Page 51 of It's Only Make Believe

“Luke, please …” Tia says, and tears are running down her face again, but I can’t let them sway me. I shake my head.

“I’m sorry Tia. Really, I am, but we’re done here. Don’t make it any harder than it needs to be,” he says. “And don’t bother coming back to work tomorrow either. I will see that you get your last paycheck.”

She opens her mouth to argue with me I assume, but instead, all that comes out is a sob. She slaps her hand over her mouth and gets up and practically runs to my door. She opens it.

“I really am sorry,” she says and then she leaves and closes the door behind her, and I feel as though my whole life has fallen apart with the closing of the door.

The imagery of her closing the door to me as I closed my heart to her isn’t lost on me and it does nothing to make me feel better. I have to keep myself under control because I have a feeling Mel will be along in a minute to see if I’m ok, and then once I’ve dealt with her, I’m going to leave early and maybe go for a run or go to the gym or something to get rid of all of this pent-up anger and upset.

Mel has been in, and I gave an Oscar worthy performance of convincing her that I am totally ok. She finally accepted it andleft my office. My leaving early is probably going to set her off again, but I’d rather that than sit here stewing. I stand up and go to grab my jacket when my desk phone rings. I almost ignore it, but I just can’t do it – it must be something important for Mel to have connected the call, especially now - and I find myself picking up the receiver.

“Hello,” I say.

“Don’t you hello me you fucking clown,” my caller says.

I’m taken aback for a moment. I mean how else would I answer their call but with a hello? And why the rudeness? It hits me that the caller is Enrique, and I get a sinking feeling in my stomach. I guess I’m not the only person Justin has dropped a Tia shaped bomb on today.

“Enrique,” I say, and I have no idea where I’m going after that. I don’t want to say too much in case something else has happened that I don’t know about, and I drop this on him myself. I’m actually grateful when he interrupts me, although I’m not happy about what he has to say.

“I ask for one simple favor, and this is the best you can do. You’re a fool and I will be calling an emergency board meeting as soon as I’m back in the country and you will be fired, I guarantee it,” Enrique says.

“But …” I start, but the dial tone sounds in my ear. Enrique has ended the call. I sigh and replace the receiver.

I would love to know how the fuck Enrique has decided this is my fault, but I guess he needs someone to blame and it’s not going to be his precious princess, and it wouldn’t be a good look for him to go after Tia either. So, I get the shit. Me, who built this company from the ground up, going to be removed from my position at the helm of it. We’ll fucking see about that.

I grab my jacket and put it on and grab my things and get out of my office before anything else can stop me. I pop my head around Mel’s door and tell her to hold my calls and that I’ll seeher tomorrow. I don’t give her a chance to start asking if I’m ok again. I say goodbye to Rachel on the way past and she replies and then I’m in the elevator and then I’m down to the lobby. I cross it and get in my car, and I feel safe here that I won’t have to talk to anyone else. I slam my hands on my steering wheel.

“Fuck,” I shout as I do it. I do it again. “Fuck.”

I pull my cell phone out and send a text to Tia.

“Congratulations. It’s not just you getting fired because of this mess you caused. You’re taking me down with you,” I write.

I don’t even know why I sent it. It’s not like she wanted to get me fired. I guess I’m just being a bit petty. I feel bad because of something she did so I want to make her feel bad too. Her reply comes in fast.

“I’ll fix this. I promise,” it says.

I don’t bother to reply.

Chapter

Thirty-Four

TIA

Itexted Louisa earlier and asked if I could come to her place and talk to her, but she said she was out and that she would come to mine once she was done. It’s just after six o’clock and she’s here now. I kind of hoped to catch her within the working day so I could ask for her help in getting her father to not fire Luke. Whatever consequences there are for Louisa and me are deserved because we did this. Luke did nothing wrong.

I press the unlock button on the intercom and open my front door and wait for Louisa to come up. I can hear her heels clicking on the stairs and then she’s there and I feel tears prickle in the corners of my eyes at the sight of her.

“The shit has really hit the fan Lou,” I say.

“Yeah, tell me about it,” she says.

She comes towards me, and I think she’s going to hug me, but instead, she just walks past me and goes into my living room. I close my front door and start to follow her, but then I think of a better idea, and I pop to the kitchen and grab a bottle of left overChablis from my book club meeting and two glasses and then I go to the living room. Louisa and I sit in silence while I pour the drinks and then I finally force myself to look at her.

“How did you find out?” I say.

“My father called me. I missed his call, but he left a voice mail giving me the basic gist of it. I haven’t called him back yet. I figured it would make sense to get the full story first. So, what happened?” Louisa asks.

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