Chapter 26 Mason—Resignations and pubic confessions
He was officially fucked. He’d lost his fiancée, his future, and was about to quit his job.
He’d also lost his girlfriend, but that was a cause for celebration and relief.
He couldn’t fathom coming in every day and seeing April, the cause of his demise.
I’m the cause of my own demise, he thought.
It was me. He’d seen her a few times at work since the break-up and she was disgusted by him.
Fine. He was disgusted by her. He couldn’t remember even one thing about her that used to attract him.
Now that she’d taken to ignoring him and not flattering his ego, she wasn’t appealing at all.
He dragged his feet to Kate’s office to deliver his resignation in person. He rushed through it, telling Kate he needed to move in with his mother to support her through a hip operation.
“Sure, Mason. Well, your sales figures have always been good. We’ll miss your professional contribution,” she said sharply, returning to her computer screen. Conversation over, apparently.
While he was placing his meagre personal possessions in a box, Lilah wandered over, a triumphant look in her eye.
“Heard you’re leaving. I wanted to say goodbye.”
“Fuck off Lilah. I don’t have to pretend to even tolerate you anymore.”
“Try to be a good human being, Mason. We don’t get many fresh starts in life. It’s been interesting working with you. I’ll miss the competition.” Lilah stared at him. Was she trying to be nice?
“No need to lie to me now Lilah,” he spat out.
“Oh, I’ve only ever lied to you once Mason. Do you honestly think cleaners would even notice a pube, let alone comment on it?”
The stupid pube. He’d given that pube way too much real estate in his brain and it hadn’t even existed. He looked at Lilah and laughed. A deep, belly laugh. Why was this funny? He wasn’t sure, but it was funny. It was hilarious.
“Anyway Mason, ta ta. Please don’t stay in touch.” Lilah turned on her heel, leaving him in a crumpled, laughed-out heap on his chair. Lilah had won. Anna had won. The Incredible Hulk had won. And he’d been left jobless, alone, homeless and laughing about a fictional pubic hair.
His mother had been furious and tearful when he spoke to her.
She’d promised him a few slaps across the head when he arrived but ultimately welcomed him back home.
He had no money for rent. All he could do was get a job in his hometown, save money to pay down his debt, and begin his new life.
The thought depressed him. He didn’t want a new life.
He wanted his old life, but his old life now belonged to the Incredible Hulk.
The last time he spoke to Anna was after a full night of drinking.
He’d drunk dialed her at 2 am, begging her to return to him.
Embarrassingly, he’d also begged for money.
He was in so much debt and April had refused to sell any of the luxury gifts he’d bought her to help him out of his hole. He was cooked.
Surprisingly, Anna had answered, sleepily asking him if it was an emergency and why he was calling so late.
He began to beg and plead his case, but the Incredible Hulk had grabbed the phone and told him to fuck off and never call again if he valued the use of his legs.
It gutted him that she was with the Hulk.
At 2 am. Sleeping. She’d blocked him after that.
So that was it. It was all over for him.
All he had left was his mother and a $40K plus-interest debt.
He walked out of his office building, having used leave owed in lieu of notice.
No goodbye drinks, no well wishes from colleagues.
He’d lost everyone’s respect, even his own.
Lilah had spread word of their actions pretty quickly.
He couldn’t really blame her. He and April had provided her with the fuse and the matches to light it.
In hindsight, he and April hadn’t been exactly subtle, but at the time, he was so high on his own importance and stuck in limerence that he hadn’t bothered to be as secretive as he should have been.
April seemed immune to the undercurrent of disgust in the office. She held her head high and didn’t let the whispers bother her. The Incredible Hulk was right. She was a soulless bitch. Actually, she was a soul-stealing bitch. She’d taken his soul and left him with nothing.
No, he corrected. I gave it to her. His mother, in her fury, told him a condition of his return was self-responsibility and accountability. Life was going to be rough for a while, he thought bitterly as he left his formerly happy life behind.