Chapter Sixteen
Baobab Trees
The jet was parked on the runway in Paris.
Finn was looking out the window, wishing she was still in Paris, not Madagascar. Only Flora would hop a flight to Madagascar and not blink an eye. She probably had to ride economy too.
SFO to Paris was ten hours. It was another ten from Paris to Antananarivo. Miserable journey and even more miserable when there was no certain outcome. Especially because Flora had told him to stay away “forever.”
And this was the exact opposite of staying away.
It didn’t help that no one had heard from Flora since she’d left. Predictably, she’d become a ghost story within three weeks. Because of her silence, he had to resort to the one person he was most scared of in all of this.
Allison Scott.
Allison merely looked at him when he showed up at her classroom asking for advice. Almost as if she’d expected him.
“Oh good,” she remarked dryly, “perfect ending to this sucky day.”
Finn only looked at her, trying to read how much trouble he was in. He was carrying a box in his good hand.
“You have a lot of nerve coming here,” she continued.
“After what you did to Flora. As if she deserved something like that. If you’re here to tell me to keep it quiet from the press, don’t worry, I wouldn’t embarrass her like that.
Go be miserable with Holly somewhere far away from Flora, and me too. ”
“Allison, I’m not here to talk about press.”
“Then what? Need help conning another girl? Want me to offer advice? Here’s my advice, Mr. Woodhouse, jump off a cliff. And get out of my classroom.”
“In that order?”
“Finn,” she said warningly.
“Allison, seriously. You know I’m in love with her. Don’t pretend like you don’t.”
This caught Allison off guard.
There was something about Finn that made her, and everybody else, want to forgive him without him even asking.
And hearing that he did love Flora made things very suddenly a bit less stinging.
She had always suspected it. But she wasn’t about to cave on the first declaration. He was a notorious con artist.
She stopped grading papers for half a second and then pursed her lips together as if she was in deep thought. She wasn’t.
“Hmmm. Good try, Finn. You almost had me. You know, the thing is, now that we know you can’t be trusted, we don’t have to believe anything you say.”
Finn marched up to her desk and dropped the box he’d been carrying near her hand. “Look inside.”
Allison glanced at it. “Bomb?”
Finn rolled his eyes and took the lid off so she was forced to look at it.
It was a collection of odd items that didn’t make much sense. A dried purple rose, a red ribbon, a bunch of scribbled notes with song suggestions on them, a pink bracelet, a photo from the Sutro Baths in San Francisco, movie tickets, and a few other miscellaneous items.
“All Flora’s?” Allison asked.
“Uh huh,” Finn said, quietly, looking around the busy classroom. “I kept them all. All her things.”
“Why are you here?” Allison asked, sighing.
“Because I need to know what my chances are. I am going to her. I know where she is.”
“Nope,” Allison said, picking her papers back up. “Nope. I am not going to be the one who tells you anything about anything.”
“Allison, please. I’m going either way. I just want to know what my chances are.”
“She doesn’t need you popping back up to ruin her time in Madagascar. Especially if you’ve gotten your information from me. She’d be livid with me, and contrary to popular belief, Flora angry is not easy to deal with. She’s not all flowers.”
“Please, Allison. Just tell me if I’ve even got a chance. Just a nod of your head. That’s all I need.”
Allison grabbed her bag and shoved a bunch of odd things inside of it. “Finn, do me a favor, and disappear, okay? Flora is fine without you. It’s been hard enough as it is and she cries all the time, because she swears you’re her soulmate or whatever, but—”
“Soulmate?” Finn asked, stopping in the doorframe.
Allison stopped in the hall and covered her mouth. “Oh, Allison, you need to learn to quit rambling!” she chastised herself.
“Does she still think that?”
“You don’t deserve her,” Allison said angrily. “You can’t go after her. Please don’t. She needs to get over you. She has to!”
“Allison,” Finn said, taking every ounce of cockiness out of his voice, “listen to me. I love Flora. I love her more than anything. I can’t describe… listen, I messed it all up, but I want to at least try to fix it. How will we ever know if we had a chance if I don’t tell her now?”
Allison’s brow was furrowed, her eyes narrowed, her lips pinched. She was conflicted.
Flora had been quiet about how badly she was hurt. She’d barely talked about it, which usually meant she was trying to cover up for her real feelings. She didn’t mention anything other than what had happened, and when she’d informed Allison, it’d sounded like a scientific dissertation.
Fairchild, Woodhouse, et al.
The Chemical Science Behind Romance and When It Ends.
When Allison pried for more information, all Flora said was something about life being life, time healing wounds, and the inevitability of things falling apart. That she thought Finn was her soulmate but that didn’t necessarily mean things were meant to work out.
“Time heals almost all wounds,” she repeated.
Would Flora be mad if time didn’t have to heal it?
“Shut up. I’m making a decision.”
“I didn’t say anything, but okay…?” Finn replied.
Flora—and Allison sort of thought Finn—deserved to be happy, despite the complications. Finn wasn’t a bad guy, he had made a terrible decision, but…
Allison turned at looked at Finn, really staring hard at him.
“You have a chance,” she said quickly, groaning at herself immediately.
“Thank you,” Finn said, hands pressed together and bowing his head. He turned back toward his car now. “See you at the wedding.”
“I didn’t get an invite.”
“Didn’t you?” Finn said, glancing back with the faintest hint of a smile—already halfway gone.
A wedding invite appeared at the classroom a day later.
There was one other person he had to visit before going to Flora. And while Allison was the scariest in some ways, this was the biggest test of his character.
“Tyson?” Finn said, knocking on the door of his office, which was slightly ajar. “You have a moment?”
“For my replacement and the new CEO of Brooks Tech?” Tyson boomed. “Of course. Come in.”
Finn cringed as he shut the door. He’d finally earned the man’s trust.
Tyson had the Warriors game on and was drinking whiskey.
“Can I get you a drink?” he asked.
“I’m alright, thanks.”
“You know, I’ve been in the Bay Area for forty years and I never get bored of a Warriors game,” he remarked, eyeing the flatscreen. “Jane loves the games. I’m keeping the season tickets just for her. Anything for my Jane.”
Finn cringed again. “Well, they are a fun team to watch—when they aren’t losing that is.”
Tyson laughed. “You’ve got your dad’s sense of humor… anyway, what can I do for you?”
He put the game on mute as Finn sat down.
“Uh, Tyson, I wanted to tell on myself for something.”
Tyson’s eyebrows went up. “Intrigue. What did you do?”
Finn felt his stomach turn and a shot of adrenaline work up his chest into his forehead.
“It’s a complicated story, but I’ll give you the cliff notes version. You know as well as I do that this merger was a long time coming—”
“Yes, it surely was.”
“It was my dad’s dream. He loved your company. When it became a reality, I was thrilled. In May, however, there was an unforeseen hiccup. I’ll be frank—Roman started to get cold feet.”
“And the sky is blue,” Tyson replied flatly.
Finn’s brow furrowed a little, but he continued. “Yes, well, Roman’s behavior isn’t exactly unpredictable. However, the package the distraction came in was… hard to say no to. I did everything I could to keep him from canceling the wedding.”
“As any good businessman would.”
Finn was again surprised. “Tyson, Roman claimed to be in love with this other girl.”
Tyson paused now. “Who was this girl?”
“I’d rather not name her.”
Tyson raised his eyebrows again and gave Finn a look. “Who is it?” he asked, this time his voice less friendly.
“She’s the daughter of an estate worker.”
“Oh. Her.”
“Yes, she—”
“The girl you’ve been running around with for six months.”
“Yes, and I did all that to keep her away from Roman and to make sure this wedding went through. Roman tried to end it multiple times and I didn’t let him.”
Finn forced this out and waited.
Tyson was stone silent for a while.
It felt like the merger was ending before his eyes.
“She’s a pretty girl, that one. But Roman was never in love with her. Roman is allergic to commitment and responsibility. Jane says as much and she knew it herself. Flora was just a nice distraction from the mess he’d gotten himself into.”
“He would have called off the wedding, Tyson.”
“I’m well aware. But he would have done that over any girl at that point.”
Finn didn’t understand. Tyson was taking this so…
“Tyson, if I hadn’t pushed it, we may not be having a wedding or a merger in a few weeks.”
“Again, I understand that point. I warned Jane a number of times about the entire thing, but she’s twenty-seven and she has her own mind.
She’s no idiot. She had a few moments of doubt herself.
I would have done the same thing you did.
I just wouldn’t have fallen in love with the girl I was trying to con. ”
Finn nearly choked on air, his eyes bulging.
Tyson laughed. “Finn, I’ve got thirty-three years on you.”
“But—”
“Finn, are you trying to convince me into being angry?” Tyson asked, laughing now.
“Not exactly.”
A silence fell.
Finn was processing it all, relief flooding him.
“So, what are you doing about the girl then?” Tyson asked.
Finn shook his head in disbelief, trying not to laugh.
“I’m… going after her.”
“The most un-Finn-like thing you could do. Good. Go.”
Finn stared out the window of the jet now.
“About ten hours to the airport, Mr. Woodhouse,” one of the cabin crew reported.
The jet took off soon after.