Every time, I’d cave because I wanted to be the good girlfriend.
I should have been stronger, but I was twenty and thought love meant sacrifice. I didn’t realize I was the only one sacrificing anything. I just got smaller until I barely existed outside of his needs.
I want those friendship connections again. I want to be the friend who shows up with soup when you’re sick. Someone who chooses friendship and doesn’t let anyone make her feel guilty for it.
I’m never going to be the social butterfly; the one who knows everyone and works the room, but I’d like to think I have something quieter to offer. I’m the one who’ll hold your bag while you dance. Make sure you get home safe. I’ll listen to you talk about the same guy for three hours without judgment, just occasionally refilling your wine.
Jobs are next on the list, but I’ve promised myself a small breather first. Jake’s Norway expedition is coming up in a few weeks. Before that, I’m going to use the time forme.Reading in parks. Making elaborate sandwiches. Sitting with Jake while he’s here, even if he does leave socks everywhere. Maybe visiting Mum in Spain, though she’ll cry about my “situation.”
The doorbell goes just as I hear water running upstairs. Finally, my new laptop. Upgraded processing power for all the code I’ll write. It’s a proper beast of a machine. Complete overkill for most people, but I deserve it. Even if McLaren Hotels don’t think I’m worth much, I bloody well do.
This is my heartbreak present to myself. Some people get wine-drunk and get a new hairstyle. I buy processing power.
I pad to the door, already mentally planning which development environments I’ll install first.
A courier holds out an envelope. “Sign please?”
I sign, confused. Open it right there in the doorway.
McLaren Hotels letterhead.
The words swim in front of me.Legal team... urgent meeting... required to attend...
Oh God. They’re suing me. Patrick’s suing me.
The front door is still wide open, cold air rushing in, but I can’t seem to move, as the guy nods and leaves.
“Georgie?” Jake’s voice floats down the stairs. “What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
I try to speak, but my throat’s closed. Nothing comes out except this tiny, wounded noise. I just hold out the letter with hands shaking so badly the paper rattles.
He takes it, reads it, and his face changes, going from concerned brother to something darker. “They’re summoning you to meet with their legal team? What the fuck?”
“It—it must be about the system failure. The deployment. Oh God, Jake. I can’t do this. I can’t sit in a room with lawyers and—” The tears start before I can stop them.
“Hey, come here.” Jake pulls me into a hug. “Breathe.”
I sob into his shirt, getting it all wet and gross, but he doesn’t care.
“Whatever this is, we’ll handle it together, okay?” He pulls back to look at my face, using his sleeve to gently wipe the tears off my cheeks.
“I’m scared.”
“I know.” He smooths my hair back from my face where it’s stuck to my wet cheeks. “Let me read it properly, yeah? Figure out what we’re dealing with.”
He keeps one arm around me while he reads it again, squinting at the formal language. “I’ve no fucking clue. I’m coming with you, whatever this is.”
“Lawyers are involved, Jake. With their suits and their legal words and...” I hiccup so violently I actually jolt forward, then immediately snort. Which makes me laugh. Which turns into crying again. I press my palm against my mouth, but another hiccup escapes—this one somehow wetter and more disgusting than the last.
“Oh God, I can’t...” I wipe my nose on my sleeve like a feral child. “I’m a disaster. I’m an actual—” Hiccup. “—disaster.”
“It’s going to be okay. You didn’t do anything wrong. You need to remember that.”
“He lost so much. The reputational damage, the Forbes rating, all those guests whose holidays were ruined. He’s so angry. You didn’t see his face.”
“I know Patrick’s been a complete bastard.” He rubs circles on my back. “But I don’t think he’d sue you. Deep down, underneath all that CEO bollocks, there’s integrity there. I’ve known him ten years. He’s many things—stubborn, sometimes thick as two planks—but deep down he’s decent.”
“He suspended me. Had security march me out like a criminal. He chose Craig over me without even hesitating. Why wouldn’t he sue me too?”
