Page 10 of The Truths We Find

“Dani… You literally ordered the same thing every time we went out for Italian while we were together. And if I remember correctly, you told me you’ve been ordering this same thing since you were a kid. There’s no way it’s changed.”

She looks down at her lap, and I can only assume she’s twisting the hem of her shirt, something I know she does when she’s nervous.

I laugh. “You know I’m right.”

“So, what did you want to talk about?”

“Straight to business. See? You haven’t changed.” I clear my throat and shift my tone into business mode. “I think we need to clear the air between us. What happened today in the pitch meeting can’t happen again, and I think we both know it’s because there’s a giant elephant in the room that needs addressing.”

She seems to sit up at that. “Forget the elephant, we need to discuss your total lack of professional respect for me. You may be in charge, but I’ve been doing this for a long-ass time. I’ve been in this newsroom, this town, a lot longer than you. You’ve been here basically five minutes. I deserve more respect than how you treated me today.”

There she is. That’s my girl. The fire I knew was always there.

“Listen, I could have handled the meeting better. Blame it on first-day nerves and trying to establish myself as an authority with the team. But I still stand by what I said about the ratings. If they aren’t better after today’s show, I’m instituting changes moving forward.”

“Give me a week. If I can’t move us up the ratings in one week, I promise not to put up a fight anymore.”

“Nope. Today only. You shouldn’t need a week if Alexa’s story is as good as you say. In fact, go ahead and put the Tate story at the beginning of the show.”

“Wait, really?” A smile slowly creeps onto her face.

“Yeah. But under the condition it can’t go past two minutes.”

“Gavin, that’s not enough time!”

I shake my head. “Take it or leave it.”

“Fine,” she grumbles. “I’ll text the team and let them know.”

As she pulls out her phone, I take a deep breath, really not wanting to bring up the next heated conversation.

“So, about that day…” I trail off.

“What’s there to talk about? You left me all those years ago and I moved on with my life. End of story.”

There’s a pain in her voice that others wouldn’t notice, but I know her, and it rips through me.

“No. Ending things the way I did wasn’t right, and I owe you an apology, and an explanation.”

The truth is, I can’t actually tell her the truth. What I can tell her is something that will hopefully fix this chasm between us and save our working relationship. Or at least make it tolerable. It’s going to hurt like hell, for both of us, but probably not as awful as what really happened.

Dani looks up at me, and I see what she’s doing. She’s reading me. I forgot how good she was at that.

Dammit. Keep it together, Gavin. You need to sell this.

“Fine. Talk,” she huffs.

“We got serious really fast. We moved in together after only a few months. And when you got a job that required you to pack up and move across the country, you just assumed I would go with you. You didn’t ask. Once you were gone, I realized being serious wasn’t what I wanted.”

Tears start to fill her eyes, and I fight the urge to reach for her. She still affects me in ways she doesn’t even realize.

“You… you kept saying how excited you were for us to start a new life together out here. How much you loved me…” She pauses to collect her words. “How one day we were going to get married. That was all you. Not me.”

“I was telling you what you wanted to hear…” The next words out of my mouth nearly rip my heart out. “I didn’t mean them.”

God. I wish I could tell her the truth. Tell her what really happened all those years ago. But I need to protect her. That’s all I want for her. Even if it means at the expense of my own happiness.

“That’s it? That’s all I get?” Her face is red from fighting back the tears, mixed with anger.