Chapter 16
Maynard
“Maynard, I'm sorry to have to do this through a letter...” I pulled Claire's note off the fridge and read the rest of silently. My drowsiness from just waking evaporated when I began to understand why Claire wasn't here when I woke up.
Claire had a silly sense of humor and would often play practical jokes. They were small little things that eased tension or livened situations. It was one of the many things I enjoyed about her. That was why I had to read the whole thing three times before it sank in that it was real.
I read it one more time— “Maynard, I'm sorry to have to do this through a letter. I wish I had the strength to do it in person. Since I've known you, you have grown so much as a person and as a part of your family's company. This past month with you has been the best of my life.
“I'm worried that by being with you I might not accomplish my own goals. I would never forgive myself if I didn't finish my degree. Please give me the space I need to do this. It would be unfair to ask you to wait for me while I do this so I won’t bother. Thank you for being... you.”
I was still naked and tacky from last night's sex. I knew something was off with her. Why the fuck didn't I ask her about it? Was this what she was trying to tell me? Had she been crying when she woke me up or was that just a dream?
“Fuck!”
I erupted with anger and grabbed the nearest thing, a coffeemaker, and threw it against a wall. Glass and the dark remnants of yesterdays' coffee sprayed across the painted drywall.
Claire dumped me. That's never happened to me. I had never been on the receiving end before, it was horrible. It didn't make any sense, everything was going so well.
I was furious and I didn't know why. I just knew that it wasn't directed at her. Self-destructive thoughts of my last phone call to my parents spiked through my brain. She wasn't dead thankfully, but she was gone.
What did I do to drive her away?
I let the letter slip from my shaking hands. I was a torrent of emotion. I didn't know how to handle this. After my parents’ deaths I had trained myself to avoid attachment so I would never have to feel this kind of loss. Despite our short time together, I cared about Claire and that wasn't an easy emotion for me. I didn't want to end things like this.
I refused to let us end this way!
I immediately started scrolling my phone for her number. The silly thumbnail Claire had set for her contact image gave me pause. My thumb hovered over a picture of her being goofy. I had to call her.
Please give me the space I need to do this.
Damn it!
I tried to push her words out of my head. It didn't work. I decided against the call and slumped against the counter, then let gravity drag me to the floor. I cleared the phone function and browsed the pictures we'd taken instead.
We had done so much together in the past few weeks. I had shown her my favorite restaurants and scenery across the globe. We practically lived on my jet. Every place we visited had dulled for me over the years, but Claire had a way of reinvigorating them and finding new beauty that I had somehow missed.
My phone buzzed. Bianca's name invaded my screen, covering the pictures of Claire. Bianca wasn't on social media and had never sent me any pictures of herself so her contact image stayed the default empty silhouette. It was such a sharp contrast to my picture of Claire who was just about to take a monster bite of cake. It made my heart ache.
I rejected the call; I didn't want reality to steal my moment of reflection. Nothing was more important to me than seeing Claire's face.
Having someone to experience life with was an indescribable experience. Before Claire, I was always looking for the next, newest adrenaline kick; the high that would distract me for a little while longer. But with her, things slowed down. It felt like I could take the time to enjoy each experience, not just rush through them.
My surroundings weren't all that different than before I met her, but with Claire at my side everything seemed to have a sudden depth to it. It felt like my entire life had been lived in black and white, and Claire was this rich paint that added vibrant color to my world.
Had I suffocated her with my lifestyle?
My resolve broke and I called Claire. The need to know what happened was overwhelming. I was a junkie jonesing for a fix. Maybe there was something I could do. She'd never let me pay off her debt or take care of her bills but there had to be something I could do. What was the point of having all this money if it didn't fix my problems?
Bianca buzzed in again, her placeholder image wiggled impatiently. I switched my call to her when it looked like Claire wasn't going to pick up.
“What?!” I wasn't in the mood for pleasantries.
“Fly back here now,” Bianca stated, in her typically deliberate tone. She wasn't put off at all by my outburst but there was definitely something off about her voice. If she was calm seawater then there were swirling, angry sharks just beneath her surface.
“Why?”
“The Board just fired me,” her voice finally cracked, not with sadness but with barely controlled rage. Bianca's calm water had turned red with blood and was beginning to boil. “I'm heading to the office now. Hurry up.”
Fired? That's insane! Who the hell did they think would be better at running the company than Bianca?
“Shit.” I couldn't wallow over Claire any longer. I had to find out what was going on. I didn't know what I could do but I wanted to help my sister any way I could. “On my way.”
I was already moving when she ended the call. I almost felt bad for the poor bastard they were replacing her with. Bianca wasn't the type that gave up without a fight. She was going to rip the Board Members to shreds.
It wasn't going to be a conversation or even a confrontation, it was going to be a goddamn feeding frenzy.