The ex game chapter one

* “It’s
one weekend, Katie. You’ll survive.” Meg giggled at the
expression on my face. “I mean, it can’t be that bad…can
it?” “It’s going to be worse than bad.” I groaned and flopped
down on her bed. “I may die. I mean it. I may literally die of
embarrassment.” “You won’t die. You may be embarrassed,
though.” She gave me a sympathetic smile. “I can’t believe
this is happening to me.” I buried my head into her pillow.
“Of all the jobs in all of the world, I had to get this one.”
“You were happy about it a few weeks ago.” “That’s before I
heard about this weekend training.” I groaned and stared up
at her. “I had no idea he worked for Marathon Corp.” “Well,
he more than works for them now.” She laughed, and I
shuddered. “I should quit. I’m going to quit!” I cried out
melodramatically. “You’ll have to take care of the rent for
the next few months while I look for a job. I’ll cook and
clean and be your housewoman.” “Yeah, right. You can’t
cook or clean for shit.” Meg collapsed onto the bed next to
me and rubbed my shoulder. “And you know I’m saving up
for my trip.” “You’re not really going to travel around the
world and leave me, are you?” “You can always come with
me.” “But I have a job.” I whined and saw her grinning at
me. “Fine, I’m not quitting. This is the job I’ve been waiting
for my whole life. I’m not quitting just because he owns the
company.” “Here ye, here ye.” “Don’t go being a lawyer on
me,” I moaned at her, and she laughed. “I didn’t go through
three years of law school to just stop.” She jumped up off of
the bed and grabbed my hands. “Come on, lazy bones. Let’s
go shopping. You may as well look hot when you see him.”
“I don’t want to see him. Maybe he’ll have forgotten me.”
The thought sent a ripple of hurt through me. “There’s no
way he would have forgotten you.” “He’s going to hate me.”
I gave her a pained expression. “Or he’s going to fire me.”
“He dumped you. He’s not going to hate you.” Meg brushed
her long blonde hair as she waited for me to get up. “And
we’re going to make him regret it.” “Why oh why did
Brandon Hastings have to buy Marathon Corp?” I slowly
dragged myself off of the bed and looked into the vanity
mirror. I wasn’t altogether displeased with my appearance,
but wished I didn’t look quite so washed out. My long brown
hair looked messy, but that was nothing a brush couldn’t
fix. I examined my face and was pleased that my brown
eyes looked bright and cheerful even though I was filled with
inner turmoil. “You look gorgeous, Katie.” “I look like a little
kid.” I groaned. “I don’t look like a manager.” “Hey, it’s not
your fault you’re super smart. So what if you’re 25 and an
executive manager already? Anyone who cares about that is
just jealous.” “Brandon will care.” I sighed and I bit my
lower lip as I grew serious and put my face in my hands.
“Oh my God, Meg, what am I going to do?” “It’s all in the
past, Katie. You made a mistake. He can’t be holding a
grudge for all these years.” “It was a pretty big mistake.” I
made a face. “Some may even say it was a lie.” “Well, it
was a lie.” Meg made an apologetic face as she spoke
honestly. “But it was seven years ago.” “Yeah.” I
straightened my shirt and pushed my shoulders back like
my mother had taught me. “I’m sure he’s not thinking about
some silly girl he dated seven years ago.” “You were 18,
new to love! These things happen.” “Yeah.” I nodded in
agreement. “If he had half a brain he would have figured it
out.” “Exactly.” Meg linked her arm through mine and we
walked to the living room. “He’s the one that broke your
heart.” “Exactly.” My heart beat slowly as I remembered the
tears I had cried late at night. I had been devastated when
Brandon had dumped me right before Christmas, in the first
semester of my college year. Absolutely devastated. I
hadn’t been able to sleep or eat for weeks. He had made my
second semester of college absolutely awful. It wasn’t until
the summer and a trip to London with my parents that I was
finally able to accept that what we had was forever gone.
He had been my first lover and my first love, but to him, I
was just a little girl playing around in fairytale land. ***
Flying in first class was a perk of my job that I loved, even
though this was the only time I had actually travelled first
class. I sat back in the wide leather seat and looked out the
window, trying to lose my thoughts in the clouds. I felt
worried as I ------------------------------ *