Page 124 of Wildflower
“Get the fuck out, all of you,” I bark, and I hear them scrambling. When there’s no more noise, I do it.
I call Rey.
She picks up on the first ring, and her voice in my ear makes the bubble in my throat burst. I swivel my chair towards the window, away from the door, and rub my eyes. I can’t remember the last time I cried.
“Rey,” I rasp.
“Mark, are you okay?”
“AmIokay? Areyou? I—” The words are like rubber in my throat. I feel like I’m lying to her by talking normally. I can’t do this, making her think everything is normal.
“Rey, listen…”
“Mark, what’s happening?” Her voice cracks, and the sound of it knots my stomach.
I tell her about the board in as few words as possible. I don’t want her to know all the shit they said.
“I need to make a statement. That we met outside work, and that my role as CEO is not undermined.”
“Okay, that doesn’t sound too bad?”
I breathe. Deliberately and slowly. It feels as if my lungs are about to collapse.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I force the words out.
“I have to say it was a temporary relationship, and that I ended it when I found out you were an intern.”
“Ended? Are you breaking up with me?”
“I’m so sorry, Rey.”
“I want to see you. Say this to my face, Mark.” Her voice is small, and I want to reach through the phone and hold her. I breathe in, my chest burning.
“I have to release a statement right away, and there’s press outside your house. I can’t see you. And it’s for the best, Rey.” God knows, I wouldn’t be able to keep it together if I had to see her face now.
“But Mark, help me understand here. Why can’t I just leave my role and we’ll be together? I don’t care about anything else. I love you so much.”
Her desperate voice hits me square in the heart.
“The board, they—I’m going to lose my business. They say being with someone like … I can’t…”
“They say what? Someone like who?” Her voice is tight, and I know she’s hurting. It’s fucking killing me.
“I’m so sorry, Rey. I didn’t want this.”
She sighs and sniffs. “You’re a coward for not saying it out loud. Did you even fight for me?”
“I did, but—” The words die in my throat. I can’t say it. That I didn’t fight as hard as she deserves me to. I can’t get it out.
I am a coward.
“You’re really going to listen to the old wrinkly bunch of suits? You told me you accept me for me. You said you’re all in, and I believed you.”
The expressions of the board members and the PR team flash across my mind. But mostly the drawn, disappointed face of Graham, who’s always looked out for me, whose advice I trust more than my own. And the hurt in Sebastian’s eyes. I can’t lose their trust in me. The unwavering, dutiful, dedicated founder of Infinio Games.
“I—I can’t.”
She drags in a breath. “Well done, Mark. You’ve not just broken my heart, you’ve ripped out my soul and stepped all over it.”
