“Yep, honey, sure.”
She pushed open the door. His office was decked-out with pine furniture, making it bright, light, and spotlessly clean. Smooth and characterless. Matthew was engrossed in a spreadsheet on his computer, but Eleanor needed his full attention, so she loitered purposefully by the door.
Matthew got the hint and swivelled to face her in his leather chair. “I’m quite busy, Eleanor.”
“I know, but I need to talk to you.”
He absent-mindedly cracked his knuckles. “Can it wait ‘til dinner?”
She stepped towards him. “No.”
“What are we having for dinner by the way?”
“I’m going out for dinner.”
“Oh yeah? Who with?”
She stood squarely on the shiny laminate floor. “Joseph Quinlan.”
“Joseph? He told me he was sick”
“He is. He’s sick of you.”
“Ha ha, very funny.”
“Go ahead and laugh, but it’s true. He’s sick of you. And so am I.”
Matthew’s bland expression dropped to shock. “What are you talking about?”
“Look, Matthew, this was never going to be easy but I don’t love you anymore. You treat me like crap and I can’t be with you. I’ve made my decision tonight... I’ve packed a bag and I’m going to move into my own place. I’ll be back for the rest of my things tomorrow.”
His jaw fell open. “What the hell are you saying? You can’t do that!”
“Yes I can. And I am.”
“No you’re not, Eleanor. Stop this silly nonsense and go unpack. We belong together.”
“No we don’t.”
He held out his hands, as if trying to appeal to her common sense. “Is this because of that one stupid mistake I made?”
She scoffed. “You mean the mistake you made when you admitted to me you’d been cheating?”
“Yes... No! I mean the mistake was cheating.”
“But you’re still doing it, though, aren’t you?”
He ignored this direct question. “Eleanor, come on. We’ve been through so much together, you can’t pull out now.”
“Why not? I don’t love you. And you act as if you don’t love me.”
; “Of course I love you,” he hissed. “But I understand what’s going on here. You’ve used me to get into News Scape and now you think you can just throw me away? Well, I’m not letting you get away with this.”
She folded her arms across her chest. Oh really? And what do you plan to do?”
He faltered, opening and closing his mouth like dying fish. “I’ll… think of something.”