The Last Fireworks

For the first time ever since we got together, my boyfriend, Clarence Xenos, got angry with me because an eight-million-dollar company deal was ruined. In front of everyone, he belittled me and called me worthless. When we got home that night, he said in a cold corporate tone, “Work is work. There’s no ‘us’ in the office. You messed up, and that’s that.” An intern in our office, Naomi Smyth, texted me an apology. [Lucia, I’m so sorry. This was totally on me. But don’t worry, Clay got me a cupcake to cheer me up. It was actually pretty good. Do you want me to order one for you, too?] The next morning, Clarence habitually threw the breakfast I had prepared into the trash can. “How many times do I have to repeat myself? I don’t eat breakfast.” At work, my colleague, Zoey Thorpe, leaned in with a sly look and gossiped to me. “That new intern is so bold. She went up and talked to Mr. Xenos, and even bought him coffee and a sandwich. He not only ate them but also commented that they were delicious.” Whatever. I was beyond caring at that point. The person on my phone was still relentlessly trying to get me to be with him. [Look, if it doesn’t work out with him, I’m fine being the other guy. Just give me a chance, alright?] I pursed my lips and typed back. [There’s no need to be the other guy. You can just be my boyfriend.] Chapter 1 I had just submitted my resignation to the HR department when I was summoned into the office of my boyfriend, Clarence Xenos. The second I stepped in, coffee splashed all over me. The liquid hit with so much force that it stung like a slap across my face. It burned a little. Off to the side was Naomi, the new intern. She sat on the leather couch. Her eyes were swollen and red, looking absolutely pitiful. “Clarence, don’t be mad at Lucia. It’s my fault. I had a hand in messing up that deal too. “If anyone should go, it’s me, not her.” Clarence was absolutely livid. He rarely ever lost composure of his temper in such a manner. Once again, it was all because of Naomi Smyth. He asked furiously, “Are you seriously threatening to resign and put pressure on Omi? “As her supervisor, ruining the deal was your responsibility, to begin with. How could you even have the nerve to pin the blame on her? “Do you have any idea what people are saying about her around the office? They’re all saying she’s the troublesome intern who drove you out. Go out there right now and clear this up with everyone!” I thought he was reluctant to let me go because I had been his girlfriend for seven years. It turned out he was afraid that after I left, the company staff would look down on Naomi and make things difficult for her. Naomi kept sobbing. She pulled out a tissue, blew her nose, and casually tossed the crumpled, snot-stained tissue onto the other end of the sofa. Clarence frowned. He walked over, picked up the tissue, and threw it into the trash can. I froze for a moment. My heart tightened, followed by a growing pain. In the second year of my relationship with Clarence, we had watched a moving film together at home. I cried uncontrollably. My nose ran, and tears and mucus had streamed down my face. He had pushed me out of his embrace with disgust and said, “Sorry, I’m germophobic. Please go clean yourself up.” He then proceeded to go to the bathroom and scrubbed himself from head to toe at least three times. His expression looked as if he had just touched some kind of plague. I could not help but scoff. So, it turned out that he had been selectively germophobic. I looked at him with a profound gaze and said, “I’m quitting because I don’t want to work here anymore. That’s it.” Clarence did not believe me. “If that’s the case, why quit today of all days? It’s because you messed up that deal yesterday, isn’t it? “Lucia, if you try any of your petty tricks on Omi, don’t expect me to go easy on you just because of our shared history.” I sighed. Arguing with him no longer felt worth the effort. I was totally checked out. Chapter 2 He had been there when the deal fell through. We had already negotiated to the end, and the other party had agreed to our cooperation. Then, Naomi had burst in and insisted on toasting the CEO of the client company, Robert Lance. Robert had not even tried to hide his displeasure. She continued behaving as if she were completely oblivious. As a fresh intern, she was pushing Robert to have a drink with her. I could not fathom how she had the audacity. Robert became angry. I held her back and put on an apologetic smile to appease Robert. I told her to drink three glasses as a penalty for herself. She started crying loudly. “Lucia, why do you have to tear other women down? Why do you always have to push me into doing things I don’t want to do?” At that moment, Clarence’s expression had been extremely grim. I assumed his anger was over the deal that we had had in the bag, only to watch it fall apart at the last second. But his anger came from the fact that I had made Naomi apologize and drink those three penalty glasses. I was truly exhausted. “I’m not trying to start anything, Clarence. Let’s just break up.” I ignored his dark expression, packed up my things, and left the company. When I got home, I started packing my luggage again. The most annoying part about breakups was all the packing that entailed. It was going to take a while. As I dug through the drawers, my hand froze mid-motion. I pulled out a pair of red stockings that were not mine. The stockings were completely shredded. Clearly, things had grown a little spicy. I threw the stockings into the trash can, took a photo of them, and sent it to Clarence. He tried to explain himself in the messages, but I did not reply. Instead, I dialed another number. “Didn’t you say you want to be my boyfriend?” On the other end of the line, Ascher Grant screamed with excitement. He offered to come help me move my luggage, but I refused. If Clarence happened to run into him, I was afraid Clarence would beat him up. It was better to avoid unnecessary trouble. I had another apartment on the west side of the city. When the month’s bonus came through, I would be able to pay off the remaining loan on that place completely. I would finally have a home of my own. At that thought, my mood lightened considerably. Just then, the doorbell rang. I thought it was the mover. But when I opened the door, it was Clarence. I was startled for a moment and wondered if I was seeing things. Last year, when my appendicitis kicked in, I had almost passed out from the pain. I had called him and asked him to come take me to the hospital. His response had been inhumanly cold. “I’m at work, Lucia. You’re a grown adult. Can’t you even dial 911 yourself?” But just last week, Naomi had accidentally splashed warm water on her leg at the office and let out a yelp of pain. He had immediately scooped her up in front of everyone and drove her to the hospital himself. He never left work early for anyone except Naomi. She was his only exception. I never expected to be the one breaking his rules for once. He glanced at my packed suitcases. His voice carried a faint trace of panic. “What are you doing?! You’re pulling the breakup card just to make me cave, aren’t you? “I already explained to you that those stockings were Omi’s. She left them here by accident. “She got caught in the rain that day, so I had her come up for a cup of tea. Her stockings ripped, so she changed into another pair before she left.” I narrowed my eyes and tried to recall the events of that particular day. That was during my business trip two weeks prior. I had been overseas for work, and when I landed, it was storming. I asked him to pick me up, but he said that he was working overtime at the office and did not have time, so he told me to take a cab home by myself. When I got home, I saw the unfinished cup of tea on the coffee table. I thought he had specially prepared it for me. It turned out that I had picked up someone else’s leftover drink. Perhaps because he also thought of this incident, his expression turned somewhat awkward. “Don’t read too much into it.” I shook my head and remained calm as I responded, “I’m not reading into anything. It doesn’t even matter anymore.” His expression grew confused, and he stared at me for a long while. Chapter 3 After a long moment, his voice turned somewhat hoarse as he asked hesitantly, “Why aren’t you upset anymore?” So, he had known all along that I had been upset. But he had acted clueless about it all. Instead, he had always snapped at me, saying that I was petty, and that people who always assumed the worst in others were usually projecting. I was just about to tell him that I was moving out, when his phone rang. Naomi was sobbing on the other end of the line, saying that someone had bullied her. He glared at me furiously and sneered, “So, this is what you’ve been setting up all along. Lucia, you’re something else.” Before I could even figure out what was happening, he grabbed my wrist forcefully and pulled me into the car. I could smell ladies’ perfume inside the car. It was similar to the fragrance Naomi wore. A Labubu doll hung from the rearview mirror, which matched Naomi’s WhatsApp profile picture. I had not set foot in his car once ever since I started working at his company. He claimed that he did not want office gossip, so he never even let anyone know we were together. The space I had been barred from had long been occupied by someone else. I no longer felt that pang of hurt. I just felt a dull sense of inevitability, like I had always known that day would come. The moment we pulled up to the office, he grabbed me and hauled me out of the car. My ankle buckled as my heel twisted, and I fell to the floor. He pretended not to notice and sneered at me. “What’s with the act?” Then, he grabbed the back of my collar and dragged me into the office like trash, hauling me all the way to my old desk. By then, my wrists and knees were already raw and bleeding from the scrapes. I lay there on the floor, curled up like a beaten dog. He pulled Naomi protectively into his arms and warned the staff, “I don’t care who instigated the bullying of an intern. But last I checked, Lucia doesn’t run this company. “If you want to keep your job, you’d better show some respect.” Zoey’s face turned pale. She stood frozen in place. On the way over to the company, Zoey had already sent me a text message. After I left, Naomi was assigned to work under her. What could a lazy and slacking intern possibly accomplish? She even messed up the ordering of a meal for a client. Zoey had said a few words to Naomi about it, but Naomi immediately called Clarence to tattle. Naomi buried her head in Clarence’s chest. The two of them acted intimately as if no one else was around. “Clay, I don’t even know what I did wrong... I just noticed the client was a little heavyset, so I ordered him a diet meal. Then, Zoey scolded me out of nowhere.” Clarence patted her head and said he would stand up for her. He swept a cold glance over everyone in the room. “I know you’re all close with Lucia, and now that she’s leaving, you want to have her back. “But this is on her. She messed up, and she doesn’t have the guts to show her face around here anymore. Naomi had nothing to do with it.” Everyone’s face turned pale. They all understood the unspoken meaning behind his words. Helen Stacy, the person I had personally mentored, walked up to me. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly, whispered an apology, and then raised her hand to slap me across the face. Clarence stood there motionlessly and said briefly, “What about the rest of you?” Among them were people I had helped before, and also people who had once helped me. Blood trickled down from the corner of my mouth. My head was spinning, my eardrums were ringing, and my consciousness was beginning to grow hazy. Naomi snickered. “Clay, look at her. She’s like a pathetic punching bag.” His gaze was ice cold as he said ruthlessly, “Someone this manipulative doesn’t belong here. Simple as that.” Chapter 4 “Her resignation has been rejected. Effective immediately, she’s fired. Her bonus will be given to Naomi instead.” My eyes widened in shock. I was in disbelief. Anger washed over me as I shouted, “Clarence, that bonus is mine! I earned it. Who do you think you are?” According to company policy, the bonus amount was determined by the value of the projects each person secured. I was the one who negotiated business deals, drafted proposals, finalized agreements, and haggled with clients. I drank until the wee hours of the morning just to squeeze out one more percentage point. I needed that year-end bonus to pay off my mortgage. When I was a child, my parents divorced, and neither of them wanted me. They tossed me back and forth like a soccer ball. I was dumped at my uncle’s house, where my aunt hated me. She often threatened to throw me out if I did not behave. Because of that, even as an adult, I was deeply afraid of having nowhere to go. After I got together with Clarence, I clung to him desperately because I was terrified that he would kick me out as well. No matter where he went, I had to keep track of his every move. But even the hottest fire eventually burned out. Instead, I began to place my hopes on money. I wanted to buy a house of my own with that money, so that even if Clarence and I broke up and I was thrown out, I would still have a place to live. I worked to the bone to make money, and I finally managed to scrape together enough for a down payment. Over the years, I had pinched every penny to save and pay off the mortgage. The stress was immense. I was losing hair, and my hair had already started going gray. Clarence had witnessed my journey. He knew perfectly well how much I valued that year-end bonus. He said sarcastically, “Look, this is my company. You picked a fight with Omi. “You owe her, plain and simple.” All my words got stuck in my throat. A wave of nausea rolled through my stomach and climbed up my throat. He had casually given away over thirty thousand dollars in year-end bonus money to an intern who had done absolutely nothing. I gritted my teeth and endured the dizzying sensation as the security guards Clarence had called threw me out of the company. As soon as I left the building, he sent me a text message. [What happened today was your fault.] When I did not reply, he sent another one. [Fine, I may have gone overboard, but you didn’t cut Omi any slack either. She’s still an intern, and watching you calling the other employees to gang up on her like that made me angry.] [I’m heading to Franbia for a business trip tomorrow. That new bag you wanted will be launching there. I’ll buy it for you as an apology.] He did not know that Naomi had already flexed it all over her social media a minute ago. [I mentioned I wanted to see the Ardenois Tower, and suddenly, someone just had to schedule a business trip there and bring me along, of course. He’s such a good boy.] I blocked both of them on the spot. ... (3rd POV) A week later, Clarence finished his business trip. He felt a little guilty as he held a new designer bag in his hand. He had originally planned to be away for only three days. However, Naomi kept dragging him from one shop to another, and before he realized it, he had forgotten to send Lucia a single message to keep her in the loop. He came back that day specifically to surprise Lucia. The thought of her waiting for him at home warmed his heart. His steps quickened with eagerness to return. When he pushed open the front door, he called out Lucia’s name a couple of times. But no one answered. The suitcases that she had packed last time were also gone. All her belongings had also disappeared. His stomach dropped, and his face turned ashen as an awful realization started to dawn on him. Chapter 5 He started to panic. “No way...” He knew how much Lucia cared about him. Over the past few years, she had brought up the topic of marriage more than once. If a woman was the one initiating the conversation about getting married, that meant she had already decided that he was the one for life. So, Clarence had always assumed that she would always stay by his side. He never once worried about losing her. He figured that all he had to do was say the word, and she would drop everything and race him to the city hall without a second thought. Where else could she even go? She had long cut off contact with her parents. She only occasionally kept in touch with her uncle, but she knew her aunt did not want to see her, so there was no way she would go to her uncle’s place. What about that small apartment she had bought with her own savings? His eyes lit up for a moment. He quickly grabbed his bag and drove toward the west side of the city. When he arrived at the west side, he stopped in his tracks. He had no idea where exactly the apartment that she had bought was. He became frustrated. He had never expected her to actually move into that small place, so he had never bothered to remember the location of that apartment. When she had asked for his opinion on buying the place, he had only glanced at the papers and said he did not know. As a result, he had no way to even find out where that apartment was. While driving, he realized she had blocked him on WhatsApp. He had no idea when she had done so. He had not sent her a single message for the entire week. Had she simply blocked him out of jealousy? He was not sure. He took out his phone and called her. To his surprise, the operator’s voice on the other end of the line completely threw him into a panic. He never would have dreamed that she would actually block him on every single contact method. He then recalled her calm expression in the office that day when she had broken up with him. Only then did he realize that she had been serious. His heart tightened, and suddenly, he could not breathe. He clutched his chest, dropped to the floor, and gasped for air. “Lucia...” His phone rang just as he was about to ask someone to find out where Lucia’s new apartment was. Ascher’s voice came through the earpiece. He said smugly, “Clarence, I’m getting engaged. My girl just said yes. “We’re having a party tonight to celebrate. You should come.” Clarence’s head throbbed with a sharp, pounding pain. He could hear the gleeful bravado in Ascher’s words. He was in no mood to attend any engagement party. “I’ve got something going on, I can’t—” To his surprise, Ascher seemed to have guessed what he was thinking. Ascher cut him off, saying, “No excuses. You have to be there. “Wait, are you looking for someone? Just come, I’ll help you find them.” Clarence ignored the sensation of unease and accepted Ascher’s invitation. He was not very close with Ascher. They had simply been course mates in college. He did not know why Ascher was insisting on inviting him to some engagement party. However, he knew that Ascher was the youngest son of the Grant family and had access to plenty of resources, which meant finding someone should be easy for him. That evening, Clarence planned to attend the party alone. Naomi, however, somehow learned about it and insisted on coming along. After some thought, he agreed to take her. ... (1st POV) I found it amusing to watch Ascher strut around like a peacock, changing into five or six different suits in front of me. “Which one looks good?” After pondering for a moment, I asked, “Why do you have to invite Clarence?” He looked flustered, then quickly walked over and took my hand. “So, you found out. “Are you mad? I was just very excited...” I shook my head, smiled, and hooked my arm through his as we headed out. The second we stepped into the light, I felt eyes boring into me. I turned and saw Clarence trembling. His face, drained of color under the lamps, made him look like he had just seen a ghost.