The Upward Ripple

She shook her head.

“He… he is….” She started but every word that came out of her mouth seemed to be so heavy. She was breathing hard and shaking even though he thought that taking her to safety might have made her feel a little safer.

“Come on,” he said as he led her out of the building.

“Where are we going?” Cynthia managed to ask,

“Home.”

“No.” she stopped. “You don’t have to leave your own event.”

“You are clearly upset and scared even. You won’t tell me what is happening… all I know is that Alistair Vale said something to you. Something that upset you.”

Cynthia bit her lip as she looked at him.

“Please, Cynthia… you don’t need to tell me if it causes you such discomfort and pain but at the same time, I don’t know how to see you hurt…” Nate exhaled loudly. “I know that whatever it is that has you so upset has something to do with Alistair. I saw him talking to you when I was giving my speech and I saw how you changed.”

Cynthia brushed off a tear.

“If I leave, he will have won. I’m staying.”

Nate looked at her for a long second.

“Are you sure?” he asked. “Because I have already done my part here. The pictures have already been taken… I don’t need to be here any longer…”

“You are not going to dishonor your father on my account,” she said in a soft voice.

Nate’s heart went out to her. She was willing to stay even though her presence there caused her obvious pain and discomfort.

“Promise me that you will tell me what is bothering you, please?” he begged, and she nodded reluctantly.

“How do you know… Alistair? You called him?” she asked. He nodded as he straightened his jacket.

“He is an investment banker. He has worked with my father for a long time… he actually manages quite a healthy investment on behalf of the family.”

“Oh,” she said in a soft voice.

“He actually asked to meet me so we can add to the already existing business…. “Nate’s voice trailed off when he noticed that she looked like she had just heard the worst news of her life. “But I don’t have to do anything if you don’t like the idea.”

She shook her head.

“Don’t make such a big decision on my account… I don’t think I could live with myself.”

Nate gave her a long, hard look.

“Cynthia, I don’t know if you already know it but Cynthia, I have fallen hard for you. I am so in love with you and… Cynthia when you hurt, I hurt.”

Cynthia brushed off another tear.

“I don’t know what to say,” she whispered.

“You don’t have to say anything. I did not tell you that to have you say it back to me… I am just letting you know what I have felt perhaps since the very first time we met,” he said, and she nodded.

“You need to go back in there,” she said.

“No, I don’t…” he started but she shook her head before cutting him short.

“Your guests expect to see you in there. This fundraiser is important…. Not just to the people it helps but to you too. Your father started it in honor of your mother. You have to get back in there.”

He looked into her eyes and saw just how strong she was being. Strong for him. Whatever it was between her and Alistair was so terrible that she could not even tell him and yet she was willing to bury whatever it was for the greater good. He did not think he could love her any more than he already did. He slid an arm around her waist and pulled her close before gently planting a kiss on her cheek. He could have sworn that she pulled away a little too fast.

“Are you sure you are okay?” he asked.

She shook her head.

“Honestly, I don’t feel like I can go back in there,” she admitted.

Nate sighed loudly.

“Baby, please let’s just leave. I don’t want you to stay here longer than you have to.”

She shook her head. She was adamant.

“Fine, but I am not leaving you alone. So, we either stay here together or we get back in, together,” he said in a soft voice.

                                                            *****

Nate could hardly sleep after the fundraiser. He kept on wondering just what had happened between Alistair and Cynthia. It bothered him greatly that something had happened between them and that he did not know what it was.

The loud ringing of his cell phone woke him up from the little sleep he managed to master. He reached for his phone and sighed when he saw the time. It was hardly seven in the morning. He groaned as he answered the phone in a groggy voice.

“Mr. Duncan, I am sorry to call you so early, but it is an emergency.”

He knew the voice a little too well. It was Mackenzie, his assistant. He was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that he had an entire enterprise to lead. An entire enterprise that solely depended on him. He pulled himself up to a sitting position.

“Mackenzie, what’s going on?”

“Your father had an agreement with the Nevada and Utah authorities. There were lots of land on both sides of the Nevada-Utah border that Mr. Nathaniel had agreed to develop. Get something out of the desert to create employment and introduce a clean energy plant, the first of many,” she explained.

“Okay, that sounds good. What does it have to do with me?” he asked.

“Well, the contracts were never really signed. Your father passed away the same week the final meeting was to happen, and I am so sorry…. I just got the call that made me call you… it had all slipped my mind.”

“So, I am supposed to take the meeting?” Nate asked.

“Yes. The other partners will be in Las Vegas tomorrow. I could postpone….” Mackenzie started and Nate rubbed his tired eyes before he cut her short by refusing her offer.

“No, I’ll take the meeting. Send me everything I need to know about the deal and book me into a hotel. Your choice, really.”

“Okay, will do, Mr. Duncan.”

“Thanks Mackenzie.”

“Oh, before you go, Alistair Vale wanted to know if you could have a meeting with him. Your diary is open, so I could set up a breakfast meeting on Monday or maybe lunch?”

“Lunch.”

“Done.”

“Thanks again, Mackenzie.”

He hung up and got out of bed before putting on his robe and then made his way downstairs. He got started on the coffee before he got his laptop and set it down on the dining table to go through the details of the deal, he was supposed to sign in less than forty-eight hours. He was so engrossed in his research that he did not even hear his housekeeper arriving or notice that he had taken four cups of coffee in less than four hours. He felt like he could sprout wings.

“Good morning, Mr. Duncan,” the housekeeper, Lola, said when she walked into the kitchen.

“Good morning, Lola and how many times do you want me to tell you? Just call me Nate. Mr. Duncan makes me feel like I should be bald and wearing a pinstripe suit as I feed birds in the park.”