Chapter 191: Declaration
Ryan’s POV
When they had been apart after Gwendolyn had cast her dark shadow over them. There were things that a heartbroken Ryan had thought that he would never see again. One of those things was the site of Vivian Rose in his kitchen, singing softly as she cooked for the both of them.
But now, walking into the kitchen from his study. Ryan found her in the middle of making a sauce. Her hips swaying from side to side as she sang a popular song that he often heard on the radio. It was clear that she was in her own little world as she moved, adding spices, tasting and pausing every now and then to stir. A part of Ryan was tempted to just stand there and watch until she was done. But after all of the time he had spent in the study after they’d returned from seeing his grandfather, Ryan felt like he had not seen her in eons.
So, being as quiet as possible, he began making his way towards her. Once he was certain that she was not holding anything that could make her injure herself. He slid his arms around her waist, laughing softly when she let out a little squeal.
"Ryan! Don’t do that. I could have been holding something hot and ended up scalding the both of us,"
"That is why I waited until it was safe to approach," He told her as he kissed the side of her neck.
Despite having just been chastising him, Vivian tilted her head to the side to give him better access and Ryan smiled against her skin.
"What are you making?" He asked.
Vivian shrugged. "Nothing much. I’m just making tomato sauce from scratch. I am thinking of maybe making us some pasta with it later today,"
***
Deciding to leave Vivian to it. Ryan pressed another kiss to her neck and went over to the fridge to get himself an apple. Picking one, he noticed that it had drops of water clinging to it and when he looked at the others, the same thing was going on. He also noticed that the unpeeled grapes were also glistening and so were the plums. Closing the fridge, Ryan’s brow furrowed. Turning back to Vivian, he found her once again focused on her cooking, her attention on the pot as she stirred slowly. Being that she was in the middle of something, it would have been best to just leave her to it. But Ryan got the feeling that something was up and whatever it was, it needed to be addressed as soon as possible. Moving over to the stove the moment that Vivian stepped away from it, Ryan turned the heat as low as it would go.
"Hey, what are you doing?!"
"I am turning the heat down so that the sauce has a chance to simmer down," He answered easily.
Crossing her arms over her chest, Vivian began tapping her foot in irritation. "I was going to do that, it just needs five more minutes to really get as much water out as possible at a higher heat," She moved to turn the heat back up but Ryan blocked her path, his hands settling around her waist.
"Ryan, we are not doing that in the kitchen...again," Vivian said warningly. Finding himself tempted, he forced his gaze away from her heaving chest and looked up at the ceiling instead.
"Why do you always have to tempt me? I was not even thinking about that. Now I have to take a few moments to get myself under control," Vivian, the minx, actually rubbed herself against his front and Ryan raised a brow at her.
"I thought you said we were not doing it in the kitchen again," Her face going pink Vivian took a step back.
"All right, fine. Why are you interfering with my cooking?"
Leading her over to the stools by the kitchen island, Ryan helped her take a seat. Then he settled in next to her.
"All right, spill what is bothering you?"
***
Instead of immediately telling him what was wrong, Vivian threw her head back and laughed.
"What makes you think that anything is bothering me? I am perfectly fine," Not even bothering with words, Ryan pointedly looked over at the green peppers that were currently dripping water by the kitchen sink. Then he gestured towards the fridge.
"Every single fruit in there is also showing signs that it has been washed. I remember you telling me that you went through a phase of washing fruits and vegetables when the two of us were apart. So what is eating you?" Her shoulders slumping Vivian finally started playing ball.
"The whole thing with the hearing is just stressing me out. Sure, your grandfather really pulled through when it came to defending us. But I am still worried, what if the damage done to the school’s reputation is too much? What if they fire me or what if they decide to stick up for me and no parent wants me around their kids?"
"What am I going to do then? I love teaching," His hand going over hers, Ryan gave Vivian a mischievous smile.
"If they do any of that, I am going to buy that school, burn it to the ground. Then I will build a new bigger, better school in its place just for you and you can run it however you choose and teach as many children as you want," As expected, Vivian threw her head back and laughed.
"You are right, I have nothing to worry about, either they take me back or you bring out the C4 and level the place. Who knows, maybe instead of a school, I will have you build a bunny sanctuary," Jumping off her stool. Vivian leaned forward and dropped a kiss on Ryan’s cheek before returning to her pot.
From her easy acceptance of his declaration, it was clear that she thought that he was kidding, and Ryan was content to let her think that but he really was not. If the school knew what was good for them, they would take his Vivian back.