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‘I’ll get straight to the point,’ he says as my tea arrives. ‘I really am grateful that you’ve taken the time to come and see me, so thank you.’
This, again, catches me by surprise.
‘I’m here for two reasons. The first is to say that business is booming. The London cafés are turning over a fantastic profit, we’re in talks with one of the big supermarkets to stock our plant milks and Mylk It merch is flying off the shelves.’
I raise an eyebrow at this. It was my idea to design tote bags, reusable cups and bamboo food containers, but I left the company weeks before we launched the merchandise so never got to see how well it worked.
‘You were integral in that,’ he says. ‘Your ideas were always the ones that propelled us forward.’
I mean, I know this as well as Mark does, but I can’t remember him ever having acknowledged it when we were business partners.
‘Financially, there’s never been a better time for us to look into expansion,’ he carries on. ‘We’ve launched a pop-up here in Bristol which I fully expect will become a permanent café. After that, we roll out. Bath, Chippenham … a South West takeover, if you will. There’s only one person who can run all of that, Sophie. You.’
‘What?’ I gasp, completely blind-sided.
Mark goes into full pitch mode. ‘You already know the company inside out. You live in Bristol so you already have invaluable insight into the region. And maybe, at the end of the day, it’s simply time to come back in? I feel genuinely bad for how things ended between us. Thinking back, perhaps I shouldn’t have hired such heavyweight lawyers to deal with the business side of things …’
I can’t help but splutter out a mirthless laugh at this.
‘Are you kidding? I ended up fighting tooth and nail to extract myself from Mylk It with a fair settlement. Hours spent with lawyers trying to argue my corner, for a business that was my idea in the first place? Let alone the cost. And all the while you were hiding behind your City legal firm.’
Mark, to my surprise, looks pained to be reminded of this. He holds his hands up.
‘I am truly sorry. You did put up an excellent fight though …’ he adds with a smile. ‘I seem to remember my guys saying they’d never seen such a generous settlement.’
I sip my tea and try to get my head around what Mark is saying. Obviously going back into business with this man would be the worst idea of my life. I cannot believe he has the gall to offer me a job at my own company, for a start. The absolute audacity of it!
When I speak, I do so slowly and deliberately.
‘Mark, I’m not too sure what’s going on here,’ I say, waving my hand around to demonstrate that I mean with him. ‘But the fact is, I would still be running the company if it weren’t for you and your appalling behaviour. So to now offer me a job working for you is … vexing.’
‘I can tell that you are mad as hell,’ Mark says. ‘And I completely understand that. You’re right. I just wanted you to know that I’ve changed, Sophie. I’m not that cut-throat anymore. And I can see, as clear as day, how good you would be for us. What I’m offering is a job that would set you up for life. You’d have complete job security, private healthcare for both you and our daughter—’
OH MY GOD.
‘My daughter,’ I retort.
‘Of course.’ Mark looks chastised. ‘Apologies. There’d be flexible working hours so that you can work around your daughter and the salary is really competitive – my assistant can email the details over to you tomorrow.’
My mind is swirling. Annoyingly I can’t deny the lure of a financially secure future, one where I’m not relying solely on myself to make ends meet each month. Flexible working and healthcare, too? That’s huge. And then there’s the fact that Mark seems to have had a personality makeover. He seems softer, kinder, marginally less of a douche.
‘Why Bristol?’ I ask eventually.
He meets my gaze with a thoughtful look. ‘The team did a lot of market research and Bristol came up top but in the spirit of honesty, the fact that you and your daughter are here clinched it for me.’
My heart plummets. I knew it.
‘That’s the second thing I wanted to talk to you about,’ he says as a sick feeling builds in my stomach. ‘I know I can’t prove anything over a quick drink today but I have mellowed in the last few years. Life is different in my mid-thirties and I think a lot about you and our – your – child. I was too hasty to rule out fatherhood the way I did. It’s my one big regret in life.’
I press my thumbnail into the pad of skin under my index finger. I can feel my jaw tense.
‘I know it’s a huge ask, and you have every right to turn me down, but I would love to meet her,’ he says. ‘To just feel, in the smallest way, a part of her life would be incredible. I was a terrible husband and I’m sorry for that. Truly. If there’s any way you could consider letting me be a part of her life, I would be so grateful.’
A part of me believes Mark, but a bigger part wants to scream. He wants access to Lila. My beautiful daughter.
‘You wanted me to get an abortion,’ I say, shimmering with rage and confusion. ‘You called my pregnancy an inconvenience. And I don’t think you ever apologised about the affair. You dismissed it, just like you tried to dismiss the pregnancy.’
I remember the look on Mark’s face when I told him that I was keeping the baby. He seemed astonished that I wasn’t going to do what he wanted. And then when I told him I wanted a divorce and a slice of the business for my unborn child, he had the gall to suggest that it was my pregnancy hormones talking and that I shouldn’t make any rash decisions.
