Chapter 17
Clay
This Year
When I glanced at the calendar in my new office, weeks had passed and with the money I made from my work, I had managed to get an apartment with my same old roommates, but a new position at another law firm.
I was the head of the Artificial Intelligence division of a competing company with Halifax and Mason.
The department sounded like a science fiction movie, but it was far from that.
The title had a sound of importance, but what was most important was the salary. Now I could breathe and all the sacrifices I’d made in that year had paid off.
I had left Halifax and Mason without fanfare going on a year without hardly anyone noticing except Halifax, and the only reason he paid attention was because his lawyers were losing more cases than usual.
The truth was out, they had lost their AI guy as they referred to me.
After a year of working my ass off hardly anyone knew my name or remembered me.
However, what Halifax thought had been a demotion with salary prepared me for this moment, and this time where I could command the income I needed and wanted to thrive in this economy.
Perhaps not even Mason remembered my name or the cute guy wearing the Tom Ford suit, because I never heard from him.
And I had to wade through my loneliness and heartache alone.
Not quite alone because I did have Marty and Tyler, and I’d met a new friend in Cole who had set me up with connections were I had been able to leave Halifax and Mason.
Mason hadn’t contacted me, nor had he tried getting in touch after I’d resigned.
However, I did get a great recommendation letter from the law firm which proved I wasn’t hard to find.
I heard Mason had returned from California and Europe with a new boyfriend.
There was plenty of gossip to go around.
I even heard Mason had divorced his wife, and it had been a messy divorce. Aren’t all divorces messy? I thought.
I couldn’t divorce my emotions from Mason.
After a year, I was still trying to work through how I’d been abandoned after he’d confessed to loving me.
If it hadn’t been a holiday maybe I would have had a chance to forget, but now with Christmas coming once more, the thought of Mason occupied my thoughts.
I had been ready to leave my office and celebrate the new apartment and the holidays with Marty and Tyler when I received this invitation from someone in Halifax and Mason’s firm.
Someone sent me an invitation to their annual Christmas Party.
The invite said come dressed as your favorite Christmas character.
When I arrived at our new apartment, minus the old cat who decided the ferial life was best for him, I was met by Marty and Tyler. When I opened the door the aroma of a fresh pine tree had the apartment smelling perfect for the holiday season.
“Look what I’m cooking tonight. And I’m making homemade eggnog for Tyler.” Tyler had come from one of those small rural towns where they made things from scratch and baked their own bread.
With my new job, things had changed in our lives. I had my own room and so did my friends. The space was large and modern and there were two ensuite bathrooms and showers. The place was out of Homes and Gardens, with a terrace as well as security.
“Look what I got today,” I said with excitement. Marty glanced over at me. “A Christmas invitation to Halifax’s and Mason’s party.”
“You’re not going, are you?”
“Of course, I’m going. Do you think I’ll miss my chance to look Mason in the eyes and tell him what I think of him.”
“It wasn’t all his fault, Clay. And you’re doing much better now than when you were working at his law firm.”
“That doesn’t matter. He took my heart and dashed it against the rocks and shattered it into unrecognizable pieces that even now I can’t put together.”
“Don’t be so dramatic, Clay. You were warned. You can’t blame someone else for your heartaches. Only you can control that.”
“What if Tyler left you for another man?” I knew he would understand now.
Marty raised his knife, the one he was trimming the raw steak, and he furrowed and narrowed his eyes. “I’d cut out his heart,” Marty declared before Tyler strode in.
“Whose heart are you cutting out now besides mine?” Tyler asked, and leaned and kissed him on the cheek.
“Only yours, baby,” Marty said.
Tyler smiled and glanced at the steaks Marty had prepared. “We’re eating high on the hog as my mother would say to my father when he’d gotten a raise.”
“Seriously, Clay has an invitation to a Christmas party.”
“When is it?”
“Tonight.” I answered.
“Are you ready to go tonight?”
“Not really, because it said I needed a costume. You know one of those Cosplay kind of parties.”
“Well, I have a reindeer costume with antlers if you need something. Tyler and I have never used it. We usually stick with Cats when we’re feeling like changing up things.”
“Marty, baby, you’re oversharing.” And Marty smiled.
“There is one more thing I need and I’ll never ask again,” I said switching my glance from Marty to Tyler.
“Anything, Clay,” they said in unison.
“I need Marty to come with me as my fake boyfriend.” That died on the vine like grapes that hadn’t been picked for years.
“I don’t know,” Marty said, glancing over at Tyler. “What about your friend Cole?”
“He’s busy and he found him a friend. He got tired of waiting for me to forget Mason.”
“I can understand, but what will I wear?”
“I have a Grinch costume. I’m sure there will be plenty of them walking around and you can blend in and if you want to leave early no one will notice,” Tyler added.
“We won’t stay long, I just don’t want Mason to think I’d been obsessing over him for a year. I want him to believe I went on with my life.”
“But you didn’t. Why not tell him,” Tyler said.
“I know, but I hear he has a lover and he’ll probably be there.”
“Okay, Clay, Marty will go with you,” Tyler agreed, and spoke for Marty.
“Are you sure, baby?” Marty asked.
“Yes, go and enjoy yourself. Not too much, okay?”