“That you’re not getting the game director position.”
My body turns to ice, but my heart keeps pulsing, faster and faster.
Shit.
Shit.
FUCK.
“You did,” I say, because it’s the only possible conclusion. That’s why Erik punched Martin and left in anger.
But Martin shakes his head, squeezing the bloody piece of toilet paper against his nostrils and smiling wide. “No, Sol, I didn’t get it either.”
“What? Then who did?” My heart hammers like the drums of a samba parade.
Martin snorts with contempt. “Erik got the job.”
Twenty-Six
“You’re lying,” I say to Martin, in denial.
“I’m not,” he replies, and his dry tone makes it clear he wished he was.
This can’t be happening. Erik wasn’t even running for the position. He joined the events as my boyfriend, and then suddenly he got the position I wanted?
Fuck this. Fuck Lars.
I rub my face, feeling an intense need to scream.
“How long has he known?” I need to know if Erik betrayed me too.
“Lars told him just now,” Martin says with his usual expression of disgust. He massages the bridge of his nose and grimaces even more. “Then the fucking bastard broke my nose.”
“Why?” I can’t understand how Martin was suddenly involved.
“He left the meeting room, came to the bathroom, and I was here. He punched me for ‘all the stuff I did,’” Martin says with a scornful smile. “He should have punched Lars though. The decision was his. I didn’t even tell him about your lies.”
I shake my head. “I don’t understand... Where is Erik now?”
“He left.”
“Left?” I raise my eyebrows. Did Erik simply go home without talking to me?
“He’s pissed.” Martin tries to take a deep breath but instantly returns the paper to his nose when he resumes bleeding. He tries to give me a smug look. “I guess you were a real couple after all.”
I need a moment to digest everything he’s said. Nothing makes sense.
“So, Erik got angry and left? But he was offered a great job...”
“To work on his own project, yes.” Martin’s voice rises, more nasal and scornful than ever. “And yet, he said no. Because of you.”
My eyebrows climb my forehead. “He said no?”
If what Martin is saying is true, Erik just got the opportunity of a lifetime. He can make his app happen. He can direct it at Scorpio Games and turn it into whatever he dreams it could be. He can have the money and resources to do a much better and more successful product than he could ever do on his own.
It’s ridiculous to say no.
And yet he said no because of me?
I lean against the wall, trembling.
He knew it would destroy me. He knew I would go back to Brazil, because how could I stay here without the job I wanted and knowing he got it? Having to work in the same company as him in a role I no longer believe matches my skills?
I laugh like a maniac, and Martin looks at me a bit scared. How dare I think things were going to be fine! It’s a ridiculously bad situation. Erik saying no to the job doesn’t fix anything.
Maybe him coming to dance with me meant something, but the meaning got lost in the news we just received. The news that changes everything.
I have no wish to work at Scorpio anymore. How can I work for a man who dragged us through the most unorthodox hiring process ever just to end up choosing someone who wasn’t even in the picture to begin with?
I simply can’t imagine returning to Scorpio Games after the holidays. Especially when Chiara won’t be here and Martin will continue to sneer at me every day.
I’m angry. I’m hurt. I’m feeling worthless.
“Erik was an idiot for rejecting the position,” Martin says, and I must agree. Erik gave Martin what he wanted because it’s obvious that Lars will pick him as his second option. And Martin knows that. It’s why he’s unbearably smug even with his nose bleeding. “Erik was an idiot for having so much consideration for a liar.”
I look up, meeting Martin’s gaze. I’m a ticking bomb. He’s lucky his nose is already broken, or I might have aimed for his jaw.
“Fuck you, asshole,” I pronounce every word clearly. Then I turn around and walk away with feverish determination.
