Chapter 124
Brandon could totally guess why Sophia added him.
He had just snagged Sylvia’s number, and Don had just been beating around the bush with Sylvia about the kid stuff. With Sophia’s smarts, a hint from Sylvia would be all she needed to connect the dots.
Back in the car, he had offered to let her add him on WhatsApp and she had turned him down. Now she was coming to him, obviously just wanting to confirm to his face that the kid was a no-show.
It was a raw wound.
For Sophia, and for him too.
Brandon didn’t want to poke that bear again.
He stared at the “Accept” button for an eternity, then finally hit decline and chucked his phone to the side, turning his focus to the computer.
Don rocked up to the bar just as Ivan was stepping out of his car at the entrance.
Don flashed a big old grin and slapped him on the shoulder, “What’s the deal? You’re back in the homeland too?”
“Graduated, man. What’s the point of sticking around there?” Ivan said, walking into the bar with him.
The bar was more of the artsy, quiet type. Soft tunes played in the background, a stark contrast to the thumping chaos of rowdier spots.
“So, fancy joining my company?” Don asked. “I’ve just brought my branch back home, and we’re short-staffed. How about you hop on board?”
Ivan looked at him, “Isn’t Sophia around? She’s worth her weight in gold.”
“Don’t even go there, you’re twisting the knife,” Don sighed at the mention of her.
Ivan frowned, “What’s up? Sophia doesn’t want to come back?”
Don said, “She’s been in the country these past few days, but she’s not keen on the new company.”
“Why not?” Ivan was puzzled.
“She’s got her reasons,” Don said, not wanting to spill Sophia’s personal beans. He pulled out the Zenithan-style resort project that Sophia had designed, handing it to Ivan, “We’ve got this new gig, planning to make it the debut project for the local branch. The client loves her work and wants her to keep at it. Sophia’s really into it as well but is hesitant and thinking of bailing. You’re tight with her, right? Maybe you can talk some sense into her.”
“When did I become tight with her?” Ivan chuckled, taking the design portfolio and getting sucked into the visuals.
Don noticed Ivan’s eyes light up, “Right? It’d be a real shame to let this go to waste, huh?”
Ivan nodded, “Definitely.”
He looked up at Don, “Why’s she thinking of dropping it?”
Don wanted to say it was because Sophia didn’t want to get tangled up with her ex, but he just found out tonight about her and Brandon. Assuming the world didn’t know Sophia had been married, he didn’t feel it was his place to gossip. So he said vaguely, “I’m not super clear on the details. Probably something to do with her life plans, not wanting to stick around here.”
Ivan said, “Isn’t she planning on developing her career back here?”
“She says no plans for now, wants to wander and see the world.”
“That’s totally fine, different strokes for different folks.”
Don looked at him, “It’s just a bummer because taking on this project wouldn’t stop her from traveling. She could check in now and then. But the thing is, the company owns the design rights, and the client’s been clear-if she drops it, we start from scratch. That means her design would never see the light of day. So I think,” Don said, looking at Ivan, “It’d be best if she took it on. She’s poured so much into it, and she really loves it. It’d be a shame to let it go.”
Ivan nodded, agreeing it would be a shame.
“But everyone’s got their own reasons. I’m just an outsider; it’s not my place to play messenger,” Ivan said, handing the portfolio back to Don.
Don pushed it back into his hands, “I’m not asking you to be a messenger, but she’s always had respect for you, right? Sometimes people get tunnel vision, need someone to give them a nudge.”
He paused, but couldn’t help adding, “To be honest, it’s a love thing. I think it’s foolish for a girl to give up her future over
romance.”
Ivan looked at Don, “A love thing?”
Don nodded, “I don’t have all the deets, but that’s the gist. It’s just regular grown-up stuff, breakups happen. It’d be a pity if she quit over that.”
Ivan agreed with a nod, “Definitely a pity.”
“I’ll give it a shot,” Ivan said, grabbing the design portfolio and whipping out his phone.
“You in?” Don asked, “Joining the company?”
“We’ll see. I’ll think it over.”
Don nodded on the spot, “Don’t think too long.”
Fingers itching on his phone, Don was dying to tell Brandon the good news-he’d snagged another genius for the company.
Ivan hadn’t said no outright, which, in Don’s book, was as good as a yes.
Brandon couldn’t dive into work mode like usual.
His eyes glazed over the emails before drifting back to the phone he had tossed aside.
He picked it up, opened WhatsApp, and stared at the friend request he had declined, silent.
Don’s question about what to do if Sophia really didn’t join the company popped into his head uninvited.
“Aren’t you going to push a little? It’d be such a waste to let go.”
Brandon turned his gaze away, peering into the vast night outside his window.
After a long moment, he looked back at his phone.
He scrolled through his contacts and found Cedric Archer’s number.
Mixing in the same circles, Brandon knew Cedric, who was Sophia’s college mentor.
Sophia owed a lot to Cedric for her success, and she had always held deep respect and gratitude for him.
Brandon dialed Cedric’s number, inviting him for lunch the next day.
Cedric and Brandon hadn’t caught up in ages, but he agreed to meet up.
After hanging up the phone, Brandon’s gaze drifted back to the friend request screen on WhatsApp. He had already hit the reject button on that request.
He stared at it for a moment in silence before backing out..
Brandon’s rejection was oddly a breath of fresh air for Sophia.
The system didn’t give any heads-up about the rejection, but with so much time having passed without approval, Sophia knew he
had turned her down.
She couldn’t exactly pin down her feelings, but her heart, which had been on a rollercoaster all night, finally seemed to settle down a bit.
She was torn between the fear of Brandon accepting and the fear of him not. She had been wrestling with herself all night long.
It wasn’t until this moment, when the dust had settled, that her hesitation had finally taken a back seat.
Sophia let out a long sigh of relief, stood up, and accidentally knocked over the hospital discharge summary that had been lying flat on the table all night.
The paper was already turning yellow.
Sophia glanced at it, picked it up and started to crumple it with the intention of throwing it away, but halfway through, she paused, looked down at it again, and decided to keep it. She then grabbed her phone and booked a flight back to Wye City for the morning after next.
