Page 28 of Embracing Love

Chapter 13

She’d woken up with a bruised and battered soul. The desire to stay in bed, to call in sick, to hide in her apartment, to reminisce and daydream and ponder and cry—called strongly to her.

But she couldn’t.

She didn’t want Michael to cast any more doubt on her ability. And so, with a leaden reluctance that dragged her down, she got dressed and forced herself to meet Michael at Gabriel’s office first thing.

For the first time she was actually relieved to have Michael by her side, knowing she couldn’t give much in this meeting, because her mind and body were stuck in the mire of unrequited love.

Vincent was blissfully moving on with his life while she was stuck in the barbed wire of her daily existence.

On arrival at the Flight Europe offices, Tanya saw that Michael was already there. She wasn’t late; it was just that he was always early. He and Gabriel appeared to be getting on well.

She managed a well-disguised ‘Good Morning,’ and somehow made it into Gabriel’s office even though her mind was a million miles away. He must have sensed that something wasn’t quite right, for she could feel his gaze on her.

On any other occasion, it would have heated her skin. But today she avoided eye contact and kept her gaze down, as best as she could without drawing too much attention to herself.

“Tell me how this is working for you, Gabriel,” said Michael.

“We’re making great progress.” Gabriel commented, and then looked over to Tanya for verification. His gaze was questioning, and she wondered if he’d even known that Michael would be attending this meeting. She certainly hadn’t told him.

“Good,” said Michael. “Tanya’s shown me the new mockups and I’m glad to see we’re moving ahead quite quickly now.”

Tanya remained quiet as she watched Gabriel's jaw muscles tighten. His gaze skipped over to her face, and their eyes locked for a brief silent minute.

This is all thanks to you, she thought, looking at him coldly.

She’d be in Milan tomorrow, and suddenly she was looking forward to getting away from all of this. Leaving these two to deal with the campaign, letting Zimmerman and Thierry work their magic on the systems work. A few weeks in Milan, alone, away from here were exactly what she needed.

“I'm here for a couple of weeks,” began Michael. “I’m hoping we can get this wrapped up by the time I leave.”

Gabriel nodded thoughtfully. “There's no reason why it shouldn't be,” he said, and glanced at Tanya for anything she might like to add. She didn’t have anything.

They were having a second child.

When she and Vincent had talked about starting a family, they’d only ever had plans for one. Maybe two, she’d told him, depending on how it all went with number one.

Except that she never even made it to number one.

Memories painted by her tears and grief took her back to those failed attempts with Vincent, the misery of checking every month and seeing nothing. The toll on their relationship had begun.

Gabriel had asked her something and she was miles away. “The mockups, from Luc? I think you emailed them to me but I seem to have been buried in manufacturing issues. Would you send them again?” His words had an undercurrent of something more personal, and then she remembered.

Luc had done them but she’d forgotten to send them to Gabriel.

“Sorry.” She replied, guiltily. “I’ll send them as soon as I get back.” This time, she gave Gabriel a rare smile, appreciating the fact that he’d covered for her.

“Unfortunately, Tanya’s going to Milan, so you’ll have to make do with me,” said Michael.

“Milan?” Gabriel cocked his head.

“I have some preliminary work to do there.” She told him, and wondered why he looked so shocked.

“When?” he asked her.

“Tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? How long for?” he persisted.

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