***Friday***

Jennifer got to the office and immediately got to work. She finished her story and then turned it in and started on another one.

Around 11, she called Jonathan's office to see if he wanted to grab lunch.

"Hart Industries, how can I help you?"

"Hi, can I speak to Jonathan Hart please?"

"He's on another line. May I take a message?"

"Sure. Can you ask him to call Jennifer at the Times?"

"Certainly".

"Thank you".

She hung up and got back to work.

Around 1, she realized that he hadn't called her back, which wasn't like him.

She worked till 3, and then left to go get ready for the ball.

***Jennifer's apartment***

Jennifer took a bubble bath as soon as she came in, and soaked for a long time.

She had just gotten out when the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"May I speak to Jennifer Edwards please?"

"This is she".

"Hi, I am calling from Jonathan Hart's office. He wanted to know if you are wearing a particular color so that he could make sure his bow tie matched".

"Sure. I have a few minutes to speak with him if he's available".

"I'm sorry, he's not. But I promise you that I will give him this message".

"I see. I am wearing a bright royal blue. So, any blue tie that's not Navy or light blue should work. No stripes, just plain bright royal blue".

"Got it. Thank you".

"Certainly".

She hung up and finished getting ready.

She was absolutely stunning in her dress. It was a sculpted halter dress with a strappy back, and the bodice was covered in rhinestones. She put on some elbow length black lace gloves, and some black lace peep toe heels. She decided to wear the diamond earrings her mom left her, and the diamond bracelet her father gave her for her 16th birthday.

She had just spritzed on the perfume that Jonathan liked when there was a knock at the door.

She went and opened it and found Jonathan on the other side.

"Hey, are you ready?"

"Yes, actually".

She quickly changed into her black lace purse and then they left.

She noticed that he was wearing a black bow tie. It sort of hurt her feelings, but she told herself there could be a million reasons for it and pushed it out of her mind.

They climbed into the limo, and headed to the ball.

He was abnormally quiet the whole way.

"Ok, so when we get there, I have to do the red-carpet thing, so you can just go on in and I'll meet you inside".

She was a little taken aback, but she agreed.

The limo pulled up and he got out first and then she got out behind him.

She headed inside while he worked the red carpet and headed straight for the bar.

By the time he caught up to her, she was on her second glass of white zinfandel.

"Would you like to dance?"

"Sure".

They walked out on the dance floor, and any angry feelings she had for him disappeared when he took her in his arms. She rubbed his back while they danced, and he pressed his cheek against hers.

When their dance was over, she went to their table while he went to get a scotch from the bar.

He got her another wine also, and came and sat by her.

"So, as it turns out, I have to give a speech tonight. My company is this year's spotlight donor for the Literacy Council, and they want me to give a short speech about the literacy program we started".

"I'm sure you'll do great".

They shared one more dance, and then it was time for him to give his speech.

He talked all about how his company was dedicated to helping raise literacy rates in the city by volunteering once a month in elementary schools. His company alone had provided computers, fully stocked the library, and in one year had spent almost half a million dollars on literacy related items and activities for the kids at 8 elementary schools across the city.

Jennifer didn't know when she had been more proud of him, and proud to know him.

After the ball was over, the car service took them to her place first.

"Want to come in for a nightcap?"

"I don't think I should. It's late. I'll call you tomorrow".

"Sure. Maybe we can catch a movie or something".

"Maybe".

She got out of the limo when they arrived at her building, and he walked her to the door of the building.

"Well, thanks for being my date. Have a nice night".

"Goodnight".

By the time she got to her apartment, she stopped fighting back the tears, and just let them fall.

No matter which way she let her thoughts go, she realized that it didn't end and wasn't going to end with them being together.

***Saturday***

Jennifer stayed home all day, waiting on Jonathan to call. By 6 p.m., she realized he wasn't going to.

She made herself a frozen pizza and then climbed into bed and fell asleep watching a movie.

***Jonathan***

Jonathan was at the penthouse. He had literally done nothing but relax and watch tv all day.

Around 7, he realized that he had forgotten to call Jennifer.

He picked up the phone and called her.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's me."

Click.

He sighed and hung up the phone.

He thought about it and decided to let her calm down before he talked to her again.

***Monday***

Jennifer came into work, and noticed that everyone seemed on edge.

She clocked in, and saw a note attached to the time clock.

"Staff meeting. Conference room. 10 a.m. Mandatory".

She headed to her desk and was surprised to see a vase of flowers. Roses, lilies, birds of paradise, ranunculus, foxglove, and gladiolus, all in various bright springy colors filled out a beautiful light pink shimmery vase.

She pulled the card off and read it.

I'm sorry. Jonathan.

She moved the flowers to the corner of her desk and put the card in her purse and sat down and got to work.

At 10, she headed to the conference room for the meeting.

"Ok, can I have your attention please? I am mandated to read this statement in its entirety. It's about two paragraphs long. Please, just let me read it, and save your comments and outbursts till the end. Here goes. 'As of 8 a.m. this morning, East Coast Press and all of its holdings, properties, securities and liabilities are officially a part of Greenleaf Global. Hart Industries is no longer the owner and has nothing to do with any part of East Coast Press going forward. Greenleaf Global is more than excited to welcome as many employees of East Coast Press into the Greenleaf Global family. There will be a 45-day transition period. At the end of that time period, any and all remaining employees of The New York Times will relocate their office to 6th and 82nd. We have preselected those that we wish to have an interview with and we will notify them this afternoon by 4 p.m. We regret that we cannot accommodate all employees of the Times, but with the state of the economy, it just isn't feasible. We ask that you remember that change is a part of life and that those of you who depart the Greenleaf Global family do so with our best wishes intact'. I'm sorry everyone. That's the end of the statement. Everyone is to get a copy of this, so please take one on your way out. For the next 30 days, while we aren't interviewing with them for positions and trying to figure things out, it is business as usual as much as it can be".

Jennifer was stunned. More than that, she was hurt.

She headed to her desk, grabbed her purse and walked out the front door.

***Hart Industries***

Jennifer walked into Jonathan's building, and took the elevator up to his office.

"Hi, can I help you?"

"Is Mr. Hart in?"

"Yes, but he's on the phone. Can I tell him you're here?"

"Please. I'm Jennifer".

His secretary got up and walked in his office and then came out a few minutes later.

"You can come in".

She walked in, and headed towards his desk.

"Brittany, can you close the door please, and hold my calls? Thank you".

Once the door was shut, he turned to her.

"Hey, I take it you got my flowers".

"How could you?! I trusted you. You lied to me, right to my face".

"Jennifer, it's not that dramatic. I called you to explain, and you hung up in my face".

"I'm not talking about you standing me up on Saturday. Yes, I am pissed at you about that too. I'm more hurt by the fact that you just sold the paper to Greenleaf after you told me on the phone that you weren't going to".

"I never told you I wasn't going to sell to them."

"Yes, you did. Thursday night, when you called me back and I asked you about the rumors."

"No. I told you that it hadn't been sold. I never said it wasn't for sale".

"You also said if you ever sold it you would protect all of us in the deal. And you didn't do that either! I mean, you made it pretty clear on Friday night that you could care less about me. And I feel stupid enough for thinking you cared about me at all. But this, this was the final straw".

"What are you talking about?"

"You. You kiss me, you make me feel all these things, you make me wonder if we could be more than friends, you play with my emotions, and then you rip my heart out and stomp on it".

"When have I ever ripped your heart out and stomped on it? You know I would never do that to you!"

"You used to be a nice, kind person. You and I would spend time together, and you would take me home afterwards. And you would walk me to my door, and make sure I got in ok. You haven't done that the last two times I've seen you. I left a message Friday with your secretary asking you to call me. You never did. Your secretary called me in the afternoon to ask me what color dress I was wearing so your tie could match. I told her bright blue and you show up wearing black. When you picked me up at the ball, you didn't even tell me I looked nice. I mean, I would have loved to have been told that I looked gorgeous or beautiful even, but I would have settled for nice. And do you have any idea how insulting it was to know that I was supposed to be your date to the ball but you didn't want to do the red carpet with me? Take your pick of any of those times. I'm sure if we cut my heart open, we would find that it was black and blue right now, thanks to you. You shouldn't kiss me like that if you don't mean it that way. And to think I introduced you to my father and told him you were my friend. Silly me. Don't bother contacting me again."

She turned and stormed out of his office.

He sighed and sat back down at his desk.

***Later that night***

Jennifer was in her apartment. She had just finished dinner and was doing the dishes when she heard a knock on the door.

She went and opened it and found Jonathan on the other side.

She moved to close it, but he grabbed the door.

"Please. Can we just talk calmly about this?"

"I said everything I had to say to you".

"I realize that. But I would like the chance to explain my side of things if you'll let me".

"Fine".

He followed her into the apartment and then locked the door behind her.

She went back to the kitchen and continued doing the dishes.

"I'm sorry, Jennifer. I know it looks to you as though I lied to you. But I really didn't. At the time that you asked me, the company was for sale but it hadn't been sold. Greenleaf came in, bid on the company, and bid too low, so I rejected it. After you and I spoke about it, they rebid and I accepted. I tried my best to get them to keep everyone, but they kept trying to lower the price and in order for me to make a profit, I couldn't take a lower price and they were offering the bare minimum as it was. And there weren't any other offers on the table".

"It all makes sense, why you started treating me differently. You were doing it out of guilt".

"No, I wasn't".

"I'm not going to argue with you, in my own apartment, no less".

"I suppose I've been fighting my feelings for you, and that's taken over everything. I'm sorry I wasn't more of a gentleman towards you. I admit, I've been distracted lately, and that's not fair to you".

She didn't say anything, she just kept rinsing the dishes.

He walked closer to her.

"Jennifer, I'm crazy about you. I've been trying to sort out my feelings for you, and figure out if you and I can do the long-distance relationship thing".

She didn't say anything.

"Come on, talk to me. Don't shut me out".

"Jonathan, because of you, I no longer have a job. I wasn't picked to continue on with Greenleaf. I feel hurt and betrayed by you, to say the least. One conversation with you isn't going to fix that".

"What can I do to fix things between us?"

"I don't know. I don't tend to give people second chances, especially when they've hurt me".

"Well, I'm willing to do whatever it takes to repair things between us. You know how to reach me, so when you're ready to talk, let me know".

He leaned over and kissed her forehead and then turned and let himself out of her apartment.

***Three months later***

"Deanne, please call Stanley and ask him to come see me and ask him to bring the report on the feasibility study of the Waterson merger with him".

"Yes, Mr. Hart".

A few minutes later, Stanley came into his office.

"Hello, sir".

"Hi. Did you bring the feasibility study?"

"Yes, I did. In my professional opinion, if you were to pay them asking price, do the necessary renovations on their warehouses and get a solid quarter or two of profit, you could more than double your money if you sold it, or merged it on down the road".

"Perfect. Can you contact them and see if they will meet with me?"

"Of course, sir."

"Where do we stand on the secret project?"

"Same place, sir. Still haven't found anything, just yet".

"Keep looking, please. No matter how long it takes".

"Yes sir".

He headed out of the office, leaving Jonathan alone with his thoughts.

***Later that night***

Jonathan came in the door of the house he shared with Max and headed straight for the bar. Max watched as he poured himself a scotch, slammed it, poured another, slammed it, and poured another.

"Mr. H., it's been three months. You got to let her go".

"No Max, I don't. I can't and I won't".

"She made her feelings clear to you. You told her when she was ready to talk about things to contact you and she hasn't. Nothing more you could have done, and nothing more you can do now".

"I love her Max. I didn't realize what I had till it was gone, and there's no way I could ever forget her and move on with someone else. I made a horrible mistake, but come on, how long do I have to pay for that?"

"Until you find her. You are going to have to prove to her that she means everything to you and you are going to have to put her feelings ahead of yours if she gives you another chance. It's not about love, Mr. H. It's about trust."

Deep down, Jonathan knew Max was right. And he agreed with him. He was frustrated by the fact that he didn't know what to do about it.

***San Diego***

"You have one parking spot in front, and as many as you need on the side in the visitor parking. Your spot in front is spot 4. Since you own the townhouse, we can't exactly tell you things like no loud music, no parties, but as a general rule, people do tend to keep things quiet after 10. If you'll sign right here, I'll get your keys".

After the papers were signed, the realtor handed over the keys and the new homeowner headed to look at the unit in person.

The realtor took the papers to her boss' office to file them.

"Sell another one?"

"Yes. Seems like a nice fit too. Very pretty lady. Jennifer Edwards. Just moved here from New York".