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I sat at the bar, nursing my beer, and scanned the bar looking for a familiar face. It was late on a weeknight, and most of the business crowd had left for the evening. Those that stayed behind were from the younger set. However, tonight, I found a face I recognized, one that shared the same features as my former fiancée.
I got off my stool and headed to the corner, where Alicia sat with another young woman. She looked up at me just as I got to the table.
“Well, well, look who it is.”
“Alicia, how are you?”
“I don’t have any information for you about Lana. Leave her alone.”
“You’re mighty protective of her all of a sudden.”
“You tore her apart. She was devastated about the wedding.”
“You think she was the only one? I’ve been a fucking mess.”
“My father said you stopped by to talk to him a couple of months ago. He said he threatened to call security.”
It was true. When I was in the early days of my misery, I went to the offices of Collins and Rowe, hoping I could talk to James. He told me that his daughter wanted nothing to do with me, and I deserved what I got. I started to argue with him, and he threatened to call his security team if I didn’t leave. I left because having my name splashed in the Daily News would be devastating for business.
“He did with good reason. I’m calm now. I’ve had time to put things in perspective. It would help if you told me where Lana is so I can explain.”
“She doesn’t want an explanation. She’s done with you, Zane. Stay away from her.”
Alicia ignored me and went back to talking to her companion.
“Thanks for the talk. You could at least let her know I was asking for her.”
“You don’t give up. I’ll do no such thing. Let me tell you about what you did to her. She fell apart when she left you. There were days she laid in bed and would cry nonstop. You fucked her head up so much that her self esteem was shit. Now she’s just starting to feel better and live life again. Lana doesn’t want you, Lana doesn’t need you and Lana is doing fine without you. Now leave me alone before I call over one of the bouncers.”
I turn and walk away. It shreds me that Lana felt that way. I tore her down even though I didn’t know that I was doing it. I feel like shit. I guess I deserve what she did to us by walking out.
Chapter 9
Present Day
My routine in the morning is to stop at the newsstand not far from my office and pick up The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. I get a good strong cup of coffee with a shot of Espresso from the shop around the corner then head upstairs. I like to get in around eight because it allows me some quiet time to read before most of my staff come in.
Occasionally, my best friend Lucian lurks around at the same time, but that’s become few and far between since his son, Vincent, was born. His wife, Olivia, works here too in the programming department, but she’s on maternity leave for another two months.
I settle in and begin reading The New York Times while I sip at my coffee. Most of the time, I skim the articles and go back later to read the ones I find interesting. For some reason, I look at the Fashion and Style section; I seldom read it. I casually flip through the pages, laughing at the announcement of King/Paul because it sounds funny, then I freeze.
My eyes fix on a picture of a couple at the bottom of the page. I’m shocked, almost spitting my coffee out on my desk. Lana. She’s getting married. I read every word of the announcement. How could I not have heard about this before? I’m in business just like the man she’s engaged to, Declan Blair.
For those of you who have never heard of Declan Blair, he’s a major player in the renewable energy sector and a serious billionaire. He’s also in his early fifties and thrice married. Lana once said to me that she thought our six-year age difference was a lot. I calculate in my head; she would be almost thirty to my almost thirty-six. That means that he’s over twenty years older than her.
I stare at the picture, feeling sick because her engagement makes me wonder if it was all about money. I wasn’t struggling when we were together, but I was just becoming secure financially. Eltech had just scored some major points with our gaming division. We had just come out with The Fires of Hell. Now we were on volume five of the bestselling game. The company was doing okay even though I had asked Lucian over a year ago for an investment for marketing dollars for a new virtual system we developed.
I could have survived with our budget even though our marketing efforts would have been much smaller. But it was to save him from himself. I gave him a share in the company and brought him back from isolation. His first wife had been sick and died just months after they got married.
He hid in a cabin that he bought sight unseen and wallowed in misery for months. I was the only one of his friends that didn’t desert him. He was my best friend, and he had done so much for me over the years that I needed to do for him.
I talked him out of his seclusion, and he met one of our supervisors in the programming department, Olivia. They dated, broke up, dated and then married. He’s so happy sometimes I want to smack him. I just sleep around, usually with women who look like Lana.
I study the picture, looking to see if her features have aged in the past few years since I saw her. They haven’t. Maturity has only made her look more beautiful. My heart aches, and I fold the paper and place it on my desk. I know it’s only 8:45 AM, but I could sure use a shot of something.
“Hey buddy, how are you today?”
Lucian startles me when he enters my office.
