“Come in,” he said, not looking up from what he was doing.
Maybe it would be better if he didn’t look at me the entire time I’m here. It would be easier for me.
He looked up as I approached as if he could read my mind. A small smile spread across his face until his gaze darted to the paper in my hand. Then, the smile faded, and he sat back in his seat.
“I don’t suppose you want to rethink this,” Brandon said as he looked up at me. However, a warmth in his expression made me want to change my mind.
“This isn’t the place for me anymore. I don’t want to come to work every day and see you. It would hurt too much. So effective immediately, I’m done here.”
“Immediately?”
“I did a lot of thinking over the last week,” I said as I handed him the resignation letter. “And I’m going to stay in Silverlake for a little longer, but I won’t be working here while I do that.”
“Gina, I wish you would reconsider. I don’t want to see you throw away everything you’ve worked hard for.”
“I’m not throwing it away. But instead, I will find somewhere else where I can work for it. There are plenty of other real estate companies I can work for.”
“Are you sure?”
“Brandon, don’t ask me that. I’m not sure about this, but I’m doing what I think I must. So please just let me go.”
I dropped the letter on his desk and spun around before the first tears could fall.
As I left the office, I glanced at Mateo to see him watching me. He nodded once as I headed for my desk.
I didn’t know whether it made it better or worse that I had his support.
Mateo appeared at my side with an empty box. I opened the first drawer.
“He told me what happened,” Mateo said quietly as I packed my few personal belongings into the box. “I know this feels like hell right now, but both of you are doing the right thing.”
“I’m not sure I know what the right thing is,” I said as I put a framed picture of Amalia and I in the box. “And I sure as hell don’t think that the right thing is supposed to feel this horrible.”
“Give it time,” Mateo said as he lifted the box and followed me to my car. “You’re going to look back and know that you both did what was best for you.”
“Thank you,” I said as he loaded the box in the back of my car. “But when I look back at this, I’m going to know that we did what was best for other people, not us.”
His surprised look as I got in my car was almost worth the frustration of having that conversation.
Almost.
I sighed as I got behind the wheel and took one last look at the building I had spent months working in.
Though I would stay in Silverlake for a few more weeks, I still had to figure out my next step.
Right now, it didn’t look like Silverlake would be the home I thought it might be.