Page 40 of Secrets, Scandals and Baby Shoes

“You should go, then.” Her voice sounded hollow. She turned away from Elliot to look out the window. “No need to give two weeks’ notice. I can run this place fine on my own, just like you said.”

“I’ll still take the two weeks,” Elliot said. “I wouldn’t want you to feel like I’m walking out on you.”

But hewaswalking out on her.

“No, you made the decision to leave on your own, so I’m making this decision on my own.” She whirled back to him, hands on hips. “You don’t want to be here anymore? Fine. I don’t want you here, either.”

Elliot’s brows narrowed. “All right, then. If that’s how you feel, I’ll be on a plane tonight. It was a pleasure working with you.” The last words sounded so professional that they made Lucy’s heart ache all the more. They’d talked about taking a trip to Europe together, about how happy they were to have a second chance. But as soon as Elliot’s company had run into trouble, he was ready to give all that up. He was ready to giveherup. Maybe that was all this had ever been to him: business.

“It was nice knowing you,” Lucy replied, fury dripping from every syllable. “And don’t bother about the advice, either.” They looked at each other for a long moment, then Elliot got up.

“No point dragging this out. I guess I’ll see you around.” He grabbed his bag and left. His computer was still open on his desk, and he clearly hadn’t done any exit procedures. Lucy waited until she was sure he was gone, then locked the door and sank onto her chair, tears spilling from her eyes. That was it, then. Whatever they’d once shared was now over.

Part of Lucy wanted to run after Elliot and ask what he’d been thinking, but it was clear that he hadn’t been thinking about her. He cared only about his company. What they’d shared over the last few weeks had been a bonus, perhaps, but not enough that he would change any of his decisions.

She was truly alone now.

The tears that had threatened spilled down her cheeks in twin rivers. In the last few weeks, she’d found Elliot again, and she’d lost him. Again. Lucy had thought that the rich, entitled jerk Elliot had seemed like the first few weeks had been nothing more than a cover for the romantic, goofy, smart man he really was, but maybe it had been the other way around. Maybe the rich jerk was who Elliot really was.

Some small part of Lucy worried that she’d made a mistake by not pushing Elliot to explain his actions. But the bigger part knew that Elliot had had plenty of chances. He could have told her what he was thinking about before he decided to sell his shares and step down. He could have taken her aside and explained himself. Even now, when Lucy had confronted him, he could have taken the time to tell her that he still cared about her. Yet he hadn’t. And the fact that he hadn’t made it clear that he didn’t care about Lucy, not even enough to give her an explanation. Not even enough to tell her he was leaving himself.

So, that was it. Lucy dried her tears and checked her reflection in her phone camera. Her eyes were a little red, but that could easily be explained by a night of poor sleep. She could do this — for Dominic. She reopened her office door. Next, she called Gabriel in and asked him to help her remove her desk from the office they’d shared. There was no use in keeping it around. She could use her brother’s desk, the one Elliot had commandeered on that first day, the one she should have had from the start.

Lucy packed up Elliot’s things, from his pictures to his fancy pen to his stapler. There were a few items Lucy wasn’t sure were his, but she tossed them in the box anyway. It was better to make sure that every trace of him was gone than to stumble across his things later. Finally, she sat down at Dominic’s desk, her desk now, and got to work. She was carrying her brother’s company from here on out, and she needed to do her best to live up to his legacy. There was no time to cry over a man she’d already lost more than ten years ago.

It was beyond time she let Elliot go.

CHAPTER 20

ELLIOT

Elliot took a taxi straight to the airport. That evening, he was back in his condo in Chicago. By phone, he contacted his New York landlord and canceled his lease. Just like that, his time in New York was over. His time with Lucy was over.

Because it was, wasn’t it? They both knew it. Elliot still wanted to be with Lucy, but he had no idea how to be a good boyfriend to her while living in another city and being CEO of a different company. Lucy, meanwhile, no longer seemed to have any interest in a relationship with him. She’d been clear that she wanted him to leave, and by the time their conversation ended, Elliot had been ready to go. After all, it seemed like Lucy was just fine with him leaving — though a little mad that he’d given his notice without consulting her, perhaps. Which was fair.

Maybe it was all for the best. After all, Elliot had never been a man for serious relationships. Since dating Lucy in college, he’d tried a few times, but it had never worked out, at least not for long. A part of him had always thought that if he were goingto have a long-term relationship with anyone, it would be with Lucy. And since it hadn’t worked out with Lucy…

Elliot ran a hand through his hair. He just couldn’t believe that everything had gone so wrong, again. He didn’t know how to make things right. He didn’t even know what making things right would look like. He could apologize to Lucy for leaving without telling her what was happening, but he’d already done that, and it was clear that she didn’t want to talk to him anymore.

Elliot got up from the couch, where he’d sunk with his head in his hands first thing after arriving at his apartment. He brushed a hand through his hair and made his way to the kitchen, where he poured himself a glass of wine from an old bottle a colleague had given him as a gift. It tasted… well, Elliot wasn’t entirely sure what it tasted like, but it was good, and it reminded him of Lucy and their wonderful vineyard trip. He still couldn’t believe that he’d lost her. Again.

Maybe they were never meant to be. Maybe Elliot needed to throw himself back into his life, his real life, and do his best to forget about her. Again.

Some part of him held out hope that Lucy would take the time she needed and would eventually reach out to him, but Elliot knew that was probably not going to happen. She clearly felt betrayed by his departure. And she’d been ready to end their relationship because of it.

His thoughts spiraled in an endless circle of regret and sadness until, finally, he downed the last bit of his wine and went to bed. The next morning, his alarm went off at six, and he was up quickly. He changed into athletic clothes and headed to the condo complex’s gym, his feet following the familiar route down the stairs even as his mind drifted back to New Yorkand Lucy. He threw himself into exercise and managed, at least momentarily, to put Lucy out of his mind as he rotated through bench presses and back rows.

After a quick shower, Elliot headed to work. He’d been in Chicago just last week, so it wasn’t much of a shock to step back into his offices. His employees greeted him with friendly smiles, which Elliot returned. He attended the usual Tuesday morning all-hands meeting, looking out at the familiar faces of programmers and HR staff and copywriters. It used to make him proud to see all his employees together, but today he didn’t feel that.

Next, Elliot went to his office, where he spent the morning deep in work, with only quick pauses for sips of coffee. He’d put out most of the fires last week, so today was spent on his usual work of company management and future planning. Over lunch, he had a productive meeting with his CTO about future investments in R&D towards a new product with great growth potential. It was exciting stuff, exactly the kind of thing Elliot would usually have been completely consumed by. Today, it barely held his attention.

The afternoon passed in a blur of meetings, including a few interviews with candidates to cover the CFO role while his current CFO was on maternity leave in a few weeks. That was exciting, too, as Elliot usually loved to be involved in the hiring process. Today, though, he listlessly flipped through resumes and cover letters.

Evening included a dinner spent at Elliot’s desk and a few drinks at a local bar with friends who’d missed him while he was in New York for the last few weeks.

It was nice to see them, but Elliot couldn’t stop thinking about how hollow everything felt. His Keype work felt like… business. Whereas the time he’d spent working at Borderless with Lucy had been creative in a different way. Sharing his successes and ideas with her had made everything feel ten times more exciting and impactful. Evenings spent at her side, eating dim sum or watching movies or just talking, had been far more meaningful than evenings spent at his desk, even when his work was interesting and productive.

Elliot had been certain that he’d made the right call by stepping back from Borderless. But more and more, as the day went on, he wondered if he’d made a mistake. Perhaps Lucy and Borderless had been his one chance at happiness, and Elliot had thrown it all away for a company that no longer felt as special to him as it once had.

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