Hello all! Sorry for the delay this week, family has been over constantly and I havent been unable to write as much. I should be back on my regular posting schedule after this! Thank you all again for sticking with it. I re worked this chapter multiple times so hopefully it all makes since! I appreciate all the love support and reviews, it really means alot
It's just that I don't trust myself with my heart
But I've had to let it break a little more
'Cause they say that's what it's for
That's how the light shines in, Kintsugi by Lana Del Rey
Monday morning, Cal arrived bright and early at the office. Strolling through the front doors, he headed directly to his office. Taking a seat at his desk, his mind replaying the events of the rest of the weekend as he haphazardly thumbed through a stack of files.
They had arrived back in DC Sunday mid day. Cal and Zoe arrived at his home in time for Emily heat up a lasagna for them to eat together. Emily letting them know as they ate how jealous she was that she could not attend 'the big fashion party'.
"Where you and Gillian able to get the rest of the information you needed to solve the case?" Emily asked taking a rather large bite of lasagna looking at her dad.
"It was rather… revealing, yes." he smiled at his daughter. Looking down at his plate his mind drifting to thoughts of Gillian.
Pink dress, men's button up shirt…towel…yes rather revealing.
"so do you know who took the money?" Emily asked curiously shocking him from his thoughts.
Cal looked up from his plate to see both Emily and Zoe looking at him waiting for an answer.
"like I said the weekend was revealing." Cal reached forward grabbing his wine taking a sip.
"So that's a yes then. That's great! I wonder if he will invite you to his fashion show. If he does please take me!" Emily said Excitedly taking another bite of her dinner.
"Well if he is in high spirits after he finally learns the truth, I will be sure to ask him if you can attend sweet heart." Zoe smiled warmly at her daughter.
"if he is in high spirits…" Cal mumbled to himself. Grabbing his phone from his pocket feeling it vibrate seeing an incoming text from Gillian.
"I need to make a quick call honey." Zoe kissed the top of Emily's head before leaving the room.
'have you thought of any brilliant ways to handle the Elizabeth situation?'
He smiled while responding.
'Hard not to come up with something brilliant when it comes from my mind'
'so that means you haven't thought of anything have you?'
Chuckling lightly, he typed his response.
'Not that faintest idea'
'thought so. Lets get together Monday morning and come up with a plan to talk to Elizabeth and Perry. I want us to have enough time to come up with something before we have them come in. Sound good?'
'sounds great to me darling.'
Emily looked at her father while taking another bite of her food smiling to herself.
"Can I help you?" he looked up from his phone to his smirking daughter.
"is that Gillian your texting?" Emily grinned ear to ear.
"none of ya business." He brought his phone to his chest quickly scrunching his nose at his daughter in a teasing matter.
A soft, familiar knock at the door broke him free from his memory of the prior night. The door opened as Gillian walked in. Wearing a black pencil skirt and a well-tailored white button-up dress shirt. The outfit was topped off with a black pair of stilettos, straight hair, and hoops. Cal looked at her appreciatively as she walked in with a warm smile on her face.
"good morning." She beamed at him as she took a seat across from him.
"morning luv." He returned her smile with one of his own.
"Was your brilliant mind able to come up with a possible game plan for today?" Gillian teased grinning to him as reclined in her chair while crossing her legs.
Leaning forward in his chair and placing his hands together. "Well you see-"
"So that's still a no?" she chuckled lightly watching him. He could see the joy in her eyes and could not help from smiling back at her.
"Technically? no….but first things first, we will need Perry and Elizabeth both in the office today."
"You want to confront Elizabeth two days before the Lavi fashion show? Why not wait until after the show? That way it wont potentially disrupt the entire show. We don't know how Perry is going to react. Which is why we need a plan to handle this tactfully." She let the last words drift out long and slow, hoping her would understand the importance.
"Perry's mind is already overwhelmed with thoughts of someone betraying him. He wants answers. And need I remind you when he hired us, he told us we had thirty days, darling. We are at day twenty-nine already. He wanted to know before the show when he hired us. Not after."
"He wanted to know before the show, when he didn't know it was his best friend and business partner who betrayed him." Gillian rebutted.
"He hired us to do a job, and that's what we are bloody well doing. We are giving him what he asked for and that's the truth."
"So whats the plan? Have them come to our office, you interview Elizabeth guns blazing, pointing fingers. All the while Perry gets the rug pulled out from underneath him moments before the biggest day of the year for him?...this will greatly impact there relationship, it might even destroy it. You have seen how much loyalty and trust means to him. This is his partner… his best friend." She exhaled in frustration.
"It's bloody well not me… not us destroying their relationship now, is it? If knowing the truth causes there relationship to crumble then the relationship wasn't that strong to begin with." Cal responded back in frustration.
"I don't know about this Cal." Gillian shook her head softly while looking away from him.
Getting up from his desk, he walked around so that he was in front of her before resting his body on the edge of the desk.
"Man is paying a lot of money to know the truth luv….you know as well as I do not everything comes at a monetary cost." Leaning forward, to get closer to her.
"Truth or happiness, darling," he said with a small smile while watching her.
"truth or happiness." She repeated his words with understanding and a slight sadness in her eyes as they looked at each other.
The door opened, snapping both of their attention to the direction of the sound. They watched as Zoe emerged, with Perry and Elizabeth behind her.
"Are we all ready?" Zoe greeted them, looking between the two partners.
Gillian opened her mouth in shock looking quickly to Cal, before closing it right away.
"Mrs. Landau informed us that you have solved the case. I cannot express how truly ecstatic I am hearing this news!" Perry smiled widely while clapping his hands together in excitement.
Cal watched as Elizabeth stood with an icy expression, truly controlled, looking at her partner, then back at Cal and Gillian. Her face gave nothing away as she tucked her hands into her pants pocket.
"Can you all please give us a minute?" Gillian said as she rose from her chair, turning away from Cal to look at the others and looking at Zoe in disbelief.
"Of course, my apologies if we interrupted." Perry walked slowly forward, approaching Gillian.
"Mrs. Landau, let us know the trip to New York was very successful and you were able to get the rest of the information you needed… I hope we did not jump the gun, but we are all just very excited for this to be solved." Perry smiled softly at Gillian but she did not return it; she just nodded softly, biting her lips back deep in thought. Perry tilted his head lightly watching her curiously.
"We will be ready. Just give us a little bit. If you all can wait for us in the cube, we will be over shortly." Cal walked over, stepping in between the two and holding his arm out to the door.
Perry nodded and turned to leave, opening the door for Zoe and Elizabeth, giving Gillian and Cal one last look before leaving himself.
"I shouldn't even be surprised." Gillian spoke sadly, turning around to face Cal. "You told Zoe didn't you?" she studied his face carefully.
"Emily asked about the party during dinner on Sunday. Zoe happened to be there yes. But I did not say anything about who we suspect." He quickly tried to defend himself.
"all I said was that the weekend was…revealing." He smirked, trying his best to flirt his way out Gillian being angry at him.
Well flirting isnt going to work shes pissed. God damn it Zoe you just ran with the little information you heard and told your bloody clients. Screwing us in the process.
"We wouldnt been in this situation if…" stopping herself short, she inhaled deeply, pausing.
"never mind."
We wouldn't have this problem if Zoe wasn't staying with me. If I wasn't sleeping with her. Just say it, Gillian. We both know what you want to say.
"Darling… I had no idea Zoe talked to Perry. I shouldn't be surprised that she did though, always one curry favor with a client. Even when it comes at our detriment."
Letting out her breath slowly, she calmed herself before continuing. "So Zoe looks great to her client, while we scurry around to formulate a plan on how to handle everything. Perfect." She huffed in frustration.
"I'll just go in guns blazing like we discussed." He quickly added, raising his hands in defiance as he turned away, sitting back in his chair.
"No, that's a terrible plan. And it wasn't even a discussion."
He raised his finger and opened his mouth to speak before Gillian quickly continued.
"We need to be tactful Cal. We don't know how Perry will react to learning the truth-"
"What do you suggest, then, Gillian?" Clearly you care , oh so much about his feelings and how he is going to take this." His voice rose, drawing out the words 'his' and 'he' bitterly as he felt the jealousy filling him up again.
Real subtle mate, a novice could see your jealousy. You are jealous and you hate the fact the cares about him. But does she really? She cares about all of our clients. She's not treating Perry different than she would with another other client. But why does it feel like she is? Because you cant differentiate between Gillian caring for a client or Gillian caring because she is interest in the man.
"Your right I do care about how he is going to handle finding out the truth. I also care about how Elizabeth will feel once the truth is out." She sadly added, shaking her head disapprovingly at his behavior.
"She lied, yes; she stole from their company… but she did it for her partner in the end. She did it because she cared about his mother, even when he didn't. She did it to protect something of his. We don't know how he will react; maybe he will threaten to dissolve their partnership, thinking she overstepped." She closed her eyes before continuing to speak, uneasy and full of emotion. "She could lose it all… because she cared."
Just like I threatened when you messed with the company's finances—another proud moment of mine that I wish I could take back. All that pushing her away didn't just brush her off to be forgotten. It left bruises…she identity's with Elizabeth, she sees part of herself in her and that's why she cares so much how the truth is revealed.
He sat looking at his partner, seeing the hurt in her eyes. Hurt that he caused.
"What do you suggest doing?" He spoke softly and low, looking down at his desk, no longer able to bring himself to see such hurt in her.
"I will interview Elizabeth. You…handle Perry." Gillian turned around and walked out of Cal's office without another word or another glance back.
Cal walked into the interview room, looking around quickly searching for Gillian. He walked over to Perry, Elizabeth, and Zoe, who all sat in chairs in front of the cube, making small talk.
"You know this "cube," as you call it, is quite beautiful; it looks like a piece of fine art. I have become quite obsessed with it since I first laid eyes on it." Perry smiled appreciatively as he looked at the glass room in front of him.
"I've never heard it called art before. Most people get the creeps from it." Cal said, chuckling lightly as he stood next to the large man.
"I will be back in a couple hours. I need to take care of a few things. I'm sure Doctor Lightman and Foster will take good care of you all." Zoe smiled at Perry before excusing herself walking to the door.
Yeah you go ahead and leave. You get all the praise for telling your client the good news that we finally found out the truth and we get to deal with the repercussions of telling him it, how lovely.
"So what's the plan, Doctor? Are you bringing in the bastard?" Perry grinned excitedly at Cal as he reclined in his chair.
"Well…ya see… Where is Fosta?" He looked around the room quickly before hearing the door open.
Gillian walked in, looking at the group seated, glancing at Cal.
"We are ready." She gave a soft smile before looking at Elizabeth.
"This way, please." She tilted her head toward the cube as both Elizabeth and Perry stood. Perry looking puzzled, Elizabeth calm and expressionless.
"Not you, Perry, just Elizabeth please." She helped out her hand as Elizabeth walked with her, a hint of worry breaking her hardened expression as she quickly concealed it.
"What's going on?" Perry asked, outraged.
"Take a seat, Pera." Cal signaled to the chair. Perry did as instructed sitting back down in his chair. Cal walked over taking the seat once occupied by Elizabeth, sitting next to the man.
Gillian closed the door to the cube behind her before taking the seat across from Elizabeth. Looking across the table, she watched as the other woman looked out of the cube, directly at Perry.
"Can you white us out, please?" Gillian asked as Cal reached out for the controls on the cube, causing the walls to turn solid white with light.
"What the? This is different than last time." Elizabeth stood straight up in her chair, looking around the room.
"What is all of this?... A little kinky, don't you think?" She flirted with a Cheshire grin, causing Gillian to bite back a small smile before talking.
"I thought it might make you feel more comfortable talking to me." Gillian said this while crossing her legs.
"Trust me, I feel more then just comfortable talking to you." She flirted again with a wider grin, crossing her arms across her chest.
"I would like us to talk about Perry's mother." Gillian ignored her flirtation, looking the woman in the eyes with a soft voice.
"Perrys mother? Why don't you just ask him about his own mother."
"You see, when you say "mother," you're showing a slight expression of sadness… and regret." Gillian said as she leaned forward in her chair slightly.
"She was awful to him when he was a child; maybe I'm just saddened by how that woman treated him."
"How that woman"—you're using distancing language now after. You show sadness for what happened to him as a kid yes but that regret seems out of place. How's your relationship with your mom?" she questioned as she tilted her head softly to the side.
"she's dead.. .She died when I was a teenager." Elizabeth looked down and back up at Gillian, making sure to control her features.
"I'm very sorry for your loss. I can see how much her passing still saddens you." Gillian spoke softly again, her words warm and full of compassion.
"It was a long time ago… What does my mother-" stopping herself and shaking her head she continued. "What does Perry's mother have to do with anything? Shouldn't you be finding out who the thief is?" Elizabeth quickly added.
Cal watched the two women inside the cube. Carefully observing the woman sitting across from Gillian. She was so controlled, icy even at that. She was a master at keeping her mask in place.
Gillians going to get nothing from this woman. I'm getting nothing out of her; what's her plan? We can't call out what we don't see.
"What does my mother have to do with this?" Perry asked, turning to look at Cal.
"Keep watching, mate; Fosta knows what she is doing. I have the utmost faith in her." He nodded firmly before turning back to watch the women.
"We talked quite a bit to Mrs. Christensen at the party, sid you know her son lives in the same town as Perry's mother?" Gillian asked, speaking low and soft. She watched as Elizabeth's face quickly flashed recognition, closing her eyes before opening to look at Gillian with a brief smile.
"News to me." Elizabeth gave a sad smile, quickly preventing her face from betraying her.
"Her son said that Perry's mother was quite sick about …five years ago, dying even."
Cal watched Perry's eyes widen when Gillian spoke of his sick mother.
"You had no idea your mom was sick, did you?" he asked while tilting his head and watching the man.
"no clue… I haven't talked to that woman in years."
Cal watched as his jaw tightened as he spoke. The man was angered by the thought of his mother but he could see a hint of sadness and fear in his eyes as well.
"She made a miraculous recovery; she was very fortunate. It seems as though she had someone who was looking out for her." Giving her a reassuring smile, Gillian watched as Elizabeth showed understanding and a brief glimpse of happiness.
Elizabeth did not say anything as she held her arms against herself tighter, drawing her lips in tightly.
"I think… you and I have a lot in common Elizabeth." Gillian tried a new tactic by standing up straight in her chair.
"Both gorgeous blondes with rockin' bodies?" Elizabeth joked with a small chuckle, causing Gillian to smile with a shake of her head.
"We both care greatly about our partners….So much so… that we do what we think is in their best interest, even if it means doing things they might not approve of… or necessarily like."
Elizabeth inhaled deeply, nodding her head in agreement.
"Doctor Lightman and I have been partners for a long time. Much like you and Perry. We believe everything is fair and even because we are partner….But at the end of the day, its there name on the door, on the clothes. Which means that the playing field isn't even now, is it? There is an imbalance of power. When they do something for the sake of looking out for the company or us, they don't have to worry because they don't run the same risks as us. They can do whatever they like whether we like it or not. And we put up with it."
Elizabeth nodded again, Gillian could see how much what she was saying related to how Elizabeth felt. Gillian continued.
"But when we do something they wouldn't approve of… we could lose not just our partner but our business. Everything could be lost with one false move. " Gillian spoke sadly, looking at Elizabeth sympathetically. She watched as Elizabeth's mask finally fell, seeing her features mirroring her own. Sympathy and understanding for eachother.
Elizabeth nodded again as Gillian continued speaking.
"We tend to be very careful with our partners, not over stepping, not over reaching. But that wasn't going to stop you from helping someone in need… You helped his mother. You helped her knowing he would never have helped her himself and he would have been livid if, and when he found out….You lost your mother rather young, you said. You didn't want him to suffer the loss of losing his mother like you did….You were protecting him by helping her, isn't that right?"
Elizabeth nodded again, looking down at her heels then back at Gillian. Seeing no judgement just care and support. She finally spoke up.
"She…His mother is bi-polar, she was unmedicated when Perry was young; she saw things and lashed out; she had no control over herself… When Perry left home, she finally started taking medication. She tried everything for him to forgive her; she begged and pleaded for clemency, but he was having none of it. Not after what she had done, what he had been through. But I know part of him still loves his mother; he truly does." Elizabeth's eyes welled up with tears as her voice broke.
"I was miserable when my mother died. I still think of her every day and how much I just wish I could talk to her one last time….Perry has suffered so much in his life already. I couldn't stand for him to suffer again. Suffer the loss of losing his only parent."
"He monitors your finances, so you had to hide the fact that you were helping his mother, didn't you? By taking it from the company?"
"Yes." Elizabeth choked up as a single tear fell from her eye. "He cares more about me and my life then he does the companies funds. I figured it would have gone unnoticed if I took it from Lavi. Rather then large amounts missing from my account. Large amounts that he would question…I wanted to replace the funds myself but again he would see funds missing from my account…"
"Five point eight million dollars…. on medical bills? Even in America, that's an incredibly high amount of money to spend on medical debt... Which makes me think that maybe there is more to the story?"
Elizabeth let out a small, frustrated chuckle.
"That there is that there is… Henri Roche found out I was helping Perry's mother. He saw us in town together….So he threatened to tell Perry if I did not pay to keep hin quite."
"He blackmailed you?"
"Yes," Elizabeth nodded as more tears threatened to spill over.
Perry leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. Clasping his hands together and placing his chin on them, he watched the interview intently.
Cal watched Perry, seeing anger and hurt when they talked about his mother. Sympathy and love when Elizabeth talked about losing her own mother. As soon as Gillian and Elizabeth talked about using the funds to take care of his mother, Perry held his breath, waiting for more information to be revealed.
'He blackmailed you?'
Perry quickly stood up, pacing around the cube like a lion tracking its prey. His anger is visible to an untrained eye.
'Yes'
He slammed the side of his hand into the cube in a fit of anger, causing both Gillian and Elizabeth to startle in shock.
"You're going to have to Calm down, mate." Cal quickly got up and approached the large man, placing his hand on his back.
"And why should I? My partner betrays me, and an employee is blackmailing her." He slammed his fist again into the cube, looking down at the ground.
Gillian stood up quickly from her chair as the sound of another bang rattled the cube. Looking at the direction of the sound, Gillian walked over to the wall Of the cube.
"Lights, please, Cal." She asked cautiously as Cal walked to the controls, turning off the whiteout in the cube.
Gillian looked down at Perry through the glass as his head hung low, his fist still pressed against the glass. She turned back to look at Elizabeth, who was sitting nervously and upset. Her eyes brimmed with tears as she looked at her partner.
"Perry I-" Elizabeth tried to speak but was cut off quickly.
"stop. You lied to me. "You betrayed my trust… and for that woman of all people—"
"She's still your mother." Elizabeth quickly tried to defend herself with tears in her eyes, standing up to talk to him.
"She's a monster!" He slammed his fist into the side of the cube again, causing Elizabeth to recoil.
"She's still your mom! you have love for her; I know you do. I have read the letters she has sent. She loves you so much that she would do anything to be in your life. She wishes she could take everything back. She's so proud of you."
Perry scoffed loudly, looking up at Elizabeth.
"She was dying; you could have lost her."
"You should have let her die." His words were full of hate, anger, and bitterness. As he looked heatedly at Elizabeth through the glass.
Elizabeth quickly walked out of the cube, slamming the door as she walkrd out of the room. Perry brought his fingers to the bridge of his nose, pinching it in frustration.
"She was trying to protect you." Gillian looked down at him.
"Protect me by lying to me? Protect me by going behind my back to help a child abuser?"
"Protecting you from suffering any more! From hurting from the loss of a parent. A feeling she is familiar with that she would never want you to feel… So much so that she risked everything for you to not experience that pain." Gillian snapped quickly at him, pointing her hand at the door Elizabeth had walked out of.
Perry moved his hand from the wall of the cube. His anger depleted slightly as he backed away from the cube to watch Gillian speak.
"She did that because that's what you do for someone you love. She wanted to protect you from more pain in your life if she had any way of controlling it. And she would have paid for everything herself if you weren't so controlling that you monitored her finances. She didn't want you to know she was helping, but she didn't want you to lose your mother-
"You say you hate your mom, but when she said she was sick, I saw the panic and worry in your eyes. You still care, even though you say you don't. Even though you say you would rather her be dead," Cal chimed in, walking close to Perry to look at him, adding more.
"I get it. I get being frustrated at her, hurt, betrayed, and for hiding something from you for so long." Cal looked up quickly at Gillian as she watched him speak in side the cube, tilting her head slightly to listen. Seeing her face flash a small hint of hurt, he gave her a soft, reassuring smile before turning quickly to Perry.
"But she had her reasons, and like Fosta said, she did it out of love for you… The one you should be mad at is the man who blackmailed your partner, not her."
Cal turned around as Gillian walked out of the cube, joining by his side as they both watched the large man.
"I just never thought she would betray me…. Out of all the people in my life who have used me, lied, broken my trust, and been disloyal, I've been burned so many times, I'm surprised I still have skin." Perry spoke sadly, rubbing the back of his neck in frustration before plopping down into a nearby chair.
"She lied, she lied, and my heart is breaking… because she is the one person I never thought would hurt me." Perry's eyes began to water as he rubbed at them, in frustration.
"We have been doing this a long time, mate. Everyone lies; everyone has secrets. Everyone ends up hurting the one person they would never imagine hurting. It's an unfortunate part of life… But just because you got hurt doesn't mean you should toss what you had."
"And why not? That's what I have done to everyone else who has been disloyal… who has betrayed me." Perry held his hand out flippantly, shrugging his shoulders. Doing his best to hide how upset he truly was by this.
"Has she been disloyal before? No right? She has stood by you and defended ya; hell, even what she did was to protect you, mate."
Perry nodded softly, looking directly at Cal.
"I've been tossed out more times than I can count, ruining almost every relationship that's entered my life. Foster, Here is the only one who has stood by my side, who has believed in me, who has defended me." He signaled to Gillian but kept his eyes on the man in front of him.
"And yet, when we first met, she lied to me… She hid something from me for years. And that bloody well hurt to discover… but she did it to protect me and my family. Just like what Elizabeth did was to protect you." Cal watched as Perry's eyes grew wide in surprise and understanding.
"I doubt you've never lied to her or hid stuff from her. You're more mad because you thought she was better then, that I'm a right? I can see it on your face—total and complete shock when you found out. You thought she wasn't capable of lying to you or hiding information from you. And in any other situation, she wouldn't be. But when it was to protect someone, someone she cares about, she did what she had to do."
"So what then, you forgive and forget?" Perry questioned looking between the two cocking an eyebrow.
"Forgive, yes, but you will never forget." Gillian spoke up, catching Cal by surprise with her words.
"She shouldn't have lied; she shouldn't have hid that from you. But you should trust your partner enough to not watch her finances and pry into everything that seems necessary; it creates an imbalance in the relationship. You have all the power; she had no other option but to go behind your back. and look where that leads everyone. Betrayed and wounded, letting someone swoop in and take advantage like they did by blackmail." Gillian exhaled an uneasy breath while watching Perry.
"You're saying this is all my fault?" Perry got up from his chair and approached Gillian, looking down at her, showing annoyance. Cal quickly stepped closer to her.
"I'm saying if you could learn to trust people, maybe things would be different. No one is perfect; no one is infallible. No one will it hold up to your vetting processes. We aren't always our past… And one mistake in twenty years of a partnership doesn't make everything else in those years meaningless."
"Maybe our partnership wasn't as flawless as I thought." Perry said with a shake of the head.
"Who's is mate? Every relationship has cracks."
"I don't know how to fix all of our cracks…cracks I didn't even realize we had." Rubbing his jaw Perry blinked quickly recalling past memories.
"Do you know what kintsugi is?" Gillian said, looking up at him.
"kin what? No…" Perry shook his head in confusion.
"It's a Japanese pottery style, where they take a broken piece of pottery and put it back together using gold. They let the gold seep through every shattered and broken fragment, and it creates an incredible new piece of art, and when you hold it up to a light, it shines in... I hurt Cal when he found out I lied all those years ago….And Cal has hurt me more times than I can count." She looked over to Cal before giving him a small, sad smile, then looked back up at the man.
"It's not about what you have done to each other; it's about how you heal from it. How you overcame and strengthened from it… That's how the light shines in."
Cal watched as Perry stepped back, looking at Gillian letting her words soak in as he nodded. Giving her a brief smile before speaking.
"You two are really something. I'm thankful Mrs. Landau introduced us." He smiled sadly, tucking his hands into his pants.
"Go get your girl mate; you two have a lot of talking to do."