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Liv felt her eyes brimming with tears. She’d gone into this meeting not knowing what to expect. She should have known better. Of course, her dad would support her. When had he ever been anything but understanding and supportive?
“Thank you, dad,” she said thickly. “You’ll come visit me, right?”
“Of course. We’ll make plans to see each other as often as we can, and for the in between times – well, that’s what Zoom is for, isn’t it?”
Liv nodded, still fighting back tears. They would work something out, but it wouldn’t be the same. It would never be the same again. She’d been so focused on escaping her pain, the pain that flared every time she saw Juliette, that she hadn’t really taken time to consider just how much she’d be losing by going.
She still had to go; there was no question about that. Living like this was untenable. However, she knew that starting anew in a different country would be far from easy. This was a hard road she had chosen, and the fact that she didn’t have any other real options wouldn’t make it any easier.
“I’ll miss you.”
Her dad moved around the table so that he could put an arm around her. “I’ll miss you too, Liv. Try not to fret. We’ve been through worse than this together before. We can get through this, too. I… is there any way I could convince you to stay? If Juliette moved out…”
“No,” Liv said sharply. “I’m not chasing Juliette out of her home.”
No matter what had happened between them, Liv still loved Juliette. That wasn’t the kind of thing you could turn off. She didn’t want her departure to hurt the woman she loved. Besides, if her dad asked Juliette to move out, that would surely lead to questions, and Liv didn’t want that.
Juliette had made it clear that protecting her sexuality from her mother was more important than anything. Liv wasn’t going to participate in outing her, even in the most indirect way.
“Alright. I don’t want to cause trouble for either of you. I just wish there was something I could do to help.”
“You’re already doing it. Your support means the world to me, Dad.”
“You have that, Liv. Always.”
Liv had been braced for anything – anger, disappointment, even refusal to allow her to use the company name in her new venture. If anything, her father’s support only made her feel guiltier about the coming move.
Ever since her mom died, they had only had each other. Now, she was leaving him. The thought left a bitter taste in her mouth, but what else could she do? Keep living like this? Impossible. If she ever wanted to find happiness, she had to go.
Liv didn’t delude herself. There would be no finding love again. Juliette had been it for her. She wasn’t ever going to move on, wasn’t ever going to recover from the wound Juliette had left on her heart.
However, she could learn to live with it. Liv hoped that she could find solace in her work and learn to be happy alone again. She would make new friends, and find her new work family. The thought seemed hollow comfort now, but surely, with time, it would get easier.
“Please don’t tell Juliette and Laura – at least not yet. wait until I’m gone. I don’t want goodbyes.”
“Goodbyes might be good for you. They would give you some closure.
“I don’t think so. It’ll only make everything worse.”
“As you wish. I’m telling them once you’re gone, though. I won’t keep this from Laura forever – not like I could even keep it from her in the first place, once you’ve left.”
“I know. Tell her that I needed a fresh start.”
That much was true. There was no reason to give out the reason for this sudden desire for a new beginning.
“I’ll tell her… tell them both. When do you plan on leaving?”
“As soon as I can get my things together. There will be a lot of admin to do, but I can do that from the other side. I’ll stay in a hotel until I can find a place to live. I don’t know how long it’ll take to get a license to start a business there, but I’ll figure it out.”
“It may be easier to sort things out from this end, rather than throw yourself into the deep end, getting to a foreign country and then having to start with an admin nightmare.”
“I know. It would be easier, but I can’t… I just want to go as soon as possible.”
Her father’s eyes were full of concern as he looked at her. Liv feared he would question her further, but to her relief, he didn’t.
“You should take Meg with you. It’ll be good to have a familiar face with you, and she’ll be brilliant with helping you sort out the details.”
“What makes you think Meg wants to move to Europe?”
