Page 45 of Not that Sea-Rious

Beau

S itting in the conference room of his new lawyer’s office, Beau did his best to keep his leg from bouncing as he waited. Staring at the wall, he refused to check his phone again. It hadn’t rung, beeped, vibrated, or anything else in the last few days. The message was obvious.

Unless…

Maybe she didn’t get the flowers.

No.

Joyce wasn’t like that. She said she’d deliver them. She would.

But…

What if the card fell out? Maybe his note had gotten lost. Unless Joyce read it, she wouldn’t be able to relay the sentiment to Marissa. Who was he kidding? As soon as his back turned, Joyce saw his words.

If it was bad, she would’ve given him feedback.

So, he only hoped maybe a hotel worker took the flowers by accident—threw them out. Either that or the note was lost, and Marissa had no idea he’d sent them or what they meant.

Hanging his head in his hands, he leaned over the table. Now what was he supposed to do? Walking away didn’t feel like the way to go. There was too much potential between him and Marissa. He couldn’t give up. There had to be a way. He’d find it.

Wait.

That didn’t sound right at all.

Scrubbing his hands through his hair, he sighed heavily. This was stalker logic. Beau needed to accept her answer and stop if that was the vibe she put out. There was a fine line between persistence and obsession.

The door creaked as it opened, and Beau snapped straight. Turning, he watched his new lawyer, Matt, enter the room with a folder in his hand.

Goddammit. More revisions. Beau only wanted this to end. He was over it.

“Good to see you, Beau. Sorry to make you wait,” Matt said as he offered a hand.

Beau stood and took hold. After he gave it a brief up and down, he sat again.

In the chair beside him, Matt scooted closer and opened the folder. “Your former partner accepted all our terms. No revisions.”

Beau’s brows rose. “Wait. What?”

Matt nodded and pushed the papers toward him. “See. All signed.”

Befuddled, Beau skimmed the paperwork and saw it was in fact signed and even initialed in all the spots. “No changes? He didn’t ask for anything else?”

Matt shrugged. “Nope.”

“Not even a comment?” Beau asked.

“Nothing was sent over. It’s a deal. Probably the quickest one I’ve ever reached, to be honest. I can only imagine he was just done.” The lawyer offered him a fancy silver pen.

Slowly, Beau accepted it as he flipped through the pages. Jordan hadn’t fought him on any detail. The increased buyout amount, the dissolution of the business, the fact Jordan couldn’t continue under the same name.

Jordan gave Beau everything.

It was all over the moment he signed the papers. His life’s work, all he’d accomplished as an adult, would be wiped away with the stroke of this pen.

Beau eyed the writing implement as though it were made of furry caterpillars. This all felt too simple. Then he snorted at himself. Nothing about this was easy.

“Don’t be so shocked,” Matt said as he interlaced his fingers over his stomach. “You two weren’t that far off. No one made any outlandish demands. You both gave a little to get a lot. Did you want it to be a long, drawn-out chaotic disaster?”

Beau chortled. “You have no idea how messy this is.”

Matt sighed. “Probably not, but if you sign this, you get what you asked for.”

Nodding, Beau brought the pen down and scribbled his name.

This was the best deal that could be had.

Jordan didn’t have much—well, at least he thought he didn’t.

Beau wasn’t about to ask for more than the company was worth.

He wasn’t a dick like that. No matter how shitty the situation was, it couldn’t make Beau become unreasonable.

Things didn’t work out all around. It was time for something new.

Flipping to the final page and the last provisions, he took a deep breath. He was free to do whatever he wanted. Closing his eyes, he scrawled the last signature.

Their corporation was finished.

Opening his lids, he put the pen down and turned to his lawyer. “That’s it?”

Taking the short stack, Matt flipped through and nodded at each page. “Yeah, we file this. I’ll make you a copy and send one to Jordan. You should receive a check from your former company, and we are done.”

Again, he offered his hand as he stood.

Blinking a few times, Beau reluctantly got to his feet. It was over. Finished. If life worked the way he’d like it to, he’d never have to see Jordan or Megan again.

All ties were cut.

He finalized everything with Matt with a brief conversation about how payment would work, and he was out the door. To do what? He hadn’t a clue, but one foot in front of the other was all he had to concentrate on in that moment.

Slightly dazed, Beau left the lawyer’s office with his papers, ending his business.

The entire world was open to him. The buyout amount would be enough to keep him afloat for a few months.

That was, if he wanted a break and to take stock of his situation.

If he really scraped by, he might be able to pull a business together by the skin of his teeth, but starting a new company would definitely wipe him out.

This wasn’t a decision he needed to make today, so he would accept his win, keep his head high, and figure out what the hell he was supposed to do next over the days that followed. He wasn’t one to sit idle and let things happen. He would figure out his life eventually.

Strolling through the parking lot, his mind wandered back to Marissa and her lack of response to his gesture. He didn’t want to force the issue, but he hated the radio silence. He’d gotten closure with his business, and now he’d try one more time to get it from her.

Inhaling deeply, he removed his phone from his pocket and fired off a text.

The last one. If this was it, he’d take his cue to leave her alone.

Tucking his phone back into his pocket, he told himself he’d make peace with the outcome.

Silence might be his answer, and there was nothing he could do to change that—well, nothing that wouldn’t make him look like a psychopath.

He’d only known her for a few days. What was his problem, anyway? He was out of his damn mind to be this hung up on someone he met less than a week ago. Okay, it’d been almost two weeks, but that was just semantics. The point was still the same.

When his cell vibrated in his pocket, he nearly leaped out of his skin. Doing his best not to drop the papers onto the ground, he sought his phone.