"I'm too tired." I moan at Jyeon as he drags me along by the hand, fingers interlaced, yet he doesn't care about my whining and protests. Dragging me into the OLO building at seven at night after we slept half the day. Despite being curled up in his arms in slumberland, I am not yet recovered because he hasn't fed me due to the lack of food in his rarely used apartment. He admitted he eats out or with Bryant at work most days, and now I am starting to see his boat is more of a home.
"Baby, it's only for a few minutes, then we can go take Greta some food and eat with her. I need to sign some papers before my secretary leaves. She said they need to be done tonight. We can pick up Bryant and have ourselves a cozy double date."
He refused to leave me in the car in the parking garage, swearing he should be glued to my hip for the foreseeable future because he misses me when he's not. I eyeroll at the side of his head, ducking my face when we pass employees on the ground floor to hide my identity. It's pointless as they stare and stifle giggles while pointing out how romantic it is. Overly aware of how I am still a point of interest and gossip.
"I'm not dressed for this." I pout at him, still being forcibly hauled with a grip I can't undo.
"You look beautiful. It's not like most of the staff are here.. only the graveyard shift." Jyeon is in bossy commander mode, and nothing I say or do is swaying him.
"Yoonah should be gone too, so this will be quick. I swear. Sign a few contracts, then grab my laptop, and we can head to yours."
"I thought you said you would see Yoonah and smooth things over?" I protest, knowing we shouldn't leave it like this for long. Not after physically hurting him.
"I will, tomorrow. Once he has calmed down and stopped sulking, you know how he can be. I promised, didn't I, that I would see him alone first and talk things out. Later the three of us can sit down." Jyeon pulls me into the elevator and turns my way when the doors slide shut to conceal us inside away from prying eyes.
I sense his eyes on the side of my face while I stare down at the floor and glance up to see him smiling at me, closer than he was as he leans in.
"You know we've never done …." He winks, moving in with intent, and before he finishes, I know exactly where that train of thought is heading from the gleam in his eye and the sexy smirk alone. I smack him on top of the head with a light open palm and nod to the top right corner of this steel box.
"Do you want security to watch you molest me? Is that your kink? Is that what you expect me to lower myself to?" I raise a haughty brow and give him a stern tone. Not impressed with his lack of inhibition, now I let the idiot have sex with me. He's like a hormonal teen boy who can't think beyond making out and foreplay since we woke up.
"Woah….. that was impressively Sohla of the past right there. I got goosebumps. Only, it kinda turned me on to see that side of you again." He grins, sweeps in, and hits my lips with his in a fast peck before straightening back up, and I elbow him in the side. I am exasperated by him being this way when I haven't the energy to stand, yet he's way too cheerful.
"Ughhh…." I shake my head at him and move to pull him with me when the ping signals our floor, and the doors slide open. "I don't remember you ever being this…. horny," I whisper the word under my breath, blushing as I do so, so security won't hear it, and get a beaming smile in return.
"Yeah, well…. I was an idiot back then." He lets go of my hand and slides his arm around my shoulder instead. Casual loose hold. "I have a lot of catching up to do, baby." He ducks in and whispers it in my ear, so it tingles and goosebumps, and I flinch at the sensual reaction it causes.
Jyeon tugs me with him as we make our way along the corridor to his office, and a voice comes from the far left, where there's a general sitting area, and it halts us in our tracks.
"Jyeon? Wait…, please."
I freeze as the familiar pitchy voice of that thorn in my side echoes around us, and Jyeon falters, his whole body stiffening. He turns his head to look over the top of mine, and I feel the way all of his muscles bunch up and tense. Sending a tremor through me that brings up the rage of mix and pain from acknowledging her existence.
"Why are you here? Aren't you meant to be in the hospital with your family right now?" he growls at her, not moving us an inch further and I stay still and lock my eyes on the pathway ahead, refusing to turn to the woman behind me. Tears bite the back of my eyes that she always seems to know went to slide right back in. I can't deal with this, and it's driving me crazy that anytime I feel I get any kind of headway with my relationship with him, she pops up like a bad smell.
"I discharged myself, and my father is waiting downstairs for me. After being gone all day, I knew you would come back here to pick up papers. It's what you always do when you have been out. I waited for you. To see you."
"You wasted your time; I have nothing more to say to you. I said at the hospital that I wanted you to leave me alone and stop this. It's the same thing I will repeat to you no matter how many times you do this." Jyeon nudges me forward to motion me to walk with him, not willing to exert more energy on this wench, and I don't hesitate. Launching into a walk as he tightens his embrace around me, I hear her footsteps falling behind us. My heart is icing over, and hating that she won't let go. She is like a leach with no sense of dignity.
"Is it true? That you're sending me to Hong Kong? You're pushing me out and making me go hoping I won't want to, and I'll resign. Severing my job in a cowardly way to fuck me off?" Her pathetic voice trails us, and I know she hasn't lagged behind from the volume. Persistent to the end, even when it's obvious where Jyeon's loyalty lies.
Jyeon exhales in frustration, and lets go of me to spin on his heel and face her. Anger spreads through him at speed, and I can sense the change in the air around him as a frostiness takes over. I cross my arms and turn slowly and deliberately to see what exactly her problem is and show nothing but the mask of indifference and iciness of Sohla of old. Lately, I have been finding pieces of her scattered all around these floors. It's easier to adopt her persona when Jyeon of old is at my side, sharing the mask and oozing dominant power.
"Yes, it's true. What of it? I told you I made a mistake letting you stay here all this time. Hate me for doing this. Think of me as a complete asshole for pushing you out, but this is the only way we can move on with our lives. Now please, just go. We're busy here. There's nothing to talk about. Go to Hong Kong if you want to keep your job…. there's no position here for you anymore."
"I'm not going to Hong Kong, and I won't quit." She grits her teeth, jutting her jaw out to show her intention to fight him on this, and I can't stand here and take this anymore. "You can't do this to me!"
"So don't. Stay! …. Come to work every day where my husband and I will be walking around just like this. Coming in together, leaving together…. Cuddling in the corridor, making out in the elevator.... sleeping together every night. There's no gap for you to slide into this time, Claire. And I'll be the VP and the one you answer to, and I don't mind putting you through your paces to see if you have the talent to stay in OLO. We need to reshuffle and remove the deadweight employees in this company. I was gone a long time, and you probably won't be up to my standard as I take over the project that was always mine to oversee. You don't have to do what Jyeon wants in this…. you just have to accept I'm your boss now, and you answer to me. Unless I find a reason to fire you." I spit right back in the cold tone of my past, showing no mercy and locking into the ice Queen of old. Uncaring about lying right to her face on this and yet getting a kick of satisfaction as the color drains and she's left pale and flustered.
"You said you were leaving… you didn't want him. You have your new life….. you weren't coming back here." She stumbles over the words, losing her fight, and I stand taller and pour more venom into my presence. It's clear that the shift in me intimidates her, and she reverts to that pathetic mess of two years ago who sat in her apartment and sobbed. All she was when I came back was a mirage and playing dress-up because she tried to fill the void Jyeon was longing for. Ironic that she mimicked me and yet can't see why she will never be what he wants. He doesn't want the replica; he wants the real deal.
"Things change. Jyeon was right in what he said the last time we saw you…. We're tied together for life, and as this is my company too, it was stupid of me to walk away and leave it behind. I'm not going anywhere ever again….. I won't let you have the opportunity to get within ten feet of my marriage this time, and this little display isn't doing you any favors."
Jyeon remains silent, his face still, his posture solid, yet he's tuned in to me and slides his arm around my waist, letting me have my say and not reacting to the parts he knows isn't true. About my being VP and coming to OLO and supporting me with his foreboding presence.
"This behavior isn't advisable if we're talking about your job being on the line. Confronting your VP and President, refusing to do as we ask in terms of your employment for the good of the company…. stalking him? Attempting suicide to emotionally blackmail him to have a sordid relationship with you….. sounds like pretty solid reasons to terminate your contract and happily see you in court if you still want to pursue an unfair dismissal." I pull out my hand and admire my nails, flicking off an imaginary piece of flint and eyeing her up as I would have done in my power suit back then. That internal sense of cold returning and finally finding that inner steel that used to help me push along like this in my daily life. The mask still fits when I need her to, and she boosts my confidence.
"If you want to come up against OLO and make threats be prepared to face me every step of the way. Unlike two years ago, I think it will end in my favor, and you will only cause yourself immeasurable pain and humiliation."
Claire stares at me in open-mouthed desperation. Her eyes are misting over, and she looks at Jyeon with a wounded expression, expecting him to say or do anything. He subtly shakes his head at her, leans in, and kisses me on the temple before running his fingers through my hair so lightly it makes my scalp tingle. A visual message that her tears, her poor little pathetic looks are doing nothing to soften him. Maybe that worked back then, but his heart and eyes are only for me this time. She can't get in like she once did, and he won't see me hurt because of her again.
"You heard my wife. We'll see you in court if that's what you want, but I don't think you want any of these events made public, given the media interest in my marriage of late. Suicide still carries a stigma, and no company will hire a director who isn't emotionally well." Jyeon is exactly the harsh man I remember when he needs to be, yet it gives me a sense of familiarity and security. Deep down, we are still the same people we always were but also different.
"I loved you….." She begins to cry, breaking her heart in front of us, and despite myself, I have a moment of wavering empathy for her. Knowing the pain she's in, even though she's the cause of misery for me—a flicker of something deep in my stomach that I push away.
"I'm sorry. I never. We did this two years ago, and I thought it was behind us. Bryant will make sure you have everything you need to make a move to China or severance pay… it's your choice. The R and D department is being revamped and reshuffled for Yoonah to take over. You don't have a position here anymore. Thank you for all you have done but let this be the end. I don't want to see you, hear from you, or think of you again. Don't make this messier. Quietly go away."
Jyeon slides his arm from around me and searches out my hand to interlink with his, turning and tugging me, so I have no choice but to follow. He wants her gone, and she will be, no matter what it takes to make it happen this time. He's done with this and her and I know that stubborn set of his jaw when he makes a decision he won't back down from.
Claire stays rooted to the spot, soft tears rolling down her face, and she has no response because she knows she's beaten. There's nothing here for her to salvage or hold onto, and there hasn't been for a long time. I can't help but glance back at her as we walk away. Her broken expression, her sad eyes, and quivering mouth as she fights a proper breakdown of emotions. She is looking desolate and lost.
I feel sorry for a woman going through this kind of rejection because I know it so well, but I have no remorse for being the reason she's pushed into the cold. It's not like he's destroying her life and giving her no options. He's generous in letting her choose a career and a future far away from him, and I know the Hong Kong company is a subsidiary that isn't directly run by OLO either. She won't be our employee technically. Despite his coldness, Jyeon is being as fair as he can be because he knows he caused this. He isn't trying to ruin her life any more than I am.
Even though she tried to do it to me, she didn't care about destroying my family, company, or life. She chased what she wanted, disregarded the damage or my broken heart, and now she has to reap the rewards of ignoring me that day two years ago when I asked her to think of Jyeon's future. She thought she had the upper hand because she thought she had his love. I think she finally sees that holding on all this time did nothing for her.
Little did I know back then that what Jyeon wanted for his future and what he would do anything to protect the second time around was me. That night changed everything for all of us.
Claire watches us as we round the curved hall and drift out of sight. I sense the second her eyes stop boring into my back, lean against Jyeon's arm, and exhale heavily. As though a huge weight lifts from on top of me. It maybe wasn't exactly a done and dusted conclusion, but I feel like this is the last time she will come between us in any real way again.