Chapter 297: sincerity begets sincerity I

Chapter 297: Chapter 297: sincerity begets sincerity I

(Vivienne POV)

Vivienne woke at half past nine.

Her first thought was Christopher.

Her hand immediately reached for her phone.

Nothing.

She opened her messages anyway, almost hoping she had somehow missed something.

Her last message to him was still there.

She had sent it sometime after one in the morning, after she had finally returned to her room.

Hi, Christopher. I know it’s late, but I just wanted to apologize about what happened earlier. I hope I didn’t offend you.

And by the way, I enjoyed dinner. I hope somehow you did too.

Again, I’m sorry, and good night. Sweet dreams. I know you might not see this right now, but I just wanted you to know.

She had meant every word.

She had thought about that message over and over before finally sending it.

And now...

Nothing.

Vivienne stared at the screen.

What had gone wrong?

She knew exactly what had happened.

Anthony had come to her.

He had taken her aside.

And she had gone with him.

There had been plenty of ways she could have refused.

She could have told him she was busy.

She could have told him they had nothing left to discuss.

She could have simply stayed at the table.

But she hadn’t.

And, if she was being completely honest with herself, she knew why.

Some needy, hopelessly romantic part of her had wanted to know what Anthony wanted.

After all those years of having a ridiculous crush on him while reading the novel, how could she not wonder what he was going to say when he had actually come looking for her?

It had felt like such a grand gesture at the time.

And she’d gotten ahead of herself.

Then she’d returned to Christopher.

And everything had changed.

He hadn’t been rude.

He hadn’t been angry.

But he had been different.

Quieter.

More distant.

He had already taken care of the bill before she even returned.

He hadn’t tried to prolong dinner.

He had simply walked her back.

And then he’d said goodnight.

Vivienne’s stomach twisted.

What else was she supposed to think?

Maybe she had offended him.

Maybe he thought she wasn’t serious.

Maybe he had decided he didn’t want to get involved with someone who was still tangled up in an old engagement.

And now he wasn’t even replying.

"Oh, no."

Vivienne dropped back against her pillow.

She really liked him.

That was the problem.

She liked Christopher so much that this was actually hurting.

And if she were forced to choose—

She knew.

She wanted Christopher.

The realization came with such painful clarity that she groaned and covered her face with the blanket.

"Oh, God."

She was doomed.

Her phone vibrated.

Vivienne immediately sat up.

Her heart jumped.

Christopher?

She grabbed the phone.

Damian.

Good morning, sunshine.

My match is starting in a few minutes. Just wanted to let you know. Wish me luck.

Vivienne blinked.

"Sunshine?"

A tiny smile appeared despite herself.

That was so Damian.

Sweet.

Almost embarrassingly sweet.

She typed:

Good luck.

Then sent it.

Her eyes immediately went back to Christopher’s name.

Still nothing.

Her smile disappeared.

She stared at the screen for another moment.

Should she send another message?

No.

She had already sent one.

Maybe she should call him?

No.

Absolutely not.

What if he didn’t answer?

Vivienne groaned and dropped the phone onto the mattress.

She needed to tell someone.

Anyone.

She turned toward the other bed.

Claire was still asleep.

Of course.

Vivienne sighed.

"Claire..."

Nothing.

She looked at her friend for a moment.

She really needed someone to tell her she hadn’t completely ruined everything.

She reached for her phone again.

Then stopped.

Maybe Christopher had simply been busy.

He had fencing.

Polo.

A life.

There were plenty of reasons he hadn’t replied yet.

But still...

Why did it feel so awful?

Thankfully, before she could do anything stupid, Claire stirred.

She groaned softly and pulled the blanket away from her face.

"What time is it?"

"Ten-thirty."

Claire made a face.

"Ugh. Already?"

She slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes.

Then she looked at Vivienne.

"Why are you staring at me?"

Vivienne’s lips immediately turned downward.

"Claire..."

"Hm?"

"I think I messed up."

Claire blinked.

"Okay..."

Vivienne looked miserable.

"I think I’m doomed."

That woke Claire up.

"What?"

"I don’t know what to do."

"With what?"

"Christopher."

"Oh."

Claire sat up properly.

"What happened?"

Vivienne opened her mouth.

Then stopped.

Her expression suddenly changed.

"Wait."

She leaned closer.

"You smell like alcohol."

Claire sniffed her sleeve.

"Do I?"

"And cigar smoke."

Claire laughed.

"Oh."

"Where were you?"

"Amelia and I went to a real university party."

Claire smiled.

"It was actually pretty fun."

Vivienne’s expression softened.

"Oh."

She smiled faintly.

"Was it?"

"Yeah. It was our first proper university party. Definitely an eye-opener."

Vivienne smiled.

"I’m glad you had fun."

Then her expression fell again.

"My night..."

She sighed.

"...didn’t exactly go the way I hoped."

Claire looked at her.

"What’s wrong with you? You were practically glowing yesterday."

Vivienne immediately made another pitiful face.

"I think I made a huge mistake."

Claire raised both eyebrows.

"Okay. Relax. Tell me."

Vivienne took a breath.

"Last night started well enough."

Claire nodded.

"Christopher and I had dinner. It was really nice."

A little smile appeared on Vivienne’s face.

"I wiped some sauce from his lips, and our eyes met, and I almost thought he was going to kiss me."

Claire’s eyebrows shot up.

"He was?"

"I don’t know!"

Vivienne covered her face.

"I thought he was!"

Claire laughed.

"And?"

"He didn’t."

"Oh."

Vivienne groaned.

"Then I tried to feed him a potato with my fork, and he leaned forward when suddenly someone grabbed my wrist."

Claire’s expression changed.

"Who?"

Vivienne gave her a look.

"Anthony."

"Anthony as in Anthony Ashford?"

"My ex-fiancé, yes."

"What did he want?"

"He just said, ’A moment.’"

Claire frowned.

"And?"

"He didn’t wait for me to answer. He looked at Christopher and said, ’Excuse us.’"

Claire’s eyebrows rose.

"He actually said that?"

Vivienne nodded.

"And Christopher?"

Vivienne hesitated.

"He said he believed I hadn’t agreed yet."

Claire stared at her.

"Wait."

She shook her head slowly.

"Christopher actually said that?"

"Yes."

"Wow."

"What?"

"He could have made a scene."

Vivienne looked down.

"He didn’t."

"He could have told Anthony to leave."

"I know."

"He could have asked you to choose."

"He didn’t."

Claire stared at her for a moment.

"And you still went with Anthony?"

Vivienne’s face became sheepish.

"...Yes."

Claire sighed.

"Okay. That’s strike one."

"Claire."

"I’m just saying."

Vivienne sighed.

"Anyway, we stepped outside."

"Then what?"

"Anthony asked me to reconsider our engagement."

Claire’s eyes widened.

"He did?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"He said he wanted me. That he couldn’t stand the thought of me being with other men."

Claire stared.

"That’s it?"

Vivienne shrugged helplessly.

"I don’t know."

"And you considered it?"

Vivienne looked away.

"Maybe."

"You’re even defending him."

"I loved him for years!"

"I know."

Vivienne sighed.

"Anyway, I told him I liked Christopher."

Claire’s expression softened.

"And?"

"I told him I wanted to see where things with Christopher would lead first. And I asked him to give me time."

Claire nodded.

"Okay."

Then she tilted her head.

"So what’s really your problem right now?"

"Christopher."

"I thought so."

Vivienne’s expression fell.

"When I got back, he gave me a small smile."

"And?"

"He asked how it went."

Claire nodded.

"And you told him?"

"Yes."

"What exactly did you tell him?"

Vivienne hesitated.

"I told him that I told Anthony I liked someone and wanted to see where things would lead with that person first."

Claire stared at her.

"Wait. He knew you meant him."

Vivienne blinked.

"Of course he knew."

"Then that’s not the problem."

"What is?"

Claire gave her a look.

"You told Anthony you liked Christopher and wanted to see where things went with him first."

Vivienne nodded slowly.

"Yes."

"But you didn’t tell Anthony you were done with him."

Vivienne’s expression faltered.

"I..."

"Exactly."

Claire leaned back against the headboard.

"Christopher knows you like him. I’m sure of it. But from his perspective, you just walked away from dinner with your ex-fiancé, listened to him ask you to reconsider the engagement, and then came back saying you wanted to see where things went with another man."

"With Christopher."

"Yes. With Christopher. He knows that."

Claire sighed.

"But what does he know about Anthony?"

Vivienne went quiet.

"That you haven’t completely closed that door."

Vivienne’s stomach sank.

Because that was true.

And suddenly Christopher’s behavior made much more sense.

He hadn’t misunderstood her.

He had understood her perfectly.

That was the problem.

--

Tbc