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Though he might not know for sure, he clearly suspected that something had happened between them, and that Juliette was to blame for it. If that was the case, he was absolutely correct. Juliette had to work to contain the impulse to break down in tears and beg his forgiveness for what she’d done to his daughter.
She managed to hold herself together through breakfast, and tried to spend the morning painting, but got very little done, having to scrap three canvases before deciding to give it up for the day. When lunchtime came, Juliette went to Joe’s and got Liv’s usual cheeseburger. She was too queasy with nerves to eat, and got nothing for herself.
She waved at reception as she walked into the building. They all knew her by now, knew that she often spent lunch with Liv, and didn’t think anything of her coming and going.
That’s why she was surprised when Harold, one of the security guards, stepped in front of her, holding out a hand in a stop motion. “Ms. Montgomery. May I ask where you’re going?”
She came to a halt. “To see Liv.”
“I’m afraid Ms. Jones doesn’t want to see you.”
“What? She told you that?”
Though Juliette certainly didn’t blame Liv for not wanting to see her, she hadn’t expected to be physically barred from her office.
“She did. Now, unless you have other business here, I think it’s best that you leave.”
“But… but I brought her lunch.”
Harold held out his hand for the bag with the burger in it. “I’ll see to it that she gets it.”
“Um. Ok. Thank you.”
Juliette handed over the burger and turned for the door, fighting not to let the tears in her eyes fall.
She was glad that she was the only one who worked from home, which meant she had the entire house to mope in when she got back. She would need to find some way to talk to Liv. She may have ruined everything irreparably, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t at least going to try to fix things.
Juliette couldn’t bear to lose Liv. She didn’t want to go through life without Liv at her side. She needed to fix this. She was in love with Liv, and she couldn’t let the love of her life go.
Yes, she had fucked up badly, but she knew that Liv loved her too. Surely, Liv would give her a second chance? It would take some time to earn her trust back, but Juliette could deal with that.
Liv came to dinner that night, but she didn’t so much as look at Juliette. That was fine. Liv couldn’t avoid her forever. They lived in the same house, after all.
Both Kane and Laura were eyeing them warily during the meal. Kane knew what was going on, but Laura didn’t.
“Is everything ok with you girls?” she asked hesitantly.
Juliette braced herself. She couldn’t expect Liv to lie for her anymore. She knew that Liv wouldn’t out her, but she fully expected Liv to tell Laura that no, everything wasn’t ok, and how in the world was Juliette supposed to explain that?
Liv didn’t react at all like Juliette expected. She pulled on a smile so genuine that even Juliette had trouble telling it was fake. “Of course. I think I’m just tired. I don’t have energy for socializing right now. I’m going to get an early night. Sleep well, everyone.”
Juliette stared after Liv as she left, dumbstruck.
Liv was still lying to protect her, even after what Juliette had done.
What had Juliette ever done to get someone like Liv? Clearly, she didn’t deserve her, and Liv had finally figured that out.
Well, Juliette wasn’t giving up, at least not yet. If Liv truly didn’t want her, then she could say so. Juliette was no stalker, and wouldn’t try to harass Liv into being with her if Liv didn’t want to, but she certainly wasn’t giving up until she knew for sure that all hope was lost.
She knocked on Liv’s door. Once more, there was no answer.
Well this time, she wasn’t giving up so easily. Juliette opened the door and stepped inside, closing it softly behind her.
“Hi, Liv.”
“Can you not take a hint, Juliette?” Liv snapped. “I don’t want to talk to you.”
“You don’t need to talk. I’ll be the one doing the talking.”
