ROMY | 18+ ✔️

CHAPTER 20

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QOTD: You are enough.

ROMY:

I was sitting in a large hall, filled with news reporters, with Melissa and Marcus in the centre, Annabeth to his left and me to the extreme right. We were announcing our merger. It was all going well and I was really happy because all our hard work had finally paid off. Melissa and Marcus answered most of the questions related to the merger, both of them were admirable leaders, their pride and happiness for their project was noticeable in the way they talked about it and the way their faces happily flushed.

We stood in the lobby of our office building, casually chatting with the employees about the press meet. It was a long conference, but we made it through with zero drama and Melissa was visibly relaxed after the press meet. She suddenly looked every bit of her sixty years, like she was tired, rather than the chic business mogul I'd seen. I smiled as she walked up to me as the person I talked to swiftly excused themself upon seeing her.

"Melissa, you did it." I smiled and held her hands in mine.

"No Romy, we all did it." Her voice shook a bit as her eyes turned misty.

"Hell yes we did." I giggle.

Melissa just smiled with a faraway look in her eyes, "It finally feels like I achieved something worthwhile you know?"

I was confused, "Worthwhile? Don't get me wrong, this merger is great, but Monroe Publishing as a whole is awesome Mel. It's more than worthwhile. It's the place where you make so many authors' dreams of being published come true." I gave her hand a firm squeeze.

She just shook her head, "It just seems like I've finally got something to show for my decision to not get married or ever have children you know?" I could only tilt my head, confused.

"I fell in love with the most magnetic man, as I fell in love with him, I realized I'd never find love like that, ever again. Then we discovered that our goals didn't align. I wanted to work, have a career while he wanted a woman who didn't really have career aspirations, who would have preferred to be a housewife. It hurt us both to break apart, but I finally feel like I've made something out of myself. Something substantial, that might make up for me losing the love of my life."

I could only stare at her as tears rolled down her cheeks. People had begun to stare at us. I led her down the lobby and into an empty cabin and offered her water. She sniffed lightly and wiped her tears and exhaled quietly. She looked up and I couldn't see any signs of her previous emotional outburst and realized she didn't want to talk about it.

I smile gently and give her a hug hoping it would make her feel better. She's calmer when we break apart and pats me on the shoulder. "Why don't you go on, Romy, I think I'll retire for the night."

I nod and walk out of the cabin only to run headfirst into Marcus. He steadies me by holding on to my arms and smiles down at me, brushing a stray hair back from my face. I stare at him, a blush rising on my cheeks at his loving looks. I push myself back from his arms as I realize we were standing in the middle of the hallway, where anyone could've spotted us. I distance myself from him, ignoring how my heart stings at the action. He frowns slightly, realizing what was happening and shoves his hands in his pockets clenching his jaw tightly. My mood sours instantly, all the happiness from announcing the deal vanishes, leaving me tired all of a sudden.

I give him a tired smile as he turns around and quickly fall into step next to him, we walk quietly towards the hall where all the employees are celebrating with food and drinks, I quickly peek inside to hear the laughter and music and sigh to myself, even if everything is fucked up, this deal was this good for us. I walked into the room not looking back to see if he followed me into the room.