Chapter 9: Conflict Vs Choice

VIVIAN'S POV

I couldn't sleep.

I kept staring at my phone screen. I had gone home with Alexander that evening after my failed launch.

We didn't speak to each other till we got to the house. He went to the master bedroom and I went to the guest room.

“Just you and I. Let's talk, Vivian…” I read Adrian's text over and over again.

“I am not going to meet him,” I told myself.

“But he did offer to help, and a part of me wants to meet him,” another voice in my head chimed in.

At six.A.M in the morning, I was already at my workshop, cutting new fabrics with hands that didn't seem to agree with each other.

Natalie walked and didn't say a word. I didn't either.

“He was here?” She asked all of a sudden.

“Yes…and I don't think it is right for you to tell him about what happened..”

“I had to, you wouldn't listen to me,” she replied with her eyes fixed on me like she was hoping for something else.

“What is it again, Natalie?” I asked after a while.

“Are you going to see Adrian tonight?”

I paused. I didn't look up at her.

“How on earth did you know about that?”

“Cause you have that look on your face…..that look you give when you want to prove something..”

“I'm not..” I interrupted.

“Vivian…” she bellowed.

“What? He offered to help. For free. He wants to help me fix the numbers.”

“And let me guess, it's a private meeting, just the two of you??”

A part of me wanted to lie but there was no point.

“So?”

“So you know how that looks. You know how Alexander will take it,” she voiced out like she was my mother.

I slammed the scissors down out of frustration.

“Why does everyone care how Alexander takes it?? He had dinner with Catherine at the gala. He smiled. He posed. No one asked how I took it!!"

She sighed.

“You are right, Vivian…..but two wrongs don't make a right and it won't make your brand succeed either..”

“I am not here for the lecture, Natalie. I need Adrian's help. I need his buyers. Just look at what happened. We had zero orders….”

“.....Zero!!”

“I know that….” She replied in a calm tone.

“If I don't fix this, I will lose everything. My money. My company. Everything!” I thought out loudly.

“You have to tell Alexander about going there and don't go at night,” Natalie advised

I scoffed,”Pffff, and why should I tell him??”

“Because you live with him and you are still married….and because... if you hide it, it then looks like an affair even if it's not," she said.

I didn't answer.

******

I stood in front of the hallway mirror in the penthouse that evening.

I wore a black tight dress, my hair let down and my lips glossy like a lady going for a romantic date with her ex.

Alexander was home earlier than I predicted.

“Where are you going?” He stopped to ask me.

“Out.”

“Out, where?” He questioned.

“Work,” I lied.

“At night? In that dress?”

“Okay? It's my work dress,” I replied and looked away.

“Work dress, Vivian?? Don't tell me it is what I am thinking..”

“...you are going to see him, uhn?” He smirked.

“Yes,” I replied coldly.

He squeezed his hands in his pockets and his jaw tightened..

“I told you not to see him…don't try it,” he blurted out in a sharp tone.

“You are not my boss, Alexander. You don't get to tell me what not to do,” I objected.

“I am your husband!”

“For how long? Till papers are signed? You asked me for a divorce, remember???”

“I know what I said, Vivian!!” He raised his voice at me then cautioned himself almost immediately.

Everywhere went quiet.

“Vivian .Can you just stop all these? Don't go to him..at least not tonight,” he said in a low tone.

“You don't even know what he might be up to! I know his game..” he added.

“What game? Quit fooling around, Alexander,” I spoke rudely.

“...he wants to help me…you, on the other hand, want to control me. Who is playing the worst game??”

Uhn??

He stood at the entrance with his arms folded into each other.

“I'm not controlling you,” he said.

“Then what are you doing right now? Standing in doorway blocking me?”

He moved aside. Slowly.

"Go," he said. “But don't come back and say I didn't warn you.”

"Are you threatening me?"

He shook his head and that same minute, I walked past him and headed towards the black car waiting for me downstairs.

I got in and my hands were shaking again. I pressed them hard against my dress till they stopped.

Adrian's office was not just an office. It was a fantastic sight. Glass, steel, art on walls with dark curtains.

He opened the door himself. There were two glasses of wine on the table already.

“You came,” he said, smiling.

“You said 8pm. It's 8pm."

"You look beautiful even after a bad day,” he commented.

“I guess this is one of the reason I can't take my eyes off you for a minute,” he said, trying to hold my hands.

“I'm here for work,” I said, shoving his hands aside.

"I know," He poured the wine. "Drink. You need it. First failure hurts most."

I raised the glass but I didn't drink. He spread my lookbook on the table and his notes.

Red marks everywhere.

“Your design is ten out of ten,” he said. “Your pricing is two out of ten. Lining? Zero."

“I know!! Everyone tells me!!”

“Well, I can fix that. I know a factory downtown that produces better-quality garments with superior lining at half the price. Plus, I can introduce you to one of my buyers in London,” he said hurriedly.

He leaned closer. Too close. His knee touched mine under the table.

“.....and she is gonna love you but you need to charm her. Not just design. You need to sell yourself."

“I can sell myself," I responded.

"I know you can," his eyes scanned my dress from top to bottom like he could see through them.

His eyes pierced my soul and I felt he was going to give me a kiss if I wasn't careful.

I shifted back.

"Adrian, you said numbers. Show me numbers."

"Numbers later," he said with a soft voice.. “First, tell me why you really came tonight."

"What?"

"You could have said no. You could have come tomorrow, with Natalie but you came tonight. Alone. Why?”

I didn't have an answer or I did but didn't want to say.

“Because my husband told me not to,” I voiced.

He smiled like he won.

“Good, that sounds honest…”

"I like honest women, Vivian. Especially married ones who are tired of being ignored," he said.

At first, it sounded like an insult but I ignored it.

I kept staring at my phone. Alexander wouldn't stop calling and texting.

“Your husband checking in?” He asked with a smirk.

“It's none of your business..”

"Answer it. Or don't. Your choice. But if you stay, stay fully. Don't half stay,” he said it like it was a threat.

“Are you going to pick that, Vivian? Or are you finally going to pick yourself?”