Page 23 of A Brilliant Spring

Elissa sighs. And, although I can’t see her, I know that sigh. It’s defeatism; her shoulders are drooped, she’s slumped in her chair, and she’s probably picking at the cuticles on her nails.

“I didn’t do anything. At least, not that I know of. He all of a sudden started pulling away.”

Yeah, for good damn reason. I knew she was going to walk away again. I had to protect myself.

“I went over to confront him about how he was acting, and he broke it off. I couldn’t even really say what I wanted. He cut me off several times, then he cut me out.” Her voice sounds little and broken, and I want to walk around this wall, scoop her up in my arms and press her to my chest, smooth her hair and tell her everything will be okay. Wait. Did she say I broke it off? No, I didn’t. She did.

My mind races back to the conversation we had a few weeks ago, desperately trying to remember. But then Collette says something that has me swallowing the vomit burning in my throat.

“Well, if you want, I know of a nice young gentleman looking for something serious. And before you say anything, please keep in mind that you’re now in a position of power, and sleeping around is going to get you nowhere but in the board’s bad graces. You need to be thinking about your future.” Elissa groans and I fight back the snarl rumbling in my throat. Who the fuck does Collette think she is? Elissa. Is. Mine. My knuckles turn white as they curl around the edge of the table, and with any more pressure it’d crack in my hands.

“Mother, I’m not looking for anything right now. I’m thinking of just being on my own for a while. This thing with Brandt, I was taking it seriously. I thought we were on the same page…I thought. I don’t know. Can we drop this, please, and just eat our lunch?”

Thought what…thought what? My mind is racing, trying to figure out what she was going to say. The waiter comes back and places my sandwich in front of me. Fingers clack against the table for a few seconds and then stop abruptly.

“Fine. As long as you think about it. Theo is a beautiful, kind man and his mother is on a charity committee with me. He would be thrilled to meet you…” Collette continues to chat for the next few minutes, but I can’t hear any more because the blood is pounding in my ears. I feel like I’m burning from the inside out. There’s an invisible set of claws scratching its way out of my body, gripping my throat, choking me. Bile and acid churn in my stomach. What the fuck is Collette thinking, setting Elissa up with someone else? She knew the deal, that Elissa was supposed to marry me. She’s supposed to be my wife. Fuck!

As my thoughts run wild, I suddenly hear some shuffling from behind me. I hazard a glance over my shoulder and roughly see through the plants that the two women are standing and slipping their coats back on. My thighs and feet tense. They’re wanting to stand up and call Collette out and tell her to fuck off. That Elissa is mine. But something stops me; a nagging voice in the back of my head, compelling me to stay where I am, because revealing I’ve heard their conversation would only make things worse.

I grind my teeth together as I wait for their footsteps to fade and when the bell over the door sounds, I can finally relax, but my body doesn’t get the message. Every fibre inside my body is rigid. The thought of Elissa in someone else’s arms leaves me in a white, fiery rage. And the fact that she thinks I walked away from our relationship fucking kills me. She’s the one who walked away. I may have kept my distance, but she was the one who instigated this breakup. Right?

I wolf down my food, throw some bills down, and push myself away from the table. I stalk out of the café and force myself to not cross the street and go back into the Black & Wells tower. I have to stop myself from following Elissa back to her office, slamming the door, bending her over the desk, hiking up her skirt, and fucking her from behind.

I curl my fists and shove them deep into my pockets as I walk a block, cooling off before ordering a car to take me back to Collins Global Collective. I’m all fucking confused about what happened the other week between Elissa and I, and after hearing the conversation between her and her mother? I don’t know what to think anymore.

A pang ricochets in my chest, and it hurts to breathe. Did I just fuck up immensely?

Chapter

Twenty-Two

Elissa

Collette and I are standing outside the Black & Wells tower. The murky March sun streams through the clouds, warming up the slight chill in the air. I linger, feeling incredibly awkward as I wait for my mother to dismiss me, or say goodbye, or something. But she just stands there, staring at me. It’s almost like she doesn’t know what to say or do either.

“Well…thanks for lunch, Mother.” My tone is stiff, only increasing the awkwardness. I shift my weight, bite the inside of my cheek, and look away. My mother clears her throat and tucks a wisp of hair behind her ear, then looks down to tap on her phone, presumably to call her driver.

“Yes, it was nice.” She steps forward and wraps her arms around me, plastering my arms to my sides. I’m unsure of what I should do. She presses a light kiss on the side of my cheek, and a part of my hard exterior cracks. What the hell is going on? Collette never gives affection unless there’s someone watching. I glance around, trying to find a camera, a board member, someone. But there’s nothing, no one. What the hell…

“Let’s do it again soon, darling. Maybe next week you can come for dinner, and I’ll have Alessandra whip something up for us.” My brows furrow as my eyes grow concerned, but my mother says it without flinching or sarcasm. I’m so confused as to what’s going on with her right now. “And please think about Theo. I think you two would make a wonderful couple.”

“Thanks Mother, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

“Just keep an open mind and think about it, please.”

“Sure,” I say, just to appease her. With a small but warm smile, she dips her body into the black sedan that’s pulled up beside us. I watch her car pull away, and I stand there, feeling a whole lot of confusion. This lunch was clearly meant to be used to set me up with someone, but it was different. It was the most pleasant meal I’ve had with her, and she didn’t push the issue of me meeting Theo. Just then, the sky tears open with a rumble and rain starts pouring down on me. Risking looking like a drenched rat, I stand under the chilly rain anyway and let the droplets wash away the feeling of this weird lunch.

I decide to duck out of work early because of my drenched outfit, and the fact that my mascara was running down my face, leaving me looking like a really ugly trash panda. I squish through the door of my apartment and I hear a muffled crash, then Riley’s bedroom door clicks open. A flustered Riley, her hair wild and eyes wide, pokes her head outside of the door. Her head turns toward the living room first, then finds me at the foyer. Her eyes widen even more as she sucks in her lip and a nervous smile twitches on her face. She looks rather guilty, and I can’t understand why, until another bump comes from behind her as she maneuvers herself out of the door and closes it behind her. Riley’s face is now burning red.

“Oh. My. God. Rhys is here, isn’t he?”

Her face drains of all colour and tears rim her eyes as her breath catches in her throat. She gives me a shy, curt nod. And that’s when I really take her in — her clothes are mussed and her lips are swollen and red. The hair would have been an identifier, but she tends to nap hard, so messy hair doesn’t always mean this.

“You’re hooking up with Rhys right now? After how he treated you and denied the baby was his? Guilt molds her face, her brows furrowing and eyes quivering as she searches my gaze for some sort of acceptance. Something to tell her it’s okay. When she doesn’t get it, she sighs.

“’Lissa, I’m sorry. I know how you feel about it. But he…he called and seemed apologetic. He asked to talk —”

“Isn’t that what happened last time?! Isn’t that how he got you fucking knocked up in the first place?!” I’m fuming. Rhys is here, taking advantage of a broken Riley, again. “Get the fuck out of here, Rhys!” I shout, anger seeping into every syllable of my words. My eyes cloud red, my blood is boiling.

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