Delicate

In My Veins (Andrew Belle)

Juliet's POV

My first love will always have been New York City. It was cold and rainy and unforgiving, but it was where I spent my adult years, living, learning, and loving. But my second love was San Francisco, a twenty minute BART ride from where I had gone to college.

San Francisco was wild, a culture all on its own. Where New York City was fast paced and magnificent, San Francisco was free and unrelenting. The Bay Area contained all of my important formative years, when I found myself. And I missed it.

When my boss, extremely pleased with my work in Shanghai, offered me partner at the San Francisco firm, our second biggest location, I could not refuse. First of all, I was only twenty-seven, so I would be the youngest partner in our firm's history, leaving behind the kind of legacy I've always wanted to leave. And it meant I could make that mark in San Francisco.

Unfortunately, moving to San Francisco meant leaving New York City behind which terrified me. It also meant leaving behind my friends; I didn't know what I would do without Odie and Jaden being just a ten minute walk away. It meant leaving my family. When I had gone off to college, I had missed Brooke and my other siblings so much. The thought of being thousands of miles from them made my stomach hurt a bit.

And then there was Kelly. I sighed thinking about her. She had put me through so much unnecessary stress and pain, but I loved her. She promised to put her all into our relationship, but I was no fool. I knew that as long as I stayed in New York, I would be strung along by her false hopes and promises. I couldn't do that to myself anymore.

"I still can't believe you're leaving the city," Odie said, sitting next to me on my couch. Brooke was sitting on the other side of me, sipping a glass of red wine and looking at me intently.

I hugged them both. "I will miss you guys so much you have no idea. But we'll still be in contact for sure. You two are still my best friends, forever."

Right now, I was surrounded by my closest friends at the going-away party Odie and Brooke had worked together to throw me. My apartment was decorated with cheesy streamers and tacky balloons, but I loved it.

Seeing everyone here that I loved made the thought of leaving in a few days unimaginable, but I also realized how grateful I was to have had these beautiful people in my life.

My parents were here, talking business to some of my New York co-workers. My brothers and their wives were busy chasing their kids around the apartment. My high school friends were catching up with Jaden, and my law school friends were discussing their current cases in the corner.

As Odie and Brooke were talking, I looked up to the island and saw Kelly standing there, talking to Avery and her husband. At that moment, our eyes met, and she gave me a small, sad smile.

In the few weeks that had passed since I told Kelly about the move, so much had happened. First, there was silence. After she dropped me off from the airport, she didn't call or text me for a few days. Randomly, I bumped into Brianna, her best friend, at a subway station, and Brianna told me that Kelly had not been taking it well. That was upsetting for me to hear, especially when she told me that Kelly was hesitant to talk to me, because she wanted to be supportive, and she was afraid that her not wanting me to go would prevent me from going and doing what I wanted.

What Kelly didn't know was that I had spent several nights crying over it, too. Finally, Kelly showed up at my door late at night, and we had that important conversation. We mutually agreed that it was best for us to remain friends. Long distance relationships never worked, especially one as tumultuous as ours.

"I loved being in this relationship with you though, even though it was so painful. I learned so much about love and about myself," I had told her during our conversation. "And I'll always love you."

The look on her face when I said that will forever be ingrained in my memory. It was almost as if there was so much she wanted to say, so much conflicting emotions she wanted to figure out, so much hurt she wanted to express. But time was slipping away.

At that moment, she grabbed my shirt and kissed me. That kiss felt like it lasted an eternity, but all too soon it was over. For a moment, we stared into each other's eyes, our foreheads pressed against one another.

"I hope you find someone one day that will finally treat you right," she said, a tear rolling down her cheek.

That was the last night we spent together, and it was our greatest. Both of us cried. In the morning, I held onto her, refusing to let her go. But she left, and all of a sudden, it hit me that in a few weeks, everything will change.

Our eyes remained locked for a few seconds before she turned away.

Brooke, noticing that my stare stayed fixed on Kelly, touched my thigh gently, motioning for me to follow her to my balcony for more privacy.

"Do you really think you'll be happy in California?" Brooke asked me, gently, as we both stared out at the city's night lights.

I nodded, breathing in the brisk New York air for what might have been the last time. "I think so."

There was a silence for a moment before Brooke turned to face me. "I still don't understand why you need to leave. You can start over here in New York. You can find the love of your life here. You could move forward with your life here. You don't need to leave, Jules."

I didn't know what to say, so I just looked away, taking a second to gather my thoughts.

For a few minutes, we listened to the numerous sounds of the city: car horns blaring, people talking, music playing from a distance.

"I'm not leaving because I think the love of my life isn't in New York. I'm leaving because I know that she is."