AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Selene, I realize this has been difficult,” I say. “But there’s something I should have done a while ago.”
She keeps her eyes on the table. “What’s that?”
“I want to offer you a promotion,” I say. “Make you VP of Operations.”
Selene turns her face toward me, her brow furrowed. “What?”
“After that presentation, no one will question where this is coming from,” I say. “You deserve this. It’s what you do already; I’m just catching up with your title.”
“Is this supposed to fix everything?” she asks.
“This isn’t about us,” I say. “This is about you and the company. This is where you should be. You’re the heart and soul of this place.”
“I’m leaving,” she says. “I was going to wait to tell you, but I’m planning on giving my notice.”
I don’t just hear her words; I feel them. Right in the center of my chest, as if they reverberate through me. I knew this would happen, but I hoped I could head her off. I hoped I could salvage this before she left for good.
Fuck.
“Don’t do that, Selene,” I say. “Don’t leave because of me.”
“You tell me you love me, then you break up with me, and now you want to promote me?” she asks. “You’re insane, Ronan. I don’t know how you think I can trust a word you say.”
“I never lied to you.”
“Don’t,” she says, holding up a finger. “Don’t even do that to me. The game is over, so you can cut the bullshit. You wanted what you couldn’t have, and once you got it, you were ready to move onto the next challenge.”
“That’s not true—”
“What happened, then?” she asks. “Because from where I’m standing, things got too intense for you, and you bailed.”
She’s hitting way too close to the truth. Smack in the middle of it, in fact. But she still has the wrong idea. I don’t have an answer, so I just turn away.
“You don’t want a future with me, fine,” she says. “But how you think I could stay here is beyond me. I don’t give a shit what titles you dangle in front of me.”
“I’m not fucking with you,” I say. “This promotion is what you deserve for your work here. It doesn’t have anything to do with what happened between us.”
“Why do you want me to stay, Ronan?” she asks, meeting my eyes.
It’s hard to hold her gaze. “Because you’re what this company needs,” I say.
She shakes her head. “The company. Of course. But not you. I’m not what you need.”
“Have you not heard a word I’ve said?” I ask. “I can’t be what you need. Not the other way around.”
“Why?”
I look away.
“No? You claim to fear nothing, but you’re too scared to tell me the truth,” she says. “And who are you to make that choice for me? You don’t get to decide what I need. I get to make that call. God, I’m so fucking sick of men who think they know what’s best for me. What am I, some sort of fragile little flower? I’m a grown woman, Ronan, and I’m perfectly capable of making my own decisions.”
“If I had any doubts about you, I wouldn’t be offering you this position,” I say. “You are a strong, competent woman, and we need you here.”
“The company does. But not you.”
“This isn’t about me. This is about the company.” I’m barely holding on to the threads of my temper. “What the fuck do you want me to say?”
Selene puts her hands on her hips. “I want you to tell me how you can look me in the eyes and tell me you love me, and then days later push me aside like I mean nothing to you.”
And there it is again. The crushing weight. The fear. The certainty that I can never be the man she needs. She waits, her eyes intent on me, but I don’t answer. I don’t know how to make her understand.
“No? I didn’t think so. I’ll stay as long as it takes to pass off my responsibilities to others, but then I’m leaving. Believe me, this is not what I wanted. I loved it here. But there is no way I can come to work every day and see you. I thought maybe I was strong enough to do it, but I’m not.”
She walks over to her chair and leans down to pick up her things. I catch sight of something at her throat, just beneath her shirt collar.
“Goodbye, Ronan,” she says.
I watch her go, but I saw it, and it’s like getting hit upside the head with a board. She’s wearing the necklace I bought her.
