some information from your old boss at the Tribune about where you were currently working. He should be talking to one Mackenzie Frasier right now about where to find you. We didn't count on you coming to Chicago."

Hope chuckled for a moment, shaking her head, then burst out in full blown laughter. "Timing is everything, isn't it Monica? My friends, Mellody and Mackenzie, decided to send me here to Chicago on a pithy little assignment that a first year intern could do in their sleep. Their alternate agenda was getting me in the same city as Frank so I would have to talk to him. I'll bet they didn't count on him going to New York in search of me, did they?"

"No, I don't suppose they did. Look, come up to Frank's apartment and wait there with me. I'll call him let him know that-"

"No, Monica. I'm going home. If he's there to find me, then I know just where to find him. It was nice to see you again."

Monica watched as Hope hugged Gerard again, then left the building and got into a cab waiting outside. As the taxi sped off, she pulled out her cell phone to call Frank.

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