Page 91 of Lie For Me

‘Hello there.’

A voice sounded behind him, and he turned to see James strolling across the lawns. Jack shifted in his seat and sat up straight.

‘Another early riser, I see.’ James smiled as he approached and indicated the bench. ‘Mind if I join you?’

‘Please do,’ Jack slid along the bench.

‘Valerie snores when she’s had a bit to drink,’ James said, with a wry smile. ‘But I don’t have the heart to tell her. So, on occasion, after a big night,’ he eased himself down onto the seat, ‘I find myself up rather early without much to do until the world wakes.’ He smiled, and Jack was struck by how much Lucy’s smile was like her father’s.

‘What brings you out so early? Does Lucy snore?’

Jack smiled and thought of Lucy sound asleep in their room. ‘No, nothing like that.’ He scratched at his head. ‘Just a lot on my mind at the moment.’

James nodded, and they sat in silence for a moment. Jack stared at the rabbits, three of them now.

‘Might it help to talk about it? Feel free to tell me to mind my own business if not.’

James held his hands up.

Jack rubbed at a knot in his neck. There were moments like this one when he keenly felt the loneliness of running a business. Making all the tough decisions alone, putting on a brave face with staff during the bad times when he didn’t know how he’d cover staff salaries and pay the bills. Going to meetings with clients and praying the pitch went well and combing over every last detail when they didn’t get the job. Of not having anyone who understood how he had weighed every decision over the years and no one whose ear he could bend time and again to talk through the next steps.

He had received plenty of support for the sale of the business––but it was legal and business advice. He hadn’t really talked to anyone about how it felt to let go of something he had grown himself from scratch. A business he started while sitting on a lumpy sofa in a noisy shared flat straight out of university, a battered second-hand laptop balanced on his knee, living off instant noodles and powdered coffee. And now, on the outside, he was a great success. He’d created a successful business that was doing so well other people wanted to buy what he’d built.

He instinctively started to reply, ‘Oh, that’s very kind, but it’s okay.’

Then he glanced at James’s kindly face, his expression patient and curious. Jack let out a shaky breath.

‘Well,’ he began, ‘I run my own business, BrandFriendsSocial. We specialise in helping companies build relatable profiles online and get customers relating to them as friends and people, rather than faceless corporations.’ James was watching him. Jack added, ‘It’s a form of marketing, of awareness and brand building.’ James nodded.

‘I started the business over ten years ago, straight out of university. It was a slog at times in the early years, and a couple of times I nearly gave up, but it’s grown and become a recognised competitor in this field. Over the last year or so I started getting interest from a couple of companies wanting to buy me out. Things got serious a few months ago, and we were finalising plans for me to sell the company to an American firm. I’ve spent years building the business and, if I’m honest, I’ve probably taken it as far as I can on my own. As far as I want to, I think. I have another project I have been working on, something I’m really excited about and I think it can be really successful too—and I need to sell so I can make it happen. But even though it feels right to sell, it’s still hard. And then,’ he avoided James’s gaze, ‘late in the final negotiations, they asked me if I would go to New York for a year to support the integration into the new company.’ His mouth felt dry, and he cleared his throat. ‘It seemed like a fantastic opportunity in many ways, a new adventure…’ He stopped, unsure what his next words were.

Beside him, James said, ‘And…?’

Jack stared at the lightening sky.

‘And now…I am not so sure.’

‘Because?’

Jack thought of Lucy asleep in the room. He wondered if she’d woken and wondered where he was.

‘It’s complicated.’

He was aware that James would probably assume that complicated referred to his relationship with Lucy—which James no doubt believed to be a real fledging partnership—and the prospect of a year apart. Truth be told, it would probably be simpler if it was a real relationship, not a fake one. If it was real, he imagined they’d talk about this, discuss what they’d do. He wouldn’t be sitting in a hotel garden before sun up, with a damp bottom and wet feet, telling his fake girlfriend’s dad his troubles.

James nodded. ‘I understand it might seem that way.’

Jack turned to look at him, but James was gazing straight ahead.

‘Seem that way?’ Jack repeated.

James nodded, still staring forward.

‘Most decisions are surprisingly simple. We usually know what we want. We just don’t want to deal with the consequences of facing up to those decisions. The tricky conversations we might need to have, for example, or accepting the changes we need to make.’

James swiveled to face Jack.

‘This decision isn’t about selling the business or spending a year in New York. It’s about getting clear on what’s really important for you. What kind of life you want to live. That’s the only question we ever really need to answer.’

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