The road to love (editing!!)

Chapter 29 - Wired

By Thursday I was over the worst of Jake’s betrayal and back to throwing myself in my work.  Sharon was checking in on me every hour, still worried that I’d go off the deep end, but as I kept assuring her, I was fine.

I’d been in and out of Mark’s office for most of the day, finalizing some paperwork, when I remembered to ask:  “I was thinking we should make the billboard on the N1, the one we use for advertising for our big clients, a part of our pitch to that motor company you are seeing next week.”

Mark almost choked on his sip of coffee, spilling some of it and grabbing a napkin off his desk to dab at the drops that landed on his shirt.  “Um, no, sorry Jes.  The billboard has already been booked for another client.  Their ad should start running by early next week.”

I shifted the papers in my hands.  “Really?  Sorry for bugging you then, I didn’t know and I didn’t see anything in any of the files we are working on.”

Mark looked uneasy, something I found rather odd considering I had made a reasonable request in our line of work.  “It’s for the Parker and sons campaign.  They asked me for a price on advertising on the board on Monday.  I’m actually meeting with their firm in a few minutes to finalize the design.”

Oh.  The Parker campaign.  The one I was still not working on, though I did not understand why if Dean and I were truly back together.  I felt the pain in my chest at the knowledge that I was still being blocked and just nodded my head at him, turning to leave.

“Jessie...  Jessie!” I heard Mark call after me as I ran-walked back to my office.  As I entered my office and closed the door behind me, I heard the lift doors ping as it settled on our floor, announcing the arrival of Mark’s next meeting, presumably with the Parkers.  I couldn’t even sneak a peek to see if Dean was a part of the group.  I was hurting too much.

I was calm enough to be back at work about an hour later, when I heard a light knock at my door.  “Enter,” I called, still not looking up from my laptop.  So when I heard the voice of the person standing at the door, I was a bit shocked.

“Hallo, Jessie.  I’m sorry I’m disturbing you like this…”

I got up and went to him.  “No, no, Mr Parker, it’s nothing.  How may I be of assistance?”  He smiled at me as he took my hand to shake it, closing his other hand in mine to hold it a while longer.

“I... I wanted to apologize to you, my dear.”  I opened my mouth and shook my head to tell him that he had no apologies to make, but he stopped me with a finger in the air.  “Grant an old man the chance to right a wrong, please Jessie.”  I smiled at him and gestured towards a chair in front of my desk, as I took the other seat next to him, rather than at the other side of the desk, and waited for him to continue.

He took a deep breath, as if what he had to say was paining him in some way.  “I’m sorry, Jessie, for the pain that the mistake that your mother and I made so many years ago, caused you.”  I flinched, but he smiled at my reaction.  “And my own son, Dean, as well.”

“Dean?  How so?  Besides the obvious fact that I hurt him by not telling him everything…”

“Well, yes, there is that, but my thoughtless act in turn almost cost him the best thing that ever happened to him.”  It took a moment for his words to reach my heart and warm it, before rushing up to my face and causing a bright red blush that had Mr Parker laughing heartily.  “Aah, I can see why my son carries a torch for you.  From how he talks about you, you’d think you invented the wheel!  But seriously, Jessie, please hear this old man’s heart and be so kind as to accept my apology.  We never meant to hurt anyone, your mother and I.  It was a stupid mistake at a low point in our lives, that ruined a great friendship and is something I still regret to this day and never expected to come back to hurt the people we both hold most dear.  Your parents were some of the best people I’ve ever known and I would be very proud if you’d also accept my son’s apology and not hold my actions against him.  I know he reacted badly, but he wants to fix it.”