Chapter 91: Canyon
Ryan’s POV
Eyes flicking over the screen of his laptop, Ryan tried to focus, to take in all of the numbers that he was seeing and makes sense of them.
But his mind just would not cooperate.
It was too busy focused on one thing, one person actually.
And that was Vivian Rose.
Despite all of the time he had spent worrying about her while abroad. The fact that he could not get into contact with her weighing heavily on him. A huge part of Ryan had believed that once he was back home, things would automatically resolve themselves. That he and Vivian would just pick up where they had left off, and carry on enjoying the pleasures of the flesh together.
In fact, he had thought that things would be even better with all of the welcome home sex that they would be having. But that had not happened.
She had not been angry, there had been no arguing between the two of them( something that he was grateful for). But even with there having not been a fight, Ryan could not shake the feeling that there was now a huge barrier between the two of them.
It almost felt like he had left the city and come back to find that a giant canyon now split the place into two.
With Ryan being stuck on one end, while Vivian was on the other.
It was awful.
What made it even worse was that Ryan had no idea what had gone wrong.
And if he had no idea what had gone wrong, he had absolutely no clue how to fix it. A someone who prided himself in his problem solving skills, Ryan did not like that one bit.
It was not a nice feeling to have.
***
When his thoughts strayed to Vivian Rose far too much and rendered him incapable of doing any solid work. Ryan decided that it was best to quit for the day rather than risk making a mistake that would cost a lot of money to fix.
Stepping away from his laptop, he got to his feet and went over to the old school decorative globe that he kept at the corner of his desk. Spinning it, Ryan watched it move for a little bit before stopping it with his finger.
Lagos, Nigeria, the writing beneath his finger tips said, he spun it again, and he ended up in Uzbekistan. Another spin and Ryan found himself in Laos.
He spun the world globe over and over, each time lending someplace different and as he did so, Ryan thought on his most pressing problem.
What could have happened to cause a rift between him and Vivian?
The most surefire we he could hope to know the truth would be to come out and ask her directly. But there had been something about the despondent look in her grey eyes that had told Ryan that even if he were to ask her, he most probably would not be getting a straight answer.
So if he wanted a chance at fixing things, he had to first figure out what was wrong and what the cause of Vivian’s bad mood was.
Was it because he had travelled? The meetings that he had gone to had taken far longer than he had expected them to. That was a fact.
But even with that, Ryan had done his best to keep in touch with Vivian. She was the one who had not been replying to his messages because she’d said her phone had been getting fixed.
Besides, if that truly were the case, then since she said that her phone was now repaired, surely she had seen all of his call attempts, and she had also admitted to having heard all of the messages that he had left for her.
She had proof that he had not forgotten about her as soon as he’d left the city.
So why in the world was she so closed off to him? She was treating him like a stranger and he had no idea why.
Still spinning the world globe, Ryan considered a possibility that hurt to even think about. What if Vivian was done with their whole friends with benefits arrangement?
What if she did not want to keep sleeping with him anymore?
Not wanting to entertain such a horrid thought any longer, Ryan left his study as quickly as he could.
Clearly just standing around and trying to think was not helping him.
Perhaps if he took out some of his frustrations in the gym, he would be able to think more clearly. He had not touched his punching bag in a while. He was certain that it missed him.
***
Now changed into more casual clothing and wrapping his hands in preparation for what he was about to do to the punching bag.
Ryan’s phone vibrated just as he was about to step over to the bag and start his workout.
Seeing a new message, he tapped on it.
[Ryan darling, it’s Gwendolyn-]
Realizing that it was from Gwendolyn and he deleted it without reading what she had to say.
Not even taking a moment to think on it, Ryan quickly blocked the woman’s number.
He had not given her his most recent contact details, so he was irritated to see that someone else had. He had no idea who the person was, but if he ever found out, Ryan would make them pay.
He had no business with Gwendolyn Stuart the fourth. Everything that they had been to each other was in the past.
It had died the day that she’d slept with his brother.
Ryan did not wish to keep associating with her anymore than was necessary.
Putting the phone down, Ryan stretched as he began walking towards the punching bag.
When he started landing hits on the bag, he was not thinking about the nuisance that was Gwendolyn Stuart the fourth.
Instead, he was thinking about his sweet Vivian and the distance that had sprung up between them overnight.
