Chapter 242: getting to know IV
Christopher was quiet for a moment.
Then he said,
"By the way, I did not get to ask. How is your project going?"
Vivienne blinked.
"The Community Resource Partnership?"
"Yes."
She smiled.
"You remember."
"You told me about it."
"I know."
There was something almost ridiculously pleasing about hearing that.
"It’s going well," she said. "Although..."
She sighed.
"It’s tiring."
Christopher laughed softly.
"I thought you were leading it."
"I am."
"Then shouldn’t you be enthusiastic?"
"I am enthusiastic."
She paused.
"About the idea."
"Not the work?"
"Not every part of it."
Vivienne laughed.
"The idea is good. I still think it is."
"But?"
"The practical side is exhausting."
She shifted against the wall.
"Every Saturday we have to go out and work on it. We have to visit businesses, talk to people, figure out what they can actually provide, and then make sure the whole thing is practical."
"That does sound time-consuming."
"It is."
She sighed again.
"I wish I had Saturdays like you."
"Free?"
"Exactly."
Christopher smiled.
"Unfortunately, that’s one advantage of being a fourth-year."
"Very unfair."
"I’ll try not to take advantage of it."
Vivienne laughed.
"You should."
There was a brief pause.
Then Christopher asked,
"So what do you usually do when you’re not studying or working on the project?"
Vivienne went quiet.
She thought about it.
What did she actually do?
Study.
Spend time with her friends.
Go to club activities.
Attend university events.
And, lately, spend an unreasonable amount of time thinking about men.
She smiled faintly.
"Honestly?"
"Honestly."
"I don’t really do that much."
Christopher sounded amused.
"Nothing?"
"I study."
"I know."
"A lot."
"I know that too."
Vivienne laughed.
"And I spend time with my friends."
"Claire, Amelia, and Eleanor?"
She smiled.
"Yes."
"I’ve met Eleanor."
"Right. Fencing."
"She’s very good."
"Apparently."
Christopher laughed.
"Apparently?"
"I still don’t understand fencing."
"I explained it to you."
"You did."
"And?"
"I understood it for about five minutes."
He laughed.
"That’s progress."
Vivienne smiled.
"Maybe."
She thought for another moment.
"We go out sometimes. Dinner. Shopping. Things like that."
"Anything else?"
"Not really."
She paused.
"Sometimes we just stay in our room and talk."
"About?"
"Everything."
"That sounds dangerous."
"It probably is."
He laughed softly.
Vivienne smiled.
"Mostly, though, I study."
She didn’t mention the other things.
She didn’t tell him about the elaborate romantic fantasies that had occupied far too much of her attention lately.
𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦
She certainly wasn’t going to tell him that she had spent an embarrassing amount of time thinking about him.
That would be absurd.
Christopher was quiet for a moment.
Then he asked,
"And Sundays?"
Vivienne smiled.
"Usually free."
"Usually?"
"Unless something comes up."
"Like fencing practice?"
She laughed.
"Exactly."
There was a comfortable silence.
Then Vivienne suddenly remembered something.
"Your roommate..."
Christopher laughed softly.
"What about him?"
"Won’t he mind?"
"Mind what?"
"That you’re talking to me."
She immediately realized how that sounded.
Her cheeks warmed.
"I mean—you’re in your room, aren’t you?"
"Yes."
"Doesn’t he need to sleep?"
"My roommate stepped out."
"Oh."
Vivienne relaxed.
"That’s good."
Christopher smiled.
"Why?"
"So I don’t disturb him."
"You aren’t."
Vivienne smiled.
"Still."
She glanced at the bathroom door.
She had been standing there for far longer than she’d intended.
Claire probably thought she had disappeared.
She lowered her voice instinctively.
"I should probably go back."
"All right."
Neither of them hung up immediately.
Vivienne smiled.
She didn’t want to.
Not yet.
Then Christopher spoke.
"I enjoyed talking to you."
Her heart skipped.
She smiled.
"Me too."
A pause.
Then, softly,
"Goodnight..."
She hesitated.
The name suddenly felt strangely significant.
She had called him Senior Archibald so many times that using his first name felt almost intimate.
But she wanted to.
So, for the first time, she dared.
"Christopher."
There was a brief silence on the other end.
Christopher paused.
He had heard her say his name before, of course.
But never quite like that.
Without the polite title.
Without the teasing Senior Archibald she had somehow made sound almost natural.
Just—
Christopher.
Something about hearing it in her voice made him smile.
He didn’t know why.
Perhaps it was simply because she sounded a little nervous saying it.
Or perhaps because, after spending the past hour talking to her, the formal distance between them suddenly seemed a little less necessary.
He leaned back slightly.
Then answered,
"Goodnight, Vivienne."
Vivienne froze.
Her heart nearly lurched out of her chest.
Oh my God.
He had said her name.
Not Lady Beaumont.
Not anything formal.
Vivienne.
Her mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
She closed it again.
This was ridiculous.
She was twenty-nine years old.
She could handle a man’s voice saying her name.
She could.
Probably.
She swallowed.
"Talk to you later?"
Her voice came out slightly higher than she intended.
Christopher smiled.
He could hear the tiny tremor in it.
"Talk to you later."
Vivienne nodded instinctively, even though he couldn’t see her.
"Y-yeah. Talk to you later."
She immediately winced.
Why did I stutter?
She cleared her throat.
"Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
The call ended.
Vivienne stared at the phone.
For several seconds, she simply stood there.
Then she glanced at the call duration.
52 minutes.
Her eyes widened.
They had been talking for almost an hour.
Not because one of them needed something.
They had simply—
talked.
Vivienne pressed the phone against her chest.
"Oh my God."
He called her.
He had actually called her.
And then he had said her name.
She covered her face with both hands.
She was smiling so hard her cheeks hurt.
Then the realization struck her.
She had just said Christopher.
Out loud.
To Christopher.
And he had answered by saying Vivienne.
She lowered her hands slowly.
"Oh, this is bad."
She was smiling again.
There was no point denying it.
She was completely gone.
Then she remembered Claire.
Oh.
Right.
She was still in the bathroom.
Vivienne quickly composed herself, took one deep breath, and opened the door.
Claire looked up from her desk.
"You took a long time."
Vivienne tried to sound normal.
"Did I?"
"Yes."
"Oh."
She walked toward her bed.
Claire narrowed her eyes.
"Why are you smiling?"
Vivienne immediately looked away.
"I’m not."
"You are."
"No."
Claire stared at her.
Vivienne picked up her textbook and opened it.
"I was just talking to someone."
Claire’s eyes widened.
"Who?"
Vivienne bit the inside of her cheek.
Then smiled despite herself.
"Christopher."
Claire dropped her pen.
"He called you?"
Vivienne nodded.
A helpless grin spread across her face.
"Yes."
Claire stared at her for another second.
Then looked at the clock.
"How long?"
Vivienne glanced at her phone again.
"Almost an hour."
Claire’s mouth fell open.
Vivienne couldn’t help laughing.
And just like that, all thoughts of studying disappeared.
--
Tbc