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“Glen, where are you going?” Marianne asks.
I had hoped to escape without a word. Apparently, that’s not going to happen.
“I don’t think I’m needed here. You are going to do whatever you want regardless of what I think, so knock yourselves out.”
I start to walk out again, but this time it’s Emma who speaks. “It’s not like that. You know everyone in this room values your input. This is just something that must be done.”
I stop, look at Emma, shake my head, then walk out of the room.
The look on her face would break my heart if she hadn’t just broken it already.
How can she suggest I fire my best friend? How could she put me in that position?
Like she said, I have bent over backwards over the last few months to work with her. I can admit that she has been right about a lot of things, but this is taking things too far.
I go back to my office where I get back to work. I set about angrily completing all the tasks on my to-do list for the day. As I do, I hope my anger will burn away. However, after a few hours, I realize that my plan hasn’t worked. So I decide to go and talk to Emma.
When I barge into her office, she is packing her belongings into a cardboard box. The sight takes the wind out of my sails, but I remind myself that I am here for a reason.
“How can you do this to Oliver?” I ask.
She sighs. “Glen, this isn’t personal. It’s business.”
“How can you say that? You and Oliver have become friends since we started seeing each other. The both of you are quite fond of each other. Or did I read that wrong? Also, he’s the best accountant I know. I have a challenging time envisioning anyone who can do the job as well as he can.”
“Glen, you know I love Oliver. I know he is great at what he does, but the time has come for him to move on. Like I have said a million times, this is plain business. Nothing I suggested was meant personally or maliciously.”
“Really?” I raise an eyebrow.
“What does that mean?” She folds her arms.
“Are you sure you’re not trying to run my company into the ground because you’re jealous of what you saw between Serena and me the other day?”
Her mouth drops open. “You can’t be serious right now.”
“I’m deadly serious, because what other reason would you have to do what you’re doing?”
“Do you really think I’m that vindictive of a person? That I would purposely try to sabotage your company because I was jealous of the relationship you have with your ex-wife?”
“Well, we really haven’t known each other for that long, so…”
“Wow…just wow. I can’t believe you said that to me. First of all, I didn’t think anything of what I saw between you and your ex-wife. You told me that nothing was going on, and I chose to believe you. So to have you throw that in my face like that… I have to say is quite jarring.
Secondly, if this company collapses, you won’t be the only one affected. In fact, an argument can be made that you will be one of the least affected. It’s ludicrous that you think I’m capable of trying to punish you by ruining other people’s lives. I guess you really don’t know me.”
She picks up the box on her desk and brushes past me and leaves the office without another word.
I didn’t know how bad I was going to fuck this up, but I did know I was going to fuck it up.
Of course, I don’t believe Emma is trying to take down my company. I knew the words were untrue as they left my mouth. I made that accusation in anger. The woman doesn’t have a spiteful bone in her body. I know that at the core of who I am.
I’m so ashamed of what I’ve just done that I can’t bring myself to go after her or call her or send her a text message apologizing for my asshole behavior.
I hate knowing that she is somewhere right now, sad because of something I did.
Maybe this is for the best. This thing between us was bound to end sometime. Perhaps it has just run its course.
I don’t know if I really believe that or not. All this is so confusing. I don’t know what I’m going to do, or even what I want to do. It’s driving me crazy.
