Chapter 317: boyfriend X

Chapter 317: Chapter 317: boyfriend X

The restaurant was not far from the university.

Christopher led Vivienne down a quieter street, away from the main campus buildings and the busier shops.

At first, she wasn’t sure where they were going.

Then he stopped in front of a narrow stone building partially hidden behind a row of old trees.

There was a small brass sign beside the dark green door.

Arbour Lane.

Vivienne looked at it.

"This is it?"

Christopher nodded.

"Yes."

He opened the door for her.

"After you."

Vivienne stepped inside.

The first thing she noticed was how quiet it was.

Not silent.

There was the soft clink of cutlery, muted conversation from a few tables, and the occasional sound of a glass being set down at the bar.

But nothing loud.

Nothing rushed.

The room was warm and understated.

Dark wood lined the walls. Framed photographs of old university teams and events hung between tall windows. Beyond the windows was a small courtyard filled with trees and climbing ivy.

It felt old.

Established.

Comfortable.

And somehow very Christopher.

A waiter looked up as they entered.

His expression immediately changed with recognition.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Archibald."

"Good afternoon."

Christopher gave him a polite nod.

The waiter glanced at Vivienne, then back at Christopher.

"Your usual table?"

"Yes, please."

Vivienne looked at him.

His usual table.

Something about that made the place feel even more personal.

The waiter led them toward the back.

Their table was tucked beside one of the tall windows overlooking the courtyard.

Christopher pulled out her chair.

Vivienne sat.

He took the seat opposite her.

For a moment, she simply looked around.

"You come here often?"

"Quite often."

"With your friends?"

"Sometimes."

"Ah... I see."

Christopher smiled faintly.

"I only started coming here regularly last year."

Vivienne blushed.

"Oh."

She quickly looked down at the menu.

Okay.

Apparently I wasn’t subtle at all.

Christopher seemed to notice.

But he said nothing.

Instead, he opened his menu.

After a moment, he looked at her.

"What would you like?"

Vivienne scanned the menu.

"Hmm..."

"Shrimp aglio olio."

"That sounds good. Anything else?"

She shook her head.

"The breakfast earlier was quite heavy," she said.

Christopher smiled at the memory and nodded.

He glanced down at his menu.

"What about something to drink?"

Vivienne looked at the drinks list.

"Maybe lemonade?"

Christopher nodded.

"Lemonade, then."

The waiter returned to take their order.

Christopher ordered for them.

"One shrimp aglio olio and the roast chicken, please. And a lemonade and iced tea."

The waiter nodded.

"Very good, sir."

He collected the menus and left.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

The quiet around them made the silence comfortable.

Then Christopher looked at her.

"Vivienne?"

She lifted her eyes.

"Yes?"

He paused briefly.

"I hope you don’t mind me asking about your engagement with Anthony."

Vivienne shook her head.

"No. Of course not."

"I understand that the two of you have decided not to go through with it." He paused. "Does your family know?"

Vivienne hesitated.

"Actually... I haven’t really told my family yet."

Christopher waited.

"It’s not because I’m holding it off," she added quickly. "It’s just that I’d rather tell them during the semester break, when I’m home. I’d rather tell them in person than over the phone."

She paused.

"I don’t know about Anthony’s side, though."

Christopher nodded slowly.

"I see."

"Uhm... please don’t think too much about the engagement. I mean, you don’t have to think too much of it."

She gave him a small smile.

"I know it might sound like something big, but it really isn’t."

Christopher listened.

"It was mostly an agreement between our grandparents. A verbal agreement, really. Our families were trying to see if Anthony and I would work out."

She looked down at the table.

"Our families did usually set us to see each other when we were younger, but that was all in the past. I mean, before coming to St. Albion, I hadn’t actually seen him for six to seven years."

She looked back at Christopher.

"The last time we really interacted before university was when I was twelve."

Christopher’s expression remained thoughtful.

"So it wasn’t as though we were actually together."

Vivienne shook her head.

"And there was never any merging of the families or anything like that. No formal arrangements. Nothing."

She smiled faintly.

"So now that Anthony and I have agreed not to go through with it, I don’t think there will be any complications."

She realized how much she had just explained and gave a slightly embarrassed smile.

"Sorry. I know I explained a lot."

Christopher’s lips curved faintly.

"It’s all right."

"I just thought you should understand."

"I do."

He nodded.

"That’s good to know."

Vivienne relaxed.

Then, after a moment, she looked at him.

"How about you?"

Christopher raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Me?"

"Your family."

She hesitated.

"I mean... I realize I really haven’t known much about you yet."

Christopher looked at her.

Vivienne smiled shyly.

"We should probably get to know each other better."

He nodded.

"I think so."

She rested her hands on the table.

"How many are there in your family?"

"My parents and my younger sister."

"You have a sister?"

"Yes."

"How old is she?"

"Seventeen."

Vivienne smiled.

"I didn’t know that."

"There are quite a few things you don’t know about me yet."

She laughed softly.

"I suppose there are."

She thought for a moment.

"What are your parents like?"

Christopher considered the question.

"They’re fairly traditional."

"Ah."

Vivienne nodded.

"I suppose that makes sense."

She hesitated before asking,

"What do you think they would expect from your partner?"

Christopher looked at her.

"They don’t interfere with my personal life much."

He paused.

"But if I were serious about someone, I imagine they’d expect me to take it seriously."

Vivienne nodded.

"That sounds reasonable."

There was a brief silence.

Then Vivienne looked down at her hands.

"Actually..."

Christopher waited.

She glanced up at him.

"About my family..."

She hesitated.

"Because of the situation with Anthony, I was thinking..."

She took a small breath.

"If you’d like, I could tell my parents about us during the semester break."

She quickly added,

"I mean, if you’re comfortable with that."

She looked down again.

"I just want you to know that I’m being serious about this."

Her fingers fidgeted slightly against the edge of the table.

"I mean, I’m serious about you."

She gave a small, nervous smile.

"I really, really like you."

She swallowed.

"And I’m taking this relationship seriously."

She paused.

"I mean..."

She glanced away, suddenly feeling as though she needed to explain herself properly.

"I’m the kind of person that, if I’m with someone, it’s because I’m thinking about it seriously."

She nodded to herself, as though that made perfect sense.

"I mean, I’d want it to lead to marriage someday, you know."

She kept going.

"And I think I’d be a great wife..."

A beat.

"And a great mother to your—"

"Oh."

She stopped.

Her eyes widened.

Her face turned bright red.

"Oh my God."

She immediately covered her face with both hands.

What did I just say?

She stayed like that for a moment, completely mortified.

Vivienne.

What did you just say?

Yesterday, she had only just confessed that she liked him.

Yesterday, he had agreed to date her after well... she upselled herself.

Yesterday, she had labeled their exclusively dating relationship as boyfriend and girlfriend

And now she had somehow gone from girlfriend to wife and mother of his children in the span of one conversation.

Oh my God.

She was nineteen.

Nineteen.

Christopher was twenty-two.

He hadn’t even graduated university yet.

And she had just been talking about becoming his wife and the mother of his children.

Her face burned even hotter.

Only then did she realize what had happened.

Somewhere along the way, her twenty-nine-year-old mind had apparently taken over.

She had spent eight years in a relationship before.

Marriage and building a family had always been the direction she had imagined eventually taking.

And now that she had finally found someone she genuinely liked and liked her back, that part of her had simply gotten ahead of itself.

Way ahead.

Oh God.

Just kill me now.

--

Tbc