Chapter 197: Just Ask
Vivian’s POV
Ryan was out with Mark, the two of them probably spending ridiculous amounts of money while hanging out. For her part Vivian was in her apartment with Amy just enjoying being there. Since she and Ryan had gotten back together. She now spent so much time at the penthouse that she barely got to be in her apartment so it was nice.
It was not an exciting evening by any means, but to Vivian it was amazing. It was just her and Amy, and way more snacks than they could ever hope to finish in a single night. The two of them doing each other’s hair exchanging gossip, and talking bad about trashy soap operas that they would most definitely be watching over and over again.
With everything that had been going on, they had not gotten to hang out like that much, and Vivian had really missed it. No drama, no fires to put out, and Vivian was intending to enjoy it to the max. Unfortunately for her, she and Amy had been friends for far too long, and her friend had picked up on the fact that something was bothering Vivian.
"Every time that you zone out and just start shoving food into your mouth like a robot, I know that something is bothering you. What is going on?" At her friend’s words, Vivian paused mid-chew. What in the world was Amy talking about? She was not eating that much. They were both enjoying the snacks, looking down. Vivian realized that she had not one, not two, not three, but four chocolate wrappers in front of her.
Oh, she had given herself away without even meaning to.
***
Finishing off the crunchy bite of chocolate that she had still been chewing on, Vivian swallowed. Then she reached for a bottle of water on the table and did not put it down until it was only half full.
"There is not really anything going on..." She began looking for the words to express to Amy the vibes that she had been picking up from Ryan over the past few days.
"It is just that I feel that Ryan has something major that he wishes to talk to me about. Whatever it is, it is big enough that instead of him just coming out and saying it, I keep catching him looking off into the distance, clearly lost in thought,"
"Why don’t you just ask him why he’s staring into space?" Amy asked. Reaching for the cookies on the table, Vivian bought herself some time by finishing one off before talking to her friend again. "Every time I try to do that, he finds somewhere else to be. Just today I was about to confront him and his phone went off. I have never seen that man rush to answer a call the way he did that one and when he was done, he immediately left to go meet up with the person that had been on the other end,"
A thoughtful look on her face, Amy grabbed a cookie of her own and took a bite. When she was done with that, she gave Vivian a scrutinizing look.
"I know you Vivian, you are not that patient. If you truly had no idea what was on Ryan’s mind, you would have already cornered him and gotten the truth out of him. The fact that you’ve been letting him evade you means that you have an inkling of what this whole thing is about and you do not wish to discuss it as well. So what is it?" Vivian almost felt like pelting her best friend with cookie crumbs. Why was Amy so observant?! Realizing that she had nowhere to run, Amy just came out and said it.
"I get the feeling that Ryan wants me to sell my apartment and move into the penthouse with him permanently,"
Amy’s eyes widened, and she stuffed the remainder of her cookie into her mouth. Only saying something once she was done chewing and swallowing. "If that truly is what Ryan is intending to ask you, what are you going to do? Is it a deal breaker for you?" Amy asked and that was the problem. Vivian had no idea.
Grabbing another cookie from the plate, she broke it in half, but she did not eat it. Looking around her apartment, she felt tears begin to build in her eyes, making them sting.
"This is my place, Amy. I have lived here for so long. I worked so hard to buy it. Now there is a chance that he will just want me to let it all go," Vivian broke her cookie into more pieces.
"I know that a lot of people would jump on the opportunity to move in with a billionaire, but that just isn’t me. This place is more than just four walls. It is a sign of my independence. A reminder that I can do things for myself and do not need to depend on anyone. I can’t see myself letting it go," Reaching out Amy lightly patted Vivian on the knee before she pulled her hand back.
"If you selling your apartment and moving in with him is truly what Ryan wants to talk about, then that is not something that I can help you with. That is a couple problems. But I can give you some advice. Talk to him about it as soon as possible. Do not let this fester. The last time that you made an assumption, the two of you ended up miserable and missing each other. This time face the situation head on,"
"I truly believe that once you sit down and discuss it, you will be able to come up with a way forward that will work for the both of you," With Amy’s words ringing in her ears, Vivian turned her attention back to the snacks and her friend did the same. Both of them switching to lighter topics for the remainder of the night.