Chapter 303: a confession I

Chapter 303: Chapter 303: a confession I

After dinner, Damian walked Vivienne back to the women’s residence hall.

They stopped outside the front entrance.

Damian looked up at the building, then back at her. He actually wanted to find a reason to stay a little longer, but given what they’d done earlier and the weight of their conversation, well...

"All right."

Vivienne smiled.

"All right."

For a moment, neither of them moved.

Then Damian reached up and gently tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"Get some rest tonight, Sunshine."

Vivienne snorted.

"What sunshine?"

Damian smiled.

"You do brighten my day, so it suits you."

Vivienne gave him an eyeroll.

Damian chuckled.

Then he leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.

"Goodnight."

Vivienne looked at him.

"Goodnight."

He gave her one last look before stepping back.

Vivienne watched him turn and walk away.

She remained by the entrance for another moment, watching until he disappeared down the path.

Damian really was sweet.

And tonight had given her something else to think about.

She still didn’t know what she was going to do about that conversation.

But that could wait.

Right now, there was something else she needed to know first.

Christopher.

Then she finally went inside.

--

By the time Vivienne reached her room, it was already half past eight.

Claire still wasn’t back.

She closed the door behind her and glanced toward the clock.

8:30 p.m.

Her eyes drifted to the phone in her hand.

Christopher.

Vivienne looked at his name on her screen.

Her thumb hovered over it.

She should call him.

She knew she should.

But 8:30 felt a little too early.

What if he was still having dinner?

Or studying?

Or with his friends?

What if she called and caught him in the middle of something?

She lowered the phone.

No.

Not yet.

She needed to get herself together first.

Vivienne went to the bathroom and took a quick shower.

By the time she came back, she had changed into something comfortable and had dried her hair.

She picked up her phone again.

9:05 p.m.

She stared at the time.

Okay.

That was reasonable.

She could call now.

Vivienne took a breath.

Her thumb hovered over Christopher’s name for another second.

Then she pressed it.

The phone began ringing.

One ring.

Two.

Three.

Oh my God.

Should she just hang up?

Four.

No.

She had already called.

Five.

Her heart was pounding.

Six.

Maybe he wasn’t going to answer.

Seven.

"Hello?"

Vivienne froze.

Her heart seemed to stop for half a second.

Then it started pounding even harder.

--

(Christopher POV)

Christopher had just finished dinner with a few friends.

They were still sitting around the table, talking and laughing, with drinks scattered between them.

Christopher was listening to one of his friends when his phone vibrated against the table.

He glanced down.

Vivienne.

He paused.

For a moment, he simply stared at her name.

After last night, he wasn’t quite sure what to think.

He had been a little offended when she chose to leave dinner with Anthony.

They had been having a genuinely nice dinner. She had been trying to feed him from her fork, there had been a moment between them—and then her former fiancé appeared, and she went with him.

He understood why she had gone.

Still.

It hadn’t exactly felt pleasant.

And then there was everything else.

The engagement.

Anthony.

The fact that getting involved with Vivienne suddenly seemed like it might come with far more complications than he had expected.

Christopher had spent most of the day thinking that perhaps he should just take a step back.

Keep things simple.

Maybe it was better that way.

He had already made his decision.

He hadn’t replied to her message last night.

In a way, that was a reply.

Silence meant silence.

He hadn’t wanted to string her along or give her the wrong idea.

Perhaps she hadn’t understood what he meant.

Or perhaps she simply wanted to clear the air after last night.

Either way, he owed her an honest answer.

It would be rude to simply disappear after everything that had happened.

Christopher knew what he was going to say.

He would be honest with her.

He liked her, but perhaps it was better for both of them to take a step back before things became more complicated than they already were.

His phone continued to vibrate.

He let out a quiet breath.

"All right."

He pushed his chair back.

One of his friends looked up.

"Where are you going?"

"I’ll be right back."

He slipped his phone into his hand and stepped outside.

The evening air was cooler than the restaurant.

Christopher stopped near the entrance and looked at the screen again.

Vivienne was still calling.

He took a breath.

He knew what he was going to say.

Then he answered.

"Hello?"

There was a brief pause.

"Oh, hi."

Vivienne’s voice came through, slightly breathless.

"Sorry. Is now a good time? Sorry for calling at this time. Is it okay? I mean..."

Christopher almost smiled.

"It’s okay. I answered."

"Oh."

She went quiet for a second.

"Good."

Another pause.

Then she took a breath.

"I actually wanted to apologize about last night."

Christopher listened.

"I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t have left like that. I mean, I know Anthony came over and I didn’t know what he wanted to say, but..." She hesitated. "I could have told him we’d talk another time. Or I could have handled it differently. I just..."

She exhaled softly.

"I felt really bad about how things went..."

Christopher was quiet for a moment.

"You don’t need to apologize that much about it."

"Oh."

"It’s fine."

Vivienne seemed to relax a little.

"Oh."

Then, after another hesitant pause, she asked softly,

"Then... why didn’t you reply to my message last night?"

There was no accusation in her voice.

Just nervousness.

Christopher looked out into the evening.

There it was.

He drew a quiet breath. He knew what he needed to say.

--

Tbc