Chapter 191: saturday II

Chapter 191: Chapter 191: saturday II

Saturday Morning

Vivienne woke up smiling.

She wasn’t entirely sure why.

Then she remembered.

Christopher.

Her smile widened.

She reached for her phone on the bedside table and unlocked it.

No new messages.

She wasn’t disappointed.

Not really.

After all, she had been the one to send the last message yesterday.

And she’d deliberately decided not to text him again last night.

She had already been messaging him quite a lot.

There was no reason to suddenly become the sort of woman who sent a message every few hours just because she wanted to talk to a handsome man.

That would be excessive.

Probably.

So she’d put her phone away and gone to sleep.

Now, however, it was morning.

That was different.

Vivienne opened their conversation.

Her thumb hovered over the keypad.

She typed.

Good morning. I was just wondering if you got home safely last night.

She stared at it.

Too much?

She deleted it.

Tried again.

Good morning. Did you get home safely last night?

She read it twice.

Simple.

Normal.

Perfectly reasonable.

She added:

Hope everything went well.

Then deleted that too.

Too formal.

She sighed.

Why was sending one text suddenly so difficult?

Finally, she settled on:

Vivienne: Good morning. I was just wondering if you got home safely last night.

She looked at it.

Good.

She sent it.

Then immediately checked the time.

6:13 a.m.

Vivienne stared at the screen.

Of course he wasn’t going to answer immediately.

He was probably still asleep.

She placed the phone down.

Then picked it up again.

No.

She put it back.

She had more important things to worry about.

Unfortunately.

Foundation work.

Vivienne groaned.

"Why did I do so well?"

She dropped back against her pillow.

She had only needed to complete the required work.

That was all.

But no.

She had insisted on making her project proposal good.

She had wanted to impress.

She had wanted to do better than the female lead, Evelun Sinclair.

She had taken a lead position.

She had organized things.

She had actually cared.

And now she had to spend her Saturday morning doing it all over again.

"I should’ve been a normal participant."

A participant could simply show up.

Listen.

Help when asked.

Go home.

A project leader had responsibilities.

Responsibilities were exhausting.

Especially when there were much more interesting things to think about.

Like Christopher.

Vivienne stared at the ceiling.

What was he doing today?

Did he have another club activity?

Did he have Foundation work?

Probably not.

Senior students weren’t required to do the Saturday Foundation program anymore. It was mainly a first-year requirement.

She wondered what he usually did with his Saturdays.

Maybe he had plans with his friends.

Maybe he went somewhere.

Maybe—

She stopped herself.

She was thinking too much.

She needed a shower.

Vivienne climbed out of bed.

--

Across campus, Christopher woke to the faint vibration of his phone.

He reached for it without opening his eyes.

The screen lit up.

A message.

He blinked away the last traces of sleep.

Vivienne.

For a moment, he simply stared at her name before opening it.

Vivienne: Good morning. I was just wondering if you got home safely last night.

Christopher’s mouth curved faintly.

She had remembered.

He glanced at the time.

6:19 a.m.

Very early.

He sat up against the headboard.

There was something strangely pleasant about waking up to her name.

He already knew she liked him. Vivienne wasn’t particularly subtle about it, though there was nothing calculated in the way she approached him. She was simply earnest. If she wanted to know something, she asked. If she wanted to talk, she found a reason to.

And he found that refreshing.

Most of the women he knew were far more practiced when they were interested in someone. Vivienne, on the other hand, was almost disarmingly straightforward.

Sweet, too.

Christopher looked at her message again before typing.

Christopher: Good morning. Yes, I got home safely last night. Thanks for asking.

He sent it.

Then set the phone down.

He should probably get up.

Instead, his eyes drifted back to the screen.

He gave a quiet laugh.

It had only been a few days.

Yet he was already starting to look forward to hearing from her.

Perhaps it was simply because she was easy to talk to.

Perhaps because she was beautiful.

Either way, he didn’t mind.

Christopher finally got out of bed.

--

Vivienne returned from the shower with a towel wrapped around her hair.

Her phone was on the bed.

She glanced at it casually.

Then stopped.

The screen was lit.

A message.

From Christopher.

Her entire face brightened.

She hurried over and picked it up.

Christopher: Good morning. Yes, I got home safely last night. Thanks for asking.

Vivienne smiled.

He replied.

Of course he replied.

She sat down on the edge of the bed.

Then immediately began typing.

Vivienne: That’s good.

She paused.

What next?

She wanted to know what he was doing today.

Very much.

Her fingers moved again.

Vivienne: What are you doing today? Do you have any volunteer work or other activities?

She sent it.

Then stared at the screen.

That sounded normal.

Very normal.

She was simply asking about his Saturday.

There was nothing romantic about that.

Nothing at all.

"You’re texting this early?"

Vivienne looked up.

Claire was already awake, sitting on the other bed while fixing her hair.

Vivienne smiled.

"He replied."

Claire stared at her.

"That’s why you’re smiling like that?"

"Yes."

Claire laughed.

"Oh, my God."

"What?"

"You really like him."

Vivienne’s cheeks warmed.

"I just enjoy talking to him."

"At six in the morning?"

"He happened to reply at six in the morning."

Claire gave her a knowing look.

Vivienne tried not to smile.

Failed.

"Maybe he likes you too."

Vivienne’s eyes widened.

"Don’t say that."

"Why not?"

"Because it’s too soon."

Claire laughed.

"So you have thought about it."

Vivienne grabbed a pillow and lightly threw it at her.

"Stop."

Claire caught it, laughing.

Vivienne looked back down at her phone.

There was still no reply.

She smiled anyway.

She had all morning to find out what Christopher Archibald did on Saturdays.

And, unfortunately, she still had Foundation work to get through first.