Chapter 32 Gwen
GWEN
Iwaited in line to deplane, bleary and wishing I’d at least sprung for business class. Ten hours trapped next to a guy who considered headphones unnecessary as he watched the entire The Big Bang Theory catalog had left me exhausted and grumpier than I should’ve been given what was ahead of me.
I was supposed to be excited about the opportunity.
A well-established and respected British PR company had contacted me out of the blue about merging with my baby company.
Well, that wasn’t exactly true. Once word got out about my role in the Scarlet truce, my inbox kicked into overdrive. I had options—so many options.
So why had I opted to travel halfway across the globe when I had people clamoring for my help around the corner in Hollywood?
The answer was simple: I needed to get away from any and all memories of him.
Harrison was everywhere I looked. The only way to cut him out of my brain was to turn my life upside down for a while.
The few thousand miles of distance between us couldn’t hurt either.
I’d be so busy remembering to look the other way when I crossed the street and trying to figure out the difference between cookies and biscuits that I wouldn’t have the bandwidth to dwell on what we’d had and lost.
At least that’s what I hoped.
I followed behind the group of slow-moving travelers, strategizing my next move.
Wakefield was sending someone to the airport to drive me to my hotel, and I had the night to myself before kicking off my whirlwind visit the following day.
Hopefully, I’d have enough time to pull myself together and fake that the time difference wasn’t having an impact.
Even though I was still in the airport, it already felt different from my everyday.
The traditional British pub alongside a Harrods outpost were the first clues that I was now across the pond.
Normally, I’d be eating it all up—I was a closet Anglophile, and I loved new adventures—but I chalked up my flat attitude to being overtired.
Once the work began, I’d be fine. Staying busy was the best way to deal with heartbreak.
Wakefield had floated the idea of me staying for months, if not the year, and I was seriously considering it. Sarah and my dad fully supported my adventure, though they both had hinted that maybe I was running away from my life.
Whatever. I’d committed to seeing this trial arrangement through, at least for this month. I had something fun to focus on, finally.
I’d been sheeping along behind the crowd, not really noticing where we were going. Luggage. Right. I needed to collect the massive suitcase that would carry me through the next thirty days.
My contact at Wakefield had told me to look for a driver holding a sign with my name once I grabbed my bag, so it was a surprise to discover a man in a black suit with a sign way before I reached the baggage area. The sign had an arrow and said, Gwen Ackland, this way, please.
Um, yeah. That’s the plan buddy, but thanks for the support.
I walked over to him anyway. “Are you my…”
He did a little bow and pointed beyond where we were standing. “Welcome, Miss Ackland, this way please.”
“Oh,” I said. “Okay, thank you.”
I kept walking, but he remained in place. Maybe he was just the greeter guy, pointing people in the right direction, and someone else was the actual driver?
Then I stumbled upon another guy with my name on a sign that had the same message.
“Hi, I’m Gwen,” I said. “Are you my driver?”
“Welcome,” he also bowed.
Was I suddenly royalty or something?
He pointed to where another identically dressed man was waiting down the walkway with a sign. I went up to him, ready to demand answers.
“Hi, can you tell me what’s going on?”
“Greetings.” Another bow, another point.
I looked beyond where he was signaling and discovered dozens of men in black suits with signs dotting the concourse, all attempting to lead to me a place I now realized wasn’t the baggage claim area.
My heart started to pound, and hope flooded my body, making me a little shaky. Don’t get ahead of yourself, I cautioned. This is probably a Wakefield stunt. PR firms like to be showy; it’s in their DNA. Maybe this is just a way to demonstrate how excited they are to work with me?
There was absolutely no way that it was anything more than the Wakefield welcoming committee. Right?
Other travelers had already started to look around to try to figure out what was going on. I hoped I blended in with them as I followed the signs to whatever awaited me. Maybe my new colleagues had gathered at the airport to meet me, and now we were all going to head out to a pub?
But…now that I was further along, the suit guys I was coming up on were holding the signs plus individual roses. The first few had yellow roses, then as I walked on, I noticed that the flower colors shifted to orange, then peach, then pink.
Um, okay. A little more romantic than I would’ve envisioned from my new coworkers, but it was a sweet gesture.
I heard a commotion behind me and realized that the setup had attracted a small crowd of people who also wanted to know what the hell was going on.
I kept walking and wound up in a beautiful open area with tall glass panels standing like parts of a disconnected wall, depicting various UK historical moments.
There was a dramatic water feature in the middle of it beneath massive skylights.
I saw what had to be the final boss of all the sign men, standing with his back to me. I caught my breath, because the form looked familiar.
No. There was no way.
But then the man turned, and I could confirm what my heart already knew.
“Harrison?”
He was standing alone in the center of the observation area, clutching a huge bouquet of red roses.
“Hi, Gwen.”
The noise around us quieted a few decibels, like the people realized that the show was about to begin.
“What?” I shook my head as I walked closer to Harrison. “This isn’t real. How are you here?”
Standing just a few feet away from him felt like trying to withstand hurricane-force winds. Despite everything he’d put me through, all I wanted to do was step closer and push my body up against him.
“The ‘how’ doesn’t matter,” he said. “But…is it okay that I came?”
I still refused to let myself believe this was happening.
I’d been burned by him too many times. Orchestrating all of the guys and flowers couldn’t have been easy, but then again, Harrison’s wallet could make miracles happen.
All he had to do was make a few phone calls—or, more likely, have Susan make them.
The showy stuff didn’t matter. What I needed now was his heart, the part of him that he seemed incapable of sharing.
“Of course it’s okay that you’re here,” I finally answered. “You work in aviation. Airports are your office.”
He cleared his throat and shifted his grip on the roses, looking a little frustrated that I’d apparently missed the point.
“I’m here for you, Gwen,” he said simply.
I allowed a tiny ray of sunshiny hope to pierce the darkness that had been living inside of me.
Off to a strong start, Mr. Ashford.
“Oh. That’s nice,” I replied.
My insides went shaky but my voice, thankfully, remained strong. I’d already bared my soul to him. There was no need for me to give him anything more at this stage. The energy around us built as Harrison seemed to collect himself for what was to come.
“I have some things that I’d like to say to you.” Harrison frowned slightly. “That I need to say to you.”
My palms went sweaty. He wouldn’t cross the globe to deliver bad news, right?
“I’m listening,” I replied.
My heart was pounding so hard I felt like I needed to lean against something to keep from falling over.
I hadn’t even allowed myself to dream up a scenario like this, yet here it was, unfolding in front of an audience that was two levels high.
There were people hanging over the railing above us, phones out to film the spectacle.
“I was an idiot,” he began. “I ran from the best thing in my life. Three times, depending on who you ask.”
I didn’t allow the smile I was feeling to reach my lips.
“That changes today,” he continued. “I’m here to let you know that from this point on, I’ll spend my days running to you, Gwen. No destination is too far if you’re there waiting for me.”
My eyes were swimming, but I needed to hear everything he had to say to me before I surrendered to them. After all, there was still a tiny chance that the next words out of his mouth would shatter the illusion that we could work this out after all.
Harrison paused, like he was waiting for me to reply. When I stayed quiet, he kept talking.
“I fucked up, Gwen, in so many ways. I let you walk out of my life, and I’ve spent every day since regretting the way I treated you. You deserve so much better.”
My father’s face flashed through my mind, and I could hear him saying, “Yeah, she absolutely does.”
“At first, I wasn’t sure that I could be the man you needed me to be,” Harrison continued. “I, uh, I had some blocks I needed to sort through. It’s probably pretty obvious that I’m not the best at dealing with or expressing my feelings.”
I choked out a laugh. “You think?”
He half smiled back at me. “Yeah, but that’s the old version of Harrison. I’d like to introduce you to the new me. If you’ll let me.”
“I feel like I’m already starting to get to know him,” I answered. “You just showing up here is pretty out of character. The only risks you usually take are in business.”
The crowd around us went even quieter now that the monologue was turning into a dialogue, no one wanting to miss a word.
“I was willing to take any risk to get to you and hopefully prove how much I care. Gwen, from this day forward, I hope that you’ll let me keep showing up for you.”
He walked a few steps closer to me, and I heard the crowd behind me shuffle closer as well. Someone muttered “Jetliner Jackass,” which meant that we were fully scoped out now.
I was speechless. I never imagined that not only would Harrison admit that he’d made a mistake but also pledge to change.
At that moment, I finally let my wariness drop. This was real, this was happening—and this, at last, was exactly what I needed from him. The ray of hope became a full sunburst, and I let it drive away my sadness.
“I came here with no guarantees,” he said. “I’m laying my heart on the line and betting everything on this moment.”
Harrison placed the roses down on a table and finally walked to me. Everything else faded away, and it felt like we were the only two people in the area.
“Only a fool refuses to believe what his heart knows is true. You captivated me, Gwen. It was easy to fall in love with you.”
I was so busy studying his beautiful face that I was struggling to keep track of what he was saying.
“Well?” Harrison asked, his expression clouding over.
“Well what?” I asked, wondering how much longer I had to wait to kiss him.
He grasped my arms gently and pulled me closer. “I said I’m in love with you.”
The sensation of his hands on me combined with his confession overwhelmed me.
I stared up at him.
“You…you love me?” I asked through my tears.
He nodded, a little relieved. “So much. So fucking much.”
I threw myself into his arms and burrowed against his neck, hiding my face because I knew I was now ugly-crying. There were cameras all around us capturing the moment, and a few people broke out in applause.
“Harrison, I love you too,” I murmured through my tears. “I can’t believe this is real.”
He pulled back to stare at me. “You are so fucking beautiful. And amazing. And—”
We finally kissed, and the crowd around us cheered like someone had just hit a homerun. Harrison’s mouth curled into a smile against mine as the applause echoed through the airport.
I’d started the day with a broken heart and an eye on my future, and now everything had changed.
But…how?
“Harrison, how the hell did you get here so fast? And how did you figure out where I was going to be? And all of those guys with the signs, who are they?”
He slid his hand around my shoulder and gave me a squeeze.
“Let’s get out of here, and I’ll tell you everything.”