Chapter 196: Bad Plan
Ryan’s POV
Normally, Ryan would have been spending his evening with Vivian. But she was spending the night at her apartment hanging out with Amy. When she had informed Ryan of this, her worry that she would be leaving him on his own clear, he had rushed to reassure her, telling her that she need not worry since he would be spending time with Mark, that they had a thing to do.
Good woman that she was, Vivian had just told him to have fun.
What she had not known was, at the time, he had not had anything planned with Mark. But the moment that he had finished talking with her, Ryan had called his friend. Now the two of them were out having a drink together. As they enjoyed their drinks, they were not really talking about anything serious. They were just going through various topics, things like the economy of the city, industries that were suffering, the reshuffling that was currently going on at Mark’s bank, and Ryan was also sharing how he was handling the void that had been left behind after he had ended some contracts with the Stuart family,( his way of showing Gwendolyn’s father that he meant business).
Any other time, such topics would have been draining. But since they were just talking about them without trying to come up with solutions, they did not induce any unnecessary stress. All in all it was a good evening, and Ryan was almost certain that he had gotten away without Mark noticing anything was off. But just as he was thinking of calling it a night, his friend put his drink down on the table and gave Ryan an assessing look.
"Are you going to tell me what is bothering you now? Or are you going to waste yet another hour just talking about random things?"
***
Ryan’s stared silently at his friend. Not quite sure what to do? Earlier that day Vivian had asked him the exact same question when she had caught him staring off into the distance. He had gotten out of answering her thanks to a business partner choosing that very moment to call him. Looking at his phone on the table, Ryan wished that he would have that kind of good luck again, but the device remained silent. Grabbing his drink he took a sip of his whiskey and licked his lips before looking over at his friend.
"Was I really being that obvious?" Mark nodded
"You have been spacing out mid conversation for the last few minutes, so I know that something is definitely eating away at you. Now come on, what is it?" Staring down at his drink, Ryan decided that in a way, telling Mark would be easier since it might help him gain a new perspective on a new issue that he was having. He had been thinking about it quite a bit, and he could tell that his stress was worrying Vivian. "I still cannot find Gwendolyn and Bryce. Every single person that I have out there keeps running into brick wall after brick wall. I had thought that by now I would have them in my clutches, but still nothing,"
Not saying anything to that, Mark simply continued to watch him, and Ryan felt himself sharing more.
"These past few days I have been doing my best to smoke them out. I have paid Bryce’s family to try and lure him out, but he is not budging. And Gwendolyn has also not reached out to her father since he cut her off," Pausing, Ryan moved the glass that he was drinking from to his lips, but was unable to force himself to take another sip. He put it back down and instead began just tapping at the crystal, the sound that was produced helping to settle him.
Across from him, Mark refilled his own glass. "All right, all that you are telling me is nothing new. Even I have people keeping an eye out for Gwendolyn and Bryce and have not found them, but you seem to be stressed about something else when it comes to this whole thing, what is it?"
Ryan almost rolled his eyes. Sometimes, Mark was far too good at reading him. Gulping down what was left in his glass for strength, he decided to just spill it.
"I want to use myself as bait in order to capture Gwendolyn," The silence that came after his statement lasted so long that Ryan almost thought that his friend had not heard him. But then Mark shook his head and fixed him with an intense look.
"And just how exactly are you going to sacrifice yourself?" Mark asked. Ryan shrugged.
"I want to reach out to her on social media and tell her that I made a mistake by choosing Vivian over her. That I wish for us to be together again" Mark’s lips instantly turned downwards in a frown. "That is a horrible idea, Ryan," Running a finger over the rim of his glass, he shrugged. "I know, but I am getting desperate,"
Mark shook his head. "No, you do not realize just how bad your idea is. You and Vivian have just made your way back to each other. Do you really think she would be good with you reaching out to a woman who nearly ruined you guys and telling her that you want her back?"
Oh, Ryan had not thought of it like that.
He had just been worried because he had thought it would bug Vivian that he had come up with the idea without her. But Mark had a very valid point. He could not delay telling Vivian and he also could not go ahead without her knowing. The last time that the two of them had parted, it had been because of a misunderstanding. And if she happened to see him writing to Gwendolyn telling her how much she wanted her back, that could spark a major misunderstanding that Ryan did not need, so he definitely had to tell her now.