Chapter 96: Reply

Ryan’s POV

Absence makes the heart grow fonder. The person that had said that definitely knew what they were talking about.

At first, Ryan had been upset because the number of times that he had met up with Vivian had been reduced. He had been even more saddened by the fact that even when they did meet, there was an invisible barrier between them. Something that had not been there before.

But now Ryan found himself missing those times of rarely ever seeing Vivian but at least getting to lay eyes on her every once in a while.

Now all of that was gone.

It was almost as though Vivian had never existed in Ryan’s life. Were it not for some of her things still at the penthouse. He would have believed that he had lost his mind, and had made her up. But Vivian Rose was very real, and she was also avoiding Ryan like he was a loan shark and she was in heavy debt.

For the past week, every single attempt that Ryan had made to reach out to her had been a failure. From trying to go over to her place, to having her come to him, or even trying to take her out somewhere, Vivian had made sure that they did not meet.

The excuses that she gave were always so valid that they left Ryan feeling bad for wanting to ask her if she was avoiding him. Every time that he wanted to raise the topic, he ended up not saying anything, not wanting to seem paranoid.

Not only that, he had also not wanted to appear too desperate.

To make sure that while she sorted out whatever it was that was causing her to hold him at arm’s length she did not forget him. Ryan had taken to sending her a ridiculous amount of gifts.

He even had papers drawn up to buy her islands and boats.

If she gave her ok on the issue, all he had to do was sign and the deals would go through.

The gifts that he sent her were not just to make sure that she did not forget him, they served another purpose. Ryan was hoping that with each one that she received. Vivian would begin to realize that on his part things between them were shifting. That he no longer wanted to be just friends with benefits, that he was very, very interested in the two of them being more.

***

Though he busied himself with sending her gifts, and then occupying the rest of his remaining time with work and hanging out with Mark.

Ryan would not lie, he was nervous and he had every right to be.

For most people, himself included, relationships were a big deal, and the one that he was attempting to start with Vivian Rose would be an even bigger deal for him.

She would be his first official girlfriend after Gwendolyn Stuart the fourth.

That was huge for Ryan.

When things between him and Gwendolyn had soured in one of the worst ways imaginable. Her betrayal had cut deep, and his own brother’s actions had made Ryan lose his faith in humanity for a bit. Back then he had promised himself that he would never love again. That he would not open up his heart to any other woman that the risk of being betrayed, of being used like that was not worth it.

But along had come Vivian Rose, and without even trying the woman had made a space for herself in Ryan’s heart.

She was the one for him, deep down Ryan had always known that, and now he was working to get Vivian to realize that before he said anything to her.

He hoped that it was working.

***

Were it up to Ryan’s nerves, he would take a few more weeks just showering Vivian with gifts.

Finding the rarest of gems to give her. Tracking down obscure works of art for her because she loved drawing so much, and giving her everything that her heart could ever desire. Doing so before she thought to ask him for it.

But approaching the situation like that would delay things.

Ryan, despite being able to draw from a nearly endless well of patience on most days found himself running very low on that particular trait. He had to let Vivian know how he felt and he had to do it as soon as possible.

It felt like each day that he went without telling her, the distance between them would stretch and stretch until he could no longer tell her. So it had to be done.

Taking out his phone, Ryan began to type.

[Hey Vivian I know you are probably busy but I-], groaning in frustration at how desperate the text sounded Ryan deleted it. Then he started again.

[Hey Vivian, can we meet tonight?]. he hit send before he could second guess himself. Then he waited, feeling so nervous that he actually got to his feet and began pacing,

Vivian’s recent track record did not give him much hope that she would agree. But he wanted her to reply quickly so that he knew where he stood.

If she said they could not meet, then he would have to make another plan to see her. But if she said that they could. Then he could focus his efforts into figuring out exactly how he was going to tell her that he wanted them to be more.

Placing the phone on the table to stop himself from looking at it as he paced. Ryan resumed walking again, his mind refusing to settle no matter how many steps he took.

He had just begun considering changing his clothes and heading to his gym when the phone vibrated. Rushing over Ryan suddenly hesitated. Instead of picking it up, he stared at the phone, worried that Vivian would be saying no to a meet-up.

Taking a deep breath he finally picked up the phone and read the message. All of the tension bleeding out of him at the simple one word reply.[Yes], it was not enthusiastic at all. But it was way better than Ryan had gotten from her in quite some time so he would take it.