“So would I Opal, but you have left me no choice but to get involved in it when you are cavorting around my company with my son,” he says.
“Cavorting around the company? Are you kidding me? Look Mr. Connell, Brett and I had a relationship outside of work. Now if we were hanging around the water cooler flirting with each other all day, or if we were distracted from our work, then I would say you have a fair point. But that’s not what happened. The figures speak for themselves. We’ve seen a steady 3% increase in our profits these last few weeks, so clearly, we were not distracted. No one in this office, yourself included, had any idea Brett and I were involved with each other until yesterday. No one was talking about us because no one knew about us. But today, there’s talk. And you know why? Because you made a snide comment on your way out of the building yesterday.”
Mr. Connell raises an eyebrow at me, but he doesn’t comment on what I’ve said. Instead, he just shakes his head. “You know Yvonne and I gave Brett everything growing up. We made sure he went to the best college, got the best education. All, so he could one day take over the company to make it bigger and better than it’s ever been. And what does he do to thank us? He throws it all away on some stupid fling!”
I feel like I want the ground to open up and swallow me. I have never heard Mr. Connell talk about his life like this before, and it would be awkward at the best of times, but to hear the way he describes me as a stupid fling, and to hear the contempt in his voice as he says it makes me squirm.
“You know, most people would kill to be in Brett’s position,” Mr. Connell goes on. “But it seems my son is the exception. He’s nothing but an ungrateful, selfish little brat. Maybe it’s partly our fault because we did give him everything he wanted as a child, but we always figured he would grow up and see what it’s like in the real world. But no, not Brett. Brett had to play the rebel and throw his future away. I suppose it’s probably a good thing that he’s shown his true colors now, before he messed up the whole company. In case you’re wondering, I’ve fired him.”
I did wonder about this, but I don’t show it.
“I hope you’re pleased with yourself Opal. You have caused our family so much distress,” Mr. Connell says.
Shaking my head, I’m shocked that he somehow thinks this is all my fault. I can’t bite my tongue any longer. “Do you know something Mr. Connell? The distress you’re talking about is your own doing, because you have these archaic rules about what’s proper and what isn’t. And most people would kill to be in Brett’s place. Not to walk into a company they don’t want, but to have built up their own company, to be living their own dream. You seem to think Brett has let you down. Have you ever considered that you’re the one who let him down? You had his whole future mapped out for him with no regard to how he might be feeling about that, and then you tried to guilt him into working here, even after he made it clear to you that’s not what he wanted.”
I run out of steam, shocked at myself for saying so much.
Mr. Connell looks at me with a sad smile on his face. “Wow. Brett really did a number on you didn’t he?” he says.
“Huh?” I manage to splutter out.
“I honestly thought you were happy enough to have a fling with the boss and take what you could get. But I see it now. It’s not really your fault, Opal. You fell for Brett’s charms didn’t you? I’ve seen it all before. He shows people this sweet side of him, keeping the ruthless side locked away, and he gets people to do his bidding and then discards them when he’s done with them. I’m sorry for what I said earlier. You haven’t caused any of this. If anything, you’re a victim in all of this.”
“I—what?” I stammer, totally thrown by the new turn the conversation has taken,
“Opal, my son isn’t in love with you. He’s used you. He’s made sure he did something that was so far over the line that I had no choice but to fire him. And you’re the collateral damage.”
“It’s not like that,” I defend.
“Oh, really? So Brett tells you he loves you all the time then? That wasn’t the first time he said it when he was throwing it in my face? And he didn’t try to wriggle out of what he’d said after I left?”
I open my mouth to tell Mr. Connell he’s gotten this all wrong, but the words won’t come. Because what he’s saying is pretty much exactly what happened. Was Brett only using me to get back at his father? No, surely not. I mean the sex we had, the connection…that was real. That doesn’t mean he’s in love with me though. If he was, he would have told me that yesterday, but he didn’t. He wriggled out of it, just like Mr. Connell said.
Mr. Connell smiles sadly at me as he sees the realization on my face. “Moving on Opal, I don’t want to fire you,” Mr. he says.
I look up from my lap.
The shock must show on my face, because Mr. Connell laughs softly. “You’re good at your job and we work well together. I thought I was going to have to fire you, but I see now that I don’t have to go down that path.”
“You
