Page 21 of Endgame

Sophia stands abruptly and pushes past me.

Jasper sighs and gets up to follow her.

‘Jas, please can I?’ I ask.

I’ve clearly caused some discomfort and I need to make it okay for Jasper. I wait for his nod before I follow Sophia through the crowd and into a private dining room that has been converted into a storage space.

‘Sophia?’ I call as the door shuts behind me.

‘Go away!’ I hear her choke as she cries.

‘I’m sorry that I’ve upset you. Please can you tell me what’s wrong?’

‘What’s wrong? You! You’re what’s wrong.’

‘I’m sorry, I?—’

‘Why is he so scared of you?’

‘Jasper? He’s not scared of me.’

‘He’s scared of you because he’s still in love with you!’

‘Sophia, we grew up together and we both got confused – that’s all. He loves you.’

‘No, he doesn’t.’

‘Yes, I promise you he does.’

‘He ordered me a martini!’ she screams at me, before bursting into fresh tears. Oh. The realisation hits me.

‘You’re pregnant,’ I whisper.

Sophia looks at me, frightened, like I’m scaring her. Before I know what I’m doing, my arms are around her, holding her, as she sobs loudly. This is my fault. Jasper and I may have ended things but we still orbit tightly around each other. I asked him to make amends with Caleb but I didn’t think about doing the same with Sophia. When he came out for my birthday and he didn’t bring her, I didn’t reprimand him for leaving her home alone. I definitely wasn’t thinking about Sophia when I asked him to come out to Singapore to help when things got bad. Tonight, when I was uncomfortable being by myself, I reached for him first because I knew he would come. All the while, I was hurting the person he loved.

‘Jasper loves you, Sophia. He’s not scared of me or in love with me. He’s in love with you. However, I have been asking him for things that I maybe should have cleared with you first. I’m sorry.’

‘I really don’t like you. You’re such a horrible person,’ she cries, still in my arms.

‘I’m not sure I like me right now because of how I have made you feel, but I want you to know that, regardless of what you think of me, I never meant to hurt you.’

‘Well, you do. It’s torture having you around.’

‘How can I make things better?’

Sophia tearfully extracts herself from my embrace.

‘Please leave him alone. Stop contacting him and please stay away from us,’ she begs from a place of such deep despair that it hurts. I also don’t have a choice.

‘If that’s what you need, I will.’

‘That’s what I need,’ she confirms, forcefully.

‘Consider it done.’

‘Thank you,’ she whispers as she tries to pull herself together.

‘Can I help you clean up in the?—’

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