The Price

"What do you want?" Wanda shouted when the man himself turned up later, flowers in hand.

"Hello to you too, Wanda," he said, letting the secretary take the flowers away from him.

"Stop calling me that," the woman said, looking close to violence. "No one calls me that anymore. I want to know what you expect to get out of this arrangement! No one helps me; if my Board - either one of them - saw me burning alive down the street, they'd cross that street to dump gasoline on the fire. Same goes for my family and yours too. Why this? Why now? And what do you want for it?"

"Because I hate to see you cry. Because I love you and I needed a solid way to prove it. And a week's worth of real dates with you," he answered her questions in order. "I plan to court you properly, Ms. Jenkins. That way I can marry you all over again and this time do it right. Flowers, guests, groomsmen… the whole nine yards. This time I will appreciate what I've been given. You know, my father's last words were about you. I consider that high praise."

"Tyr…"

"I'm not looking for fast times, they got me 'killed' and left to rot in Purgatory. I want you, Luwanda. I want more than your love, I want your trust. And I will do whatever it takes to prove it to you."

"I… I honestly don't know what to say to that."

"You don't have to say a word," he said smoothly, coming in close to her. "I have a great deal of work to do to undo the decades of suffering I gave you. Pretty words mean nothing without action to back them. This is only a first step to winning your heart. I plan to use this to start to show you I mean business. Now if you'll excuse me, I want to drop my resume off in your PR department." He kissed her hand before leaving for his appointment. Her look must have resembled that of a deer caught in the headlights.

"Ms. Jenkins?" Mrs. Grady called after giving the shocked woman a minute or two standing in her office. "I'm sorry, but your twelve o'clock is here."

"Um… Right. Please, send him in. Hello, Mr. Weaver," she greeted in Arabic. It was harder than usual to stay focused during her meetings, but she managed it. Trust? He wanted her to trust him? How was that supposed to happen? He'd spent the first part of their lives together picking on her with extreme prejudice. Then he comes back into her life after four years of being dead and suddenly he's in love with her? Bullshit! But… he'd put himself out there in a big way, giving her those shares, giving up his claim on his own company. He hadn't even asked her to marry him to split the rights, not that she would have allowed it. Anasazi, Inc was now hers as much as Jenkins, Inc was. He'd granted her a giant boon and all he'd asked for in return was seven dates. He had the right to ask for more, much, much more. "Why would he ask for a week's worth of dates anyway?"

"Probably 'cause that's the only way you'd agree to date him," Mrs. Grady said with a smile. "You should take the win. He's turning out to be quite a catch."

"But can I trust him? With my life, with my heart? He was a beast and now…"

"Now he's a perfect gentleman," she chuckled.

"I don't know if a gentleman kisses like that," she blushed, raising a hand to her lips. "I'm so confused! I mean, I want to say that I trust him, but…"

"Give it time, little one," the older woman said. "Let him earn your trust; it's not to be given away lightly."

"I just don't know how he can earn it. I don't trust anyone not to betray me. I mean, except you, Mr. Sagara, and my housekeeper. Anyone else is free game. I just-"

"Time. Give it time," Mrs Grady said in a soothing voice. "Let him surprise you. It's likely he will."

"Ms. Jenkins?" Sandra Privy, her head of PR knocked on the door. "May I talk to you?" she asked. "It's about your boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend," Wanda said. "You received his resume then."

"Yes and it's very... Creative. I've seen resumes with more experience, but his flair and turn of phrase is very compelling."

"You want to hire him."

"I do. After all that he's done to keep the Board at bay, I feel we owe him. And the good press from hiring the former 'bad boy' would be good for the company as a whole. I'm just not sure how he's going to work out as a former lazy-"

"If he's lazy, then fire him. I will not let a worker bring down productivity for the company. As for owing him, we don't owe him a thing. Tyr did what he did of his own accord. No one forced him to do it. If you think it'll be good press then hire him. If he doesn't work out, then he'll be let go just like any other employee would. No special privileges."

"Yes, Ms. Jenkins," the woman said, leaving the office. She had plans for the man now that she knew he was fair game. And it would be fun to one up her boss. Trust? Trust was for suckers. She was only after a little fun.

… …

Wanda, in the meantime, was planning her evening, oblivious to what her head of PR was planning. But she was having a hard time concentrating. She got through the pile, making her notes and dismissing her secretary at six as usual. Always floating in the back of her mind, though, was that issue of trust.