Since I have no idea how to respond to that, I bring us back to the reason why I called him to begin with.
“Mona didn’t write back. You said she would.”
“Maybe she hasn’t seen the message yet.” Kyle doesn’t seem concerned at all. “Not everyone is glued to their phone twenty-four seven.”
That’s a dig at me because I am never without my cell. I constantly check my emails and respond to any messages that need immediate attention. In my world, they all do.
“Have you tried calling her?” he asks.
“Yeah, I’m still blocked.”
He lets out a low whistle. “I have to say that I am impressed with how determined she is to get rid of you.”
“Thanks, that’s helpful,” I deadpan.
He chuckles softly. “I was only teasing. Apparently, it’s too soon.”
“I know it’s funny to you, but you already have someone who thinks you hung the moon. And that’s not criticism toward Zara,” I rush to say as I remember his warning from only a couple of minutes ago.
“What exactly is it that you want, man?” Kyle sounds incredulous. “Are you saying that you want Mona to be yours forever?”
I run a nervous hand through my hair. “I’m saying that I can’t imagine being with anyone else but her.”
“So go to her then,” he suggests. “Tell her how you feel. She’ll listen.”
“You also said that she’ll reply to my email, so excuse me if I don’t have any confidence in what you’re telling me.”
Kyle huffs in annoyance. “Why did you call me then? Other than to insult both me and my girlfriend?”
I pause my pacing, stopping short in the middle of the room.
“I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing,” I admit. “I don’t know how to tell her that I want her, and that I never wanted us to break up again. I won’t break up with her again if she takes me back…”
Kyle stops me. “It sounds me to that this is a conversation you need to have with Mona, not me.”
“You’re right,” I agree, then repeat the words I said to him when he first answered. “You’re useless.”
Thankfully, Kyle does take it as a joke. He chuckles and just hangs up on me. It would’ve been nice if before he disconnected the call, he shared with me how I should approach Mona again.
A knock on my door interrupts my thoughts. “Alex,” someone calls from the other side. “You have a Zoom in two minutes.”
I walk back to my desk and drop in the seat, my mind never this removed from a business meeting.
The next few hours go by painfully slow as I continue checking myHolidatesinbox. Since my focus is not on work, I at least have enough sense to postpone anything the I would lose money on should I make the wrong decision.
By the time my employees start getting ready to leave for the day, I am angry with the world. I must be putting out some serious negative vibes because no one approaches me, most don’t even say goodbye before taking off for the day.
I rock back and forth in my chair, angry at the world as a whole. Kyle’s words about my parents, and my father in particular, bounce around in my head as I try to make sense of everything.
On a whim, I grab my phone and dial my father’s number. He doesn’t disappoint as he answers after the first ring.
“Alex,” he greets me. “This is a surprise.
I’m not known for calling just to check in or to see how he’s doing, so I understand why he says that.
“I trust things are going well with your company.”
Despite me having a privileged background, when it came for me needing financial backing for my first startup, my father refused to participate.
