Second Chance Addison

Fait resumed staring out at the harbor in silence. The sky was beginning to lighten and the horizon was taking on an orange-ish hue as the sun began to rise. Chance however, set his gaze on her and tried to read her expression.

Once he determined that was an impossible task, he went back to asking questions.

"So tell me Fait, why are you here?" He tried to keep his voice level and amiable, hoping she would just work with him and provide some answers.

"Honestly, I ask myself that question every day." He resisted the urge to roll his eyes and tried again.

'Too broad? I'll try to be more specific.' His brow creased as he seriously tried to adjust his line of questioning.

"What is your interest in Addison Enterprises?" Maybe this was about the company.

"Why do you think that is what I am interested in?" So that question didn't get him very far.

"If it isn't my collapsed company, then is it me? Do you have some kind of interest in me?" This one probably wouldn't do much better.

"You could say that." Fait maintained her stoic expression as she replied.

'What is that supposed to mean?' He was ready to pull his hair out. The peace he had been feeling just a minute ago was quickly fading.

So far she had just appeared in his deserted office, talked to him in circles, brought him to this secluded library, and gave him something to drink. He still had no idea what her intentions were and it seemed she was not in a hurry to explain anything.

Just when Chance had decided on his next question, Fait raised her left wrist and pushed her sleeve back to check her watch.

"Wait here." And with those two words, she disappeared back into the labyrinth of bookshelves.

Chance shook his head and glanced around the room. He walked over to a bookshelf and skimmed the titles on the row in front of him. Nothing really grabbed his attention so he instead looked around at the furniture.

His eyes landed on a comfortable looking armchair. His body seemed to have just realized that it was running on nothing but whiskey and fumes.

He hadn't slept through the night since his board of directors had that damn vote of no confidence two weeks ago.

He still couldn't figure out where he went wrong. How could he have been in the dark for so long? How could they have blindsided him so easily? Why would they do this to him?

Once they had stripped him of his authority, it was all downhill for Addison Enterprises. The man they had replaced him with had happily torn down everything he had painstakingly built over the last several years.

That backstabber had once been his close friend and business partner. In reality he was his greatest enemy and schemed against him.

He had used Chance's name and then his newfound power to destabilize the company and run it into the ground. The monster didn't even let Chance off without making sure he was personally bankrupted as well.

All the while he covered his tracks, sharpened his knife, and lied through his teeth.

As Chance had worked to build his company, he sacrificed a lot in the process. From relationsh.i.p.s with friends and family to a broken engagement, it had been a rough journey. Everything that he had given up and lost, in the end what was it for?

Now he was almost thirty-five, completely alone, and had nowhere to go. Even his reputation was in ruins.

He felt heavy, inside and out.

But there was also relief. He was relieved that this nightmare of a week had finally come to an end.

No sooner had his body met the chair than his consciousness faded and deep sleep finally came for him.

…

Fait was only gone for fifteen minutes or so. She was stunned to see Chance had fallen asleep. It seemed she had underestimated just how exhausted the man was.

Now that she was closer to him and didn't have to look up at him, she started to notice how beaten he looked.

His tanned complexion was rather pale and sickly which managed to make the dark circles around his eyes all the more prominent. The usually neatly combed locks of dark brown hair were haphazardly sticking up at odd angles atop his head. Also taking into account that he hadn't shaved in a few days, he was starting to look like some sort of wild man.

If he hadn't been in his office last night, she may have not been able to recognize him in any other setting.

Instead of waking him, she went over to one of the sofas in the study and lifted the cushion to get to a storage space beneath it. From the compartment she retrieved a soft blanket.

Fait softly walked over to him and covered him with the blanket. As she turned to leave, he let out a soft sigh.

She took once last glance at him and let a warm smile slowly spread across her face.

"Sweet dreams, Mr. Addison."