BROKEN

I was so troubled by the outcome of the meeting. I was sitting on my chair, arms on the desk, elbow erected that my chin rested on my folded palms.I might have just ruined the only chance I have of getting the company out of this present upheaval, I should have turned down Bianca's offer when I had the chance, now am paying for my actions. I needed to understand what I was dealing with, I quickly reached out to my personal computer and engaged the search engine, I typed in the name "Jones Empire" and Bianca's voice echos in my head..."That's Bryan Jones.... he's the only heir to the Jones's empire.... he's like the most powerful figure in the business world at the moment"I cringed at the thoughts, if bianca was right.....my life might probably be hanging on a cliff right now...I read through the bio of the company as fast as I could.....my eyes widen at every shocking discovery I made....I had messed with the wrong person turns out although Bryan Jones didn't wield full control of the company at the moment, he has some sort veto power to override his grandfather's decisions, he wasn't bluffing.I closed my eyes in disbelief and settled back in my seat face upward.

"Miss Collins...you have a visitor!" cherry voice rang through my head.

"Not now cherry" I sighed, running my hands through my hair.

"But--"

" I SAID AM BUSY!!!" I snapped at cherry persistence, sitting up angrily to face the door, my anger melted away as soon as my eyes fell on who was standing beside her, I stood up shocked. I wasn't expecting him at the moment matter of fact, I wasn't expecting him in a long time considering the fact that our last encounter wasn't all pleasant.

"Tim" I called out though it sounded more like a whisper, he smiles at me and walked in.

"Give us a moment, will you please cherry?" he smiles calmly as cherry obediently adhered, closing the door behind her.

"I'm...I'm sorry, Tim---" I stuttered.

"I heard about the fire outbreak yesterday...I was so worried." he sounded concerned and I just couldn't take the pressure anymore I walked towards him and threw myself into his arms and he embraced me tightly. I needed it, things were slowly seeping out of my control and there's no one I could talk to.

"I'm so tired of all these Tim... I have been so alone"My arm tighten around him and he rests his chin on my shoulder, he nuzzled his face in my neck and took a deep breath.

"I hate that you have to go through all of this and you gave me no opportunity to help you" he whispered in my ear and I suddenly felt uncomfortable, trying to decrypt his words.

"What do you mean I gave you no opportunity to help" I released myself from his grip and took a step back flashing him a questioning look, he sighs visibly.

"Look Flora, I have your best interest at heart, My offer is still wide open, you don't have to waste your entire being serving your parents...just look at you, you haven't experienced a single moment of peace since you took over this company.... don't misunderstand me Flora..... I believe in your potentials and what you have to offer but this...." he gestures his hand around the office , "...isn't meant for you Flora, you're just living another person's dream" he concluded and I scoffed.

"Really... right now??.....I thought we were over this issue already.....we don't need to negotiate anymore on this issue Tim....I won't sell this company to you even if selling it gives me the millions of comfort I desire....." I walked back to my desk and folded my arms ".....this isn't what I need to hear right now..... especially from you....I have a lot of things going on right now that I want to discuss with you and here you are driven by an unexplainable greed for my family's company." I shot at him scoffing in disbelief, Tim let's out a loud laughter and I felt my heart shatter into pieces, his actions weren't like that of the Tim I knew before, the Tim I knew before would have approached me to try to persuade me calmly but now, he was different, I could see it in his eyes.

"Me ...driven by greed...I have given everything for us Flora...and when it's your turn to give something for us.....I suddenly become the greedy one" he yells placing his hand by his waist.

"I don't understand what's going on anymore Tim... since when does the company have anything to do with what's going on with us?" I queried uncertain of how to handle this new Tim.

"Since....ever Flora, you always give all your attention and time to every other thing except me..... except us" he replies, a little emotion visible in his voice.

"Are you jealous of the company?" My voice cracked at the ludicrousness of the questions I had just asked and Tim lets out a frustrating sigh.

"it's not like that Flora...I'm not jealous of the company, that's just ridiculous,....the thing is that you haven't giving your all for me...for us " he moves closer to me lowering his voice.

"I haven't given my all for you---?" I repeated what he had said, my face distorted in disbelief, " I was there for you when you didn't want to go to your father's, and just because this last couple of months has being extremely demanding I suddenly become the one who's being lacking" I said feeling betrayed.

"Flora....we can fix things between us, letting go of the company will just be a step heading in the right direction... Think about it Flora ...you and I know darn well you don't want this job and company.... you're here because of your parents...why don't you stop caring too much about them and start thinking about yourself" He places his hands on my shoulders and his stares deep into my eyes and there he was again....the Tim I knew.....the Tim I loved.

"But...but why Tim?....you know how much this company means to me and my family" I replied feeling all energy draining within me, I'm still a bit shaken up about standing toe to toe with Bryan Jones now just barely 2 hours later I'm fighting a similar battle with Tim, but Tim is different compared to Bryan Jones, Tim is my everything....hearing this heartbreaking and discouraging words from him hits me in ways unimaginable and the fact that he is oblivious of that makes it worse.

"No Flora...I know you, I know that this company doesn't mean a lot to you, you're doing this for your parents but you have to stop it Flora...you have to" he rubs my shoulders together again and after staring for a while into his eyes...I realized Tim was different again, he was hiding something from me... something he was sure I wouldn't like to hear.

"I won't sell this company Tim, Not now Not ever" i whispered to his face, Tim scoffs and backs away from me, he places his hands in the pocket of his black jean.

"You don't have to go through this Flora" he says after stopping just halfway to the door.

"What do you mean?" I questioned.

"You are not ready for what's to Come" he said again, his voice sounding deep and gloomy.

"Are you threatening me Tim?" I asked feeling eyes well up with tears.

"You have chosen a side whether you realize it or not...you took your stand already... you're alone in this" he said again ignoring my questions.

"What are you talking about Tim?" My voice cracked, and a single tear dropped from my eyes, I was already feeling alone and now that I was hearing it from someone I love and care about so much.....I feel like life was slowly draining out of my vein.

"The problem is you're trying so much to be there for everybody Flora ...." Tim voice cracked too, his eyes became red "-- you fail to see the big picture...you can't be the next Fionna Collins, you can't even be yourself Flora and yet you're trying so hard to be another person" he finished and by this time tears were already flowing streaming down from my eyes and I was sobbing like a child.

"Why are you saying those hurtful words to me Tim..... you are hurting me" I sniffed trying to supress the pain I was feeling at the moment but it was all futile, I was crying so hard I could feel my face already heated up.

"It's over Flora... we're done!" he sighs silently and turned his back from me avoiding eyes contact with me.....I couldn't believe what I had just heard, after taking a while to compose himself, he walked out without even looking back at me, I fell to my knees and cried shamelessly.....all the emotions that had been piling up for the past couple of months finally erupted and I couldn't hold back the tears any longer.

"Oh my gosh Flora...what happened" I heard cherry gasp from the door, she shuts the door, ran towards me, bent down to embraced me, I cried the more as I hugged her back tightly.

"You were right Cherry....Tim broke...up with me" I sobbed in her arms and she gently rubs my back trying to calm me down.

"I know Flora...I'm sorry Flora...I heard everything....you did nothing wrong Flora.....why are you crying?" she releases me from her tight hug to stare at my face, her eyes were wet too underneath her glasses "You did nothing wrong...it isn't your fault?" she said sniffing.

"I know...but...but.....I still love him" I cried out and cherry pulled me back into her hug.

"Oh please no!" she whispers in my ear and continues to pat my back but this time she had also joined me in shedding tears.

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Author here,....hi guys hope y'all enjoying the story, thanks for the reviews and collections, this is for you guys(•‿•).