Chapter 194: Saturday V

Chapter 194: Chapter 194: Saturday V

"About East Junction..."

Vivienne turned toward him.

"Yes?"

"We should discuss the next stage before Ms. Lee arrives."

She nodded.

"Right."

Damian opened the folder between them.

The other members of the group were already settling into their seats, though Peter gave Damian a brief glance.

Then another.

Jessica noticed it too.

Damian had always been polite with Vivienne.

Attentive, certainly.

But today...

He seemed unusually determined to remain beside her.

Still, they were here to discuss the pilot project, so neither said anything.

Vivienne opened the report.

She had to admit, she was glad they were finally moving beyond observations.

Not because she was particularly passionate about the work.

She wasn’t.

She would do it properly, of course. She had taken responsibility for the project, and she wasn’t about to leave something half-finished simply because she had lost interest in it.

But she couldn’t deny that Foundation work had become considerably less exciting since Anthony was no longer part of the reason she had cared about it in the first place.

Now it was simply another responsibility.

A very time-consuming one.

She glanced at the pages.

Four weeks of pilot testing.

Business participation.

Resource allocation.

Monitoring.

Reports.

Vivienne suppressed a sigh.

So much work.

She would finish it.

She always finished what she started.

But that didn’t mean she had to enjoy it.

Beside her, Damian wasn’t thinking about the pilot project nearly as much as he should have been.

He knew what they needed to discuss.

They had already completed their preliminary observations.

They had enough information to begin developing the pilot project.

He could have explained the logistics without looking at the pages.

His attention was elsewhere.

Vivienne.

She was reading the report beside him, her golden hair falling forward over one shoulder.

A loose strand slipped across her cheek.

Then another.

One settled dangerously close to her eye.

Damian watched it.

His heart began beating faster.

This was exactly the sort of opportunity Julian had been talking about.

Natural.

Small.

Something that would let her feel the difference.

He hesitated only briefly.

Then reached over.

His fingers gently caught the loose strand.

Then, he carefully brushed it away from her face, tucking it behind her ear.

"There."

Vivienne froze.

Slowly, she turned toward him.

Her eyes widened.

"What are you doing?"

But he didn’t move away.

He held her gaze.

"It was getting in your eye."

Vivienne touched the strand he had just moved.

"Oh."

She looked at him for another moment.

There was something about his expression today.

Something more deliberate.

He seemed almost...

Confident.

Damian could feel his pulse in his throat.

This was the moment when he could retreat.

Pretend it had meant nothing.

Make some harmless joke.

But he didn’t.

He wanted her to notice.

He wanted her to understand that he wasn’t simply being kind.

So he held her gaze for another second before finally looking back at the report.

"It’s better now."

Vivienne continued staring at him.

Then slowly turned back to her notes.

What was that?

She couldn’t quite place it.

Damian had always been attentive.

He had always helped her.

And he had always enjoyed teasing her.

Perhaps this was simply another one of those moments.

Maybe he was teasing her again.

That made far more sense than anything else.

After all...

Damian was the second male lead.

Her friend.

The handsome, dependable man who was destined to fall in love with Evelyn Sinclair.

She had never once considered herself part of his romantic storyline.

And she certainly wasn’t going to start now.

She looked back down at the pilot proposal.

Much more importantly, she had four weeks of work ahead of her.

Wonderful.

Damian glanced sideways.

She had already returned to the document.

He couldn’t tell whether she’d understood anything.

Probably not.

Still...

He hadn’t moved away.

That was progress.

He would keep trying.

Across the table, Peter raised an eyebrow.

Jessica glanced at him.

Neither said anything.

Whatever was happening between Lord Blackwood and Lady Beaumont...

It was becoming increasingly difficult to pretend they hadn’t noticed.

Before anyone could comment, the conference room door opened.

--

Ms. Lee closed the final folder.

"You’ve all completed the observation phase."

She looked around the table.

"At this point, we know which communities are suitable for the pilot."

Her gaze moved from one team to the next.

"Today, we move to the next stage."

"Implementation."

Vivienne straightened slightly.

Ms. Lee continued.

"The Community Resource Partnership initiative is designed to establish long-term partnerships between the Foundation and local businesses, redirecting usable surplus resources toward the communities we serve."

"You’ve already identified businesses that may be able to participate."

"Now, I want you to approach them."

"Explain the initiative. Determine what they can realistically contribute. And, most importantly, see whether they’re willing to become our first participating partners."

She paused.

"Don’t try to build the entire system in one day."

"Start small."

"One business at a time."

"Once you have your first participants, we’ll work from there."

Vivienne looked down at her notes.

First participating businesses.

Available surplus.

Collection.

Distribution.

It was beginning to feel less like a university project and more like an actual operation.

Which was probably the point.

Beside her, Damian was looking at the same documents.

Or at least, he appeared to be.

Ms. Lee gathered the remaining papers.

"You’ll have some time to organize your materials before departure. Your vehicles are waiting downstairs."

The chairs began moving almost immediately as everyone collected folders, notebooks, and Foundation documents.

Vivienne closed her notebook and reached for her bag.

Damian was faster.

"I’ll take it."

She looked up.

"You already have my bag."

"I know."

He lifted the strap slightly.

"I’ll keep it."

Vivienne gave him a curious look.

"You’re very determined today."

His mouth curved into a faint smile.

"Perhaps."

She studied him for another second before shrugging.

"All right."

Damian stood.

He waited until she had gathered the rest of her things before stepping aside for her.

"Ready?"

"As ready as I’ll ever be."

They walked toward the door together.

Damian stayed beside her instead of moving ahead.

Closer than usual.

Not enough to make her uncomfortable.

Just enough that he could feel the difference himself.

Vivienne glanced at him.

Again, that strange feeling returned.

There really was something different about him today.

She just couldn’t figure out what.

Damian caught her looking.

"What?"

"Nothing."

She smiled faintly.

"You’re just..."

She hesitated.

"Different."

His heart gave a hard beat.

"Different how?"

"I don’t know yet."

She shook her head.

"I’m still figuring it out."

Damian smiled.

"Take your time."

They continued down the corridor.

This was good.

She had noticed.

That was all he needed for now.

Outside, the Foundation courtyard was already filling with students heading toward their assigned vehicles.

Their driver stood beside the Alphard waiting for them.

Damian glanced toward it.

"That’s ours."

"Right."

He reached the vehicle first.

Before the driver could open the door, Damian did it himself.

He turned toward her.

"After you."

Vivienne paused.

Another curious look.

Then she smiled.

"Thank you."

She stepped inside.

Damian waited until she was settled before following her.

The door closed.

For the first time all morning, they were finally alone.

Well—

Almost.

The driver was in front.

East Junction was waiting.

And Damian felt his heartbeat quicken again.

This was where the real test would begin.