Chapter 167: Good News
Vivian’s POV
Things were hectic with a capital H. Not only had her relationship with Ryan been exposed to the world. The person who had done so was Bryce, and he had made sure to paint Vivian in the worst light possible to the masses.
After seeing the messages for herself and revealing to Ryan exactly who it was that had leaked the news, Vivian had switched off her phone, not wanting to deal with the outside world for a little while longer. Were it up to her, she would be extending her little break from reality. She would spend an entire month holed up with Ryan, and not dealing with anyone else on earth.
But she knew that she could not do that.
The longer she took to face everything, the harder it would be for her to handle it all later on. So after a long hot soak in the tub and a hearty breakfast, Vivian was finally ending her seclusion. Counting backwards from five to one, she powered on her phone and waited. Sure enough within a matter of seconds the device just started lighting up, message after message coming in.
For a moment Vivian was worried, thinking that Bryce had also posted her phone number online. But as she checked who had been trying to reach out to her, the knot in her stomach loosened. Most of the missed calls and the messages were from Amy. She was thankful that the awful man had at least not done that. But knowing him, it was probably because he had forgotten to do so, ( she hoped that he did not suddenly decide to share her information).
Vivian got busy reading the texts that her friend had left for her, before typing out a quick text to let the other woman know she was fine, and that she would reach out again soon. Given all that had happened since her relationship had been revealed to the public, Vivian wanted nothing more than to run to Amy and just collapse into her arms. But she knew better, keeping her distance was protecting Amy from circling vultures, so she had to stay away.
Scrolling through her phone some more, she found a missed call from the school’s director, and her heart began to race. The school director was not somebody who reached out to staff for social purposes. If the woman had tried to get in touch with her, then it was probably all business. Vivian got the feeling that whatever the director wanted to talk about would not be good for her. But she had to talk to her boss and find out.
***
The best way to deal with calls that might end with job loss was to wait for management to be the ones to bring the issue up.
Vivian had heard of people who had gotten themselves fired, simply because they had misread the situation and had started going off at their bosses, unaware that instead of being fired, they were going to be promoted.
But, since she was pretty certain that in her situation her job was on the line, she saw no wrong in being the first to address the elephant in the room. The moment that her call with the school director connected Vivian came out swinging.
"With regards to what happened on school grounds. Should I start looking for a new job?" She asked outright. Instead of there being an awkward pause or the school director telling her upfront that that was exactly what was going on, there was instead laughter from the other end of the line and Vivian instantly felt confusion stirring in her gut. This was a serious matter. Why was the other woman laughing? A few seconds later she had her answer.
"Looking for a new job, why on earth would you do that my dear? You would not believe the number of calls that I am getting from parents wanting their children to attend our school,"
What?
But Vivian was being destroyed online, there were so many trolls.
"Not that I do not appreciate my job, but isn’t the whole scandal harming the school’s reputation?"
The older woman laughed again. " On the contrary, a lot of parents seem to be very eager to have their children be taught by someone who managed to catch the eye of a billionaire,"
Ahh, so instead of being repulsed, the parents were mainly curious. It was not at all how Vivian had thought things would go, but she would take it. Anything was better than losing her job.
Knowing that she would not be getting fired. It was in her best interest to just say thank you and hang up. But Vivian found herself feeling a bit daring. She had already taken way more time off than she’d ever done in the past few months. But still, she got the feeling that she would need a bit more time, so she dared to ask.
"May I have a few days of leave," The school director, who now sounded like she was high on laughing gas, did not even try to be difficult about it.
"Of course, of course. If anything that would be even better. A lot of people have been hoping to catch sight of you, when they don’t see you, they will become even more curious and more willing to sign up their kids," When the call ended, Vivian was left staring at her phone in shock.
What on Earth had just happened?
She had fully expected her teaching career to be on the rocks, but instead she had time off, weird, very weird. It must be that billionaire effect.
***
Now that he was not lying to her about the Bryce issue, when Ryan returned home, he joined her on the couch and she immediately got her up to date on the progress that was being made when it came to finding her ex, which was none at all. The man was still missing, and Vivian was stunned.
She had dated the man for years, Bryce was not smart.
There was just no way that he would be able to evade Ryan, yet somehow the man was doing it. It was worrying, but Vivian did not want it to stress her, and more importantly, she did not want it to weigh down on Ryan. So she tried to take his mind off things by sharing the good news that she’d gotten that day.
"Not only am I not getting fired, I also managed to get a few extra days off. Can you believe it?"
His smile, though a bit tired, was genuine. "Congratulations, I’m glad to hear that,"
Vivian nodded, pleased with herself.
"You don’t have to keep worrying about your job though if you don’t want to. Ryan said.
Vivian felt ice creep into her bones. "What do you mean I don’t have to keep worrying about my job? People worry about their jobs all the time. It’s normal human behavior,"
Ryan shrugged. "No, I mean, you do not have to work, you can just quit, and I will take care of you,"
What?
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