Chapter 28: Beautiful Goodbye

I’ve had enough of all of this.

With a sigh, I slumped in one of the seats in the cafe near Williams, Inc. I bit my lower lip, trying my best to stop the tears that were welling up in my eyes. Even though I was furious at Kevin, it was still hard for me deep down to see him. I feel tired and defeated from all of these problems that were suddenly thrown my way. I grabbed my phone as I stared at the conversations I had with Arthur. I need to ask him about what Kevin said a while ago.

It’s now or never.

I started typing my message because I was too tired to call him. I was not in the mood to talk yet. I was just too tired of everything. There's a certain level of tiredness that equates to insanity; for me it's when I'd like to temporarily dislocate my spirit from my body, as if I could ask whatever god out there to take me out for just a short while, let my soul go wherever souls go to be zen.

I'm a fairly brave person, I think I am - well, I try to be - but sometimes I just don't wanna feel the process of recovery all over again. I know I'll wake up feeling okay in the morning, it's simply a level of worn-out-ness that hurts.

To: Arthur
We need to talk. Let’s meet at our usual place.

I sent it as I tried to push my thoughts about a while ago to the back of my mind but it kept on resurfacing. I decided to order food even though I didn’t feel hungry at all. I just needed something to distract myself.

“I saw you one time with Arthur Williams in a coffee shop once. His company is closely tied with LKG Pictures.” His words echoed inside my head as I closed my eyes, struggling to block everything out. I really can’t do this anymore.

“Hello, ma’am. Here’s your order.” The waiter’s voice snapped me out of the trance I was in as he placed my order in front of me. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding as I tried to take a bite. Swallowing seemed difficult for me all of a sudden and eating didn’t seem to make things better.

I pushed the food away. With butterflies in my stomach and my head buzzing with possibilities, there was no way on earth that I’d be able to swallow a bite, let alone a whole plateful. I shouldn’t have bought that.

“Just like I shouldn’t have gone to the party that night.” I muttered to myself bitterly, shaking my head in disappointment.

It was then a familiar figure caught my eye, making my stomach more knotted up. The world around me suddenly went silent as I watched him approach me. The only thing I could hear now is the sound of my heart throbbing against the cage of her chest. I swallowed the lump of my throat.

This is it.

“I’ll go straight to the point.” I said bluntly as he sat down on the chair in front of me. I forced myself to make eye contact with him as I leaned against the chair and crossed my legs. “Did you do it?”

“Did what?” His eyebrows raised in confusion. I struggled to not roll my eyes at him.

“You know what I’m talking about.” I deadpan. “Kevin and LKG Pictures. Does that ring a bell?” I added. His jaw dropped in surprise and he eventually nodded his head hesitantly as he registered what I said.

“Oh him, what about it?” He feigned ignorance. Why is he making this difficult? This is making me even more tired. I let out a long sigh as frustration started building up inside me.

“Well, I heard from him that his contract with LKG got cancelled and I was wondering if you had something to do with what.” I uttered, trying to keep my cool.

“Yes, I told them to cut him off from the production.” He explained nonchalantly with a shrug as if it’s not a big deal.

“Why did you do that?” I asked angrily. He seemed taken aback by the tone of my voice as his eyes widened.

“He deserved it. He’s horrible and I just wanted to get back at him for what he’s done to you.” His tone was defensive. He really didn’t think about the possible consequences of his actions, did he?

“Do you even know what he’s done to me? He interfered with my application at LLL, Corp.” I snapped at him. By now, our discussions were getting louder as the tension between us grew higher. I had to take a deep breath to calm myself down.

“I’ll talk to LLL, Corp.” He uttered as he tried to pull out his phone. I held onto his arm to stop him.

“No, don’t do that.” I glared at him to which he put his phone back in his pocket.

“Why not? I can help yo-” He tried to reason out but I cut him short before he could even finish.

“Like I told you before, I don’t want to get in because of connections. I want to be recognized by my talent and hard work.” I said sternly. He stared at me intently, trying to see if he could still change my mind. “Also, if I were to get in because of you, he will just spread nasty rumors about us. He said he already saw us at the cafe together. This might ruin your image to the public.” I added to which his eyes softened, he sighed in defeat.

“I’m sorry. Everything’s my fault. I shouldn’t have done anything without your permission.” He said apologetically as his eyes fell to the table. “I just thought that I was helping you but it turns out I only ruined it for you.” He muttered sheepishly. He ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

“It’s fine, what’s done is done. We can only move forward from now on.” I gave him a tight-lipped smile to comfort him.

It’s true we can’t undo what’s already done, we should just focus on the future. Maybe this is my karma for lying to Arthur. Maybe this is me paying back my bad deeds. My thoughts were suddenly cut off by Arthur’s voice.

“So what’s your plan now?” He asked, making me tilt my head to the side. A plan? Do I even have one? Everything went by in a blur that I didn’t even have time to properly register what’s happening. One moment I was still enjoying my job and my relationship with Arthur. The next thing I knew, everything was just falling apart. “Sandra…” He trailed off, waiting for my response.

“I’ll be resigning from Williams Inc.” As soon as these words left my lips, his eyes widened in surprise.

“What? Just because of some stupid guy you’ll throw away your job? I won’t let you do that!” He said angrily, making me wince at the tone of his voice. “I’ll deal with him, don’t worry.” He added as he huffed loudly. I tried to calm him down by holding both of his hands. I tried to rub small circles on them using my thumb. It seemed to be working as his breathing went back to normal.

“Please, don’t do anything for me.” I said genuinely as we locked gazes. His eyes had a hint of sadness and defeat. “I know you’re only looking out for me but I don’t want you to be involved in matters concerning Kevin and I. You already have so much to think about, I don’t want to be a burden.” I voiced out as soon as he calmed down.

“But-” He retorted but I immediately cut him off.

“Besides, I don’t want you to think that I’m only using you for your money and status.” I added, recalling what he said to me a while ago. Even though it wasn’t true, those words really stung. The last thing I’d want to do is to prove him right. “I appreciate everything you have done for me but this is the only way in order for you not to get caught up with my feud with him.” I uttered sincerely as I flashed him a small smile.

“Not once have I thought about that way.” He muttered softly as he gripped my hand tightly.

“I’m sorry that it has to be this way, Arthur.” I murmured as I brought his hand close to my lips and planted a soft kiss on it. “I’ll just send you my resignation letter as soon as I get home. I need to go home now.” I told him as I stood up and grabbed my bag. Arthur followed closely behind me. As we reached the door, I turned to him to bid him goodbye.

“Let me take you home.” He offered before I could even say my goodbye to him.

“It’s fine, I can manage.” As I walked to the bus stop, I felt him grip my hand which made me stop and turn to look at him.

“Please, I insist. You look so tired. Let me just drop you home.” His voice was laced with desperation as he looked at me with pleading his eyes. The look on his voice and the tone of his voice made my heart sink to the pit of my stomach but I tried my best to stand my ground. I gently pulled his hand away from me. I caressed his cheek to assure him that I’ll be fine.

“No, really. I’m fine and I want to be alone.” I gave him a small smile to assure him. He tried to reciprocate the gesture but his smile didn’t reach his eyes.

“Alright.” He sighed in defeat and I dropped my hand to my side. I gave him a small and courteous nod before I began to walk away from him. I turned around after a couple of steps to see if he’s still there.

Seeing his back slowly retreating to the other side made my heart ache.

I guess this will be the last I’ll be seeing him.

The ride home has never felt so tiring. Images of what transpired today kept replaying inside my mind. The past couple of days had been such a whirl. I knew that confessing the truth to Arthur would make things worse but I wasn’t expecting Kevin to sabotage my career. It must have been so hard on Arthur to know about the truth and to be caught up with my feud with Kevin.

I let out a tired sigh as I leaned my head against the bus’ window. I guess in order for everything to return back to normal, I knew that I should just stay away from Arthur.

I guess this is goodbye, Arthur.