10. Chapter Ten
Chapter Ten
Emma
Gauge had been a welcome distraction, but I couldn't let myself stay that way.
It was a nice reminder, though, that I wasn't the only one who cared.
There were probably more people on the island just like him who cared about the trains, too.
Well, not just like him; I amended the thought after remembering how handsome he was.
It was shaping up to be a weird week for me since he was the second person to catch my attention. He was striking, though.
With his perfectly tousled black hair, dark eyes, and tall lean body, I had a hard time thinking there was anyone out there just like him.
But I was sure there were less beautiful people out there who cared, too, and that was enough for me to stroll into the meeting at the town hall with a bounce to my step and a confidence I'd been missing when I left the office.
Unfortunately, my confidence quickly dissolved when I saw who was waiting for me in the conference room.
This had to be a cruel joke.
Maybe I'd fallen onto the track and been sliced clean in half before I'd even boarded the train. That would make more sense than this hell being reality, because sitting across from me with a smug look on his arrogant face was my ex-boyfriend, Miles.
The last time I'd seen him, I'd informed him that he would never matter to me like the trains and my island did. He'd sworn I'd regret leaving him. I hadn't believed him for a second, but now that he was here, I began to wonder if he'd been threatening me.
"Miles? What are you doing here?"
"Nice to see you again too, Emmy," he replied, looking smug while using the nickname he knew I hated.
"Yeah um—nice," I faltered. Not exactly the word I would have picked. "But what are you doing here?"
"Well, you know who my family is."
I knew his dad was a CFO of the company, but I didn't know Miles was so involved with the motorway initiative on the island. "I know your dad is a CFO—"
"Actually, he's the CEO now," he interrupted before I could continue, "making me his CFO. Isn't that great?"
I wasn't sure what to say. Things hadn't ended well. On top of how bad the breakup was, he never liked the island. It was something I thought I could move past, but I was wrong. The island was a part of me; when I felt it calling me back, I didn't think twice about leaving him.
"Funny, isn't it? How you left me for this backwards island and now I'm here to help bring it into the future?"
Again, funny isn't the word I would use. Miles couldn't be serious. If he knew anything about me, it was how much this island meant to me.
"I'm not sure what to say."
"I've never heard you at a loss for words before. You must be just so happy to see me here. After all, you dumped me since I wouldn't agree to come back to your backwards, ridiculous, little island, and now here I am. You must be overjoyed."
"I'm confused." I paused for a second, letting my brain catch up to what he wasn't saying. He was pushing me to see if I would play along. He expected me to agree. It was how our relationship had played out, so it made sense, and since I was here to schmooze whoever was in charge, it couldn’t hurt.
"Of course I’m happy you’re here,” I continued. “I’m just confused. What are you doing here?"
"Well, when you left me for the island, it made me think it must be a special place.
If it was special enough for you to dump me, maybe it was somewhere I wanted to pay attention to.
" He looked like he was being sincere, but I knew what he was really driving at.
The motorway initiative was my fault. He was bringing his car company to my island to hurt me.
He knew how much I loved the nostalgic atmosphere and relaxed pace of life on the island, and most importantly, the reliance on trains.
The reliability of the trains, and by extension the reliability of the island, could be counted on by everyone.
Now Miles was trying to pull the rug out from under me with this motorway initiative.
There was no other way to look at it. I wasn’t na?ve enough to believe the financial gain on the island was enough for his company to be here.
This was personal. He was lashing out at me for how I had surprised him by ending our relationship.
My heart sank at the realization that this was going to be so much more difficult than I’d thought, and I already believed it was going to be near impossible.
Regardless of what he was saying, Miles was here to make me miserable, and it was working.
He wasn’t the cold-hearted executive who would only listen to cold hard facts and money like I had anticipated.
He was worse. He had revenge on his mind and wasn’t going to listen to reason, no matter how legitimate it was.
"It’s a special place to me."
"And you’re a special girl to me," he tutted, looking so smug I wanted to smack him.
"I can’t believe you did all this for me."
The sparkle in his eye had anger and worry warring in my gut. I had to give my original strategy a shot, though. "Are you running the project?" I asked.
He nodded. "When I told my father about you and the island, he agreed it would be good experience for me."
"I can’t believe it," I mused, hoping he wouldn’t see through my tone. "No one’s ever taken a financial loss for me before." The amusement fell from his face, and I didn’t need to fake my smile as I continued, "It’s so romantic!"
Miles recovered a bit of his earlier arrogance and argued, "I've always been a romantic, but it won't be a loss.
It's a win-win; I'm here for you and it'll benefit the company.
There's plenty of potential for expansion once we dig up the railways and build more motorways.
People will be lining up to get cars—trains are the transportation of the past. I know you like how simple they are, but you don't have to worry.
I'll make sure you never have to bother to learn to drive yourself. "
I held tight to the binder I had brought, squeezing it hard. I couldn't believe him. The utter arrogance of this man. I couldn't believe I'd ever been with him.
"Why can't the cars and trains coexist?" I asked through gritted teeth and a forced smile.
"The trains take up way too much room. The tracks are all over the island. People are living in the past; cars are so much more convenient. At least they will be, once we get the trains out of the way."
"If you do that, you'll take away everything special about this island."
Miles rolled his eyes before giving me a condescending smile. "You and those trains. It's almost as if you like them more than people."
I swallowed, hoping he didn't know how close he'd actually come to the truth.
Besides Gauge and the conductor, who were weird outliers, trains were the thing that got my heart racing.
I didn't understand it and didn't have the time or money for enough therapy to unpack it, but that didn't make it untrue.
Sure, there might be something wrong with me. But with my ex-boyfriend staring down at me condescendingly, judging me for not wanting to introduce more chaotic transportation and pollution to the island, maybe it made sense I was choosing the trains over this conceited car salesman.
"More than some people," I agreed.
"Well, better get your goodbyes in quick since we're green lighting the project in two weeks."
"Two weeks?!" I exclaimed.
"It was the fastest we could get the necessary permits."
I couldn't believe he'd gotten them so quickly. I had no idea how I was possibly going to raise the local support needed to save the trains in that short a time, especially when it sounds like he'd already called his daddy to grease the right palms.
But I wasn't giving up without a fight.
I turned on my heel and grabbed the door handle. Before I could leave, he added, "Don't worry, Emmy. When the trains leave you, I'll still be here to comfort you."
"I would rather get run over by one of your stupid cars," I hissed under my breath. It was stupid, reckless, and unfortunately not quiet enough that he didn't hear.
"Don't bother with the dramatics. It won't change anything. The trains are going to get torn apart either way, but if you keep up this ice princess act, I might not be waiting when you try to come crawling back."
I stormed out, seething too much to respond.