Chapter 351: emotional contrast

Chapter 351: Chapter 351: emotional contrast

Vivienne woke up at ten in the morning.

She opened her eyes slowly.

For a few seconds, she simply stared at the ceiling.

Then she reached for her phone.

She always checked it first thing in the morning.

There were several notifications.

Vivienne unlocked the screen.

The first one she saw made her pause.

Three missed calls.

From Damian.

She looked at the times.

1:58 a.m.

2:01 a.m.

2:03 a.m.

Vivienne stared at the screen.

"Oh..."

Her expression immediately fell.

He had called her three times.

And she hadn’t answered any of them.

She remembered going to sleep after getting back to the dorm.

She had been exhausted.

She hadn’t even noticed her phone ringing.

Vivienne bit her lip.

She felt guilty.

Of course she did.

She knew Damian was hurt.

She had seen it last night.

And now he had actually called her.

Three times.

Should she call him back?

She stared at his name.

Maybe he was still sleeping.

Maybe she should wait.

But then again...

What exactly was she supposed to say?

Vivienne frowned slightly.

She thought about it.

She could call him and say she was sorry.

But how should she say it?

Hey Damian, I just called to say sorry for choosing Christopher when you said you wanted more with me.

That’s so... cringe-y.

Besides, what’s really there to say?

She had made her choice.

And Damian had already seen it.

He had seen her leave with Christopher.

He had watched them together.

He had seen enough.

So what was left to say?

Vivienne slowly lowered the phone.

Nothing.

There really wasn’t anything left.

She had already told Christopher that there was nothing between Damian and her.

And there wasn’t.

Whatever had happened between them was over.

If she and Damian ever talked about it, she supposed she would rather it happen naturally.

If they happened to meet somewhere.

If there was a reason to speak.

Not because she deliberately arranged a meeting just to explain something that had already been made painfully obvious.

Besides...

She wasn’t exactly eager to see him right now.

She knew he was probably angry.

And she couldn’t blame him.

She had hurt him.

She knew that.

But at the same time...

Did he really have to drink?

Did he really have to look at her like that in front of everyone?

He hadn’t exactly announced anything.

But anyone who had been paying attention could put the pieces together.

Vivienne sighed.

She felt guilty.

But she was also a little annoyed.

And perhaps that was fair too.

She had done something inconsiderate.

He had done something that embarrassed her.

Neither of them had handled the situation perfectly.

So perhaps it was better to let things cool down.

They would eventually have to see each other again.

They were still assigned to the same Foundation project.

Damian was her senior coordinator.

She couldn’t avoid him forever.

But she didn’t have to deal with it today.

Or tomorrow.

Or even this week.

She could cross that bridge when she got there.

For now...

Maybe it was actually good that she hadn’t answered.

There was nothing to say.

And if Damian really wanted to talk to her, he could always call again.

She would answer then.

Probably.

Vivienne looked at the screen again.

Then sighed.

"Okay..."

She put the phone down.

For a moment, she felt slightly terrible.

She was avoiding a conversation because she didn’t want to deal with it.

That sounded awful.

She was being awful.

She knew that.

But then again...

She had a boyfriend now.

A boyfriend she was very much in love with.

She couldn’t spend her entire morning worrying about another man.

That felt even more wrong.

Vivienne reached for her phone again.

And then she saw another notification.

Her eyes stopped.

Christopher.

There was a message from him.

She opened it.

Good morning. Did you sleep well?

Vivienne froze.

Then her eyes widened.

He had texted her first.

He had actually texted her first.

A smile slowly spread across her face.

"Oh my God..."

She stared at the message.

He remembered.

Last night.

She had teased him about never texting her first.

And now...

He had.

Vivienne couldn’t stop smiling.

Her heart suddenly felt light.

She read the message again.

Then again.

She hugged her pillow.

This was ridiculous.

She was twenty nine years old inside.

It was just a good-morning text.

But it was from Christopher.

And he had remembered what she said.

He had actually thought about it.

Vivienne smiled at her phone.

She suddenly felt a little guilty again.

She had spent the last few minutes thinking about avoiding Damian.

And now she was sitting here grinning at Christopher’s message like nothing had happened.

God.

She really was awful.

But...

She couldn’t help it.

She was in love.

And Christopher was her boyfriend.

So she decided to stop feeling guilty for being happy.

She stared at the message for another few seconds.

Thinking about what she should say in reply.

Then again, why text him back when she could call him?

He was her boyfriend.

She could call him.

Vivienne pressed the call button.

The phone rang.

Once.

Twice.

Then he answered.

"Good morning."

The sound of his voice immediately made her smile.

"G-Good morning."

She suddenly felt shy.

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear even though he couldn’t see her.

"I saw your message."

"I thought you might."

Vivienne laughed softly.

"I... I slept well."

There was a brief pause.

"How about you?"

"I slept well."

"What time did you wake up?"

"Around eight-thirty."

"Eight-thirty?"

Vivienne frowned.

"You should have slept longer."

"I had a few things to do."

"But you have a match later."

"I know."

"You should rest more."

Christopher chuckled.

"I’ll be fine."

"Oh, okay..."

Her voice was soft.

Still a little shy.

"If you think so."

There was a small pause.

Then Vivienne asked,

"So..."

She curled herself more comfortably into the bed.

"What are you doing now?"

"I’m getting ready to leave the room."

"Oh. Where are you going?"

"I’m having brunch with my team before the match."

"Oh, I see."

Well, there goes her plan.

She had been thinking that perhaps she could ask him to have lunch with her.

But apparently, he already had plans.

There was a brief pause.

Then Christopher asked,

"Would you like to join us?"

Vivienne’s eyes widened.

Her lips curved into a delighted smile.

Did he read her mind?

She shook her head slightly.

Then she looked down at herself.

Then at the time on her phone.

She hadn’t even taken a bath.

"I would love to..."

She hesitated.

"But I haven’t even taken a bath yet."

Christopher laughed softly.

"You can still come."

Vivienne smiled.

"I know."

She thought about it for a moment.

She really did want to go.

But then she remembered that he had a match later.

"I think..."

She paused.

"I don’t want to distract you before your match."

There was a brief silence.

Then Christopher said,

"Now that you mention it, I think that would be for the best."

Vivienne blinked.

Then she laughed softly.

"Yeah."

She hugged her pillow a little tighter.

"Okay."

"I’ll see you later."

"Yes."

She smiled.

"I’ll see you there."

There was a brief pause.

Then Christopher said,

"I’ll have a few things to do after the match."

"Oh."

He paused.

"But after that, I can keep you company."

Vivienne blinked.

"Keep me company?"

"Mm."

Christopher’s voice sounded perfectly casual.

"Then we can have dinner."

Vivienne couldn’t help the upward tilt of her lips.

"Dinner?"

"Yes."

She hesitated.

Then her lips curved into a smile.

"Like..."

She suddenly felt shy.

"Like a date?"

There was a brief silence.

Then Christopher laughed softly.

"Yes."

Vivienne immediately smiled.

"Okay."

Her voice was suddenly much softer.

"I’d like that."

"Good."

Vivienne hugged her pillow again.

She couldn’t help it.

They were going on another date.

She liked that very much.

"Then go."

She paused.

"Don’t keep your teammates waiting."

"Okay."

"And good luck."

"Thank you."

"I’ll be there."

"I know."

Vivienne smiled.

"Okay."

There was another small pause.

Neither of them seemed particularly eager to end the call.

Then Christopher said,

"I’ll see you later."

"See you later."

Another pause.

Neither of them hung up.

Vivienne waited.

Christopher waited.

A few seconds passed.

Then a few more.

Finally, Christopher asked gently,

"Why are you still there?"

Vivienne bit her lip.

She hesitated.

Then she said,

"Aren’t you forgetting something?"

There was a brief silence.

Christopher thought for a moment.

Then he asked,

"What is it?"

Vivienne blinked.

Why didn’t he understand?

She had already said it twice yesterday.

Wasn’t he supposed to say it this time?

She felt a little shy about being the one to say it again.

But apparently, Christopher wasn’t going to get the hint.

Fine.

She would just say it.

"Okay..."

She hugged her pillow a little tighter.

"But don’t laugh, okay?"

Christopher chuckled softly.

"I won’t."

Vivienne took a small breath.

Then, very softly,

"I love you, Christopher."

There was a brief silence.

Then Christopher replied, his tone softening with a quiet, amused huff through his nose that completely gave away his smile.

"I love you too, Vivienne."

Vivienne immediately smiled.

"Okay."

She paused.

"Then, goodbye."

"Goodbye."

Then, being silly, she added,

"Mwah!!!"

Christopher laughed softly.

Vivienne blushed when she heard his laughter.

Then she hung up.

The call finally ended.

Vivienne stared at her phone for a moment.

Then she smiled.

A date.

She was going on another date with her boyfriend.

Suddenly, getting ready for the day felt much more exciting.

She finally climbed out of bed.

She had a match to watch.

And a date to look forward to afterward.

Tbc