Time Thief

Chapter One

I practically bled out for Jason to nail that Miller contract.

But one phone call later, he bailed on my tipsy self.

Said he had to pick up Tiffany, his childhood sweetheart, from school.

Later that night, there she was, flaunting a pic of Jason washing dishes for her, captioned: “Love means ditching million-dollar deals for me.”

Everyone was practically waiting to see me crack.

But I didn’t flip. I just hit “like” on her post and commented: “That’s true love right there. You guys better get hitched!”

1.

To help Jason land the Miller deal, I choked down one shot after another, even though my stomach was screaming.

The client finally mumbled something about “maybe” working with us.

I forced a smile at Jason, but he was frowning, glued to his phone.

Then, without a word, he just stood up.

“I gotta go,” he said.

No explanation, just grabbed his coat and booked it.

Leaving the client looking like he’d swallowed a lemon and me feeling like crap.

The guy was pissed, immediately pulled the plug on the deal.

I was all apologies and yes-sir-ing, letting him pour more booze down my throat until I was spinning.

When his hand started creeping around my waist, I almost told him where to stick it.

But then I opened my mouth and just… spewed blood.

He freaked and ran out of the restaurant, leaving me alone, barely conscious, dialing 911.

2.

At the hospital, the doc chewed me out for being reckless, saying I was practically begging to die, drinking with a bleeding ulcer.

No wonder my stomach had been acting up.

“Gotta call family, get you prepped for an endoscopy, full anesthesia.”

“If it’s bad, you’re looking at surgery.”

I pulled out my phone to call Jason, but then I saw Tiffany’s Instagram story.

Jason, in a fancy suit, looking all Mr. Wonderful, washing her hands at the kitchen sink.

Caption read: “Love means ditching million-dollar deals for me.”

Turns out Jason’s sudden disappearing act was to pick up his little Tiffany from school.

And screw all our hard work in the process.

At that moment, my heart hurt worse than my stomach.

I called him, we had a massive fight.

Jason’s response?

“Tiffany gets scared walking home alone after school, okay? What else was I supposed to do?”

“Can you just not be so dramatic for once? I didn’t do anything.”

Then he hung up and blocked my number.

The nurse next to me gave me this pitying look.

Since it was an emergency, I had to sign the forms, get knocked out, and go through the endoscopy all by myself.

During the procedure, I had a bad reaction to the anesthesia, things got dicey, and I lost consciousness.

If they hadn’t caught it in time, I might not have made it through the night.

Afterward, the nurse felt bad for me and took extra good care of me.

She dropped hints about needing to choose a guy who actually gives a damn.

Her words, mixed with all those years of holding it in, finally broke me. I just sobbed in her arms.

It was like all that pent-up frustration just washed away.

The day before I checked out, Jason called.

“Heard you were in the hospital. You okay?”

“Yeah, fine.”

“Oh, I’ll pick you up tomorrow.”

I said I could manage, but he insisted.

I knew what he was doing – throwing me a bone.

Every time we fought, Jason would block me, ignore me, then wait for me to cool off before offering some lame apology.

And every time, I’d be so relieved and grateful, I’d jump at the chance to forgive him, pretending the problem never existed.

But after nearly dying, I realized I just didn’t care anymore about his apologies.

I just hung up and slept like a baby.

3.

Next day, I waited around all morning, but no Jason.

Finally, I just grabbed a cab and went home, crashing on the couch.

I woke up to my phone ringing, saw it was already eight pm.

The house was dark, Jason still wasn’t home.

It was Jason’s half-sister, Brianna, calling:

“Feeling better?”

“Thanks.”

I actually meant it.

The night I passed out, 911 hadn’t even been dialed yet.

If Brianna hadn’t found me and gotten me to the hospital, I probably wouldn’t be here.

All those years Jason and Brianna had been at each other’s throats, we barely spoke.

But in the end, it was my enemy, a rival businesswoman, who saved my life.

While my so-called loving boyfriend was out playing knight-in-shining-armor for his Tiffany.

Brianna’s loud, confident voice chuckled:

“Don’t mention it.”

“Mia, you’re smart, you’re driven.”

“Come work for me.”

She offered me a killer salary, but I was done getting dragged into their family drama.

Then she said something I couldn’t ignore.

“I’ll think about it.”

Brianna sounded pleased:

“That’s what I like to hear.”

“The position’s based overseas, so make sure you pass the language exam.”

4.

I’d barely hung up when I heard the door open.

Jason rushed in, looking panicked.

“Your phone’s been busy, what’s going on?”

I glanced down, realized I’d been talking to Brianna for an hour.

Longer than I’d spoken to Jason in a month.

“Oh, just busy.”

I put my phone down and got up to make some soup.

Jason looked annoyed.

“Why didn’t you wait? I was coming to get you.”

I was confused. I waited for hours, wasn’t he the one who didn’t show up? Did he expect me to drag my sick ass out of bed and wait until midnight?

But then I remembered, that’s exactly what I used to do. Even if it meant waiting all night.

Maybe I looked too calm, because Jason seemed thrown off.

He tried to explain:

“Tiffany failed her senior thesis, she wasn’t feeling great.”

“I didn’t want her to do anything dumb, so I stayed with her.”

I nodded.

“That sucks, yeah, you should stick around.”

And I kept washing the rice.

The doctor said rice soup was good for my stomach, I was planning on having a couple of bowls.

Jason was clearly thrown by my lack of yelling and screaming. He grabbed my arm.

“Can you just talk normal? Stop being passive aggressive.”

“I’m not falling for that act.”

I looked at him, confused.

“What act?”

“You guys are close, you should take care of her.”

Jason was usually so quick-witted, but now he was struggling to get a word out.

“You…”

He gave up, “Fine, I’ll just order something to eat.”

“You wanna eat something?”

I just laughed.

“I am making soup”

“You wanna eat something, order for yourself.”

Jason stared at me, stunned.

“Whatever, I’m taking Tiffany out for dinner.”

And he grabbed his jacket and slammed the door.

Before, those words would have left me sick with anxiety.

Now, I just tossed a handful of dates into the pot to help replace lost blood.

Jason didn’t come home that night.

I knew he was trying to make me apologize, like always.

The person who loves more, is always more humble.

A friend once said I was like Jason’s kite, he could do whatever he wanted.

But that night, I didn’t feel bad at all. I actually slept better because I got the whole bed to myself.

5.

Once I was feeling better, I went back to work.

Jason and I went to college together, and after we got together, I started working at Miller Corps with him.

I worked my way up from the bottom, becoming a department manager, all to help him make his mark in the company.

I walked into my office, and someone was already sitting in my chair.

Tiffany looked up, surprised.

“Oh, hey, Mia, what’s up?”

Then she glared at the secretary who followed me in, saying:

“Why didn’t you knock before you let her in?”

It was pretty funny, considering I had never seen anyone knock before they entered MY office.

The secretary looked embarrassed and whispered:

“Ms. Miller told me to let Tiffany sit in your office, Manager Mia.”

I nodded.

“Alright, I’ll just grab my stuff.”

My “stuff” was just some confidential project files.

But Tiffany stopped me.

“I don’t know, Mia, is that such a good idea?”

“What if those files get leaked? Who’s gonna take responsibility?”

I looked at her and she stared back.

I didn’t like Tiffany, she always played the damsel in distress, stealing Jason away from me.

Every single fight of our seven-year relationship was because of her.

No matter what happened, Jason always protected her, against me.

A while back, Jason and I went camping, and Tiffany tagged along.

She brought her dog, too.

I’m scared of dogs because I got bit as a kid, but Tiffany kept letting her dog run around me.

The dog jumped on me, so I screamed and told her to get the dog away.

She started crying and Jason accused me of being heartless, even to a dog.

Later, the dog went crazy, and Jason jumped in to protect Tiffany.

I got bit, again, and still have a scar on my leg.

I used to resent Tiffany for always pushing in between us.

But now I see it. Jason’s lack of boundaries gave her the strength to do whatever she wanted.

6.

While we were arguing, Jason walked in.

Tiffany immediately jumped up, wrapping her arms around him.

“Did you forget to tell Mia you gave me her office, Jay?”

I looked at Jason, and for a split second he looked unsure.

But mostly he just looked like he was trying to intimidate me.

He knew how much I’d sacrificed to get where I was, but now he was using it to force me to back down.

He was the man I spent every day with.

I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d ever really known him at all.

Before, the second Tiffany grabbed his arm, I would have freaked.

Nevermind getting my office stolen.

But now, I didn’t feel anything, no sadness, no anger.

And I made my mind up for sure.

Jason patted Tiffany on the head.

“Tiffany’s interning here for the summer.”

“Your office has a better view, so she can use it.”

“Unless you’ve got a problem with that…”

I shrugged and cut him off.

“No problem.”

“So, is she gonna get my job, too?

“If so, HR needs to fill out some paperwork…”

Jason kicked a trash can across the room.

“That’s enough!”

Tiffany jumped back, startled.

“Mia, you’re unbelievable.”

“If you don’t want this job, I’ll find someone who does.”

He turned around and stormed out.

Tiffany smirked at me.

“It’s time to get to work, Mia.”

“Please leave MY office.”

She emphasized “my” so I wouldn’t miss it.

She was trying to make me lose my cool, but I was unfazed.

I sat down at an empty desk, where the secretary told me to sit.

Jason must have put the word out because nobody would talk to me.

They didn’t give me any work to do, just pretended I didn’t exist.

I just sat there all day, drinking herbal tea and studying for the language test, still getting paid. It was actually pretty nice.

6.

Lately, I had been getting to bed early, getting up early, and studying for my exam.

I was actually pretty fulfilled.

Jason was always getting home late, and we barely talked.

Then, one day, Jason stopped me.

“I made reservations, wanna go out to dinner tonight?”

“It’s your birthday.”

I looked at my phone, realized it was.

At first, I wanted to say no.

I was supposed to have a lesson with my language tutor, and I didn’t want to waste my time.

But I shrugged and said yes.

When I got to the restaurant, Jason wasn’t there, so I pulled out my textbook and started studying.

When I finished three practice tests, Jason still wasn’t there.

I ordered my food, since I’d been using my brain all day, and I was starving. I ate by myself and enjoyed it.

I sang “Happy Birthday” to myself and blew out the candles.

“I hope he recovers soon.”

“And I hope I pass the exam.”

I thought about all those times Jason had stood me up and I’d been so upset I couldn’t eat for days. I was way too hard on myself.

After dinner, I decided to walk home, but then Jason drove up.

He saw me and finally remembered about the date.

“I’m sorry, I…”

Before he could finish, Tiffany rolled down the passenger-side window.

“Sorry, Mia.”

“But Jason had to hang out with me, so we missed your birthday.”