She had just indicated I would be reluctant to leave her exceptional son when it was time to put an end to our relationship.
In spite of being irked by Josephine’s reply, I had to keep my emotions to myself since he was Michael’s mother.
I looked at her in the eyes and asserted, “You don’t have to worry, Mrs. Shaw. I’ll stay away from Michael as soon as he severs ties with me. I’m just a country bumkin, but I’m at least capable of honoring my promises.”
Michael was the only man I had in mind. However, I would stop getting in his way when everything was over. That was the least I could do to protect my little to none dignity.
Josephine was gratified by my promise. She beamed in satisfaction and complimented, “Ms. Garcia, you’re a good woman. I believe you’ll get yourself a better half in the future.”
She started being courteous with me as soon as I promised her to stay away from Michael once everything was over. No way someone from the upper echelon would sincerely compliment a country bumkin.
“Thanks! If there’s nothing else, allow me to excuse myself!”
Throughout the conversation we had, Josephine managed to carry herself in a courteous manner. However, I couldn’t stand being anywhere near her when I recalled she was there to drive me apart from Michael. Unsure of the proper way to carry on with the conversation, I thought it was about time to leave.
Josephine didn’t bother to stop me. When I was about to leave, she repeated herself, “Alright, Ms. Garcia! I hope you’ll honor your promise when the time comes!”
Once again, my eyes flickered. Her reminder had got to me, but I put on a strong front and asserted, “I’ll keep that in mind, but please deal with Michael on my behalf.”
I had brought up countless requests to put an end to our relationship, but Michael wouldn’t hesitate to turn me down. Therefore, it was better to send Josephine to deal with Michael.
“You don’t have to worry. I have faith Michael will make the right call when the situation calls for it.”
She reassured me things would turn out just fine at the end of the day. To be precise, she had just indicated Michael would listen to her because I was just a nobody.
Afraid I would let loose of myself in front of her, I nodded and strode my way out of the café as soon as possible.
Josephine had made herself clear she would never accept me as Michael’s better half. It was then I stopped getting my hopes high as things would never work out between Michael and me.
It wasn’t much of a surprise as I had long foreseen it happening. However, it still hurt in spite of getting myself prepared ever since the day we got into a relationship.
Afraid of the things awaiting me, I started wandering the streets after departing from the café. I lost myself in a train of thoughts and imagined how things would turn out differently if we were in a serious relationship.
Nonetheless, that would remain an imagination. Most of the members of the upper echelon would end up in a political marriage for their family’s sake. As I couldn’t be of much aid to Michael and his family, things would never work out between us.
I soon made my way back to Birchwood. However, Michael was nowhere to be seen yet. I started surveying the surroundings of the place where we spent most of our time together.
No matter how much I was against the idea, I would have to make the call for our sake. Otherwise, we would both end up miserably should things remain as they had always been.
After returning to my bedroom, I started packing my stuff. I was determined to leave the place after bidding farewell to Michael when he was back.
I had a hard time gathering my thoughts while packing my stuff. The one thing I could be certain of was I would be upset to leave the place.
All of a sudden, someone opened the door from outside. I thought it must be Michael. Immediately after I zipped my suitcase, I rushed in the direction of the living room.
Michael, who seemed to be exhausted, glanced at me and took a seat on the couch in silence.
I felt bad on his behalf as he seemed to have a long day again. Although he was the CEO of the company, there were a lot of things on his plate that would require his attention.
Standing in front of the exhausted man, I hesitated and thought it wouldn’t be wise to bring up the topic to put an end to our relationship. However, when I recalled his mother’s harsh remarks, I knew I couldn’t afford to drag it on any longer.
In the end, after making up my mind, I looked at him in the eyes and asserted, “Michael, I have something to tell you.”
Michael furrowed his brows and asked, “What is it about?”
I looked elsewhere to avoid his gaze when I caught him looking in my direction. All of a sudden, I was tongue-tied.
He had no intention to get to the bottom of it since I started stuttering. After he took another peek at me, he instructed, “I’m hungry. If there’s nothing else, hurry up and go get dinner ready.”
After standing in front of him in silence for a few minutes, I braced myself and denoted, “Michael, it’s about time for me to leave.”
He turned around and had his eyes glued to me in shock. Without a doubt, he was startled by the things I had brought up out of the blue.
He jolted up from the couch and raised his volume against me. His wrath was written all over his scrunched-up face.
“What did you just say? Say it again!”
As he started emanating an intimidating presence and confronted me, I lowered my gaze and repeated, “It’s about time for me to leave.”
My heart wouldn’t stop racing, but that hadn’t stopped me from honoring the promise I had with Josephine.
His expression darkened within a few seconds. Gritting his teeth in an attempt to suppress his wrath, he gasped out his reply, “Anna, have I not mentioned you’re not in a position to bring that up?”
I was afraid he would take things out on me, but I couldn’t care less since Josephine had indicated she wanted me to stay away from her son. She would deem me a shameless woman should I continue staying in touch with him.
I mustered my courage and looked at him in the eyes. “Your mother came to see me today.”
“What?” he asked in a callous tone with his eyes flickering in bewilderment.
“She asked me out for a cup of coffee with her and told me Emma was your only designated better half. Therefore, she wanted me to stay away from you and stop meddling with your relationship with Emma. I-”
I left the rest of my sentence unfinished, but I was certain Michael had figured out the reason I brought up the request to sever ties with him out of the blue.
