Chapter 109: Easy to Forget
Ryan’s POV
Who needed Vivian Rose, certainly not Ryan Terrell.
He was perfectly fine without her.
In fact, he was better than fine. He barely even thought about her. Ryan was a very busy man with many things to focus on. Things that were way more important than that woman.
Out of sight, out of mind.
Not only had he not seen her since she had told him that she did not wish to be his girlfriend.
He had packed away all of her things, and as a result, there was absolutely nothing to keep her in his thoughts. With nothing visual to remind him of her. Ryan was very certain that if he wanted to, within a week or two, he would not even be thinking about Vivian Rose at all.
At least he liked to believe that that would have been the case were it not for one impossible to ignore factor... his best friend, Mark.
When Ryan had broken up with Gwendolyn Stuart the fourth, Mark had been very supportive and he had been all for allowing Ryan to push all thoughts of the woman out of his mind. But when it came to Vivian Rose, Mark was singing a totally different tune.
The way that Ryan saw it, it was a betrayal of the bro code. Mark was supposed to want what was best for Ryan...always. But instead of the man helping him forget somebody who had played with his heart. Mark was always insisting that they needed to talk about Vivian Rose. He brought her up at every single given opportunity, and it was very annoying.
***
"When Vivian said she did not want to pursue a serious relationship with you, was there anything different about her?"
’Of course there was something different. She suddenly grew horns and a tail and not in a sexy way, and told me that she did not wish to see me ever again!’ Ryan wanted to snap, but he held himself back.
The fact that Mark kept bringing the topic up meant that he was struggling to process as much as Ryan was. So he knew he had to be patient with his friend.
"What can I say, Mark? I asked her if we could date and she said no. Whether she was strange or not, I have no idea,"
Mark hummed. Swirling the brandy in his glass around before allowing it to settle.
"Before you asked her to be your girlfriend, I remember you coming to me asking for advice because she seemed distant. Could it be that the distance that you sensed back then has something to do with the way that things currently are between the two of you?"
Mark’s question was so reasonable that Ryan wanted to jump on it and cling to that as a possible lifeline. Before he could allow himself to do that though, he shut down all thoughts that wanted to consider that her odd behavior back then might be the key to fixing things.
There was no use in getting his hopes up just to have them dashed again.
"There is nothing more to this, Mark? She might have tried to hide it. But she was cold to me and then when I finally asked if we could be something more, she showed me exactly why she was being chilly. She just does not want me. End of story,"
Taking a sip of his alcohol, Mark sighed.
"Are you certain that what happened between the two of you could not have been the result of some kind of misunderstanding?" There was that feeling again. The one that wanted to believe that there was still a chance for him and Vivian.
Taking a sip of his own drink, Ryan allowed the burn of the alcohol going down to push the feeling away. For this particular conversation, he did not need emotions clouding his judgment.
***
"Say that it truly was a misunderstanding, Mark. Just how would I go about proving that?" His friend shrugged and Ryan continued.
"The way I see it, Vivian’s rejection was clear cut. There was no room for me to have gotten anything wrong about her saying no to me," Putting his glass down on the coaster. Mark let out a long suffering sigh.
"Maybe you should go over to her place and try talking to her again. Perhaps if both of you lay your cards on the table. You will be able to figure things out,"
Staring at his friend, Ryan lifted his glass, ready to take another sip. But then he decided against it. The way that he was feeling, he would be most likely to choke to death.
"So your major advice is that I go to Vivian’s apartment and make a fool of myself in front of someone who has already told me that she does not want me?" Mark huffed, and briefly stared up at the ceiling as though praying for strength.
"All I am saying is maybe Vivian did not mean to say no," Ryan scoffed at that, but his friend ignored him and kept talking.
"Maybe something got lost in translation," Mark finished seriously.
Against his better judgment, Ryan found himself laughing. The sound lacking joy, even to his own ears. But still the laughter kept coming, until his entire body was trembling with it. By the time that he got himself under control,
his best friend was staring at him with wide eyes. The worry there impossible to ignore.
"I do not care what you think, Mark. I shot my shot and Vivian Rose turned me down for the thrill of it," Picking up his drink, he knocked back all of the contents and then placed the glass back down with more force than necessary.
"I do not know if you have forgotten this about me. But I never waste my time chasing after people who want nothing to do with me," It was clear that Mark wanted to say more. But Ryan held up a hand, silencing him. Grabbing the bottle of whiskey, he poured some more for himself, and swallowed it down. He did not even let the burn settle before he was pouring more alcohol into his glass and downing it. Resolutely ignoring his friend’s disapproving look. Ryan poured for himself again and drank that as well.
Hopefully, with enough alcohol in his system, he would forget all about Vivian Rose and the conversation with Mark.
