Love to Hate You: Ask Vicky...

Chapter Thirty-Two - So Long, Farewell

'What did you want to discuss?' Daniel asked, as he sat impatiently in a busy café on a rainy day between Christmas and New Year's Eve. 'We're not going to change our minds,' he told Rudy. 'I know you're not happy, but it is what it is.' Then his eyes turned to Vicky, who was sat beside Rudy, holding his hand beneath the table. 'And I'm not really sure what this has to do with you,' he snapped.

'Daniel,' Kate warned, wishing the whole sorry business could be over and done with, because she was caught in the middle; wanting to do right by both men, because she loved her husband, but would be eternally grateful to Rudy for saving her daughter's life.

'Vicky and I are engaged actually,' Rudy explained. 'It affects her just as much as it affects me.'

'Affects her?' Daniel frowned. 'I hardly see how it affects her. She's only known Evie five minutes.'

'If you'd let them speak, we might find out,' Kate said gently; not that she didn't already know exactly what they were going to say, because Rudy had given her a heads up over the phone.

'You've made it clear that you'll be leaving for San Francisco and that there's nothing we can do to stop you. I spoke to my lawyer and you're right. Because I don't have any Parental Responsibility, I can't stop you from taking Evie out of the country, but I'm applying for it and my lawyer says it will be a clear-cut case.'

'I'm sure,' Daniel replied, 'but we'll have left, anyway.'

'And I can use the courts to force you to come back,' Rudy said, with false confidence, because he knew it would be very difficult to achieve any such thing. Certainly, it would take a long time. 'I don't want to fight things out in court though,' he said evenly. 'This job offer you've got; you said it's too good to refuse.'

'It is,' Daniel nodded.

'That's why I'm not going to ask you to turn it down. Vicky and I; we're going to move to San Francisco too. That way, I can still be a part of Evie's life, and you can pursue your career exactly the way you want to.'

'You're moving to America?' Daniel asked in surprise.

'That's right,' Vicky said. 'Probably in February. If not, Rudy can fly out for a holiday so that Evie doesn't miss him too much.'

'But, er...' He licked his lips uncertainly. 'Can you do that? Just up sticks and leave?'

'I can get work in the US, if that's what you mean,' Rudy nodded. 'I studied at Harvard medical school when I was in my thirties. I was spending so much time over there with my music that I decided to take the exams to get a licence over there in case I ended up staying long term.'

'Harvard?' Vicky exclaimed, before shaking her head. 'Although I've no idea why I'm surprised.' She looked boastfully to a rather stunned Daniel. 'He's a world class concert pianist. He's played for Prince Charles. In New York, Tokyo, Moscow and Berlin. He went to Cambridge University, played Badminton for county, worked for Medecins sans Frontieres during the Ebola crisis, and gave Evie a kidney – no questions asked. Of course he went to Harvard.' She turned to her beloved. 'You're incredible,' she told him, with a mushy look. Rudy wasn't sure if it was genuine, or if it was done for Daniel's benefit, but the older man was definitely agitated.

'Don't forget that he doesn't even need to work, love,' Kate whispered to her husband; the reference to Rudy's independent wealth the final straw.

'And what about you?' Daniel asked, nodding his chin in Vicky's direction in a desperate attempt to regain control of the situation.

'I'm a bit trickier, but I can get a tourist's visa if necessary. Once we're married, Rudy can support me, so his lawyer said I can get in on a tourist visa and then apply for something more permanent afterwards.' Daniel frowned. He didn't say anything, but he certainly didn't look happy. It was enough to make the couple suspect that the job – however good the pay or position may have been – was not "too good to turn down", but perhaps only "on the other side of the world to you". Now that Daniel's new job had lost the benefit of being some five thousand miles away from Rudy, it no doubt held less appeal.