Unless that wasn’t true.
Suddenly feeling sick to my stomach, I took a step back from Madison, quietly adjusting my clothes as darkness cloaked us on all sides. Deep down, past my hatred for Brandon, I wanted Madison to be happy and successful. If she was better off working for Brandon, who could certainly pay her a good salary with his recent success, how was it my place to drag her away?
I wasn’t used to being so perceptive of other people’s feelings when it came to me being the loser in the end. I always wanted to win, but if I made Madison miss out on what could be the best opportunity for her, that wouldn’t feel like a win for me in the end.
“I’m guessing he offered you a good salary,” I commented as I tucked my dress shirt back into my slacks. He had taken quite a lot of money from me by stealing my clients. It was as if he would be paying her with money that he stole from me, which stung even more.
Madison remained silent for a few seconds before finally answering. “He said that he would pay me twice the amount that you would,” she said.
I scoffed and shook my head, biting back the colorful words that threatened to spill from me. Brandon was such a prick, and what made things worse was that he was fully aware of that. He got off on being a jerk and tearing people down, and he had managed to find another weak spot of mine.
“I bet he would. It would be worth the investment for him to have someone like you working for him,” I replied. She was sharp and creative, and her talents could help any company. Who was I to limit her opportunities when she had worked so hard to get to where she was?
“What are you talking about, Ty?” Madison sighed. The noise of rustling sounded in the darkness in front of me as she pulled her clothes back on.
Something about her using a nickname for me struck me deep in my chest. Just how close were we getting to each other? She was closer than most people, but that didn’t make me want to pull away. In fact, getting closer seemed more welcoming than anything else. However, that meant being honest, being open.
“Brandon and I have a lot of history,” I admitted to her, feeling my way around until I leaned against the conference table next to her. My arm brushed hers as we stood next to each other in the darkness, listening to each other’s voices and quiet breaths.
“Outside of just business?” Madison asked me.
I could feel her eyes on me through the darkness. I pushed my hand through my hair, taming the strands as a sigh broke from me. I didn’t expect to bring this up so soon, but she deserved to know. I literally dragged her off in a possessive rage because Brandon merely spoke to her.
“We used to be friends in college. Honestly… he was my best friend for a while there. We had similar goals. We had the same level of ambition. We wanted to go into business together,” I told her as I lowered my head slightly. I didn’t like reflecting on those years. Things seemed so hopeful and bright then because my best friend and I were so driven and in tune. The future was ours. Then, his true colors were revealed to me.
“What happened?” Madison asked.
“Well, we made this amazing business plan for this consulting company that we wanted to start together. We wanted to be the best in the city, in the entire state. We found supporters and connections. Everything was ready,” I said before shaking my head. “Then, he completely dropped me.”
“Dropped you? You came up with the idea together,” Madison replied, sounding shocked.
“He wanted all of the praise and success from the ideas that we came up with together. It’s not like I signed any sort of contract or anything yet, like an idiot. He took all of our ideas and started working on Odyssey,” I said as I gripped the edge of the table, tightening my hold as I spoke.
I should’ve seen that coming. I ignored it at the time because Brandon was my friend, but Brandon always had selfish tendencies. He wasn’t empathetic. He was more focused on himself than anyone else, but everyone in our group of friends chalked it up to him being incredibly ambitious like we all were. In the end, he used me for his own personal gain, and I was left looking like an idiot.
“But you were still successful,” Madison pointed out.
The corner of my mouth curled up faintly as I nodded. She had a point. Even if Brandon took our ideas, that didn’t mean that I couldn’t think up some more. I was well-connected without him, and my hatred for him and what he did to me was the ultimate driving force for me to get my own consulting firm up and running. I didn’t like some of his ideas anyway.