Chapter 206: University gymnasium I

Chapter 206: Chapter 206: University gymnasium I

Vivienne woke at eight in the morning.

On a Sunday.

She stared at the ceiling for several seconds before reaching for her alarm clock.

Eight.

Exactly.

She had no reason to be awake this early.

No Foundation assignment.

No classes.

No appointment.

Nothing.

And yet, she was already awake.

Worse—

She was excited.

Vivienne rolled onto her side, then remembered why.

Fencing.

She sat up.

Right.

Eleanor was going to fencing practice today.

The memory brought back their conversation from the night before.

They had been sitting around the table at Oaks & Barrels, discussing what to do with Sunday. It was their last truly easy day before the university became consumed by midterm preparations and, after that, Sports Fest.

"I have fencing practice tomorrow," Eleanor had mentioned.

Vivienne had looked up.

"On Sunday?"

"Normally we don’t," Eleanor explained. "But with Sports Fest coming up, they’re increasing practice sessions. We need to get everyone ready."

That had been enough to make Vivienne remember.

Christopher.

He fenced.

She had learned that from him herself.

And suddenly, the idea of spending the morning watching fencing seemed much more interesting.

"Can I come with you?"

Three pairs of eyes had turned toward her.

Vivienne blinked.

"What?"

Amelia’s eyebrows rose.

"Why do you suddenly want to come?"

"I’ve never watched fencing before."

Claire gave her a suspicious look.

"You’ve never shown the slightest interest in fencing before."

Vivienne opened her mouth.

Closed it.

Then shrugged.

"I’ve seen it on television."

"That isn’t an answer."

Vivienne laughed.

"Fine. I’m curious."

Eleanor had been watching her with an increasingly amused expression.

Then, as casually as anything, she said,

"Senior Archibald is in the fencing club."

Silence.

Claire slowly turned toward her.

Amelia’s mouth fell open.

"Oh."

Vivienne tried very hard to look innocent.

Amelia pointed at her.

"So that’s why."

"What?"

"You sly girl."

Claire laughed.

"You remembered that Senior Archibald fences the moment Eleanor mentioned practice."

"I did not."

"You absolutely did."

Vivienne finally laughed.

"All right. Maybe I did."

Eleanor shook her head, amused.

"I wondered when you’d make the connection."

Vivienne hadn’t denied it.

Because why bother?

She wanted to see him.

That was the truth.

She had only seen Christopher twice since they met.

The first had been that Sunday afternoon tea.

The second had been the Friday she had deliberately engineered that little coincidence outside his club.

That was it.

Two times.

And now, if he actually attended fencing practice today, this would be the third.

It wasn’t as though she expected anything to happen.

She simply wanted to see him.

In person.

Again.

And perhaps—

just perhaps—

she wanted him to notice her too.

She got out of bed, headed into the bathroom, and showered. Fast-forward to eight-thirty in the morning, and she was standing in front of her mirror, carefully applying makeup for an outing where she’d mostly be sitting on the sidelines.

Vivienne stared at her reflection.

A thin layer of foundation.

Concealer.

A little blush.

Mascara.

A soft tint on her lips.

Nothing dramatic.

Nothing that looked like she had tried too hard.

She adjusted one strand of hair.

Then another.

She tilted her head.

Hmm.

Pretty.

But natural.

The sort of pretty that could plausibly be explained by having simply woken up looking like this.

Vivienne almost laughed at herself.

She wasn’t dressing up for him.

She was just—

Making an effort.

Because she was going somewhere.

And there was a possibility she might see someone she liked.

That was perfectly reasonable.

She reached for a small tube of lip gloss.

Paused.

Then applied the tiniest amount.

"There."

She stepped back.

Satisfied.

Then immediately shook her head.

"This is ridiculous."

She was going to watch fencing.

She wasn’t going to a ball.

Still...

She had to admit she was looking forward to it.

She had spent most of yesterday surrounded by Damian’s attention.

Today, she would get to see Christopher.

The thought made her smile.

Vivienne picked up her bag and headed out.

Vivienne picked up her bag and turned toward the door.

Claire was still in bed.

Vivienne stopped.

"Claire?"

A muffled sound came from beneath the blanket.

"Hmm?"

"Are you coming?"

Claire opened one eye.

"To fencing?"

"Yes."

Claire looked at the clock.

Then at Vivienne.

Then pulled the blanket higher.

"You go ahead."

Vivienne laughed.

"You’re not coming?"

"I’ll go later."

"You’re not even interested, are you?"

"Not particularly."

Vivienne shook her head.

"Fine."

Claire closed her eyes again.

Then, just before Vivienne reached the door, she added sleepily,

"Try not to stare too obviously."

Vivienne stopped.

She turned around.

Claire’s eyes remained closed.

"I’m not staring at anyone."

"Mm-hm."

"You’re half asleep."

"Still not blind."

Vivienne laughed.

"Go back to sleep."

"I intend to."

Vivienne shook her head, smiling, and left.

--

Vivienne had never been inside the university’s gymnasium before.

She had passed it countless times, of course, but she’d never had any reason to come inside.

It was much larger than she’d expected.

The covered multipurpose hall stretched across a wide open space, with different sections arranged for various sports. This morning, the fencing club occupied one side of it, several pistes laid across the polished floor.

Eleanor was already somewhere among them.

Vivienne spotted her almost immediately.

She smiled.

At least she’d found the person she was actually supposed to be here for.

That was the official reason, anyway.

The unofficial one was considerably more embarrassing.

She was looking for Christopher.

There was no point pretending otherwise.

She had told herself she was curious about fencing.

That was only partly true.

She knew almost nothing about the sport. She’d seen it on television before, but only in passing. She’d never cared enough to learn the rules, and watching the fencers move across the piste only confirmed that she understood absolutely nothing.

They lunged.

Retreated.

Their blades struck.

Someone called a point.

Vivienne blinked.

What just happened?

She looked at Eleanor.

Then back at the piste.

No.

She still didn’t understand.

Her attention wandered.

Across the gymnasium.

One section at a time.

No Christopher.

Vivienne’s expression fell slightly.

She looked again.

Still nothing.

Maybe he’s not coming.

She tried not to be disappointed.

After all, she hadn’t asked him if he would be here.

She hadn’t told him she was coming.

There was no reason for him to appear simply because she wanted him to.

Still...

She glanced toward the entrance.

A student walked in.

Not him.

Vivienne looked away.

A few minutes later, the doors opened again.

She looked up immediately.

Not him.

Her lips pressed together.

She turned back toward the fencing piste.

Stop it.

She was being ridiculous.

She had come to accompany Eleanor.

That was all.

She watched another bout.

At least, she tried to.

The fencers moved too quickly for her to follow, and she soon found herself watching the entrance again.

Another person walked in.

Vivienne looked.

Not Christopher.

Her shoulders sank a fraction.

She sighed quietly.

Maybe he wasn’t coming after all.

Which was fine.

Perfectly fine.

She wasn’t disappointed.

Not really.

She had simply—

wanted to see him.

That was all.

Vivienne looked toward the entrance one more time.

And somewhere beyond the other side of the enormous gymnasium, completely unaware that she was there, Christopher Archibald was still nowhere near the fencing piste.

For now.

--

Tbc