“Not anymore.” Mrs. Marion shrugged. “She’s insisted on having her daughter Sophie take over that role. The sale was contingent on that issue.”
“And…Sophie’s taking the job?” Mark asked.
Mrs. Marion nodded. “I’m sorry. But you were right, Mark. This deal is the best for everyone.” She paused. “Well, it was the best for my company, anyway. I’m glad you brought it up.” Another pause. “And good luck.”
With that, she turned and left.
Mark downed the rest of his drink. “Waiter,” he said, pointing to his empty glass.
Roger rubbed at his temples with his fingertips. “Well, if that’s not ironic.”
“Still glad you slept with her?” Simone asked.
That was when Mark realized—Simone had been covering her own ass. As much as she’d supported him, the moment she realized he was going to be promoted to her level, she’d taken steps to ensure her own longevity.
He’d gotten screwed in more ways than one.
“So you’re not going to be the account person,” Roger said slowly.
Mark waited for him to finish the statement. Roger looked at him intently, as Simone continued drinking.
“I’m fired, aren’t I?” Mark finally supplied.
Roger nodded. “You’ll get the official word on Monday,” he said. “And a package.”
Mark didn’t hear the rest of what Roger had to say. He politely excused himself and exited the place as fast as his legs could carry him.
In one short day, trying to help the woman he loved, he’d lost the prize account, his promotion…his job. His future was in shambles.
He had to talk to Sophie. He had planned to meet her at her hotel later that night anyway. Change of plans. It only took him fifteen minutes to reach her door. He knocked, conflicting emotions swirling through him chaotically.
She opened the door. “I didn’t know until we’d left the restaurant,” she said by way of greeting.
“I got fired,” he said, walking in. The shock still reverberated through him.
“Oh, God, I’m so sorry,” she said, hugging him. “I didn’t know this was going to work out this way.”
“I did all this trying to help you,” he said. “I thought I had it all planned.”
“I can’t thank you enough,” Sophie breathed, kissing his neck, his chin. “Now, my mom’s retirement is secure, and her house…”
“I won’t get my promotion,” he pointed out. “Hell, I don’t even know where I’ll get another job, Sophie!”
“I’m sorry,” she repeated. Then, slowly, she offered, “I could get you a job in the department. I mean, I am account manager.”
He stared at her. “You took my job, Sophie.”
Sophie blushed. “It was the only way my mom would sell,” she said slowly. “I’m sorry, but…Mark, I couldn’t do that to her again.”
He closed his eyes. “And that’s it, huh?”
“You felt that way when you won the account,” she pleaded. “I was out of a job, and I still wanted to be with you….”
“I put everything on the line to help you!”
Her eyes were wide and rimmed with tears. “I can’t jeopardize her again,” Sophie said. “The best I can do is get you a job working for me. You’ll still have a career….”
“When everybody knows we slept together?” he asked, feeling despair wash over him. “Sophie, I’ve spent my whole life trying to prove I got where I am because of my own merits. Not because of my face. Not because I slept my way to the top!” He felt like hurling something against the wall. “So now I’ve got nothing!”
“I don’t know how to help you,” Sophie said.
“I don’t know how, either,” Mark said.
“Where does that leave us?” Sophie said as he turned and headed for the door.
Mark paused. He still wanted Sophie. But wanting her had gotten him here, in this position. Nothing had been clear or right since then.
“I need to figure things out,” Mark said. “When I do…I’ll get in contact with you. Okay?”
“And that’s it?” Sophie said.
“For now,” Mark said. “Yeah. That’s it.”
Sophie nodded, tears spilling down her cheeks. “And if you don’t figure things out?” she whispered. “Or…you figure out that we were a mistake?”
Mark didn’t know what to say. So he didn’t say anything. Instead, he left.
“YOU’VE BEEN AWFULLY QUIET.”
Mark was watching the sun set from his parents’ porch in Knoxville. He turned to look at his brother Jeff, standing framed in the front doorway. “Just relaxing.”
“It’s been great to have you down,” Jeff said. “The kids love visiting with Uncle Mark.”
Mark felt a stab of guilt. “I’m sorry I haven’t gotten down here more often, Jeff.”
“We know how important your job was to you,” Jeff said, compounding the problem. “And I’m really sorry about what happened.”
Mark nodded. Of course, he hadn’t gone into the full, ugly details of what had happened. They knew that he’d lost his job, but to their credit, they hadn’t pried. His family had welcomed him as always, with open arms.
After his troubles with Trimera, it was a reassuring balm. If only his troubles with Sophie could be soothed away as easily.
Jeff sat down on the other bench, looking at him intently. “So what will you do next?”
“I’m not sure.” Mark picked up his glass of iced tea. “Get another job, obviously.”
“Yeah,” Jeff said. “Keeping that fancy place in New York can’t be cheap.”
Mark grimaced. “Don’t put it that way. You and Margo and the kids have a great house, you know.”
“I’m not judging,” Jeff replied. “And yes, we do have a great house. I earn a good living. But…” He let the sentence peter off, frowning.
Mark glanced at him. “Just spit it out.”
“Mom and Dad won’t bring it up, they’re just glad to see you,” Jeff said thoughtfully. “But they’re thinking it, all the same.”
“Thinking what?”
“Ever since you were a model, things went a little screwy for you.”
Mark groaned. “Jeez, we’re going to go that far back? I know nobody liked the idea of me modeling. I know a lot of people around here thought that it wasn’t a man’s job. And then getting a job with a cosmetics company…”
“Mom and Dad didn’t give a damn about that, and you know it,” Jeff scoffed. “It was when you started making a lot of money. People were treating you differently. You went to New York, and you lost your head. Suddenly you had something to prove. You were successful as a model because of your looks, so suddenly you had to show everybody how smart you are. You were successful as a salesman because you’re friendly, and suddenly you’ve got to show everybody that you can be a cutthroat businessman, just like anybody else.” Jeff shook his head. “Honestly, you’ve been the biggest jackass for the past few years, but you haven’t been around enough for me to get the chance to tell you so. So now I am.”
Mark stared at his brother, shocked. “I thought you were proud of how I was doing at my job!”
Jeff laughed. “Damn, Mark, we all knew you were smart before you left. The fact that people thought you were just a pretty boy was funny. But you seemed to buy into it. It’s like you forgot how smart you were.”
Mark stood up and started pacing, feeling embarrassment start to course through him.
“Next thing I knew, you were telling me about how many hours you were working and all of your travel,” Jeff continued relentlessly. “You never talked about anybody else.”
“I dated,” Mark protested…until he saw Jeff’s knowing smirk. “Okay. So I didn’t have a lot of time for a relationship.”
“You didn’t have a lot of time for anything,” Jeff said. “Now, you’ll have plenty of time. My question is—are you dumb enough to jump right back on that treadmill, or will you begin figuring out what’s really important in your life?”
Mark felt like an idiot. “What if I told you I have started seeing someone?”
Jeff grinned broadly. “I’d say it’s about time, and why isn’t she here?”
“We sort of had a falling out.”
“Already?” Jeff shook his head. “What happened?”
“It sort of had to do with my job.”
“Ah. You put your job before your relationship with her, I’ll bet,” Jeff said sagely.
“No.” Then Mark thought about it…about all the conversations they’d had, about keeping business and personal separate. “Well, maybe. But it was more like she put her job before me.”
“No kidding.” Jeff rubbed at his jaw thoughtfully. “What happened?”
In bits and pieces, Mark relayed the whole ugly scenario to him. He’d always been able to talk to Jeff, and now that the story was off his chest, he wondered why he hadn’t talked to his family sooner. He felt better—still hurting from the loss, but a little more comfortable with it.