Free Web NovelChapter 143: Unsettlingly Nice
Vivian’s POV
The on and off relationship that she had maintained with Bryce, had been toxic. But Vivian had kept it up for years. By some miracle, (Ryan Terrell) she had managed to break that cycle, but now Vivian found herself sucked back into Bryce’s orbit.
When it had all begun again, Vivian had seen Bryce as this unstoppable force that showed up to destroy everything in its path, herself included.
But now the more she spent time with him, without the distraction of them being boyfriend and girlfriend. The more Vivian felt herself beginning to view Bryce as just a normal man.
Somebody that she could defend herself against if she wished to do so, and she already had.
When she had seen him leaning in for a kiss. Her reaction had not been to just stand there and take it as she would have done in the past. Instead Vivian had found herself stabbing at his chest with her keys, and wonder of wonders, Bryce had actually taken the hint and had backed off.
After that moment of rebellion from her, she had expected the usual reaction from Bryce.
Which was anger, but that was not what was happening.
***
Instead, the man was plying her with gifts,( it was always red roses and chocolates).
In addition to the flowers and chocolates that Vivian now got on a daily basis, Bryce was also sending her texts.
Actually, sending was too innocent of a word. What the man was doing was bombarding her with messages. Almost every hour that the sun was up, Bryce was sending her messages, and even in the night time, Vivian’s phone was not safe. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
The texts just kept coming.
In the past, a more desperate Vivian would have looked at all that he was doing, and she would have felt that the man actually cared for her a little bit.
But currently, that was not what Vivian was feeling at all.
She was very unsettled by the whole thing. Where was he getting the time to send her so many texts, and they were always a few minutes apart. He had texted her more since the failed kiss, than he had ever done in the years that they had been together.
Even the flowers and chocolates were not making her feel good at all. Receiving the same gift over and over was making her paranoid. It did not help that his flowers of choice...roses... not only meant love, but also fit right in at funerals.
For some, her thoughts might have seemed ungrateful.
But Vivian knew Bryce. There was no way he was suddenly being so attentive out of affection. The man was up to something, and whatever it was, it was making her feel awful.
Instead of a wave of love and affection over coming her every time that Vivian received something from Bryce. She felt more and more like a cornered animal.
Like with each gift that he sent her, Bryce was boxing her in.
Vivian did her best to ignore feeling like he was setting a trap for her. But the feeling of unease was just too overwhelming for her to overlook. She had not kept a single flower, or eaten a single chocolate( all of them going in the bin), she had even stopped reading his texts, but that was not helping with her disquiet.
***
Having finally had enough, Vivian had called Bryce earlier that day and had told him to stop with the gifts.
"We are not dating, there is no need for you to try and impress me. Stop sending me gifts, she had told Bryce," Her voice more clear and decisive than it had ever been when talking to the man.
As expected, he had tried to push back.
But Vivian had stood her ground, sick and tired of feeling like she was being haunted by flowers and chocolates.
Now Vivian was in her apartment enjoying a Bryce-free evening with Amy.
The two of them were in their pajamas, a bowl of popcorn between them as they watched a movie.
It was one of those rare nights where they were both pretending that everything was perfectly fine. Despite knowing that it would not fix anything in the long run, Vivian was glad for it.
She was tired of talking about her problems all the time.
Halfway through the movie there was a knock on her door and after sharing a look with Amy Vivian went to answer.
She was met by the sight of a delivery man carrying a bouquet of roses.
Having not expected the gift after the talk she’d had with Bryce. Vivian felt her heart skip a beat and not in a good way.
After signing for the gift she took it with trembling hands.
[Ha, did you really think I would stop showering you with my greatness], the card read and without meaning to Vivian dropped the flowers, her heart hammering. freewebnøvel.coɱ
There it was again. That feeling of being hunted, of being boxed in. Why couldn’t he just leave her alone?
Why did he have to keep giving her things she did not want?!
"Vivian, Vivian, are you okay?!"
Oh... Amy was in the apartment.
Looking at her friend, Vivian suddenly realized that Amy seemed to be way taller than usual. Blinking, she looked down and it dawned on her that she was on her knees.
When had she fallen and why was she pulling at her own hair? Taking a breath, she willed her fingers to unclench and then she stood. Picking up the flowers, she threw them in the trash and the card and chocolates joined them.
"Are those from Bryce?" Amy asked and Vivian nodded.
Without anything else being said, the two of them went back to watching the movie. Later that night as she lay in bed, a realization occurred to Vivian. So far she had thrown away everything that Bryce had given her. She even deleted his messages, not liking the thought of them taking up space in her phone.
But she had kept everything that Ryan Terrell had ever given her.
She still had a seashell that she had watched the man pick up from a sandy beach for crying out loud. Yet she did not think twice about throwing away flowers that cost a lot of money.
Bryce really was not someone she thought highly of at all.
