Submitting to Her(77)

Brandon hit me, hard, closed-fist, in the jaw. Pain erupted through my face. Zoey screamed.

I stood my ground. Now it was my turn to sneer. I said: "That make you feel like a man, Brandon? Attacking the defenseless?"

Brandon growled, and held his fist up once again to threaten me. He said: "That mouth will get you in trouble, Jones."

I said: "Truth hurts, huh?"

He swung at me again. I flinched, and he caught my chin, but it still stung like hell.

I laughed. He hit me again - side of the head.

I said something like: "Pathetic." My mouth didn't quite work properly by then - my whole face was numb. I think I caught another blow from Brandon, maybe a few more.

And then Zoey was yelling at me to get out - like I was the one in the wrong.

I guess that was what did it - that acid feeling of betrayal welled up in my stomach again. I was thinking: how is she still standing by him? Can you not see what a pathetic loser he is?

I was close to blacking out - I could see stars swirling in my vision.

Zoey yelled my name, and that was enough for me.

I walked out of the room, closed the adjoining door, and once in my own room I dressed, threw my belongings in my suitcase, and left the hotel. I was numb, I was possibly concussed, but it was the acid in my belly that hurt the most.





Chapter Twenty-Six





Ms Jenkinson agreed to see me first thing in the morning.

I’d spent a harrowing night driving back home. The shock soon wore off from my uncontested beating, requiring an unplanned pause at a rest stop for Tylenol. Worse than the physical discomfort was the emotional pain from walking out on Zoey.

My journey through the night had actually started off with me feeling some sense of pride, in that I had made a stand against the vile Brandon and had shown quite clearly what a cruel and heartless bastard her old flame was.

Yet as I got closer and closer to Baltimore, my view of the situation changed. I felt more and more that I’d done the wrong thing. First I’d stepped in to Zoey’s room without permission, then I’d attempted to force her choice between Brandon and I, and then I’d fled the scene like some kind of pathetic coward. If Brandon was a dangerous lunatic, then it was hardly heroic to abandon her to him.

I’d been tested, and had failed miserably. But how could I possibly turn round and go back to her, tail between my legs? The pride I'd felt at the beginning of my journey was too wounded by the end of it for me to make a quick return.

At home, I arrived so late that Robin was thankfully already asleep, saving my blushes. Even in darkness, the apartment reminded me of my time with Zoey, my heart feeling crushed at the memories of bringing her back here. I got to bed feeling like a huge piece of me had been torn away.

She’d been cruel in how she’d treated me, but as I lay unable to sleep, I considered that the sense of fulfillment I felt with her might just be the same as she had once felt with Brandon. If she had loved him once, and still loved him, that was always going to be a tough choice to make.

I’d never really experienced love before Zoey – but she had. I couldn’t see things her way, because I had never had to make a choice like that.

Feeling that I understood her mindset was no compensation for the anguish I felt. Being with her had been like flying up to the sun – I’d been scorched, I’d fallen to the earth, but what an experience it had been. Where would I ever find another like her?

By the time I was able to sink into a brief and shallow slumber, I had decided that my best option was to get away from Zoey. There was no way I’d be able to see her every day without getting my heart completely shredded. It was a hard decision to make – especially considering the lengths we’d gone to show our CEO that we could work together perfectly well while conducting a full romantic relationship.

There was no other option – I had to get out. I sent an email to Ms Jenkinson, apologizing profusely, accepting the blame completely for what had happened. I explained my run-in with Brandon without going into too much detail. I only made it clear that Zoey had appeared to make a choice, and despite showing her the kind of Neanderthal he was, I could not remain working with her in the wake of her decision.

I was expecting to take a sick day, perhaps get some kind of reply from Ms Jenkinson later that day, even if it was referring me to our human resources department to submit my resignation. Yet her reply came back within minutes of sending my email that night.

Meet me in my office, first thing.





*





It was strange going into the company building again - I felt different, somehow. I'd been coming through this revolving door virtually every working day over the past eight or nine years, and it had become such a regular part of my life, I couldn't quite believe this would be the last time.