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I fought back the tears. “Then why did you? You hurt me JC. I gave you everything.”
“I was stupid. We were young, but it would’ve worked. I wish I could do it all over again.”
“You can’t. We’re in different stages of our lives. You’re married, I’m going to be married and hopefully start a family soon.”
“Do you love him?”
A look of shock crossed my face. “Noah? Of course, I love him.”
“Do you love him like you loved me?”
The truth was that I would never love someone the way I had loved JC, but I would never tell him that.
“Yes, more even. Noah is a good man, and he treats me well. I can make a life with him and have made a good life with him.”
“But you don’t think you could have made a good life with me?”
I slumped in my chair. “JC, you had your issues, and you never put me first. It was all about you. In the end, I realized being with you was exhausting. I gave you everything I had, and it wasn’t good enough.”
“It was. After you left, I felt empty inside.”
I didn’t know what to say. I knew he was in pain, but I couldn’t make it better for him. I loved Noah, and we were going to be married in a few short months. JC just sat there with his face in his hands. After a couple of minutes, he scrubbed at his face and got up, leaving my office without saying a word. I didn’t have much time to process the exchange we just had because my cell rang.
“So, how is the new job?”
“Mom, it’s good. How are you and Dad?”
“Fine. How is your new boss?”
“You know him.”
“Really? Who is it?”
“JC.”
I waited for it to sink in. There was no love lost between JC and my parents. They had always felt he was all wrong for me. In the end, they were right.
After a short pause, my mother answered. “Oh.”
“Before you start to berate him, please don’t. This is my job, and I deserve it after all my hard work. I can handle him.”
“You know best.”
I could hear the disapproval in her voice, but I ignored it and quickly cut the conversation off, telling her I had to get to work.
After JC broke it off, I had to move back in with my parents and younger sisters, Megan and Emma. It was the worst time of my life, not only because I was alone after three years but because I had to go back to my parent’s house. Fortunately, it was only four months before I got a reprieve. My friend Olivia from college needed a roommate, and I jumped at the chance. For three years it was just two single gals on the town until her job transferred her to California.
I was making better money and didn’t need another roommate after Olivia left. Then I met Noah. He was charming and sweet. When he got down on bended knee on the bridge in Central Park, I said yes even though we’d only been dating six months. That was two and a half years ago. The only reason we weren’t married yet was because of Noah’s schedule. Up until eight months ago, he traveled with clients.
His business had finally picked up enough to hire more qualified employees, and now he was mostly at home. I hated when Noah went away. The huge loft we owned was empty and lonely without him. At twenty-nine, almost thirty, I still slept with the lights on when he was not there. I would be doing that for the next few days until he returned. I was lost in my thoughts, thinking about Noah and JC when Nikki came into my office.
“I have your meeting schedule for the week. I wanted to check with you before I set it on the electronic calendar. Mr. Lawson told me to add you to a luncheon they’re having in the conference room on Wednesday.”
“Luncheon, for what?”
I waited for Nikki to check her tablet.
“The Kingston Group. He said you were working on their copy today. They will be in to discuss the progress. It’s a working lunch.”
