Vivian's POV
Laying down on her bed, looking like death warmed over. Amy tried to tell the most unconvincing lie that Vivian had ever heard. "Seriously, Viv, I am fine. I know that you had plans to be with Ryan Terrell tonight, just go, I can look after myself,"
Folding her arms over her chest, Vivian did not even bother pretending to believe a word out of her best friend's mouth. "Tell that to me when you no longer trip on your own two feet and nearly crack your head open like a coconut,"
Amy let out a huff of air, "Come on Viv, it is not that bad. I did not even need stitches and I do not even have a concussion. I will be fine, so just go, I am certain Ryan Terrell will not be happy that you stood him up," Readjusting the pillows beneath Amy's head, Vivian smiled down at her friend.
"You will not be getting rid of me that easily, Amy. You are hurt and need my help, so like it or not you are getting it," At the end of her statement the alarm that she'd set when they'd left the hospital began to ring. Standing, Vivian silenced it and left the bedroom going to her friend's kitchen.
Once there she threw together a simple ham sandwich for Amy and poured her a glass of juice. Returning to the bedroom with it. She watched silently as Amy made a sizable dent in the meal before taking the meds that she had been given. Being extra dramatic about it, she opened her mouth wide and moved her tongue around. Showing that she truly had swallowed her meds.
"There, all done, now go Vivian, I'll be fine for the rest of the night," It would have been believable if Amy did not look so miserable.
Instead of taking her handbag and heading out Vivian shook her head.
"Absolutely not, I will be in the living room if you need me. I still have a change of clothes from the last time I was here, so you do not have to worry about lending me anything," Amy rolled her eyes at that.
"As though I would mind sharing clothes with you. You are the best friend a girl could ever ask for Viv," Her pain meds slowly kicking in, Amy smiled loopily at Vivian, holding her arms out for a hug.
Leaning in, Vivian accepted the gesture. Only letting go once she felt her friend's grip go slack. Sure enough, when she pulled back she found Amy fast asleep.
"Silly goose, and you wanted me to think you would be alright on your own," She said fondly. After a bit more pillow-fluffing, Vivian left her friend in order to go get the couch set up.
***
Instead of falling asleep right away, Vivian found herself scrolling through her phone. Re-reading her messages with Ryan, she kept going back to one chat in particular, the one that they'd had that very day.
The night before she and Ryan had been doing all sorts of kinky things, and when she had left him in bed early that morning, she had promised him that she would be seeing him later in the night. And yet Vivian had not been able to keep that promise. She would not lie, when she had typed out the message cancelling, their planned meeting, Vivian had been nervous beyond belief. Worried about how the billionaire would take it.
Bryce had never taken her cancelling on him well at all. He had never cared about the reasons. To him all that had mattered was that she had broken a promise.
Whether Vivian was not going to make an appointment, because she was working late. Even if she did not meet him because she was sick, or if it was because her car had broken down, Bryce had never cared.
To him, it was a failure on Vivian's part, to not honor her commitment, and he had never been shy about letting her know how unhappy he was about the whole thing.
On the other hand though, when it came to letting her down, Bryce had not cared to even send out a quick text telling her that he would not be able to make it. There had been multiple occasions where Vivian had found herself waiting for him. Either at a restaurant, or alone in her apartment. She would often waste a good chunk of time looking like an idiot waiting for him to show up as promised.
The man not even bothering to answer her calls when she tried to get in touch with him.
Often times when he finally had reached out, it had not been a good thing at all. With Bryce either making up something to be angry at her about, or being flippant about standing her up. Vivian had always hurt even more during those times. Knowing fully that the reason that Bryce was behaving so horribly was because he had been with someone else.
Any attempts to confront him had only ever led to more pain for her. Bryce always switching the topic from whether or not he was cheating, to how no one would want someone like her.
***
That was the kind of thing that Vivian was used to. So to her, Ryan's easy acceptance of there being a change of plans was like a breath of fresh air. Smiling to herself as she stared up at the ceiling Vivian could not help but wiggle in place, too happy to be still.
In the beginning of that day, she had thought that she would spend the night getting a different sort of happy ending. But laying in the dark with the knowledge that Ryan Terrell understood. That he had not made a bad situation even worse by guilt-tripping her. Vivian felt a different kind of happiness. One that left her feeling peaceful, she fell asleep with a smile on her face.