Page 48 of What Broke First
“I think so,” Matt said. “Thanks for setting it up. I needed the night out.”
“But?”
“But I’m still stuck. On Sarah. On what we had. On what I lost.”
Tyler nodded slowly. “You sure you’re not just punishing yourself by staying hung up?”
“Maybe,” Matt said. “But if I’m gonna move on, it’s not gonna be with someone I use as a bandage. Marley deserves better.”
“You both do,” Tyler said.
Matt grabbed his coat. “Tell the girls I said thank you. And that I’m sorry.”
“You heading out?”
“Yeah. I think I’ve hit my emotional growth quota for the night.”
He left without looking back.
Somewhere, deep in the ache of his chest, he knew he had done the right thing.
He just wished it didn’t feel so lonely.
Chapter 25: The Offer
Matt was in the middle of reviewing a client pitch deck when a sharp knock on his office door snapped him out of his concentration.
“Come in,” he called, expecting an assistant or worse, another scheduling conflict.
Instead, Jim Holloway stepped in, crisp suit and steely gaze intact. Matt sat straighter. “Jim. This is a surprise. Everything alright?”
Jim nodded once, closing the door behind him and taking the seat across from Matt’s desk.
He didn’t speak right away, just studied Matt with a kind of serious calm that put Matt instantly on edge. His first thought was Lily. Had she finally decided to turn her cold shoulder into something messier?
But Jim didn’t mention Lily. Instead, he said, “I’ve been watching your numbers. Your client growth. Your team management. And that last campaign? Brilliant.”
Matt blinked. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”
Jim leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “You’ve been grinding, Matt. Quietly. Consistently. And it hasn’t gone unnoticed. The partners and I think it’s time. We want to offer you a seat at the table.”
It took a second for the words to register. “You mean... partner?”
Jim cracked a rare smile. “That’s exactly what I mean. You’ve earned it. We’ll send over the paperwork tonight, but I wanted to deliver the news in person.”
Matt stood, hand extended. “Thank you, Jim. Truly.”
“You’ve more than earned it,” Jim replied, standing too. “We need people like you at the helm.”
Later that evening, Matt sat at his kitchen table, the soft hum of the dishwasher in the background as he clicked open the email with the subject line: PARTNERSHIP TERMS.
He read every line twice, then a third time, heart thrumming with a mix of pride and disbelief. He was going to say yes. He typed his acceptance before he could second-guess everything..
Then he just sat there, staring at the screen, hands still on the keyboard.
Would Sarah be proud of him? Or would she just offer that polite, practiced nod she’d been using lately, the one that landed somewhere between indifference and quiet judgment. “It’s about time,” she might say. No smile. No warmth. Just another box checked on the long list of things she used to wish he would do.
He hated how much her opinion still mattered. Every success still came with a shadow of wondering whether she’d care. Or worse, if she had already stopped.
