Chapter 28
Liv
Now
Watching her dad talk to Quinn was confusing for Liv.
If she was honest, she wished there was a way for her to eavesdrop on the conversation, to get an understanding of what they could possibly be talking about.
If she was being more honest, she wished that she could walk over and join them, to take Quinn’s hand and explain who they were to each other.
But Quinn only wanted these couple of days. She wasn’t going to push. Maybe it was strange to draw the line here, but Quinn had been clear. This was simply a chance at a better goodbye.
Luckily, she had Audrey and Rhea as distractions.
“So, like…is competency porn a thing?” Her cousin was eyeing the conversation between Quinn, Mel, and her dad as well.
Liv had to admit that she understood the question. It was strangely hot to watch those two gorgeous nerds hyping up their corporate crowd, even on such a banal topic. She wasn’t going to say that to her cousin, though, and also…
“Maybe you’re just…into Mel,” Liv suggested.
Audrey made a face of complete exasperation, like it was the most ridiculous thing she’d ever heard. “Just because she’s attractive and I let her do truly nasty things to my body last night doesn’t mean I’m joining your big gay coven, Livvie.”
“Okay, okay,” Liv replied. “That feels like a lot to unpack, but…congratulations? ”
“It does feel like cheers are in order, so thank you,” Audrey replied.
Rhea laughed at their antics before focusing her attention on Liv. “Your girl did well.”
Liv’s immediate reaction was to correct Rhea, to tell her not to call her that. Not, of course, because she didn’t want Quinn to be hers, but she’d said it so many times it was like a reflex.
“I agree,” she said instead.
“Seems like your dad thought so, too,” Rhea said, gesturing back at them. Liv’s dad was shaking their hands, apparently satisfied with the way the talk had gone, and then he walked away, past Liv and the others without stopping, mouthing that he needed to hop on a call as he passed.
“I can’t believe conference week is already almost over,” Audrey said thoughtfully.
Her cousin was right. Liv hadn’t been thinking about it.
The Prism workshop and, she supposed, other Prism-related things had been occupying her mind, but they were on the last day.
There was another training, that Liv was pretty sure had already started, before lunch, then the final breakout session, followed by her dad’s final speech, and a party to close out the event.
The J&P employees who flew in for the occasion were mostly scheduled to fly out on Friday morning.
Liv knew that the vendors and workshop facilitators would be on the same schedule. Rhea was leaving in just a couple of hours, in fact, and she wasn’t ready to think about it.
They waited for the few others in the room to clear out before approaching Mel and Quinn, who were talking excitedly back and forth.
Liv wasn’t quite sure what she wanted to say to Quinn, but she couldn’t stand not being near her for another moment.
And unfortunately, she had actual work to do that afternoon, as the last workshop of the conference was dedicated time for the leaders to meet with their respective teams and plan how to implement what they’d learned during the week.
She couldn’t skip it. Still, there were about two hours until that meeting started, and she could think of a few ways that she’d like to spend that time with Quinn, if given the chance.
As if actively conspiring against her, she heard her friend speak.
“I fly out in a little while, but would y’all want to go to an early lunch?” Rhea asked, addressing the group, but focusing, it felt, on Quinn and Mel.
Liv felt Quinn’s eyes on her, felt the words to her very core when she heard Quinn say, “I had a huge breakfast, so I think I’m going to skip it. It was so great getting to spend time with you, though.”
Rhea indicated that she understood. Liv thought maybe she understood too well , as she insisted that they all exchange contact info so that they could keep in touch. Quinn looked a little shell-shocked as she handed Rhea her business card… She was simply adorable.
Liv honestly didn’t even hear the conversation from that point, unsure of who was going where with who, but she was aware that her people were unsubtly doing her a solid, making themselves scarce, because after a few minutes, it was just Liv and Quinn.
“Your place or mine?” Quinn asked with a charming grin. She seemed to be in a good place after her presentation, after the conversation with Liv’s dad.
“Mine,” Liv suggested, just to provide an answer. Quinn nodded, and they headed in that direction. “Did it go well with my dad?”
“He said he’s thinking about partnering with Prism on, what sounds like, if it works out, a pretty major scale,” Quinn said, sounding slightly overwhelmed at the idea. “You didn’t ask him to do that, did you?”
“No, I haven’t talked to him about you at all,” Liv said, instantly regretting it when she saw Quinn’s entire demeanor change .
“Of course not.”
“I didn’t mean it like that,” Liv said.
“Right,” Quinn replied, her jaw tightening. “Anyways. What does the rest of your day look like?”
“I need to attend the meeting at 1:00 PM, and I’ll probably be busy until about 9:00… I have to make an appearance at the party tonight. It’s my mom’s big contribution to the week,” Liv said.
“Your mom is here, too,” Quinn replied, surprised.
Maybe Liv should have mentioned it earlier, but her mom always floated in and out of the conference. Of work in general, really. “She is…”
“Ah,” Quinn replied, and she ran her fingers through her hair, altogether uncomfortable.
“Do you want to meet her?” Liv asked.
Quinn’s eyes went wide, but she seemed to consider it for the briefest of moments before shaking her head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
If Liv’s heart broke just the slightest at that, she did her best to not let it show. “Right.”
“I have to be honest, though… I know I said it already once this week, but I imagined your dad differently. Back in college, it seemed…I don’t know. He’s just not what I had pictured in my mind.”
Liv didn’t want to overstep, but she wanted to try to explain. They were walking into her hotel room when she asked, “Can I frame it for you a little bit?” Quinn’s curiosity won out, and she nodded. “That man is not the man who raised me.”
“I’m going to need you to say more,” Quinn replied. Liv was pleased to see that she chose to sit at the table by the window, instead of immediately moving towards the bed.
Liv laughed, sitting in the chair opposite Quinn.
“Yeah, that came out wrong. But I just meant…after we graduated, when I came home, I was…not well. For a while. And I think that eventually… Well, I think some small part of them needed me to get to a point where they thought they might lose me, too, before they remembered they needed to see me, too. I guess they needed to get worried enough about me to snap out of their fog.”
“I’m sorry that you were having such a rough time,” Quinn said, and she sounded genuinely upset for Liv.
“I take full responsibility for my mental state at that time,” Liv assured her. “And I’ve had therapy, so much therapy, and my parents have, too. It’s helped.”
“That’s good,” Quinn replied, voice thick with emotion.
“I honestly still don’t think I fully understand, like…what was them and their rules or their expectations, and what were my own assumptions,” Liv added. “It’s still sort of jumbled in my head.”
“That definitely sounds confusing,” Quinn admitted.
“I need to say one more thing, and then we can turn off our brains, if that’s what you want,” Liv continued after a pause. Quinn nodded. “I misspoke before, Quinn. I meant I haven’t talked to my dad much about you and the business. They know about you.”
“You told them about me?” Quinn asked, taken aback. “About us?”
“I did,” Liv answered. “I mean…not? everything . But yes. They know there was someone at school who meant a lot to me? It came up quite a lot in family therapy, to be honest.”
Though 100% true, she said the last bit like it was a joke, and was grateful to see Quinn take pity on her, gifting Liv with the slightest of smiles.
“That’s, like…kind of a lot, Liv,” Quinn said slowly. “I don’t really know what to say.”
“I get that,” Liv assured her. “And I’m not asking you for anything, I promise. I just…I wanted you to know.”
“I don’t know if my head is in the right place to…,” Quinn said, gesturing at the bed as if she couldn’t articulate the words ‘have sex,’ an apology in her tone.
“What if I put on the robe,” Liv teased gently .
At least that got a real grin from Quinn. “The robe might help. But…can we just sit here for a little while?”
“Of course,” Liv replied, and she placed her hand on top of Quinn’s, filled with gratitude when Quinn flipped her palm over to squeeze Liv back.
And, on some level, Liv was proud of her restraint, because she didn’t say that spending the afternoon, just sitting with Quinn, sounded preferable to almost anything else.