Chapter 15: Gossips

A few weeks had passed since Gwen introduced Finn to Cody, and they were spending a lot of time together. She was actually surprised that Finn would have so much free time to spend with him, but she wasn’t complaining.
Ever since Cody discovered that he had a father, the little boy talked about it day and night, which was making her kind of jealous. But seeing her son so happy and delighted was worth anything.
Finn was also much happier lately, and people at the company were starting to comment.
There was also her new job. Gwen had been busy trying to find a nice place to live, while handling everything she had to learn at work. It was not easy at all, but she could manage it.
She asked Finn to help her ship her and Cody’s belongings from their old home. She also called the landlord of her previous home to cancel their rent contract, and hired a company to pack her stuff. Finn was going to take care of the rest for her.
He also insisted that he was the one to choose the apartment she would live with Cody, which she rejected. She didn’t want to depend on him for everything. It was one of her conditions.
He would have total rights with Cody, but she wanted to be able to do things by herself. After all, they were only co-parenting, not a married couple. Finn didn’t have any obligations to her whatsoever.
He helped to choose Cody’s school, which the kid started immediately and was loving, but everything that was related to her life, she would handle it herself.
Finn had given orders to his PR team to organize the party for the employees since they finally got the contract, and he also kept the idea of introducing Cody to everyone that night.
Gwen was freaking out. Ever since the day they had lunch together, Gwen couldn’t take what Cody said out of her mind. She pretended that nothing happened, but she lied. Finn could never know that. And she was having nightmares with just the thought of Cody meeting his grandmother.
One day, the party’s organizer came to Gwen's office to ask for her opinion in something related to the invitation. Gwen was surprised at first, but realized that her new position came with new responsibilities.
“Do you think it’s a good idea to invite the press to the party? I thought about asking Mr. Lane, but I think he would tell me to ask someone else here,” a man called Mark asked Gwen.
From what she had learned for the past few days, almost everything in the company had to go through the marketing department, and every time they had something important going on, a few members of the press were invited to write some articles for the financial magazine and newspapers.
Knowing that reporters wouldn’t be the best thing for her and Cody, even though she knew that the news was going to spread life fire in the wood, Gwen thought it would be better not to have so many of them at the party.
“I think just a few journalists should be fine. It’s more of a celebration, instead of an announcement of a launch or something, right?”
Mark nodded.
“My thoughts exactly. The employees should be able to enjoy themselves, instead of worrying about so many reporters walking around and asking inappropriate questions. I hate them, to be honest,” Mark confessed, and Gwen gave him an empathetic smile in return.
“I know how you feel,” Gwen agreed.
Mark thanked her and left.
Gwen almost never bumped into Finn at the company. It was like he worked in an entirely different place, though his position made this obvious. Her office was on another floor, so it was hard to see him. Not that she wanted to though.
“Focus, Gwen. Focus,” she murmured to herself as she got up to grab another cup of coffee.
As soon as she entered the kitchen, she heard some employees gossiping about something. Gwen did her best not to pay attention to what they were saying, but a specific name stood out to her ears.
“Doesn’t she realize that she’s being inconvenient? I mean, he’s working and busy, and it seems like she has nothing to do. Why show up here all the time like that?” a woman whispered at a table near Gwen.
“Vivienne is his fiancée, or at least was. Who knows? One thing I can assure you, he doesn’t seem very into her. But she has every right to come, right?” the other one asked, taking a sip from her cup.
Gwen took a little longer than necessary to pour her own coffee, her curiosity piqued by the hushed whispers of her coworkers. She never heard anyone talking about Vivienne and Finn’s relationship, especially not him. So hearing that only awakened her curiosity.
“Honestly, I don’t know how he can stand her. She’s so clingy and annoying. Why would he accept an engagement like that?” the first woman asked again, sounding very upset for someone who had nothing to do with that matter.
“Maybe you should keep that to yourself. You don’t want to lose your job because of your opinions. And you are very much aware of who is her father,” the second woman concluded, looking around to see if there was anyone else listening.
Gwen hid herself behind a column, making sure that they didn’t notice her presence. They were whispering after all, but since Gwen was close enough and the space was empty, it wasn’t so hard to hear.
So Vivienne’s father seemed to be someone really important, and from what they had said, Finn didn’t seem interested in Vivienne at all.
Gwen had noticed the way he spoke to her at the restaurant that night, but she couldn’t say if that was something usual or not. Maybe they were having a fight or something. Couples did fight eventually.
But why would Finn accept a relationship, or even an engagement, with someone he didn’t like?
But all that conversation only made Gwen remember of a memory that had made her suffer every day for the last five years. The moment that had helped push her to leave the city.