Chapter 9
Biting Off Your Nose to Spite Your Stomach…
Ben
I wake to the smell of bacon and the feeling that something is very wrong. It’s not even seven a.m. Why would Dominic, who is never up this early, be making bacon?
Oh, it’s not Dominic.
It’s Vivian Whitlock.
The woman who is about to not only disrupt my entire life, but ruin my brother’s as well. She's about to turn him into a liar, just like her. She's going to sully his reputation with everyone who knows and loves him, not to mention making his dating life unnecessarily complicated.
I spent the better part of two hours cyberstalking her last night—watching not only her videos, but videos about her and reading swaths of comments about my brother’s future wife.
As far as I can tell, the world of online influencers is basically comprised of a bunch of petty phonies who waste their time—and that of their fans—talking about irrelevant things.
And even worse than wasting their time, they convince them to buy super expensive shit they don’t need, or in most cases, feel bad about themselves because they’ll never be able to afford the ever-growing list of ‘Viv’s Must-Haves.
’ Until last night, I had absolutely no awareness that something called the Birkin bag even existed, but apparently it's so coveted, it’ll run you the cost of a nice new car.
Seriously. A purse that costs the same amount as an entire car.
Dominic, who is known to the world as ‘Mister X,’ bought her an overpriced pair of flip flops to go with her bag for a ‘fun, chic, summer look.’ The gift was for their three-month-iversary. Puke.
The longer I watched, and the more comments I read, the more certain I became that I need to stop Dominic from getting involved in her world.
As much as I understand his motivation, I know my brother, and he did not think this through.
Which is why as soon as I get home from work tonight, I'm going to sit him down and set him straight before he ruins his life.
And I know it seems like I'm trying to protect myself and Henry (and to some extent that's true), but mainly this is about my brother who has been here for me my entire life.
I would never admit this out loud, but last night’s recon mission also included a whole lot of me gawking at Vivian.
It's easy to see why people follow her. Obviously, her beauty doesn't hurt, but that's really not it.
She's well-spoken and graceful, as I'm sure a lot of these influencers are.
But there's something about her—a warmth that draws you in, but at the same time it's as if she's unobtainable. There’s a mystery to her.
A vulnerability behind all that confidence.
Six years ago, when I was younger, na?ve, and optimistic about love, she would've been the type of girl I would have fallen for, madly and completely.
But time and circumstances change a man forever and open one's eyes to the truth.
And the truth is, as beautiful and as warm as she is, Vivian is a liar.
And there is no way of getting around that.
And it's not just the made-up boyfriend, it's convincing people that the useless consumption of luxury items is the key to happiness.
I throw off the covers and get up. It’s go-time, and I need to make breakfast and pack lunches, then spend the next hour corralling a highly-distractable kindergartner to get ready for school.
Then, I’ll drop him off, get to the job site, work my ass off all day, zip home to have a big talk with Dominic before he makes the biggest mistake of his life, make supper, do bath and bedtime, work on the pirate ship plans (that needed a ‘few minor tweaks’), and get to bed.
I tug on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, then brush my teeth, wash my face, and hurry to the kitchen.
My gut tightens as I walk down the hall, knowing I'm about to come face-to-face with Vivian, who, by the end of the day, will likely hate me.
I take a deep breath and stroll into the kitchen, where I find her standing at the stove with a spatula in her hand.
The table out on the deck has been set already, complete with a small vase of wild flowers she must have found somewhere nearby.
She's wearing a dress again today—this one is a loose coral pink minidress with thin straps.
It shows off her long, lean arms and legs, not that I should be noticing.
Before I can say anything, she turns and starts a little.
Dammit. I should’ve said something before she turned around. Now she’ll think I was staring at her, you know, like a creepy creep. Which I was.
She offers me her luxury smile that must have run her a few thousand dollars in teeth whitening alone. “Morning, Ben, how'd you sleep?”
I fell asleep with my phone in my hand after hours of watching you. “Great. You?”
“Very well, thank you,” she says, grabbing a plate off the counter and turning back to the stove with it. There's a Lewis Capaldi song playing and she's humming along to it while the bacon sizzles in the pan. “I hope you’re hungry.”
Starving. And that smells delicious. But I should probably start erecting the wall that has to go up between us. “I’m not a breakfast guy. I’ll just have some coffee.”
She turns, the plate loaded up with pancakes and bacon, her smile fading fast. “Oh, well, more for Dom when he wakes up, I guess.”
“Yeah,” I say, opening the cupboard to grab down a coffee mug.
“Does he eat breakfast?” she asks.
I have a sip of coffee, eying the plate in her hand. God, that looks tasty. My stomach growls, telling me I’m an idiot to pass up all that food. “Yes, but usually just granola and yogurt.”
Looking a little dejected, Vivian says, “We have so much to learn about each other.”
“Makes sense since you’re basically strangers.” I open the fridge to start preparing lunches, but in it, I find both our insulated lunch bags are already packed. I take them out and set them on the island.
“Oh, I took the liberty of making your lunches. Ham and cream cheese roll-ups, cut up fruit, and animal crackers for Henry, and I made you two ham and cheese sandwiches with that sourdough bread you have in the pantry, as well as some veggies and hummus, and some of those chocolate chip cookies.” She offers me a tentative smile, as if this is an adequate peace-offering for what she’s about to do to my life.
“You didn’t have to do that,” I tell her, not wanting to be too effusive in my response.
“I thought that while I’m staying here, I should do what I can to make your life easier.”
“Seriously, you don’t have to do that. I’m sure you’ll be busy enough planning your fake wedding.”
Vivian nods and bites her bottom lip. “You hate me.”
I turn my gaze to the coffee cup in my hand to avoid looking at her. “I don’t hate you. I don’t even know you.”
“But you hate what I’m doing to your family.”
I glance up at her, surprised by the fact that she’s bringing the truth out into the light where we can both see it. “Can you blame me?”
Shaking her head, she says, “No. I think I have some idea of how much this whole thing is going to be a problem for you.”
“Do you?” I ask, giving her a hard stare.
“Besides the fact that you love your brother and I doubt you want him to move thousands of miles away, you’re also going to be in a difficult situation—losing the person who is essentially a co-parent to Henry,” she says.
“I’d hate me too. In fact, I kind of know what it feels like, because Paige and I lived together for years, and when she fell for Mac, she moved here to be with him.
As happy as I am for her, it’s been rough for me.
I miss her every day, and I kind of want to hate Mac because of it.
” Vivian shrugs, then says, “I know it’s not the same.
This situation is going to be much worse for you than mine is.
So, my goal is to try to find ways to make your life better, however I can. ”
I lean against the counter, having another sip of coffee while I consider her words.
Nope. Not buying it. She’s only saying what I want to hear to stop me from ruining her fake life.
“Yeah, as nice as that is, there’s really nothing you can do to make my life better.
Other than abandoning this ridiculous plan and leaving. ”
“I get that what we’re doing is … unconventional, but at the end of the day, I do want to help Dominic. I know people in the theater community who can help him get his foot in the door. Nobody with real clout, but people who will make it easier for him.”
“What you’re going to do is make his life a whole lot harder,” I tell her, trying to keep my voice quiet and steady, even though I’m feeling a sense of righteous indignation rising in my chest. “You’re going to make him a liar. Nobody respects a liar.”
Tears spring to her eyes and she blinks quickly, looking down at the floor. “I didn’t mean for … I’m not a … I don’t want to hurt him.” She lifts her chin and straightens her shoulders. “I’m not going to hurt him.”
“Yes, you are. Even if you don’t mean to.”
“Ben, I—”
“I have to go wake up Henry,” I tell her, setting my coffee down.
“When I get home from work, I’m going to have a long talk with my brother about all of this.
He needs to understand what he’s getting himself into because he clearly hasn’t thought this through, and I don’t think he has the first clue how complicated his life is about to become. ”
I walk out of the room before I change my mind and soften my stance.
Before I can say yes to that plate of bacon and pancakes that are making my mouth water.
Because the truth is, looking into her eyes makes me want to change my mind.
Being in the same room with her makes me want to give her anything she wants, anything that’ll make her happy, just so I can see her smile.
And if that’s the effect she’s got on me after less than twenty-four hours, I need to get rid of her as quickly as possible. Before it’s too late.