Work Wife

Exes

"I don't know what all that was back there," I tell him as I drop onto a lounger far away from the rest of the group.

"Just Chase being a drunken fuck," Logan says irritably as he sits across from me.

"Yeah so, I have never seen Chase drunk like this and I'm not going to lie, I don't appreciate how he is talking to me or how he is taking this situation. I talked to him about us last night and he seemed to be fine with it." 

"Chase and I have known each other for years, so unfortunately, he knows about my past fucks ups and he's taking it out on you." 

"Look, I don't need to know about your whole relationship history, but if this is going to go any further, I'm going to need to know about Tessa. Chase named dropped for a reason." Logan shakes his head, he's clearly annoyed. I didn't think we'd have drama this early either. We're still both supposed to be basking in our after-sex glow. 

I drop my glass to the ground by my foot but realize I may need a large gulp of alcohol for this conversation.

"Tessa was...where the hell do I start?" Logan scoffs as he shakes his head, "She was a part of our little gang in college. We had a relationship off and on after college and she went to work for Chase for a little while."

"Wait, wait, is this the same Tessa who worked as a coordinator at Havicore for a couple years?" I ask, beyond confused.

"Yeah, Chase got her hired when he was still doing marketing there. Anyway, she and I were together when I was creating my bikes and my company and I kinda told her I would be ready to settle down once I got my company on its feet. So she helped me through my... darker times thinking we'd get married once I had a steady income. Well, I started to feel like she was just holding out in hopes I was going to be rich when I launched my company and I couldn't guarantee her anything. It was a start-up, there were no guarantees," Logan states, and I can tell he's frustrated.

"So...I know you didn't have a girlfriend at your launch party because you mentioned you were going to be dateless."

"We didn't even make it close to the launch party. She didn't even make it to when the prototype came out."

"What happened?"

"She wouldn't stop talking about money. Everything about our future revolved around me having a lot of money and it was so much pressure. I was twenty-seven, engaged, living in her sister's basement, and working crazy hours trying to get everything together. I couldn't ask my parents for money and I knew my brothers didn't have any. Chase was an early investor and I didn't want to let him down or throw his money away. I was stressed and I couldn't handle the pressure. So...I cheated on her. To force a breakup. In the end, I loathed her."

I sigh and then snatch my drink off the floor and then take multiple gulps while trying to digest this.

"I'm not perfect, Stella. I fucked up and I fucked her over. Chase thought I was self-sabotaging but he never saw Tessa's true colors. He thought I was close to having it all and I ruined it all by cheating."

"He did mention to me he worries about your tendencies to self-sabotage."

"I worked so fucking hard. You have no idea. That's also why I was drinking so heavily at the party because I thought I had worked so hard for something so fragile. Between my brother's shit and my lack of self-confidence... and then you snapped me out of it. I am trying to enjoy life now that I have the money to do so. I went so long scrounging and working so hard that I'm just now trying to grab life by the ass. I can breathe for the first time in a long time. I'm not who I was back then. That's why I am mad Chase even mentioned Tessa."