Page 20 of Interning For A Billionaire

“You’ve had so many girlfriends over the years,” Hassan said. “Don’t you ever wish you could settle down?”

“Nope.”

It wasn’t completely true, but I would never admit to it.

“I think my favorite girlfriend of yours was the blond one. Oh, what was she called again? Carmen also really liked her.”

I racked my brains trying to think of all my blonde ex-girlfriends.

“Do you mean Yolanda?” She had been a developer at a software company. It had lasted a bit longer with her as she was also quite pre-occupied with work and was less demanding when it came to spending time together.

“No, not her.”

“Maybe Alice?” The occupational therapist from New York, whom I had started chatting to on the beach one day. We’d developed quite a bond, but she went back to New York at one point and that was the end of the relationship.

“No… I’m talking years back… I can see her face, but her name is slipping my mind right now,” Hassan said. “We all went skiing in Aspen, don’t you remember?”

“Do you mean Sophie?”

“Yes!” Hassan hit the table with the palm of his hand. “Sophie, that’s it!”

Sophie was a jewelry designer who made beautiful engagement rings and earrings for a boutique jeweler in the city. She had curly blonde hair, a kind of beach babe look about her and we had been together for two years, probably the longest I’d been with anyone.

“Why is she your favorite?” I asked.

“She didn’t take your shit,” Hassan said with a smile, “She didn’t let you get away with anything. She’d call you on it.”

“She did?”

“Why did you guys break up?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” I said. But it wasn’t true. I knew exactly why we’d broken up. She’d caught me flirting with other girls at a party and confronted me about it. I said it meant nothing. But after that, it wasn’t the same between us, she kept giving me grief about it unable to let it go. So, I let her go.

“Why don’t you give her a call?” Hassan asked.

“She’s married!” I said. I knew this from Facebook, I had once typed in her name online and found her easily enough.

“It’s a shame,” Hassan mused. “You need someone who can cut you down to size.”

“Come on!” I said, “I’m adorable, everybody knows!”

Hassan laughed. But as I drove back from our meeting, I thought about what he’d said about it. He was right about a few things. I did struggle to keep relationships going for longer than a few months, a year at most. When things became complicated and girls started planning future holidays and outings with family members, I started thinking about ending things.

I wondered if it had anything to do with me coming from a broken family. My father married a woman thirty years his junior. My mother had died barely a year before that. Living with a woman who was only a few years older than me and supposedly my new mother was awkward for all of us. It drove a wedge between my father and I because he took her side in everything. My brother was old enough to do his own thing and moved out after the wedding. But I was stuck with the two of them.

I thought of Belle, all of a sudden. Ever since the comedy night, something had changed between us. I was aware of her in the office, but I kept my distance. The email was still too fresh in my mind. Even if all of it wasn’t true, some of it could be and I didn’t want to be anywhere near madness. I’d had my own experiences with a stalker ex-girlfriend, and it was enough of a reminder to make me steer clear. I could barely cope with people who were supposedly normal. I had always preferred my own company to other people and in college, I had never taken part in any sports or group activities. I’d always thought fraternities were silly. After my mother’s death, grief had made me turn to computers, and perhaps I found the predictability of code and the other reality it represented, more comforting. When I realized that I could make money this way, lots of money too, that was a game changer.

And I’ve never looked back. If anyone had asked me to choose between money and love, I think I would always choose money. Money meant success, happiness, getting what you want when you want it. Love was confusion and heartbreak, wasn’t it?

Chapter 9

Belle

At a meeting the following week at work, I suggest we start something called Feelgood Fridays.

Samira asks, “What would that entail?”

“I was thinking we could encourage employees to do something good for their mental health and wellbeing. Something like a counselor or massages. What do you think, Josie?” I ask.

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