by Vivian Wood
“Why are you so angry with me?” he asked.
“I’m not angry,” she said with a sigh.
“You’re freezing me out!”
“No. I’m just… adjusting,” she said.
“What does that mean?” he asked, reaching out to pull her close for a kiss.
“No,” she said, pulling away. “I don’t… I don’t want that.”
“What aren’t you telling me?” he asked, floundering.
“What aren’t you telling me?” she fired back.
“I… nothing,” he said, shaking his head. Nothing had been decided, as of yet. There was nothing to tell, as far as he was concerned.
“Fine. Have a good trip,” she said, shutting the door in his face.
Irritation burned through Liam’s veins for a moment, but he didn’t want to leave on a bad note.
“Charge your mobile, please!” he said through the door, feeling foolish. “You can call me…”
Not a sound. Audrey’s silent treatment was childish, but damn if it wasn’t bloody effective.
For a long moment, Liam wondered if he should delay his trip, just explain everything and hope that she wouldn’t tell Jack everything.
But then his phone rang in his pocket. The taxi driver, calling to say he was waiting outside.
With a heavy sigh, Liam walked to the front door, grabbed his suitcase, and headed to the airport.
17
Audrey
Audrey rang Jack’s doorbell for the third time, shifting the heavy box she held in her arms. She kept a half-smile plastered on her face.
Try not to look like you just got dumped, she reminded herself. You don’t get to mope when you saw this all coming from miles away, dummy.
Finally Jack swung the door open, a bottle of champagne in hand. “Aud! Great timing, come in!”
Audrey walked into Jack’s apartment and put the box down near the door. She turned to see a small group of people partying on Jack’s balcony, everyone holding their own bottle of champagne.
“What’s going on?” Audrey asked, cocking her head.
“Don’t give me that look. You were the first person I called, you just never answer your phone anymore,” he said.
“Called for what?” she asked.
“I got a spot playing for the San Francisco Tigers next season!” Jack said, beaming. “No help from Liam or anything. They saw me play in the last game, and made me an offer.”
“Oh my god, Jack!” Audrey said, stepping over to throw her arms around him. “That’s incredible!”
“Yeah, the money is going to be amazing,” he said. “And my new agent haggled with them until they agreed to relocate us to the west coast, all expenses paid.”
“Us?” Audrey asked.
“Yeah. You and me, Aud. I have a new accountant, too, and he’s helping me set up a small pension for Mom and Dad, to keep them content. You and I are going to the West Coast, though!”
“Oh…” she said, but Jack was too caught up in his enthusiasm to notice her mood.
“What’s with the box?” he asked.
“Uhhh… I decided that living at Liam’s is super weird,” she said, playing it casual. “I’m just bringing some stuff over here, thought I would crash with you again if you didn’t mind?”
“Even better,” Jack said. “I was actually going to try to get you to take some time off from your job, head out to San Francisco and scope out a house. There are only two games left this season, so we can move whenever!”
“I…” Audrey paused for a second, then shook her head. “I would love to, Jack.”
“Can you believe it?” Jack said. “A fresh new start. My signing bonus paid off my creditors, too… I’m a free man in a new world.”
Audrey gave him a final hug.
“Want to come out and join the party?” Jack asked. “I have another case of champagne…”
“No, no,” Audrey waved him off. “I might just go lie down. I’m super tired.”
“All right. We’ll try to keep it down. How about you book your flight tonight, and we have breakfast tomorrow to talk strategy?” Jack suggested.
“Sounds perfect,” Audrey said, feeling for all the world as though her heart was made of lead.
“Tomorrow?” Jack asked.
“Tomorrow,” she said, giving him a soft smile.
She picked up her box and headed for the spare bedroom. Solitude, that was what she needed most right now.
And though she knew that was a lie, though what she truly wanted was the arrogant Brit who always seemed to make her smile, she stayed the course.
She’d brought this on herself, made bad decisions. Now the only things that were going to make it better were time and distance.
Soon, she’d have plenty of both.
18
Liam
Liam dragged himself out of the taxi in front of his house. After five long days of deal-making, he was finally home.
And with great news, too. Jack had a deal with Arsenal, Liam had a deal with National, and Liam’s lawyers were looking into finding Audrey the right head hunter, the right job.
London had plenty of galleries and museums, and she was definitely going to have her pick of them. Liam was a strange mix of nervous and excited, ready to tell her all.
He’d already planned it in his head. First, he was going to fire her in grand style, tease her until she got angry.
Then, he was going to bring out the ring…
And he had no illusions this time about its meaning. Being without Audrey for a few days had given him a kind of clarity, which was a strange response on his part.
Normally, a girl giving him the cold shoulder…
Well, it had never happened before, because he didn’t stick with anyone for long enough. The point was, he’d been miserable without her in New York, and he knew that he’d be miserable without her wherever he went.
All of which he planned to tell her, once he dropped his bag and grabbed the ring from his safe.
He unlocked the front door and swung it open, heading straight for his bedroom. He tossed the suitcase in the closet and extracted the ring, pocketing it.
Then he walked out into the living room. Only then did he realize how quiet the whole house seemed.
Was Audrey out, perhaps?
He pulled out his phone and called her.
Bzzzz. Bzzzz. Bzzzz…
He turned to see her phone sitting on a side table in the living room, buzzing away.
Frowning, he hung up and called Jack.
“Liam!” Jack answered. “Long time no talk, friend. I have so much to tell you…”
“Do you know where Audrey is?” Liam asked.
Jack was silent for a beat. “Well, yeah, man. She’s in San Francisco. She didn’t tell you?”
“Uh… no,” Liam said, glancing around the house.
“Yeah, she’s house hunting.”
“What?” Liam asked, snapping to attention.
“I got a contract in San Francisco, and Audrey’s gone out ahead of time to find a house that we can share.”
“We?”
“Me and Audrey,” Jack said slowly, like Liam was mentally impaired. “She didn’t tell you she was quitting? Leave a note or anything?”
“…no…” Liam said, shaking his head though Jack couldn’t see him.
“I’m sorry, man. That’s not like her.”
“Is she coming back?” Liam asked.
Silence for several beats.
“I don’t think so. She already got rid of most of her stuff. Said she was shedding her skin, something about snakes…” Jack said, clearly starting to lose interest.
“Ah. Well, she left her phone here.”
“Oh. I think that was her company phone, man. She said she’s just going strictly landline and email for a while. I don’t really know what to tell you.”
Nor did Liam know how he should respond. He walked over to Audrey’s bedroom and swung the door open.
The furniture was there, and the closet was full of clothes that Liam had purchased, but every single personal item was gone.
On the bed were the keys to her car, along with a folded piece of paper.
“Okay. Gotta go,” Liam said, hanging up on Jack.
Ignoring the keys, he picked up the note, feeling suddenly shaky.
Inside, there was a single line in Audrey’s elegant handwriting.
Thank you for everything, it read.
He turned the paper over a couple of times, befuddled, and sank down to sit on her bed.
The bed, not her bed, he corrected himself. Nothing about this room spoke of Audrey, not anymore.
He set the note aside and pulled the ring box out of his pocket, turning it over and over in his fingers.
“That’s it,” he said to himself. “She’s gone. She finally left you, just like you knew she would.”
He stood up, shoving the box back in his pocket. Striding out of the room, he slammed the door shut behind him. He made another call, one that would shift his life in the exact opposite direction.
“Stuart?” he said. “Is there any way I can move on this deal sooner? I know I said I couldn’t sign the final paperwork, but… there’s no reason for me not to. I’m ready now.”
“You could be in your new London flat in a week,” Stuart said.
“Do it.”
He hung up, then walked over to sit on the couch. Leaning back, he closed his eyes.
She doesn’t want you. Now you have to live with it, he thought.
This is your life now…
19
Audrey
Two months after leaving Atlanta
“I love the arrangement,” Marie Allen said, walking through the spacious art gallery to see her art hung in the arrangement Audrey’d set up. “I’d like to see you swap Thin Blue Line and Carnivale.”
“Ah,” Audrey said, shooting a wink at her boss Elspeth. “The first exhibition will be at night, and Carnivale is going to be lit from above, just so…”
Audrey pointed at the spotlights, explaining her decisions. Slowly, Marie began to grin.
“You’ve really put a lot of heart into this,” Marie said.
“Well, you’re one of my favorite artists. I’m just so glad to be working with you,” Audrey said, beaming.
“She really hasn’t stopped talking about you in two weeks,” Elspeth said, brushing invisible lint off her dark slacks and cream silk top.
Elspeth was always immaculately dressed, her silvering hair pulled back into a tight bun. They’d only worked together for two months, but Elspeth was already Audrey’s new style icon.
“Well, thank you both again. See you Wednesday night for the premiere?” Marie asked.
“Absolutely,” Audrey said.
The second Marie was out the door, Audrey unbuckled the thin white waist belt that clung to her curve-hugging gray sheath dress. She sucked in a deep breath and leaned against the wall.
“Are you all right?” Elspeth asked.
“Just… a little dizzy. I’ve been faint all morning,” Audrey admitted.
“Well, why didn’t you say something?” Elspeth asked, looking mildly offended. “Let me get you a chair.”
“No, no,” Audrey said, waving her off and standing upright. “I think my belt was just too tight. I can’t believe that I’m gaining weight, coming from Atlanta to San Francisco. I swear I’m eating so much better…”
Elspeth crossed her arms, looking Audrey up and down with a narrowed gaze.
“What?” Audrey said after a moment, fanning herself with a hand.
“Could you be pregnant?” Elspeth asked.
Audrey laughed out loud, a brash sound that echoed against the gallery’s polished wood floors.
“Uh, no.”
“Audrey…”
“No! No way.”
“You’ve been nauseated. You don’t like bananas anymore, apparently,” Elspeth said.
“That one was just… sour or something,” Audrey protested.
“You’re gaining weight. You feel light headed…”
“I’m sure that’s not it,” Audrey said.
“Do the math,” Elspeth said. “When was your last cycle?”
Audrey thought for a second, then shook her head. “It’s been irregular. I’m under a lot of stress.”
“I will bet you a hundred dollars, right here and now,” Elspeth said, her lips twitching.
Elspeth loved to gamble. Yesterday, she bet Audrey that the Porsche Cayenne parked illegally across the street would get towed in less than twenty minutes.
Improbably, Elspeth had actually won that bet.
“What? No, I’m not betting on that!” Audrey said.
“If you don’t think you’re with child, go next door to the drug store right now and get a test. If you’re right, you get a hundred dollars. If you’re wrong… Well, you have bigger problems.”
Audrey scoffed, but Elspeth was so sure.
“A hundred dollars,” Audrey said, arching a brow.
“Yep. I’m telling you, I have a sense for these things. I guessed both of my sister’s pregnancies before she even knew about them herself,” Elspeth said, looking proud.
“I’m telling you, there no way,” Audrey said.
After three morning after pills, there was no way in hell that she could be. Right?
“Is it a bet?” Elspeth said, sticking out her hand.
“It’s a bet,” Audrey said, shaking it firmly.
* * *
Twenty minutes later, Audrey emerged from the bathroom with shaky knees. Elspeth was hovering, apparently certain of her victory.
If only she wasn’t absolutely fucking right.
“You are! I knew it!” her boss crowed. “I swear, I can smell pheromones or something.”
“You don’t understand. I can’t be pregnant!” Audrey said, her exclamation turning into a sob at the end.
“Oh, hell,” Elspeth said, deflating. “Come here, come here…”
Elspeth led Audrey into their shared office, a bright room filled with beautiful antique furnishings.
“I… I c-can’t be,” Audrey hiccupped. “I just took this job, I just moved across the country…”
“There, there,” Elspeth said. “Sit down, sit down.”
Audrey sat.
Elspeth moved to her own desk and picked up a tin of chocolates that she kept for emotional emergencies, as she put it. Opening it, she offered Audrey a piece.
Audrey took one, but she just held it and stared at it sadly, wiping mascara-stained tears from her face with her free hand.
“Listen,” Elspeth said. “You’ve created a home here. You have a job here, and you’re very good at it. No matter what you choose to do next, you’ll always have a job with me.”
Audrey sniffled. “That’s nice of you to say.”
“Well, it’s true. You know I don’t lie, not about anything. And you know I won’t judge, no matter what you decide.”
Elspeth was very politically active, heavily involved in LGBT and pro-choice affairs.
“Oh, Elspeth…” Audrey sighed. “There’s nothing to be done. I could never not have this baby, or give it away.”
“You can do anything you want, dear,” Elspeth said, taking a chocolate for herself and putting the tin back on her desk.
“I can, but… well, the father…” Audrey put the chocolate in her mouth and chewed, giving herself reprieve from finishing her own thought.
“What, did he die?” Elspeth asked.
Audrey wiped at her face again and shook her head.
“No, he moved to London. I loved him, though. Very much. I guess… I wouldn’t choose to do this alone, but… I’m not sad about it.”
“You seem sad.”
“Sad that Liam’s gone, maybe. The idea of having a baby, though… having his baby. I don’t hate it, not at all. I’m just… worried.”
“Well, you’re very good at worrying. I think, if this is your cho
ice, you’ll make every bit as good an overprotective mom as you are a meticulously organized gallery manager.”
“I’m not a manager,” Audrey said, frowning.
“Well, you are now. You do a great job, and… well, when you see the cost of pre-schools here in San Francisco, you’ll thank me.”
Audrey blinked. “I can’t think about that right now. I’m three seconds away from a full-blown panic attack.”
“Plenty of time,” Elspeth said, flapping a hand. “Well… actually, that kind of depends… but you can’t be very pregnant, you’re not even showing.”
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re terrible at comforting people?” Audrey asked, though she was mostly teasing.
“I like to leave the nurturing to motherly types,” Elspeth said. “Like you! You’re a natural caretaker.”
“Let’s hope so,” Audrey said, laying her head on her desk.
“Don’t mope.”
“Seriously?” Audrey asked.
“Well… twenty minutes, at most. Also, go to an actual doctor and get a blood test done, today. If you’re gonna freak out, at least be certain.”
“Right,” Audrey sighed.
“Just one more question, for the sake of getting to the juicy gossip,” Elspeth said, wiggling her brows.
“I’m not going to tell you who the father is,” Audrey said.
“Yes, but are you going to tell him? The man who broke your heart and moved overseas… I’m writing the telenovela in my head as we speak,” Elspeth said with a wink.
“I… I don’t know,” Audrey said. “Am I allowed not to tell him?”
“Legally? Probably not. But it’s just us chickens here in the coop, who’s going to tell the fox?”
“He’s my brother’s best friend,” Audrey said. At that, she had to laugh. “Wow, my life really is like a soap opera, isn’t it?”
“Mmm. More and more every day. That’s the real reason I keep you around.”
Audrey rolled her eyes.
“Time to call the doctor, I guess…” she said.