One Love for Liv

by Marianne Arkins

  When she finished, she lowered her head, ashamed and horrified by how she’d acted. Having actually explained her behavior made it seem even worse. And, after laying it all out, she wondered why she was still determined to win Geoff back.

  “Well?” she asked Larry and then braced for what she was sure would be a tongue-lashing.

  “In a nutshell you’re telling me you think your fiancé is cheating on you, but you don’t know for sure. And regardless, you want him back because he dresses well and knows how to use the right fork when you eat out at the club. And, more importantly, your father likes him. Right?”

  Liv turned his words over in her mind a few times realizing, suddenly, how ridiculous this situation really was. “I guess that about sums it up.”

  “Liv?” Larry tapped the back of her hand with a finger to make sure she was looking at him. “Does your father love you?”

  “Of course,” Liv retorted, offended Larry would even ask.

  “Then why are you afraid to tell him about Geoff? Don’t you think he would support you, even if you chose to break off your engagement at this late date?”

  “But Larry, the invitations went out last week. The hall is rented, the dress altered.” Liv’s eyes were wide with horror. “How could I ever hold my head up again? How could he?”

  “Why do you think people would judge you for dumping a guy who cheated on you while the blush was still on the rose? If he cheats now, when you’re supposed to still be giddy in love, what do you think he’ll do when the going gets tough?”

  “So you’re telling me I should let him go?”

  “Liv, I’m telling you to make up your own mind, and not let others make it up for you.” Larry finished his sandwich and leaned back. “You’ve spent your life being the person you’re told to be. You need to find out who you are. What you want.”

  “What if Geoff isn’t cheating?”

  “Then you need to find that out, too, and factor it in.”

  “I hear a ‘but’ at the end of that.”

  He nodded. “But if you don’t love him, then it really doesn’t matter if he’s faithful or not. And if you do love him, then you fight for him because there’s nothing in this world stronger than true love. When you find it, you hold on to it with both hands.”

  Liv sat silently for a few minutes and mulled over what he’d said. She knew he was right, but could she live with herself if she followed his advice? She pushed her plate away, appetite gone. “Could you take me home?”

  They arrived at Liv’s condo in a matter of minutes. She leaned across the seat and gave Larry a quick hug before getting out and retrieving her bag from the back.

  “You take care of yourself,” Larry said. “And call me if you need me again.”

  “Thanks. I will.” Liv watched him pull away, feeling a little lost, before turning and dragging her feet inside.

  She opened the door to her condo, stepped in and slammed it shut. Exhausted, she dropped the bag where she stood. It made a squeaking noise when it hit the floor and Liv leaped back. “What the—?”

  She circled the bag, finally poking it with her toe. It squeaked again. She stared a minute and realized the only answer was to open the thing. She found a wire coat hanger from the drycleaners and looped the hook through the hold on the zipper pull, tugging it slowly open.

  A little brown head popped out and wiggled its nose at her.

  “Rett!” Liv fell back a few steps. “What are you doing in there?”

  The ferret pulled its body from the back and slithered across the floor in a zig-zagging line, sniffing and grunting softly as he moved. Liv jumped onto her cream-colored sofa and pulled her legs underneath her. What on earth was she going to do about this?

  She didn’t want to touch the thing, and if she couldn’t touch it, she couldn’t get it home. One option would be to call Mike, but then he’d see how she really lived and her cover would be blown even more than it already was. Maybe the little weasel would climb back into the bag on its own.

  Still, she supposed she needed to call Mike and let him know she had Rett so he wouldn’t worry. She leaned back and grabbed the phone off of the table behind the sofa, dialing Mike’s number from memory.

  “Hello?” He answered almost immediately, and her heartbeat sped up at the sound of his voice.

  “Mike? It’s Liv.”

  “Livvy!” He sounded thrilled to hear from her. “I thought you weren’t calling until tomorrow.”

  “I hadn’t planned to, but something’s come up.”

  “What?”

  “I have your ferret.”

  “What?” She could hear him moving around his apartment, and figured he was looking for Rett. “How?”

  “He must have crawled into my bag.” Liv looked around and didn’t see the creature anywhere. Perfect. She scooted up until she was sitting on the back of the sofa, her feet on the seat cushions.

  “Oh. Well, crap. I’m sorry.”

  “How can I catch him without touching him?”

  “I have no idea. He’s really a free spirit.”

  “Mike, I can’t sleep with him loose in my apartment.” Liv was already feeling fingers of dread creeping up her spine, there was no way she’d be able to close her eyes unless she knew where the little beast was.

  “I’ll come get him.”

  “No!”

  “Why not?”

  “Uh…it’s a long drive, and I’m coming there tomorrow any way.” Liv made that decision quickly, swearing it would be the last time she saw Mike until she knew what she was going to do with her life. “Just tell me how to catch him.”

  “Put some food in a box or something. But you’ll have to keep watch so you can shut him in.”

  “What does he eat? I’m plum out of ferret food.”

  “He’s a carnivore. Give him meat. Even cat food will work.” Mike paused. “Are you sure you don’t want me to come there?”

  “Positive.”

  “Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow then. Right?” He paused, but Liv got the sense he wasn’t ready to hang up so she hung on. She was right. “You’ll stay for dinner after you make it?”

  “I guess so, but I’m not sure how I’m supposed to cook since I murdered your oven.”

  “I’ll tell you what, I’ll leave you an ultra secret recipe for cooking that doesn’t require the oven.”

  “What appliance will I be using? The vacuum?”

  “No. The dishwasher. Just make sure you have some salmon and aluminum foil.” He laughed. “Bye.”

  Liv pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it until it beeped loudly in an objection to not being hung up.

  The dishwasher?

  Liv shook her head and got down to the task at hand. After some thought, she remembered her neighbor a couple of doors down had a tiny little fuzz ball he walked every day. Maybe he had some kind of pet cage Liv could borrow. Then she’d put the cage in the middle of the floor with a bit of chicken in it and wait on the sofa with the broom. When the little beast went inside, she’d push the door shut without even getting close.

  This meant she’d need to go to Mike’s early. Even though she didn’t like the little critter, she didn’t think it would be nice to keep it locked up for too long.

  An hour later, it was all set.

  Cage? Check.

  Chicken? Check.

  Broom? Check.

  Piece of cake.

  Liv sat and stared at the pet carrier she’d borrowed until it seemed her eyes would fall out of her head. It was late, and she was tired after her very long, very stressful day. Where was the little weasel?

  She started to drift a bit and snuggled down on the sofa, still facing the cage, figuring movement of any kind would get her attention. She never even realized when she drifted off to sleep.

  Liv stood in the middle of a maze of walls, each painted deep red. She heard her name being called, over and over, but couldn’t identify the voice. Who needed her? Mike? Geoff?

 
; She walked quickly, turning left at every corner where she had the choice, but eventually hit a dead end. She backtracked a few turns and began turning right every time, all the while fighting down the panic in her heart.

  “I’m coming!” she called, worried she would be left alone in this crazy puzzle. “Don’t leave me!”

  “Liv?” Her name was called again, echoing through the halls.

  “I’m coming! Don’t leave me. I’m coming!” She slammed into a dead end again.

  And again.

  And again.

  The last time she slid down the wall and hunched in a ball, sobbing until she was dry.

  “Don’t leave me,” she whispered.

  A feather drifted down from the ceiling and tickled her nose. She sneezed. It didn’t go away, just brushed back and forth, as though it was animated somehow. She swatted at it with one hand and connected with a warm body.

  Liv sat up on the couch and screamed. “Rett!” The ferret scampered back out of her reach at the same time she leaped into a squat on the arm of the sofa. Not quite awake, she tumbled off and hit the floor, landing on her head. Everything went fuzzy for a minute.

  Rett trotted over and stood up on his haunches, watching her performance. Furious, Liv grabbed the broom handle and gave chase, sweeping at him with the bristles, determined to get him into the pet carrier. As she passed each door, she slammed it shut, until he had few places to hide. Still, he avoided her and looked all the while as though he was enjoying this wonderful game of tag. She, on the other hand, was making a mental tally of the cost of that vase she’d knocked from its place on her false mantel, not to mention the crack in the frame on that picture she knocked from the wall, and counted herself lucky she hadn’t managed to take a swing at her plasma television.

  After about fifteen minutes, she collapsed into a chair. This wasn’t going to work. Her head ached and she was exhausted. She would have to call Mike and confess everything. She needed to sleep and, even with her income and trust fund, she couldn’t afford to keep trying to catch the little brown beast.

  Hey. She could sleep. And in her own bed, to boot. Now that she knew Rett wasn’t in her room, it was possible. At best, he’d go inside the cage and be there when she woke up in the morning. At least she’d be facing the problem with a brain that wasn’t fuzzy from exhaustion. She looked around at the chaos that was her condo and shrugged. Getting upset wouldn’t fix things.

  “Good night, fur ball,” she called to the room at large, uncertain where Rett was hiding. “See you in the morning.” Just in case, she kept the broom with her when she went into the room and, with great satisfaction, slammed the door behind her. Even so, and knowing logically a ferret couldn’t open the door, she tucked a chair underneath the knob.

  She slept in the next morning until almost nine o’clock, surprising herself with her laziness. After a good stretch, she showered and dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt—items taken out of the bag of stuff she’d bought just the other day. They were comfortable and were really starting to grow on her. The spa was closed on Monday, so she had nowhere to be except Mike’s.

  She opened the bedroom door slowly and tiptoed to the pet carrier in the middle of the living room floor. Peeking through the slats, she saw the ferret, curled up happily in the bit of fleece she’d stuck inside.

  Liv reached across and slammed the door shut, startling the thing awake. It ran for the closed door before she could squeeze the little doohickeys together and slide them in place. The force of his body hitting the door opened it a crack and he almost pushed out before she managed to lock it up tight. Liv lay down on the floor at eye level with the monster, and was startled to see he looked almost human, his little hands grabbing the bars of the door as he peered out of his prison.

  “You’ll be home in no time, weasel,” she assured him. “And let this be a lesson to you to never, ever sneak into my bag again.”

  The buzzer next to her door sounded, indicating someone was outside and wanted in. She hopped up and meandered over to it, wondering who could possibly be here to see her.

  “Yes?”

  “Let me in, Lee Lee, I need to see you. I have a surprise.”

  It was Geoff. She paused, pursing her lips. She had no desire to see him. Not only was she not dressed for it, but she hadn’t resolved all the feelings swirling through her heart and mind. She wasn’t up to seeing him again until she knew what she wanted to do about him, about Mike and about her father.

  Her life was overloaded with men.

  She pressed the button firmly. “Sorry, Geoff. Now is simply not a good time.” She released the button without letting him speak, and walked away. When it buzzed again, she ignored it. He’d leave eventually.

  She made a cup of green tea and took it with her out to the sunroom. It was getting too cold to sit on the patio outside, but this glassed-in room was bright and cheery and never failed to lift her spirits. As she sat in one of the cushioned chairs, she thought about bringing the weasel in with her to enjoy the sunshine, but she was too comfortable to get back up again.

  Sipping at the tea, she propped her legs up on the tiny round table beside her, tipping back in her chair. Part of her observed her behavior as if she were a stranger, and marveled over the changes she’d gone through in the past week.

  She considered her life and knew Larry was right. Since her mother had died, so long ago Liv had trouble remembering her face, her father had taken Liv in hand and molded her into his image of the perfect woman. A woman who behaved just so, who dressed appropriately, who was well educated and able to carry on conversations in any situation. A woman who ate what she was given without complaint, who never drank or did anything else to excess, and who did exactly what was expected of her. A woman who never raised her voice or ran a red light or stalked her cheating fiancé…

  Liv’s chin dropped to her chest in defeat. Her father couldn’t possibly love the “new” Liv. Surely he would see what she was becoming and disown her or have her committed. But Liv felt as though she were snowballing down Mt. Everest and couldn’t stop what was happening.

  To be honest, she wasn’t sure she wanted to. Life was fresher now, interesting and clear. She felt more, both good and bad, and knew this was what living, really living, was all about. Smells were stronger, tastes spicier, colors more vivid.

  Did she want to go back? Never. Did that mean giving up Geoff? After all, Geoff was attracted to Olivia Leslie Leigh, trust-fund baby and successful spa owner. She supposed her father was part and parcel of Geoff’s attraction as well. Though Liv knew she wasn’t hard to look at, she guessed that was just part of what excited Geoff, and then not very much. But still, Geoff was stable, both financially and physically.

  Mike knew Livvy Leigh, a too-skinny girl who was down on her luck. He encouraged her to stretch herself, to discover what she could do, to decide what she enjoyed. He made her laugh and he made her mad and he made her feel things she’d never felt before. But Mike was clear he had no interest in a permanent future with a woman. He didn’t “do” serious.

  Was Liv ready to risk her relationship with her father, and the respect she’d worked years to gain, in order to start a relationship, however long or short, with Mike?

  More importantly, was she ready to take the biggest step of all and get involved in a physical relationship with a man who wasn’t her husband? Because there was no doubt in Liv’s mind a continued relationship with Mike would lead down that road, probably sooner than later.

  She knew at that moment she preferred sooner.

  A little nauseous from the life-altering decision she’d just made, she finished up her tea and placed the cup into the sink. Time to get ready to go to Mike’s. Her stomach flip-flopped at the thought of seeing him again. But it was time to start living her life the way she wanted to live it, according to her rules and not someone else’s. She’d deal with her father and Geoff later.

  She packed up her bag, not sure she’d need it, but wanting to be prep
ared in case her plan for the evening worked out the way she hoped. She slipped on her shoes, jacket and hat, grabbed the bag and pet carrier and headed out the door.

  She got down to the bottom of the steps and set down the carrier to open the door. Just as her hand touched the handle and started to push, the door swung out the rest of the way and Liv nearly fell through the opening.

  A man’s hand grabbed her elbow to steady her and she glanced up with a smile to tell him thanks. It was Geoff.

  Chapter Twelve

  In a panic, she pressed her hat down further on her head to hide the brown hair and tightened her full-length coat around her body to obscure her too-casual outfit.

  “Geoff,” she began. “I thought I told you this wasn’t a good time.”

  He took the bag out of her hand and picked up the carrier as well, looking inside. “What’s this?”

  “A ferret. He belongs to a friend.”

  “You hate animals,” he said, looking at her as though she was possessed.

  “Apparently not.” Liv snatched Rett away, feeling oddly protective of the little fuzz ball, and grabbed for her bag. Geoff held it back from her. They engaged in a brief tug-o-war before she huffed a breath and gave up.

  “Lee Lee, I need to talk to you.”

  “Not. Now.” The words were ground out between gritted teeth.

  Liv started walking to her car, not caring whether she was able to keep her bag or not. She could buy more clothes, and she remembered an emerald-green teddy at a store in the mall guaranteed to make a man babble and drool.

  “Lee Lee, would you wait? Please?”

  She swung around and put her free hand on her hip. “What?”

  “I have something I want to show you. A surprise.”

  “Does it have to be now?”

  Geoff set down her bag and shrugged. “I don’t suppose so, but I know it’s your day off…”

  “That doesn’t mean I don’t have things to do, Geoff.” Like seducing another man, she thought, more than a little bit guilty. Maybe she was being too hasty. “Can we do it another time?”