Chapter 4: Sienna and Sophia (One Year Ago)

“It’s our five years anniversary today, and you are not showing up?” I tried to keep myself calm, but Sophia must have been joking when she told me she had an important meeting to attend this evening.

“Do you know how hard it is to book this restaurant? It took me three months! Three months, Sophia! And all you have to do is just to show up. Just one job, and you can’t even do that?” I closed my eyes. I tried not to cry. But disappointment was an ugly monster I couldn’t get rid of.

I know this meeting was important to her. It was probably her investors changing the time of the meeting unexpectedly. Again. And I knew how much our company needed more money to stay afloat at this stage of expansion.

“Baby, come on, don’t be like this. I need this meeting. WE NEED this meeting. This is the opportunity of a lifetime for our company. They love the pitch and want to discuss finer details. I just need to be there to clarify a few things. And besides, all I said was I will be late, but I will be there. Of course, I will definitely be there! How can I miss our anniversary?” Sophia reached out to touch my hand to give me reassurance.

I glanced at her hand. I took a deep sigh and covered her soft hand with mine.

“I booked a five-course meal for us at 7.30 PM. Just make sure you can be there in time for dessert. I hope you do. But if you miss the whole thing, I will ask the restaurant to pack the food home. I don’t know how willing they are for that, but I will ask.” I said unenthusiastically. Logically, it made sense that she attended this meeting with the investors. I didn’t want to be that kind of self-indulgent and high-maintenance girlfriend that forces a partner to choose between work or a relationship.

Sophia’s eyes widened. Her smile was striking—what a contrast to my somber mood.

“OH MY GOD! Thank you! THANK YOU, Sienna! I love you so much, baby!” Sophia walked across the table and hugged me tightly.

“Go get them, okay? Be a kick-ass warrior in the meeting. I believe you can do it. Secure the fund.” I said that to her ear and hugged her back. My hand caressed her smooth, silky black hair. I wanted to encourage her. This meeting might really be the opportunity of a lifetime.

Sophia beamed. She kissed me and promised to rush to the restaurant as soon as everything was done.

Sophia was visionary and talented. I admired her genius with every fiber of my being. I loved seeing her being passionate about the work she does; coding, strategizing, and shifting the status quo. In a way, I was glad to take a backseat and be the supportive one—to let Sophia shines, and I knew I was instrumental to her greatness. We built it together; this business was ours.

ZezzPay was our baby. It was a revolutionary international payment platform that delivered cross-border payments with incredibly low fees. The app was useful, sassy, fun, and young. I still remember the day Sophia came to me with a business proposal and pitched the idea to me. I helped with the feedback, the financial modeling, the hiring interviews, the networking with investors, and everything from the ground up. Hell, I even designed the logo.

I loved it more than I loved any work I had ever done, but it was just work. It didn’t consume my life like it did Sophia’s and, sadly, our relationship.

Sophia and I had been together for five years, and the better part of our latter three years together was dedicated to building the business. I sometimes doubt if she loves it more than she loves me.

We met at a conference. Sophia and I, we met at one of those Women in Tech conferences. We were just two crazy kids with a dream of making it big in startups. I had been working in Palo Alto for a few years after doing my undergrad in Economics from Cambridge. And she was one of those Stanford Wizkid that won all the hackathons.

That day, Sophia was speaking on stage, and I just stood there starstruck. It was the way she carried herself with charisma and confidence. It was her choice of words and how each syllable was elegantly pronounced. It was her tailored black suit, sexy tanned skin, smokey eyes, and unforgettable smile. It was everything that was her.

Lucky me, we got a chance to talk at the after-event party, and the rest was history.

We hooked up on that first night, moved in together after two months, started the business after two years, and this day was our fifth-year anniversary. We bought a small apartment together and raised an orange cat named Biscuit. I worked with her during the day, and we went home together. After the first year, the business grew. We sold that apartment and bought a house. In the following year, more investment was pouring in. ZazzPay was the talk of the town, it generated more profit, and we sold that house to buy a bigger house.

Sophia Stewards. The woman that changed my life.

I looked down at my watch—it was 9.30 PM. I finished the fourth course and asked the waiter to wait a while before dessert was served. Sophia hadn’t texted. I thought to give her ten more minutes before I asked for the cheesecake and ice cream. The restaurant doesn’t do takeaways. I thought maybe I could cook something simple for her if she missed the whole dinner. It was a shame. Sophia would have loved the food here.

I wore the same red dress that she loved. A sleeveless, deep V-neck, red satin slip dress that I wore for her last Valentine's. She seemed to like it alright.

Almost forty minutes passed, and I was finishing the last bite of that cheesecake when I saw a large bouquet of red roses placed on the table. I looked past the flowers to see the love of my life sitting in the chair across the table. Her long straight hair was slightly disheveled. She was heaving, probably from running to get here. Sophia looked exhilarated.

I raised my brows to her unblinking stare. Her eyes shone triumphant.

“We got it! We got the $50 million funding! It’s enough for us to build a new team and expand abroad! We did it, Sienna! We did it!”

In a quick rush of adrenaline, she pulled me into her embrace, lifted me up, and spun me around.

“C-congrats…” Not knowing what to say, I stammered. Fifty million was the most we could ever get or dream of getting from investors.

Sophia didn’t let me catch my breath. She didn’t catch her own breath when she added: “How about you run the London office?”