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Copyright © Julieanne Lynch 2016. All Rights Reserved, Totally Entwined Group Limited, T/A Totally Bound Publishing.

Connor smashed his fist into the steering wheel. He swore as he hyperventilated. There were some things in life that pissed him off more than others. His father being one of them.

“Fuck!” he roared as he slammed his fists down time and time again until he finally stopped, looked up from the wheel and stared out of the windshield. The heavy traffic coming in the opposite direction blurred his vision, the adrenaline still pumping, fresh from his confrontation with the people who tried to control his every move.

He shook his head. He found it hard to see any way out of it. He’d messed up big this time, and his father wasn’t going to let him forget any time soon.

His phone rang, pulling him out of his harangue of abuse. He looked down and saw the caller ID flash Mom and swore. “Fuck!”

Connor knew there’d be more hell to pay if he ignored her, so he answered and braced himself for whatever the woman felt like delivering.

“Hello, Mother.” He sighed as he ran his hand over the back of his head. “Yes, I’m pretty aware… No, he did not… Mom, please, just give me a break. I’ve already had it from him. I said I was sorry… No, I didn’t do it on purpose. God, do you really think I’m that incompetent?” The frustration was beginning to burn deep in his stomach. “You know what, I’ve got to go.”

Connor threw the phone into the back of the car. He let out a long breath before opening the door and getting out. Much to the annoyance of other drivers, who sounded their horns at him, cars swerving trying not to hit his car. People roared and shouted obscenities at him.

He stood on the verge of the road, and jumped over the barrier onto the pedestrian pathway. The wind hit him hard, taking his breath away.

He paced up and down the pathway and tried to ignore the anger welling inside him. The disappointment he felt in himself for losing such a big investment and the fact that half the board would be gunning for him and his immediate termination added to his growing trepidation.

“I can’t do this anymore,” he whispered to himself as he looked out over the bay. The last remaining rays of sunlight began to die, leaving him standing in the twilight of what remained of his day, the numbness kicking in.

He’d been battling the unease for a long while. Pretending to everyone around him that he was fine, but all the while dying a little each day. His job sucked the life out him. It had killed whatever get-up-and-go he once had, and he was done.

It’s now or never, he thought as he touched the cool cable, looking down over the metal, into the water below. “I’ll never be free,” he said as the noise of the traffic became distorted, replaced by the sound of his beating heart. “I just need to sleep.”

Connor pulled himself up onto the ledge of the bridge and over to the parapet. He held the cable as he looked down, feeling a wave of relief wash over him.

“I can’t do this anymore,” he muttered to himself as a tear slipped down over his cheek and he let go of the cable.

He closed his eyes, as he stood with his hands by his side. Warmth replaced the cold trembling sensation that had overtaken him mere moments before. He felt at ease with his decision to end his life, and there was no going back, not at that point.

“Seriously,” a voice came from behind him. “You, in your flashy suit and fancy car, are going to jump?”

Connor opened his eyes and reached for the cable. Cocking his head to the side, he saw a pretty brunette leaning over the cold metal, looking at him as if he were nuts.

“Please leave me alone,” he replied, clearly annoyed by her interference.

“Sorry, mister, but no can do,” she said as she looked at him with pity in her eyes.

He didn’t want her pity, and he sure as hell didn’t need it. None of what he had planned was about gaining any sympathy. He was the one who had fucked up, and he was the one who’d planned months ago how he wanted to end it all.

“Please, just leave me alone.”

“I don’t think so. Nothing can be that bad that you’re going to jump. Do you have any idea how the water alone will break your bones, possibly killing you before you get a chance to drown. Like seriously, it’s not a painless way to go.”

“I don’t need the specifics. I just need you to go,” Connor replied, refusing her attempts at stopping him from taking his life.

“Well, I’m sorry but you’re stuck with me until the police get here,” she said, smiling at him as he gave her a horrified look.

“Oh my God, seriously? You called the authorities?”

“Of course, nothing is that bad in life that you have to end it all. Do you want me to call anyone? A relative? A friend?”

“There’s no one,” Connor muttered as his stomach twisted itself into knots.

“There has got be someone.”

“Afraid not.”

“Then talk to me. I can be a good shoulder,” the girl said. “I’m Molly, and I stood where you once stand. Well, not the exact spot, but I was desperate, too, once upon a time ago.” She was sincere as she spoke.

Connor wasn’t interested in swapping stories. He just wanted to do what he intended to do, but Molly wasn’t having any of it.

“So…what happened? What pushed you over the edge—no pun intended?” she asked as she rested her arms on the steel of the bridge.

Connor stared at the water seventy meters below and closed his eyes. How could he tell a stranger his deepest, darkest feelings? The things that kept him up at night, the stuff that no one knew. How could he possibly let a stranger in on the real reason behind his breakdown?

“You wouldn’t understand,” he whispered as he lost himself for a moment.

He swayed from side to side and felt the urge to jump. A sensation that drowned out the noise from the wailing sirens of the police cars, a helicopter hovering from above and the reasoning coming from Molly.

“Hey… C’mon now, don’t do this,” Molly shouted, trying to get his attention. “Besides, do you really want this all over the news? I mean, take a look. You’re getting a lot of attention—the wrong kind, I might add.”

Before Molly got the chance to continue her ‘talking him down’ routine, an officer approached her. “Excuse me, miss, can you please step aside.”

Molly obliged and retreated back to where the other bystanders stood, gasping, their cameras flashing.

Connor knew some of the footage would end up on YouTube, or flying around other social networks. It was a casualty of the times.

Connor wasn’t impressed with the influx of attention. In fact, he intended on finding the girl who had stepped in, stealing his thunder and turning his world upside down.

How he was going to explain this to his parents was beyond anything he’d planned for. No doubt things were going to be a lot uglier, especially since he was the reason for Ellison Enterprises losing their multimillion merger deal with Lanscorp.

“Why can’t life be fucking simple?” he muttered to himself as officers helped him across the parapet. The flashes of cameras, lights from oncoming traffic and the look of sympathy from everyone who met his gaze made his head ache.

A gun to the head would have been a better option, he decided as he was led to the back of a waiting ambulance and rushed off to the hospital.

All in a day’s work.