Chapter 8
NATE
“We made it out!” Vivienne squeals in excitement when the front door shuts behind us.
For a split second, her face glows with happiness, but it vanishes when her gaze shifts to the brownstone.
“They’re still looking at us.” She brings her voice down to a whisper.
I do my best to turn around discreetly, only to be met with the wide smiles and big waves of the elders glued to the window—noses squished against the glass and fog forming around their mouths.
I can’t help but chuckle as I look back at her. “We’ve got three options: walk down the street normally, walk down the street quickly, or sprint like our lives depend on it.”
Vivienne throws her head back in a laugh, eyes closing in the process. A slight breeze blows through her dark brown waves, ruffling the hem of her long blue dress.
An involuntary smile tugs at my lips. This might be the first time I’ve heard her laugh—not in her usual sarcastic or mocking way. This one’s real, down to the shake of her shoulders.
“I love how quickly that third one can get us out of their sight, but walking normally might be the best option. I wouldn’t want to look crazy to oncoming pedestrians.”
“Wouldn’t you say it’s still worth a try?” I grin as I catch the wariness in her eyes.
Without missing a beat, I sprint down the street, glancing back to see a certain brunette frozen in place.
Her mouth gapes in shock before she follows my lead, a hearty laugh bubbling out of her chest. And in record time, we’ve made our escape, slowing down to a brisk walk once we’ve reached the end of the street.
“When did you get so friendly?” Vivienne asks between labored pants. “And kind?”
I do her the favor of pulling us to the side, halting our movement to give her the chance to catch her breath.
“Maybe when you started to like me?” I give her my best guess, earning me the deadliest side-eye. “Sorry—like me more than you did before.”
“I still don’t like you,” Vivienne admits, continuing her walk when she’s no longer heaving. “I’d say I tolerate you at best. But what did you expect after everything you’ve put me through?”
“And what is it exactly that I put you through?” I raise a brow in genuine curiosity. “As far as I know, I’ve saved you from not one, but two, near-death experiences.”
Her eyes practically roll to the back of her head. “Did you already forget about the notebook?”
“That. Wasn’t. Me.” I enunciate every word, hoping it gets through her thick head. “I was taking a call around the corner when I saw a woman about to jump into oncoming traffic. That’s all there is to the story.”
Vivienne grows quiet, her eyes meeting mine for a split second before refocusing on the stretch of sidewalk in front of us. “Why should I trust you?” she asks.
“Trust is built, not earned. If you don’t believe me, then let it be. I can only hope you come to know my character with time.”
She hums, considering my words. “That’s not something a liar would say.”
“Well, that’s because I’m not a liar.”
She lets out a long sigh, shoulders slumping forward as the reality she’s built in her mind comes crashing down. “Can I ask you a question, then? If you answer with the full truth, I’ll reconsider my trust in you.”
“Shoot,” I say with no hesitation.
“What was that whole engineering-news thing Margaret mentioned?”
I avert my gaze to the side, wanting to dodge the question at all costs. Any other topic of conversation would have been fine, but this hits a little too close to home.
There’s a reason I didn’t delve into the nitty-gritty of why I also needed this arrangement. And the truth is, it has nothing to do with her and everything to do with my past.
Aviation is a niche industry, but with a quick Google search and a supposedly high net worth, people’s opinions of me always change. This quickly bled into their perceptions and expectations of me.
Romantic. Platonic. It didn't matter.
I can’t count the number of times I’ve been asked to set people up with free flights, lavish dinners, and fancy hotels. Favors for close friends—and exceptions for family—don’t count, but coming from acquaintances, it stung, especially when I'd hoped it would lead to a lasting connection.
Vivienne, on the other hand, seems to have no knowledge of any of it, and I like that about her—along with the way she makes her hatred for me infinitely clear. And as much as I don’t want to admit it, it’s one of the reasons she intrigues me as much as she does.
Melanie may have threatened us to meet for the purposes of this arrangement, but I’d be lying if I said it’s the only reason I went through with her demands. I wanted an excuse to pick apart Vivienne’s brain a little more.
Now, I realize withholding that information from her was wrong.
“I wasn’t lying when I said I was an engineer. I went to MIT, earned my bachelor’s degree, and worked in industry for a couple of years before setting up my own firm, Archer Aviation. We hosted the event you attended—the one where we wound up in the fountain.”
“Oh…” Vivienne falters, at a complete loss for words. “And the news?”
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but in this case, a few news articles are more fitting. So I pull out my phone, type in my name, and hand it over to her. Vivienne looks up at me hesitantly before grabbing it.
Swipe after swipe, click after click, she sorts through about a dozen articles—my name and both our faces plastered all over them. Each headline is worse than the last, but I can’t tell what’s going through her mind when her face is tilted downward, shadowed by the darkness of the night.
“Are you mad?” I ask, not knowing how to move forward with this conversation.
Brown eyes meet mine in a fiery gaze. “Of course I’m mad!” Her arms go up in frustration. “I wish I’d known this before agreeing.”
“I agree,” I admit without delay.
“The least you could have done was be honest with me. This deal is going to affect my own reputation, as well. You’re a public figure, Nate—people know who you are. I’m a nobody. The most I have online is my LinkedIn and a couple of academic papers.”
Vivienne is fuming, fists clenched on either side of her body. Guilt and shame fill me at the sight. What I did went against everything I stand for. Honesty. Integrity. There were better ways to get over this bump in the road.
“It’s not too late to back out. Nothing’s been announced yet. They may have found your face, but your name is still unknown. Give it some time, and your portion of this will blow over. It’ll be like nothing ever happened.”
Her face softens, the corners of her lips turning downward ever so slightly before she shakes her head. “No.”
“No, what?” I ask, confused.
“No to backing out. I’m one of the reasons this is happening to you in the first place. You wouldn’t find yourself here if I hadn’t been there that night.”
I have no idea where she’s going with this, but I follow her lead, walking when she starts up again. With each step, the tension grows louder, the silence stretching thin. This goes on for what feels like an eternity before she blurts out, “I’ve been such a bitch to you.”
I wave my hand dismissively. “You weren’t being a bitch.”
Vivienne snorts in disbelief. “I blamed you countlessly for the things you’d done to me, while you never uttered a word in my direction. Your world has been turned upside down—arguably more than mine—and I’ve been too inconsiderate to think that a possibility.”
My brows furrow at the nonsense she’s spewing. “Your behavior was warranted. I’d be angry too if someone ruined my things and ran away.”
She freezes mid-step, looking up at me in bewilderment. “How can you be so positive for someone whose company is crashing down?”
“Crashing down is a bit of an exaggeration.” I laugh it off nervously.
But honestly, she’s not too far off from the truth.
“How about we put this all behind us?” Vivienne suggests, glancing up at me, eyes filled with pity. “It’s clear that we both need each other. And if we work together well, maybe we’ll be able to help each other out of our messes.”
I nod in agreement as Vivienne stretches out a dainty hand with equally delicate fingers. “Do we have ourselves a deal?”
I place my hand in hers, trying my best to ignore the heat of her skin on mine, and the tingles that spread up my arm as I shake it firmly. “Consider it done.”
A faint smile blooms on her face. “Great, now let’s get to know each other. Where do we start?”
“Melanie actually sent me a list of questions we have to go over.” I open the attachment, still shell-shocked at how extensive it is.
“Get ready for a long night because we’ve got over five hundred questions classified from easy to hard.
She said if we don’t know these by heart, she’ll break into our apartments and do the unthinkable. ”
Vivienne’s eyes bulge out of their sockets as she leans over my arm, zeroing in on the one of twenty icon that indicate the extent of this document.
“There’s no way she expects us to know all these things about each other.”
“Unfortunately, she does,” I admit, knowing my crazy cousin.
“That’s ridiculous!” She takes a step back in exasperation. “Honestly, I think we know enough about each other to pass this off as a real engagement.”
I raise a brow in her direction. Vivienne sure is confident for someone who made up with their mortal enemy mere seconds ago.
“Fine. You’re right.” She rolls her eyes. “Let’s get on with it.”
“What is your favorite color?” I read the first question on the sheet.
Vivienne groans. “Not this shit again! I thought I put my awkward dating days behind me.”
“Just answer the question, woman.”
Vivienne lets out a long breath, pondering her answer for a minute longer than reasonable.
“I don’t think I have a favorite color.”
“Okay, let me note this down really quickly.” I open a new Notes page. “Is a psychopath.” I pull back, looking deeply satisfied with the words written on the screen.
A stunned silence stretches between us.
“You can’t be serious.”