Chapter 28 Jonathan
Jonathan
Iwake up to sunlight slicing through the blinds like it’s the happiest damn day in the world.
Unfortunately, I know better. All I can think about is last night, my ridiculous, over-the-top karaoke performance where I basically called AJ a bloodsucking vampire in front of everyone.
Real classy. Not exactly my proudest moment.
And then there was everything that came after. The blow-up outside. Our confessions. The yelling. The slap. The complete emotional unraveling. We were both pissed, both hurt and still… still she couldn’t tell me the one thing I needed to hear. She couldn’t say she wanted me.
Maybe I should have some empathy. I saw it in her face.
The confusion, the panic, maybe even the regret.
There was turmoil in her eyes when I asked what she wanted.
But the thing is, I can’t unsee what I saw.
I can’t erase the image of her kissing Marcus like no time had passed at all.
I don’t care if it was only a few seconds or if she pushed him away, those few seconds were enough to brand themselves into my memory.
So maybe what I felt wasn’t love. Maybe it was just lust. Intense, messy, all-consuming lust dressed up as something deeper. But either way… she had her shot. She could’ve chosen me and she didn’t. That’s all I need to know.
Then, like a flash in the pan, the moment with Manny hits me all over again.
Right after AJ and I spilled our mess of a truth in front of the entire group, he came up to me, furious, shaking, on the verge of tears.
Not because he was distraught, but because he was disappointed.
He was gutted and I deserved every second of it.
His voice cracked with frustration and there was this look in his eyes I’ll never forget, the look of someone who expected better from me.
Someone who thought I was a friend. His feelings were valid.
I lied to him. He told me he liked AJ and instead of doing the decent thing and backing off, I went after her in secret.
Hid it. Let it snowball into something that blew up in all of our faces.
Bros before… yeah, I broke the damn code. I didn’t just break it, I lit it on fire and danced around the ashes. Turns out I’m not just a shitty fake boyfriend. I’m a shitty best friend, too.
I grab my phone from the coffee table, hoping, stupidly that I missed a text. A missed call. Something from AJ. But the screen is blank. Radio silence. Not a single message.
After the whole group witnessed our implosion, I walked the resort for a while like some brooding movie cliché. When I finally came back to the cabin, all her stuff was gone like she’d never been here at all. I don’t even know where she could have gone. Tanya’s maybe. Or worse, stayed with Marcus.
My stomach flips when I think of her curled up with him in some cozy corner of the resort, letting him play hero. That smirking bastard probably welcomed her with open arms the second I walked away from her.
I hover over Manny’s contact in my phone, thumb just barely grazing the call button.
I can’t do it. What would I even say? Sorry I betrayed your trust and lied to your face?
Sorry I let some chaotic, infuriating, amazing girl turn me into the worst version of myself?
If I were him, I’d punch me. If I were AJ…
well, I guess she already took care of that.
I throw the blanket over my head like that’ll somehow erase everything that happened last night. It doesn’t. If anything, the silence just makes the memories louder.
Eventually, I give up and drag myself out of bed.
I make a cup of coffee, extra strong and try to focus on something productive.
Like packing. We leave this morning. Back to reality.
Back to the office where I’ll have to see AJ and Manny every day.
And now, apparently, Marcus too. My best friend at work won’t talk to me.
The woman I’ve fallen for doesn’t love me back or doesn’t know if she does, which somehow feels worse.
Honestly? That’s if I even have a job. One look at Victoria’s face last night said everything I needed to know. She was livid. The kind of livid that doesn’t end with a slap, it ends with a termination email.
I glance down at my phone again. Still no messages. No missed calls. The blankness on the phone is almost mocking now. But I can’t just sit in it. So I scroll through my contacts and land on the one name I never thought I’d actually call. I hesitate… then press it.
An hour later, after a long, uncomfortable-but-surprisingly-grounding conversation, I hang up. For the first time since this whole mess exploded, I feel like I’ve made a decision that actually serves my future career self. Maybe even the right one, at least for now.
I step into the shower and let the hot water burn away the tension in my shoulders. When I finally get out, I feel a little more like myself. Still a mess, just not totally drowning. I towel off, get dressed and zip up my suitcase. Time to go home.
I head to the main lodge to grab breakfast before we all load onto the bus. The place is buzzing with people trying to soak up one last meal before returning to real life. I just want caffeine, carbs and zero conversation.
From across the room, I spot Tanya and Elaine. Tanya’s already strutting over, motioning for Elaine to follow. This should be great.
“Hey,” Tanya says, her voice unusually soft, almost… cautious.
“Hey,” I reply, not bothering to fake enthusiasm.
“I just wanted to say I’m sorry. About you and Abby.” She tucks her hair behind her ear like she’s trying to look innocent, which is new.
I pause mid-bite, halfway through a chewy mouthful of bagel and raise an eyebrow. “You’re sorry?”
She nods. “You guys were so cute together,” she says. “I know it was fake,” she adds, complete with dramatic air quotes and an eye roll, “but it didn’t feel fake. It felt like you actually liked each other.”
Elaine nods along beside her. “For what it’s worth, we’re here for both of you,” she chimes in. “No judgment.”
And just like that, the two biggest gossip hounds in the office aren’t whispering in a corner. They’re being… supportive? Weirdly sincere?
I blink at them. “Thanks,” I say, offering a faint smile.
But the smile doesn’t last as the front door swings open and in walks AJ and Marcus. She steps through first and he holds the door open behind her, all chivalrous charm and pretentious timing. My stomach knots. Of course they were together. Where else would she have gone?
I stab my fork into my eggs harder than necessary and keep my eyes down.
Tanya gives my shoulder a gentle pat, then walks away with Elaine, leaving me with my breakfast and the bitter taste of watching someone I still care about walk in with someone who isn’t me.
AJ doesn’t even look at me when she walks in.
Doesn’t glance, doesn’t flinch, just slides into a booth with her back to me like I’m not even here.
Marcus sits across from her, leaning in close, whispering something.
She nods and he stands, making his way toward the breakfast buffet, right where I’m sitting.
He moves through the line like he owns the place, grabbing eggs, a few strips of bacon, then pouring himself two coffees in to-go cups like he’s got somewhere heroic to be. He’s just about to turn back to her when he stops short and pivots toward my table.
I shift in my seat and take a slow sip of coffee, preparing for whatever ridiculous, backhanded comment is coming. He steps up beside me, glancing at my plate, then at me. The tension hangs like a fog.
Unexpectedly, he exhales and says, “I want to say I’m sorry.”
I raise my eyebrows. That’s… not what I envisioned.
“Okay,” I say, guarded.
“I had no idea…” He adjusts his posture, like he’s trying to square up for something brave. “I didn’t know you and Abby weren’t really a couple. It just… felt real.”
He runs a hand through his exceptionally tousled hair and glances back at her, still sitting with her back to us. “She told me last night that she actually…” He trails off, the words falling apart mid-sentence.
Actually what? Say it, I yell to myself.
He shakes his head. “It doesn’t matter,” he mumbles. “I just wanted to apologize.”
I nod slowly, like that’s all I’m capable of. Because I don’t know what else to do. And because I don’t know what he meant.
Marcus gives me a half-smile, somewhere between arrogant and sincere, then walks back to their table. He slides the coffee across to AJ and she starts picking at her food like she’s too polite to say she doesn’t want it.
What the hell just happened? Marcus… being a gentleman? Is this some kind of Jedi mind trick? Did I just get diplomatically outmaneuvered by a guy in loafers?
I scratch the back of my neck and rub it. Sleeping on the couch last night did absolutely nothing for my posture or my mood.
Then Manny walks in with Stan, which definitely doesn’t help my tenseness. Both glance in my direction before veering silently to the buffet like I’m radioactive. Fair, I suppose. I guess I deserve it.
This bus ride’s going to be a blast, I mutter to myself.
But surprisingly… it isn’t the nightmare I dread.
AJ sits with Marcus, no surprise there and Manny grabs a seat a few rows ahead of me.
He keeps turning back like he’s trying to decide whether to punch me or just let karma handle it.
I shove in my AirPods, shut my eyes and ride out the silence.
The two-hour drive passes in a blur. Next thing I know, Tanya’s tapping my arm. “We’re here,” she says.
I blink awake and everyone’s already shuffling off.
AJ and Marcus are gone, vanished the second the wheels hit pavement.
Good riddance. Hope they make a happy couple.
The thought carves an unwelcome ache through my gut, like a punch that lands after the fight’s already over.
I exhale, sluggishly, trying to breathe through the sting.
Most of us headed upstairs to grab our things and check emails; it is still Monday, after all.
I kill some time clicking through my inbox, waiting for the post-retreat buzz to die down.
Once the crowd thins, I make my way toward Victoria’s office.
Her door’s open, but I knock anyway. She swivels in her chair.
The moment she sees me, her expression shifts from vaguely content to visibly annoyed.
“Hi, Victoria. Do you have a minute?” I ask.
She lowers her glasses and gives me the kind of once-over usually reserved for gum on a shoe. “For you, Jonathan, I have just one minute,” she replies, crisp and clipped.
I step in and gently close the door behind me, then take a seat across from her.
“I just wanted to say I’m sorry for how everything played out this weekend,” I start. “It was stupid and childish for AJ and me to fake being a couple just to mess with Marcus.”
She lets out a sharp chuckle.
I blink. “What?”
She shakes her head, a smirk tugging at her lips. “If my ex-fiancé, the man who left me at the altar, mind you, suddenly bought into the company I worked for? I’d probably do the same thing.”
The tension in my shoulders loosens an inch.
“Really? So you’re not mad that we lied?” I ask, my voice lined with sheer desperation.
She shakes her head. “Honestly, I’m impressed Abigail had it in her to pull something like that off,” she says, almost proud. “I had no idea who Marcus was to her.”
“But you,” she adds, suddenly pointing a finger at me, “you’re the one who pissed me off.”
I sit up straighter.
“That little performative song of yours,” she says, rolling her eyes. “Then Abigail joins in. And then she slaps you! What the hell was that?”
She throws her hands up in exasperation. “That’s what I’m mad about.”
“I know, and I really am sorry for that,” I say, pressing my palms together like I’m praying.
Victoria raises an eyebrow. “Why’d you do it?”
“Do what?” I ask, confused.
“Why did you get like that? Was it because you were jealous of Marcus?” she asks, her tone drifting into something close to sarcastic. “Falling for Abigail?”
I don’t answer. Not directly at least.
She sighs and leans back in her chair. “You need to figure out what you want,” she says.
I drop my eyes to the floor. Her rug is pink and patterned, it’s so very Victoria and I can’t focus on anything but what I’m about to say.
“I know what I want,” I say, my voice strained as I swallow. “I’m taking a job in Boston. With Elite Visions.”
Victoria doesn’t flinch. She just inhales, then lets it out calmly. “I figured you might,” she admits.
I blink, sitting up straighter. “Wait, you knew about the job?” I question.
She lifts her glasses to her eyes like she’s done with the theatrics. “Who do you think gave you the glowing recommendation? Told them they’d be idiots not to hire you?” she says with a confident little grin.
“Wow. Victoria. I mean… wow,” I stutter through.
“You could say thank you,” she deadpans.
“Right. Thank you,” I say, still stunned. “But… why?” I press.
She adjusts her posture and leans forward, giving me that no-nonsense, cut-to-the-chase stare.
“Because I’m giving the promotion here to Abigail. Always planned to, honestly. She’s the right fit. You and I both know it.” She gestures with her hand. “And the Boston job? That’s a better move for you. Bigger role, better pay. A real leap forward.”
I have no words. She’s right. The position in Boston isn’t the one I initially wanted but it is a more commendable position.
I sit in silence for a few seconds longer, letting it all settle in.
“Is that all?” Victoria asks, already reaching for her next task.
“Thank you, Victoria,” I say, offering a small smile.
She gives me a pointed look. “Just remember who your friends are here in New York.”
That’s about as tender and fuzzy a goodbye as I’ll ever get from Victoria and frankly, it’s spotless.
I nod, then head back to my office to start packing my desk.
I forward all my outstanding client work to Stan, draft a quick all-office email saying goodbye and shut my laptop.
No dramatic exit. No speech or farewell cupcakes.
Just an idyllic, clean break. Which fits me better anyway.
But there’s still one person I need to say goodbye to, personally.