Right, about this one...Just, you know when you asked me about a Christmas chapter? I guess this can be sort of, kinda, maybe...?
The only good thing about their argument over the Artosi debacle was that it came on a Friday, leaving both of them a couple of days to blow off some steam, so instead of carrying the fight into the new week they just stayed clear of each other as much as possible. If they had been in the right mind disposition they might have been able to acknowledge that at least their argument about work had not shifted into a personal confrontation, leaving their past relationship out of it. Not that it would have been much of a consolation, but perhaps their staff would have been glad to know considering how clearly they felt the tension between the bosses halfway through the week.
Truly, one of the worst things about their fight was the timing, coming only one week before the annual Christmas party thrown by the Mayor's office. They had to go, in that way that made Cal's stomach churn. Networking, visibility, playing nice, engaging in a little bit of politics, talk shop while claiming the contrary: that was what those parties were about and Cal was allergic to most of it. Gillian, on the other hand, loved the whole thing. Not so much for the business part, but because it was always a chance for her to dress up, feel nice and look even better, and to enjoy food spreads and unlimited buffets.
They had still been together when the save the date had arrived, and needless to say they had planned on going together. Cal had made a big fuss about it, of course, but Gillian had known that deep down he was looking forward to it for the first time in his life. Months later, on the day of, things might have changed between them on some level but they were still the main representatives of the group and they were expected to show up, no matter what. Much like the start, the end of their relationship had become a matter of scrutiny from some of the people they worked with and for, so they had to show up and mingle at least long enough to show that all was well at the Lightman Group.
How to exactly deliver on that would have been easier if they had been on speaking terms, but even being aware of the importance of their attendance they hadn't gone past a very brief essential exchange, confirming they were both going and would meet there.
Later that evening, Cal was the first one to arrive. He figured the sooner he'd got there the sooner he would have been able to leave. He had been more than ready to make an effort for Gilllian when they were together, thinking at the very least he would have been the most envied man in the room waltzing in with her on his arm, but as far he was concerned he was under no obligation anymore besides showing his face, crack some jokes and enjoy the free flowing booze.
He was doing just that, standing with his back on the wall sipping the second rather stiff gin and tonic, when she arrived. Cal had had days, weeks even to prepare himself, knowing that Gillian was going to make the most of the chance to dress up, still he nearly choked on the drink when he saw her. She was wearing a one shoulder red dress with fine gold and silver threads embedded in the fabric, a matching stole draped around the other, very much naked, shoulder. Her hair was done up in the back leaving most of her neck exposed, but in the front there were free flocks of wavy hair gently framing her face. She was wearing hearings but nothing around her neck, probably knowing between the hair do and the line of dress there was no need to draw any further attention to that particular feature of hers.
She was absolutely stunning, the most beautiful woman in the room and as hard as Cal tried he couldn't stop thinking about the fact that not so long ago it had been all his. Sometimes, times like that, he almost wished they had broken up for a particular reason, that it hadn't been a mutual understanding that things between them as a couple were over. Sometimes, he thought as he felt a little dizzy watching her walking across the room with a warm smile on her face she was giving to everybody, he wished they had actually fought about something concrete that they could throw at each other's face so that he could feel justified to be mad at her.
A little part of him tried to tell him that she had put extra effort in looking so utterly breathtaking just because of their fight, that maybe she wanted to make sure people - men - would notice her and make moves, but Gillian was far too classy for something like that. She rarely, never that he knew off, acted out of spite and then again, the things they had been arguing about had nothing to do with personal matters.
So he watched her surfing through the growing crowd, gladly taking a glass of champagne from a table and looking around. It wasn't long before someone approached her, someone Cal knew he was supposed to know the name of but couldn't quite recall. Gillian exchanged a brief conversation with the unknown man, then spotted him and started to come his way. Cal wasn't surprised, he knew they had to show some level of civility and if it hadn't been for their sparring match the week before they might have even been able to enjoy the evening.
When she came closer Cal corrected his slouched posture and adjusted his tie, making room for her against the wall he had been leaning on.
"How long have you been here?" She asked, glancing down at the nearly empty glass in his hand.
"'Bout half an hour."
"Did you speak with anyone?"
"Yes," Cal nodded with a smirk. "The barman, to ask for one of these."
Gillian rolled her eyes but maintained her composure. Cal wouldn't have been fooled anyway, he knew that the only reason why the conversation hadn't started off with an aggressive tone was the considerable number of eyes more or less absently staring at them. For all outward appearances they would have looked like they were having a very normal and quiet conversation, but for the two of them the tension was palpable.
"I was waiting for you," Cal explained then, pulling up from the wall and downing the rest of his drink. "You know I can't remember people's names if my life depended on it."
Gillian didn't comment on it, only threw him a side glance, but then followed him as he went back to the bar for a refill before going on a tour or hand-shaking and greetings. It infuriated her that he could be so casual about his shortcomings, even though he was obviously aware he needed to put up a facade, but she had no intention to let that ruin her evening. If Cal wanted to pay his token presence and then leave she was ok with that, but she was going to stay as long as she wanted and enjoy herself.
When Cal finally had a beer in his hand, necessary fuel to keep him going, they moved around the room engaging in passing small talks with a few people, starting with the Mayor and the Police Commissioner. Cal cracked some jokes, Gillian answered questions about some of the ongoing projects they were working on with the city administration and after a while they moved on to someone else. Local politicians, judges, businesspeople, people who fancied themselves important for this or that reason: Gillian made the introductions, most of the time in a subtle way that wouldn't make Cal look like he had no clue who he was talking to, and he was on his best behaviour.
By the time they had talked to everyone that mattered, Cal beer was gone and he was craving for another round and Gillian had waited long enough to tackle the luxurious buffet, so they parted ways. They didn't see much of each other the following hour or so, although a couple of times Gillian found him in the crowded room and was surprised to see he hadn't bolted out of there the minute he had the chance. He wasn't exactly socialising or mingling, but he wasn't even brooding on his own in the corner of the room hoping to go unnoticed.
What she didn't know, and didn't honestly care to find out since she was still mad at him, was that whenever she wasn't looking at him Cal had his eyes glued on her.
He had gone past the shock of her appearance and recovered from that, it had been easy once he had reminded himself that even something as simple as one dance was out of the question. But looking at her helped his train of thoughts, a convoy he hadn't been able to stop since their argument.
Having broken up so easily didn't make things as easy. He missed her, he missed what they used to have, but he was also happy with what they still had, at least until the fight. Yes he cared about the company but it was her friendship, her presence in his life he didn't want to lose. He hated the fight, even more so because it was about work and not about them. And as much as he would like to convince himself of the contrary, there were things he could do to fix at least part of it.
He just needed to gather the courage, that was what the alcohol was for, and to find the right time.
It wasn't easy, there was always someone around her and Cal thought if he'd tried to whisk her away it would have backfired. But it needed to be done, and soon, because he couldn't take another day of that tension between them.
Eventually, he saw his window of opportunity. He was watching her as she spoke with someone's wife, then Gillian stopped and excused herself as she fished the phone out of her coordinated pouch bag. She spoke briefly then motioned to her interlocutor that she had to move away, probably to find a quiet spot where she could carry on with the call. Cal followed her cautiously, not surprised that she had to go all the way out back to find a quiet spot. It worked out well for him, she went down a corridor with only one way in and out so he quietly positioned himself where she had to walk by in order to go back.
He didn't listen to the call, none of his business, but just kept an ear out for when it was over. Then he readied himself, straightened his back and took a deep, sobering up breath, listening for her incoming steps.
"Gotta a minute?"
He asked then as she passed by. Gillian nearly jumped in surprise - why the hell did he have to lure in the shadows like that - gasping and taking a step back to fight off the scare.
"Jesus Cal!"
"Sorry, love." He tried on the last word for size, it had been a while since he had used it with her, but there was no reaction that he could see since she was recovering from the surprise. Cal thought that might work to his advantage, if he could get a word in edgewise before she could remember she was mad at him. "Seems like I've already been blacklisted at the bar so I think it's time for me to go, but first I wanted to give you this."
He had actually planned on telling her that he wanted to talk, but the little digression about his alcohol consumption had worn off the rest of the surprise effect, and judging by Gillian's annoyed look he didn't have much time. So, before she could say something and try to stop him, Cal reached into the inside pocket of his suit jacket and handed her a thick white envelope.
Understandably, Gillian seemed dubious about the offering and didn't take it straight away. Cal rolled his eyes but kept his hand stretched out to her, patiently, readying his face. He knew she would look at him, looking for signs that he was up to something mischievous or embarrassing, something that would explain why the ambush away from the party. So he showed her that there was none of that, that all he wanted was really for her to just take the bloody envelope.
Still hesitant, Gillian took it and seemed to weigh it in her hand for a moment, then opened it after a last look at him. Cal watched her react to it, unfolding the papers and recognizing the headed letter, the content; then he saw her eyes quickly reading the printed words, smirking when she skipped to the end after only a couple of paragraphs, her face eventually opening in a bizarre expression of surprise and shock.
She still had that expression, open mouth and all, when she looked at him after having checked the papers in her hands one more time.
"How?" She simply asked, feeling the urge to strangle him when he shrugged as if he hadn't just done such a mighty gesture.
Then she realised why he did that, shrugging and trying to diminish his own actions: he was blushing, furiously for Cal Lightman's standards, and Gillian easily figured out giving her the papers was not the actual thing he was blushing about.
"Went to the Artosi firm, the day after," he explained in a low voice, shifting back and forth on his feet. "Spoke to them, explained how we could do what they wanted."
There were so many cues showing how shy he was about confessing what he had done that Gillian was overwhelmed. His voice, to start; that rocking on his heels he always did when he didn't feel too confident; the fact that he couldn't bring himself to look at her all of a sudden and, perhaps the more telling, the fact that he was contracting sentences and using the minimum amount of required words.
"You read the presentation," she stated then, and he gave a small nod.
That wasn't hard to understand, why he didn't want her to see him. If before he had been shy about admitting he had done something thoughtful and nice, now he was ashamed of the fact that he had had to in order to repair his very own gross mistake.
No, he hadn't been listening when she had told him about what the brokers wanted and no, he had had no idea as to what working with them would have implied. Nor had he cared, certainly not after their fight, and the presentation she had so gently shared with him had sat forgotten on his desk for a few days. Eventually, the small binder had come to his attention again and that was he had found out what they had missed out on because of him. The brokers weren't looking for a way to make more money an take advantage of inexperienced investors; on the contrary, they wanted to be able to assess the veracity of external parties coming to them with products to trade on, and set up workshops for their clients and people looking to invest their own saving so that they could learn how to discern genuine good plans and opportunities from scams.
Needless to say, Cal had felt horrible and guilty as hell. From there, the decision to try and fix the situation and reel in the clients had been a very easy and quick one, and once he had called the Artosi firm it had been scarily easy for him to get a meeting with little to no questions asked. The difficult part had been finding a way to improve on Gillian's nearly perfect work, all the while making sure she received the deserved credit.
What was in her hands, the content of the envelope he had been carrying around all evening, was the signed contract for an exclusive partnership, needing only her signature to make it official.
After a long silence, due mostly to the fact that Cal didn't want to say anything and risk ruining the moment, Gllian finally relieved him of his misery and tension and smiled, a nice warm smile he hadn't seen in a while.
Good, he thought. Because he wasn't done yet.
"Is this my Christmas present?" She asked then, holding up the papers as her smile grew.
"No," Cal answered, understanding the confusion on her face but knowing it wasn't going to last long. Then he pulled out another envelope, much lighter and thinner, and put it in her hand without waiting for her to take it from his hand. "This is."
Then he left, not wanting to be there for that reveal. He had no clue how she would react, and whether it was going to be good or bad Cal had long decided that moment wouldn't have been about him.