Page 7 of What We Got Wrong

“I’m glad you enjoy it, Dad,” Liv replied, desperately hoping that he didn’t sense her distraction. These were the pros and cons of working with so many people she was close to, she supposed. There was a greater risk that they could see through her façade.

Maybe it was strange, but she honestly loved what they did. Her dad had started J&P Industries, his extremely successful logistics company, before she was born, and the plan had always been for her to work for him after school. Audrey’s dad, Jeremy, was the CFO, and Audrey worked for the nonprofit sector of the business as its Director of Charitable Giving. Even Liv’s mom helped out sometimes, mostly in Audrey’s department. As for Liv herself, well, in the ten years since graduating college, due to a combination of nepotism and talent, she’d worked her way into a regional role as Operations Director. It wasn’t exactly thrilling, but the opportunity afforded her the ability to travel occasionally, mostly to their hubs across the US, and she enjoyed it.

Plus, she could occasionally help with projects like this conference, working on a cross-functional team led by her dad, and it was always interesting to see him interact with folks at different levels of the organization. He had a reputation for being an excellent businessman, leading not with cutthroat tactics but with his intelligence and foresight.

She just didn’t want him to turn his keen eye on her at that exact moment because, though she wasn’t one hundred percent certain, there was a greater than zero chance that Liv was in the beginning stages of a breakdown.

“We’re going to go get a drink. Would you like to join us?” Liv offered him, attempting to guide the conversation.

“Oh, no,” her dad answered. “I’m going to get some rest. Need to be fresh for the keynote in the morning.”

Good, good. Distance would be good.

“Yes, you’re meeting him for breakfast at 8:00 AM,” Liv confirmed. Breakdown or not, she was still bringing her A game.

Her dad laughed. “Did you memorize my schedule?”

Well, she did have his assistant forward it to her, just in case he needed her help with something. “Maybe.”

“I need wine,” Audrey said, pulling their attention.

“You two be good,” her dad said quietly, like they were kids, like he was simply a weary parent off to bed. Maybe in this moment, that’s how he felt; he looked exhausted. He kissed Liv’s forehead and walked toward the elevators in the opposite direction of the hotel bar.

The room was dark when they walked in, and Liv made a beeline for the bar, hopping onto a stool, grateful that the bartender seemed to understand her urgency, taking their orders straight away.

“I feel like I need to order an Old Fashioned since we’re in Chicago,” Audrey said.

“White wine would be great. I’m not picky,” Liv added, and he got to work, quickly setting a drink in front of each of them. Liv handed him her card and fished out a few bills to lay down for a tip. As soon as her fingers wrapped around the stem of her glass, Liv lifted it to her lips and took an inappropriately large swallow.

“Um, we’re toasting here,” Audrey said, scandalized that Liv took a drink before she could make a little speech. Audrey lifted her glass. “To J&P, happy conference week!”

“Happy conference week,” Liv said before she clinked her glass against Audrey’s and took another gulp of her wine.

“You seem stressed,” Audrey stated, eyeing Liv over the rim of her glass.

Another person who knew her too well.

When people first met Audrey, they often got the impression that she was sort of…vapid might be the right word. Liv’s ‘little’ cousin, because five years felt like a lifetime when they were growing up, was stunningly beautiful. A petite blonde bombshell with piercing blue eyes, she had a habit of saying the wrong thing, constantly putting her foot in her mouth, which sometimes also gave the impression that she was callous.

But when you got to know her, she was genuinely sweet. And more, it was in actionable ways, like forcing the company they’d both grown up in to launch an official charitable foundation and taking the reins on making sure that they were building community programs in as many locations as possible. Audrey made it her personal mission to visit the major J&P offices across the country and ensure that the values her team espoused were truly lived by employees at all levels of the organization.

They’d been close as kids, but with everything Liv had been through in her teens and early twenties, she found herself putting up walls with Audrey. It was easier now, with them based in different parts of the country—Liv in the company headquarters, located about an hour from where they were sitting, and Audrey on assignment building her team in Atlanta. But sitting right in front of her, it was hard for Liv to maintain her mask.

“Oh, actually, hold that thought,” Audrey whispered, amused, peeking over Liv’s shoulder to a table halfway tucked into the corner. “I think that woman is checking you out.”

Liv tried to cover her gasp. She had to be talking about Quinn. Liv must have missed her when they’d walked in, her focus singularly on getting to the bar. When she turned, though, it was Quinn’s friend, her partner, who was looking over at them.

Audrey laughed. “She’s actually kind of hot. In that, like, androgynous, rock star, sort of…Ruby Rose kind of way. And she was flirting with me at registration.”

Olivia had to pick her jaw off the floor. “You know who Ruby Rose is?”

“Have I been living under a rock?” Audrey replied. “If someone who looks like that wanted to eat me out, I think I could suffer through it.”

Liv wished that the situation was different, because the impression that Audrey was giving, with her tone, with her serious expression… It was clear she thought that she was saying something deeply philosophical. Unfortunately, Liv wasn’t sure she was in the right headspace to tease her.

“I’m not quite sure how to respond to that,” Olivia muttered.

“Liv, come on. Gay people exist. You’re being so weird about them.”