Chapter 10 - GO HOME
One year after the anniversary, Mason returned to the same resort.
Not because he was sentimental.
Because Hartley Consulting held its annual leadership retreat there and Derek thought avoiding the place would give it too much power.
Mason almost canceled.
Then went.
The receptionist, Elena, recognized him.
Her eyes widened.
“Mr. Hartley.”
He smiled.
“Hi.”
She looked nervous.
“I remember…”
“So do I.”
She glanced at his luggage.
“One room?”
“One.”
“No wife?”
“No wife.”
The question no longer hurt.
That surprised him.
Elena checked him in.
Then smiled carefully.
“Welcome back.”
Mason took the key card.
This one worked.
He walked out toward the beach at sunset.
Same water.
Same white loungers.
Different life.
A tour group was returning from the reef.
For half a second, Mason thought he saw Zayn.
It wasn’t him.
He laughed at himself.
Then sat near the surf.
He remembered Talia saying:
If you’re jealous, go home.
At the time, she meant:
Disappear.
Make this easier for me.
Remove yourself from the scene so I don’t have to confront what I’m doing.
Mason had gone home.
And in doing so, he found everything she had expected him not to look at.
The charges.
The debt.
The line of credit.
The affair.
The manipulation.
The signature package.
Sometimes leaving is surrender.
Sometimes leaving is refusing to continue standing inside somebody else’s disrespect.
He finally understood that difference.
His phone buzzed.
A message from Derek.
Dinner in 20. Don’t disappear into your feelings. We have lobster.
Mason laughed.
On my way.
He stood.
Then looked once more at the sea.
One year earlier, he had nearly called his wife a word he would have regretted forever.
Tell that whore...
He never finished it.
Now he was glad.
Talia had betrayed him.
Used him.
Humiliated him.
She had been cruel.
She had also been more complicated than the ugliest word he could have thrown at her in rage.
Mason did not need to reduce her to leave her.
That became one of the quieter victories.
He turned back toward the resort.
The lights had come on along the path.
The evening was warm.
His room was his.
His money was his to choose with.
His company was protected.
His life no longer depended on someone else deciding when he was useful.
Talia had told him to go home.
May you like
So he did.
And eventually, home became the place where he stopped waiting for her to come back.
