Page 97 of Dan.
For one brilliant second, I think that he is going to agree with me. Dad searches my face slowly, and he doesn’t look angry when he does, just thoughtful. But then, his expression shutters and he shakes his head once. “Get out, Elise,” he tells me, voice like cold iron. “Get out and don’t say another word.”
So that’s how it’s going to be. My stomach drops to the ground, devastated. This is my dad, the man who raised me, who I love so much, and he’s going to take Karl’s side over mine. I can’t believe it… but at the same time, it seems so obvious that this is the way things were always going to go.
Wordless, I stand, gathering my things as I walk out of the room with my head held high. I’m not going to let Dad see me cry, even if I really, really want to. Not when he’s broken my heart so callously like this.
If I thought the walk to the boardroom earlier was long and lonely, it feels like I’m on another planet now. All the voices around me sound muffled, and if anyone calls my name or tries to speak to me, I don’t hear them.
I go back to my desk, trying to call Dan but his number is still blocked. Angry and desperate, I call it again and again, but of course, the result is the same. In a moment of embarrassing weakness, I pick up the office phone and call his number, hope surging in me when it rings a few times, but Dan sends the call to voicemail, and when I try from the work phone a second time, it too is blocked.
“Fuck you, Dan,” I whisper, dashing tears away. “I really need you right now, you asshole.”
With nothing else to do, I settle back into my computer chair and turn the desktop back on. It seems asinine to try and finish the day out, but there’s nothing else to be done about it. So without a single ounce of motivation, I work at a snail’s pace for a few hours until it’s time to go home.
The minutes finally drag by enough that it’s time for me to leave, and I rush out of the building, wanting to avoid my father at all costs. I had the foresight to call my driver a few minutes before I was actually outside, so I’m able to go straight from the front door to the backseat of the car without having to speak a word to anyone. After I’m safely tucked inside, I pull out my phone to call Andries so I can ask if Dan is with him. If anyone knows where my missing boyfriend is, it will be my brother.
Much to my dismay, Andries hasn’t seen him today, either. “I don’t know, El,” he tells me. “We had dinner the other night but I haven’t seen him since. Is something wrong?”
“Nothing except the fact I haven’t heard from him for an entire week. Was that dinner when you showed him those pictures of me and Johan?” I huff, annoyed. “Thanks for playing into Johan’s plan to piss Dan off, by the way. That’s going really great for me.”
He’s speechless for a moment, as if he can’t believe that I caught him so easily, but my brother collects himself quickly enough. “Yeah, alright, Johan sent me a picture of the two of you and that’s what I showed him. You should have told him yourself,” Andries replies, nonplussed. “Until I showed him, I figured that he at least knew that Johan was having dinner with you and the rest of the family. Imagine my surprise when not only was he unaware of that, but I was also the first person to tell him that Johan was spending the entire weekend at the family estate. That was really enjoyable, thanks El.”
“Why would you do that, Andries?” I ask, my voice rising with frustration. “You know how private I am about my personal life. And now, because of your actions, my relationship with Dan is on the line! I would have told him––”
“Again, I thought he already knew,” Andries interrupts, sounding annoyed. “He’s my best friend and I’m not going to hide shit like that from him. You should know that by now.”
I can feel my pulse in my ears when I respond, spoken in anger. “Congratulations, then! Now thanks to you Dan won’t even speak to me. But that seems to be exactly what you wanted, huh?”
Even more frustratingly, Andries is still unbothered, as if what he did was completely justified and unproblematic.
“Again, I didn’t think I was causing any sort of harm, so get over yourself. But, honestly, it’s not very nice of you to have your ex sleeping at our parents’ without your current boyfriend knowing, don’t you think?”
There’s a tense silence between us, as we both try to process the situation. I take a deep breath, trying to calm myself, but then what Andries just said finally registers. “You said ‘my boyfriend’… how long have you known he and I are officially a couple?”
Now Andries seems slightly uncomfortable. “Ah…well. Dan told me like right before I showed him the picture of you and Johan.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose and exhale slowly, seeing stars behind my eyelids. “You have really messed this up for me, you giant asshole.”
“You can’t possibly think that I’m the one that messed up in this situation, El. You made this mess trying to be sneaky, and now you don’t like how difficult it is to clean up. You continue to hurt Dan, and I’m going to continue to expose you. He’s like a brother to me, you know that.” There is a beat of silence before Andries adds. “If it was the other way around, with Dan messing around, I would do the same thing for you. It’s not exactly easy being in the middle of you two.”
“I know… I know.” I sigh, seeing the silhouette of my apartment complex in the distance. “I’m not thrilled with how you handled this. I’d have done the right thing if anyone had given me a minute to work through all my thoughts, you know.”
“I guess I’m sorry for being so quick to throw your business out there, but I’m still not sure that you two are good together. Especially with all of this. But…take care of yourself, El.”
“Can you at least give him a word for me?” I plead with Andries. “Since I’m sure he’s much more likely to speak to you than he is to me. Tell him that Johan is just a friend and belongs to the past and that he’s the one in my future.”
“Ugh… sure. I’ll tell him. Just give him a few more days to relax.” My brother reluctantly agrees, and I hang up the phone feeling torn apart. I can only hope that he'll be able to smooth things over with Dan and that our relationship can be repaired. But for now, all I can do is wait and pray that time truly does heal all wounds.
33
Elise
I’m sittingin my bed, surrounded by the familiar and comfortable mess of my room. The rain is coming down in sheets outside my window, tapping against the glass and drowning out the sounds of the city. The gray light coming in through the open curtains casts a dull glow on everything in the room, making it feel as if the world outside has slowed down to a crawl.
I’m picking at a bowl of fresh fruit and yogurt, trying to distract myself from my thoughts. My mind keeps drifting back to Dan and his silence. I gave him the whole weekend to cool down and think, as per Andries’s advice, but it’s already Wednesday and I haven’t heard a word from him. I feel like a weight is pressing down on my chest, making it hard to breathe.
Everyone back at the office is still in a state of shock over the news that Karl Townsend and Sebastian van den Bosch might have to go to court, and of course, as his daughter, the other employees have been hovering around me hoping to get an ounce of new knowledge about the charges.
Dad, on the other hand, has been holed up with his lawyers and PR team, trying to figure out how to handle the situation.