Chapter 50: A Date With Vivian

Vivian: I’m free tomorrow afternoon. What do you have in mind?

Damon read her reply while sitting in his study.

Damon: Lunch. Then we’ll spend the afternoon together.

Her answer came a minute later.

Vivian: All right. I’ll see you tomorrow.

Damon put his phone down.

That was settled.

The following morning, their training session went as usual. Vivian arrived at six, tied her hair back, and spent the next hour trying to land a clean hit on him. She still couldn’t manage it, though she came closer than she had the previous day.

By the time they finished, she was sweating and annoyed with herself.

"You’re getting better," Damon told her.

"You say that every time I almost hit you."

"Because you keep almost hitting me."

She gave him a look, then picked up her towel. "I’ll get you eventually."

"That’s the idea."

He headed inside, leaving her to cool down.

By early afternoon, Vivian stood in front of her wardrobe, looking at clothes she had worn countless times. Nothing seemed quite right.

She wasn’t going to a family gathering or meeting some important guest. It was just lunch with Damon.

Somehow, that made choosing an outfit harder.

After changing twice, she settled on a simple cream blouse, a dark skirt, and low heels. She checked herself in the mirror, adjusted a strand of hair, then finally left her room.

Damon was waiting downstairs beside the entrance.

He looked at her as she approached.

"You look good."

The words were simple, delivered without any particular flourish. Still, Vivian felt a warmth spread through her chest.

"Thank you." She glanced at his black shirt and trousers. "You don’t look bad yourself."

"Good to know."

She almost laughed at his answer.

They headed outside, where the black Lamborghini waited. Damon opened the passenger door for her, and she settled into the seat.

As they drove away from Blackstone Manor, Vivian looked out at the passing streets.

"Have you been here long?" she asked.

"In the city? Most of my life, apparently."

She turned toward him. "Apparently?"

"Thomas knows more about my history than I do. I’ve spent the past few months sorting out the parts that matter."

It was an honest answer, even if it didn’t tell her much.

"Does that bother you?" she asked.

"Not particularly. Knowing what happened won’t change what I have now."

Vivian considered that. "I don’t think I could be so relaxed about it."

"You don’t have to be."

She looked at him for a moment, then returned her attention to the road.

The restaurant stood beside the river, a little away from the busiest part of the city. Its windows overlooked the water, and the outdoor seating area was shaded by broad umbrellas.

Damon had chosen it because it was quiet enough to talk without being interrupted.

They were shown to a table near the window.

Vivian glanced outside before opening the menu. "This is a nice place."

"Have you been here before?"

"No. I’ve passed the area, but I usually go wherever my family has already made arrangements."

"Then you should choose somewhere next time."

She looked up. "Next time?"

"If you know a place you want to try, tell me."

It wasn’t a promise of anything grand. He said it as casually as he might have suggested another restaurant, but Vivian found herself smiling.

"I’ll think about it."

They ordered, and for a while their conversation stayed on the food. Vivian asked Damon what he usually ate when he wasn’t meeting someone for business.

He told her that he preferred simple meals most days and had little patience for places where the food took an hour to arrive.

"Then why bring me here?" she asked.

"Because I assumed you wouldn’t want to eat at a roadside stall on our first outing."

"There’s nothing wrong with roadside food."

"I didn’t say there was."

"You sounded like you were insulting it."

"I was insulting waiting an hour for lunch."

Vivian laughed, and the conversation moved on.

Once the food arrived, they talked about her training. She told him about her first martial arts instructor, an older woman who had insisted that Vivian learn how to fall properly before she was allowed to practice striking.

"I thought she was being ridiculous," Vivian said. "I wanted to learn how to fight, not how to fall down."

"And how long did it take you to understand why she made you do it?"

"About three weeks. I landed badly during practice and couldn’t train properly for several days."

Damon nodded. "A lesson is usually more memorable when it hurts."

"Is that your way of saying you enjoy making me suffer every morning?"

"You’re the one who keeps asking me to train you."

"I didn’t ask you to make me run laps until I could barely stand."

"You’re still standing."

She shook her head, but she was smiling.

The meal continued without either of them needing to force the conversation. Vivian spoke about the competitions she had wanted to enter and how her family had always treated martial arts as a useful skill rather than something she might pursue seriously.

Damon asked a few questions, and when she explained why she wanted to improve, he listened instead of immediately giving her another list of things to work on.

She hadn’t realized how much she wanted that until she found herself talking about it.

When the waiter cleared their plates, Vivian leaned back in her chair and looked out at the river.

"I enjoyed that," she said.

"The food?"

"The conversation too."

After lunch, they walked along the riverside path. The afternoon was warm, but a breeze moved across the water, making the walk comfortable. A few families were gathered farther down the path, and people passed them at an unhurried pace.

Vivian stopped briefly near the railing.

She had spent so much of her time following a schedule—training, family obligations, meetings, and preparations for a marriage arranged years ago—that she rarely allowed herself an afternoon without a particular goal.

Today, there was nothing she needed to accomplish.

She could simply walk beside Damon.

"Do you come here often?" she asked.

"No."

"Then how did you find this place?"

"I looked for somewhere quiet."

"Because of me?"

"Because I wanted to be able to hear the person sitting across from me."

Vivian looked at him, trying to decide whether he was making fun of her. His expression gave her no reason to think so.

"That makes sense," she said.

They continued walking.

They spent another hour exploring the riverside area before returning to the car. By then, Vivian felt more relaxed around him than she had at the start of the day.

She had expected Damon to be blunt. He was. She had expected him to be confident. He certainly was. But she hadn’t expected conversation with him to feel so easy once she stopped worrying about what every interaction meant.

On the drive back, she watched the city pass outside the window.

"Can I ask you something?" she said.

"Go ahead."

"Do you take other women on dates like this?"

Damon glanced at her briefly before returning his attention to the road.

"No. I don’t feel the need to take them on dates."

Vivian turned toward him.

"So I’m the first?" she asked.

"The first I’ve actually planned a proper date for."

She tried to keep her expression composed, but the corners of her mouth lifted before she could stop them.

"Why?"

"Because I wanted to spend the afternoon with you."

She looked out the window again, hiding her smile. "I see."

"Do you?"

"Yes."

"Then why are you smiling?"

"I’m not."

She turned back toward him, ready to argue, but his faint amusement made her laugh instead.

The rest of the drive passed comfortably.

When they reached Blackstone Manor, Damon parked near the entrance. Vivian unfastened her seat belt but didn’t immediately open the door.

"Thank you for today," she said.

"You’re welcome."

"I mean it. I had a good time."

"I did too."

She studied his face for a moment, then smiled.

Vivian stepped out of the car, then leaned down slightly before closing the door.

"Next time, I’ll choose the place."

"That’s fair."

"And I’m not telling you where until we get there."

Damon raised an eyebrow. "Should I be concerned?"

"You’ll survive."

She closed the door before he could reply and walked toward the entrance, still smiling to herself.

He watched her go before getting out of the car.

The afternoon had gone well. Vivian seemed more comfortable around him now, and she had already started thinking about their next outing.

He couldn’t complain about that.