The Seat They Never Saved And The Offer I Finally Took Chapter 05

The Seat They Never Saved And The Offer I Finally Took Chapter 05

The rain in London felt colder than it did back home.

When the plane landed, it was eight in the evening, local time.

I wheeled my suitcase out of Heathrow and got into the car my company had arranged.

I watched the unfamiliar nighttime view of the Thames through the window. For the first

time, I felt completely at ease.

No more guessing at everyone’s moods. No more being pushed aside over a piece of cake or a single remark.

At the apartment, I took a hot shower.

I put in a new local SIM card and set up a fresh Messenger account for work.

To finish the transfer paperwork with HR back in the States, I had to log briefly into my

Messenger account on my old phone.

As soon as I logged in, the phone started vibrating nonstop.

The screen froze for a few seconds, then hundreds of unread messages flooded in.

old

With a hot coffee in hand, I leaned back on the sofa and opened the notifications, watching the drama unfold.

Nathan’s conversation was at the top.

His messages, starting the previous afternoon, grew almost comically desperate.

“Claire Bennett, I brought the chicken pot pie home. Where are you?”

“What’s leaving the ring on the coffee table supposed to mean? You can take a joke too far.”

“You moved all your stuff out? You’re getting pretty bold, Claire Bennett. You think running away will make me come after you?”

“Pick up the phone!”

At eleven that night, his tone began to change.

“Claire, where did you go? Please stop this. I was wrong. I shouldn’t have spoken to Way at the hospital.”

“I went to all your friends’ places. They said they hadn’t seen you.”

“Did something happen to you? Please send me a message.”

The latest was a voice message sent at three in the morning.

His voice was hoarse and unmistakably panicked.

you

that

“Claire… please don’t scare me. We’re keeping the house. Let’s get married. We can go to city hall tomorrow, okay?”

I read the voice message’s transcript and scrolled past it without feeling a thing.

Mason’s messages came next.

“Claire Bennett, what’s this supposed to mean? You left the group because you think you’re

better than us?”

“Happy now? You’ve driven Nathan out of his mind! He spent all night looking for you!”

“Claire Bennett, answer your phone! Chloe feels so guilty about what’s happened between you

and Nathan that she’s in the hospital. Get back here and explain yourself!”

A bitter laugh escaped me.

Chloe was in the hospital? What a shame.

Ellie had sent a dozen or so messages, all accusing me of being petty and making everyone

miserable,

I didn’t reply to anyone. None of it moved me.

I saved screenshots of the most important work exchanges, then deleted the Messenger account for good.

I turned off the old phone and buried it at the back of a drawer.

Life went into fast-forward.

For three years in London, I poured all my energy into work.

Free of the emotional exhaustion and the need to please everyone, my career took off.

I rose from project manager to regional director. My results proved my worth.

In the fall, three years later.

Our group acquired a prominent clean-energy technology company in the States and prepared

to restructure its North American operations.

As the lead on the acquisition, I flew back with my team.

The welcome dinner was held at the most exclusive InterContinental hotel in downtown

Boston.

I stood by a towering floor-to-ceiling window in a couture black velvet gown, champagne in

hand.

My assistant, Lauren Brooks, went over the evening’s guest list with me.

“Ms. Bennett, the main partners are all here. One is a key supplier in the acquisition deal,

Northstar Technologies,” Lauren said quietly.

I gently swirled my glass, my expression calm.

“Who’s running Northstar Technologies?”

“Mr. Nathan Reed.”

I studied my reflection in the window, a faint smile on my red lips.

I’d heard about Northstar’s troubles over the past three years. A series of bad decisions had left it on the brink of a cash crisis. An acquisition and an injection of capital from our group were its only hope of survival.

The ballroom doors opened.

A group walked in.

Nathan led them. I hadn’t seen him in three years.