Reluctantly Yours(93)

I’ve felt nauseous all morning. I’ve never felt this way before closing a deal. The usual rush of excitement and thrill of victory is nonexistent.

Carl and I enter the room and shake hands with the Voltaire group. Fred’s meaty hand palms my shoulder when he tells the others about how he beat me at tennis two days ago. My smile is forced, not because I give a fuck about our tennis match, but because in this moment I don’t give a fuck about anything. Except Chloe.

While Carl talks to Fred’s legal team, and verifies that the independent notary has everything she needs for the signing, Fred motions me over to the side of the room.

“I’ve got to show you what I picked up at the jeweler’s earlier.”

Fred pulls out a small velvet box from inside his suit coat pocket. My heart lurches in my chest and I plead for there to be a set of earrings inside that box. When Fred opens it, the nausea I felt earlier returns, tenfold.

Inside Fred’s box is a huge diamond ring.

“Fred, I—” I can’t believe he is planning to propose to Frankie.

“I’m ready for the next chapter of my life,” Fred says. “I’m going to ask Frankie to marry me tonight. It has been fun getting to know you and Chloe, so I wanted to share the news with you.”

“Isn’t it a bit early for that?”

Fred shrugs. “I have no doubt that she’ll say yes.”

Fred’s right. There’s no doubt Frankie will say yes. This is clearly what she wants, to marry Fred, gain access to his money and have an affair on the side. Fuck.

“No, I mean in your relationship,” I say.

“When you know, you know.”

Except Fred doesn’t know anything. He doesn’t know that Frankie is cheating on him and therefore likely using him for his money and status. Fred is too territorial about Frankie for him to know about her disloyalty and not care.

“Just tell me you’re happy for me and we’ll get this deal done.”

I clear my throat. “I’m happy for you, Fred.”

Fred must take my struggle to congratulate him as jealousy.

“It’s not a competition. You’ll get there with Chloe soon enough.”

He has no idea that Chloe left me.

We take a seat and Carl starts to go over the documents. I don’t hear a single word he’s saying. All I can think about is Chloe. Our time together and what I’d started to envision for our future.

What I’ve been working for, this deal with Voltaire, means nothing without her.

SCM is at the top. I’ve refused to acknowledge that I’ve already reached the goal I set when I took over the company seven years ago because I was too afraid of what to do next. What would my life look like without another deal to chase after, another business victory under my belt? Chloe changed that. For the first time since I took over SCM, I had a vision for myself that didn’t involve working eighty hours a week, dinners alone and an empty home.

Chloe was right. People mean more than business and if I would have realized that before, I would never have put this deal with Fred and Voltaire ahead of my relationship with her. I would have had the decency to meet with Fred and tell him what I saw weeks ago. It wouldn’t have mattered what the outcome was, because I would have known that I was doing the right thing. It took losing Chloe to understand that.

Carl points to where the ‘sign here’ flag is placed by the line for Fred to sign. Fred picks up the pen and leans forward, pressing the tip to the paper.

“Wait.”

Carl, Fred, and everyone else turns toward me.

“Fred, I have to talk to you.”

Fred rests the pen on the table.

“Not here. Outside.” I motion for us to leave the room.

“What are you doing, Barrett?” Carl grabs my arm before I can follow Fred out of the conference room. “Can this wait?”

“No.” I shake my head and shrug him off.

I indicate for Fred to follow me back to my office, then shut the door behind us.

“What’s this about?” Fred shoves his hands in his pant pockets. “We’re good to go. I’m ready to sign.”

“Frankie is cheating on you,” I say.

“What?” His face drops into a somber expression.

“I saw her a few weeks ago with another man.”

“It was probably her assistant. They’re together all the time.”

“They were kissing.” I shake my head. “Chloe and I saw them again last weekend. We were eating brunch at Harold’s and they were on the sidewalk holding hands. We saw them kiss. You can ask Chloe. She was there.”

“No. That’s not right. Frankie was out of town visiting her mom.”

“I saw what I saw Fred. I wanted you to know.” I take a breath, knowing if I want to make this right, I have to come clean about everything. “And Chloe and I were not dating.”

“What?” Fred’s eyes bulge with anger.

“I told you I had a girlfriend to build a relationship with you so I could negotiate this deal. I’m not proud of it. I did it because I was desperate to close the deal, but I did fall in love with Chloe in the process. She wanted me to tell you about Frankie and I wouldn’t. I wanted this deal more than I cared about your feelings or hers.

“I was wrong. I’m sorry I abused your trust and misled you and Frankie about Chloe and me. I’m sure it’s hard to believe me now, but I do have the best intentions by telling you about Frankie.”