3. Drama Queen
DRAMA QUEEN
BASIL
I stood in front of her, barring her access to the door. “You walk out, don’t bother coming back.”
The words left my mouth before I fully thought them through, but I didn’t take them back. I meant them. At least, that’s what I told myself as Summer stood there, staring at me like I was a stranger instead of the man she’d spent two years with.
Her lips parted slightly, but she didn’t say anything. Didn’t yell, didn’t argue—just looked at me for a long, silent moment. Then she nodded.
The sound of her packing was infuriating. The quiet, controlled movements and lack of a dramatic exit made it seem that this wasn’t a fight but a decision.
She slung her bag over her shoulder. “If there’s anything left, just…bring it by the shop. I’ll have your things there or…I can have an Uber…just let me know.”
I needed to get out of there.
I shot one last glance at the bedroom—our bedroom, though apparently, not for much longer—then walked out, slamming the door behind me.
Let her leave. She’d cool down. She always did. She would realize she was overreacting and see that I wasn’t the villain she was making me out to be. She’d come back.
She would right? Of course, she would. She had a good life with me. Access to this beautiful luxury apartment complex, expensive dinners, vacations to places she never could afford on her own.
And this was the thanks I got?
I let out a bitter laugh as I walked to the rooftop lounge where my friends were, friends whom she called toxic. They were great—all of them. They had been there for me when I started my company and had been there for me through thick and thin for the past eight years.
I was done with Summer. Yes, I was. Let her go.
I stepped onto the rooftop lounge, the cool night air doing nothing to soothe the irritation thrumming in my chest. The city skyline stretched before me, lights twinkling against the black sky.
I loved this view. I’d earned this view.
I was proud of it, but I always felt as if Summer didn’t appreciate it, didn’t care about it.
I slumped into a chair next to Drew. She looked at me with concern. “Where were you?” She looked around. “Where’s Summer? ”
I took the glass of bourbon Gareth was holding and downed it.
“All okay?” he slurred. The guy worked hard and partied harder. He was a senior vice president for a Fortune 500 tech company—and Summer thought he was an imbecile. Sure, he’d say the odd stupid thing but didn’t everyone? That didn’t make him the child of Satan the way Summer talked about him.
I looked at my friends. Drew and Felix worked for me; in fact, Felix was my Chief Human Resources Officer.
Drew had been the head of engineering, and after our COO left, I knew I’d be promoting her.
I trusted my friends, and they were essential for the success of my company.
Karen had her own start up, a fashion app that was doing very well.
Ajay and Lola were the IT couple and had been since we were in college.
They both ran a healthcare software company, which they were getting ready to take public.
Summer’s best friend Meadow ran a yoga studio.
Bodhi, who lived in the same building, was a musician and barista who always smelled of weed.
Ocean owned a smoothie joint. Rain was a single mother who didn’t know who her daughter River’s father was.
Between them I doubted anyone had a college degree.
They were nice people—but they weren’t going to be anything ever.
Did it bother me that Summer wasn’t ambitious? That she was happy with her silly little store? Sure, but I loved her and accepted that about her, so, why couldn’t she accept that I had bigger goals and dreams?
“What’s wrong?” Lola put her hand on mine.
“Summer is pissed with me.” I closed my eyes.
“You two fight a lot,” Ajay noted. “What was it this time?”
“I told Drew about making COO and?—”
“Yeah to Drew,” Karen cheered holding her glass up.
I loved how supportive my friends were—how they celebrated each other’s wins.
“Is she upset that you promoted me?” Drew asked, her eyes narrowing.
She had been my best friend ever since that first day we met on campus. Most women I dated seemed to have a problem with me having a female friend, but Summer did not, initially . Eventually, she also became an insecure cliché.
“No.” I huffed out a breath. “She was upset that you kissed me.”
Drew shrugged. “But we hug and kiss all the time.”
“She was upset you kissed me on the mouth,” I explained.
Silence fell, and I looked around.
“It was a peck,” Drew exclaimed. “Stop staring at me like I’m some Jezebel.”
“You can kiss me anytime, doll.” Gareth laughed.
“She knows you’re friends.” Felix leaned back in his armchair. “You and Drew have never had a sexual relationship so I don’t know what Summer’s problem is.”
“Her problem is that she’s insecure,” Drew snapped.
I knew Drew didn’t like Summer—felt that my girlfriend was too controlling of my time and me.
I didn’t see it that way. I spent a lot of my time with Summer because I wanted to.
She liked to cook and since she was a vegetarian, sometimes it was easier to eat at home than go out—and I had zero complaints because the food she cooked was Michelin quality.
“So…have you broken up now?” Gareth mused.
I ran a hand through my hair. “I think so. She packed up and left.”
“She does this all the time.” Drew was incensed on my behalf. Why couldn’t Summer see how much Drew cared about me? “I don’t know how you stand it.”
I scoffed. “I love her! I thought she loved me.”
Gareth let out a bark of laughter. “I was just talking to her, and she told me to go fuck myself.”
“How rude!” Karen muttered. “You need to talk to your girlfriend, Basil, to be nicer to your friends. We don’t want to lose you because of her .”
“You’ll never lose me,” I promised. “And Summer...I don’t know what to do.”
“Why not just let her go?” Ajay asked.
I stared at him. What did he mean? Let my Summer go? But I loved her. Sure, we fought, but I loved her. I didn’t want a life where she wasn’t there. Did I?
“Ajay’s right.” Felix shook his head, but there was no sympathy in his expression. “Hate to say it, man, but it was only a matter of time. She was never gonna make it long-term, not with that holier than thou attitude of hers.”
Drew made a noise of agreement. “I mean, she runs a little candle shop, Basil. Cute, sure, but it’s not exactly a business. And she spends more time judging us than actually trying to fit in.”
I clenched my jaw, but I didn’t argue. Because wasn’t that what Summer had been doing? Judging ! Making me out to be some kind of asshole because my friends weren’t the granola-crunching, incense-burning type.
I drank another shot of bourbon. “She told me that you all are toxic.”
Drew’s laughter was sharp. “Of course she did. Because we have ambition? Because we work hard and expect the same from others?” She shook her head.
“You’ve done enough for her, Basil. You gave her a life most people dream about.
Access to this beautiful apartment, vacations, connections that could actually help her if she wanted to grow her little hobby into something real.
” She took a sip of her wine, gaze assessing.
“But she never appreciated any of it, did she?”
I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. “She says she doesn’t care about those things. ”
“Maybe not,” Lola cut in, smirking. “But she sure as hell enjoyed them.”
The words sat uneasily in my chest, but I said nothing.
Because the truth was, Summer had never asked for any of the perks I came with.
She was happy in her apartment above her shop.
She didn’t care about networking or status.
She lived her life on her own terms, and that’s what had drawn me to her in the first place—because she wasn’t like everyone else in my world.
She had walked away from everything we’d built over a kiss that wasn’t even a kiss. Over a hug. Over my friends being exactly who they had always been.
Gareth raised his glass, shitfaced. “Here’s to you, man. You dodged a bullet.”
Drew clinked her glass against his, her gaze flicking toward me. “To a new era where Basil finds someone who’s right for him, fits with him.”
I forced a tight smile and took a sip of my drink, but the taste was bitter on my tongue. I knew why. For the first time in two years, Summer wasn’t in my world, and my heart was broken.