Billion Dollar Chance - Linnea May Page 0,5

the government these days, she must have looked at the list of attendees that was clipped to the schedule. She’s dutiful like that.

I was determined to avoid her emerald eyes from the moment I spotted her at the table. I kept my head down, focused on controlling my own emotional turmoil and the way it may reflect on my facial expression. But when awkward silence cloaked the room after Ella was—repeatedly—asked to speak, I could feel her eyes on me, the weight of her gaze increasing with every second that passed. Instead of doing what was expected of her, Ella’s full focus was on me, the ex she left behind to pursue a dream that brought her here—right back to me.

Our eyes never met, but I know she was staring at me during that painfully long silence when everyone was waiting for her to speak. And when she didn’t make a move, the middle-aged lady sitting next to her took over and started the presentation as if nothing ever happened. I’m pretty sure her name is Mrs. Glenn, and from the looks of it, she’s Ella’s direct boss. Her eyes followed Ella as she fled out of the room right after the meeting, a blend of indignation and disappointment lacing her features. But she didn’t follow her. Instead, she turned to Mr. Kent, possibly trying to get him to push back the deadline we gave her team to incorporate the changes we need to see in their draft.

Most attendees are still here, engaging in pointless small talk or pleasantries to prolong the time before they have to get back behind their desks. Not a single one of them paid attention to the cute little redhead who stormed out in fear after disgracing herself in front of the entire room.

No one but me.

I make my way to the door, before anyone can wrap me up in a superfluous conversation, and turn left, the same direction Ella took when she disappeared. The elevators down to the ground floor are in this direction, but so are the bathrooms. There’s a good chance that she sought refuge in a bathroom stall, tending to her wounds until she dares to sneak out of the building without having to face anyone who bore witness to her humiliation. A lot of people would do just that in her situation.

But I know Ella better than that. She doesn’t hide from pain—she runs from it.

Leaving the bathroom behind, I head straight for the elevator, my legs moving as if independent from my body.

What am I doing? Why am I running after her?

What’s the plan here, Gabriel?

I don’t know what my fucking plan is, but I know I have to talk to her. I refused to look at her during the meeting because I couldn’t stand the idea of a silent exchange between us. I was afraid to find something on her face that would vault me back to that horrific ache she left me with all those years ago.

And what if I saw pity in her eyes? The slightest hint of pity in her expression could have been enough for me to detonate—and take the whole room down with me.

I reach the elevator just in time to watch it close. I couldn’t see who was inside, but the red arrow above the door indicates that they’re moving down. It’s only two floors. I could run. The stairs are right there, next to the elevator.

My body moves before my mind expresses a clear decision. I bolt toward the dark and uninviting staircase, which I wouldn’t even consider under normal circumstances. Taking the stairs feels beneath me. It feels like I’m intruding a dim and foreign space that’s as far from my own reality in life as it can be. The uncomfortable feeling of misplacement gnaws at me as I rush down the stairs, still unsure what exactly it is I am doing here.

The boys would hate this, Logan especially. He never let a chance pass to express how little he thinks of Ella, back then and throughout the years, every time her name came up. He would slap me left and right if he could see me right now, running after a girl who—according to him—is nothing but a seductive distraction that’s holding me back.

Funnily enough, that’s exactly how Ella must have seen me back then. No wonder it was so easy for her to leave.

I never tried to convince her to stay. I let her go. It was the