Different From The Woman In His Head
1361 Words
The anniversary dinner was held at the Harrington estate.
The property sat on a hill overlooking the city, its gardens illuminated by hundreds of tiny lights that glowed like fallen stars.
Vivian stepped out of the car, counting down to the thirty minutes Oscar had told her they had.
"This counts as five minutes." She muttered under her breath.
Oscar closed his door, his eyes moving her to her.
Neither of them wanted to attend. Not because Harold wasn't a great friend of both families, it was the fact their grandparents were somewhere in the Bahamas right now, sending them off to do their errands.
"Rick specifically said we were dropping off a gift and leaving."
Oscar adjusted the cuffs of his suit. ‘And yet here we are.’ he thought.
Vivian sighed.
Here they were. At a party neither of them wanted to attend together.
The thought alone was exhausting.
A butler greeted them at the entrance before leading them inside.
The house buzzed with conversation. It was a private event amongst friends and family, not a single member of the press in sight.
Vivian seemed to relax a bit as they walked deeper into the event. Maybe she could enjoy this a lot more than she anticipated.
Harold spotted them first. The elderly man broke away from a group of guests with surprising speed.
"Oscar!" The businessman smiled.
Oscar managed a small smile as the older man approached. "Happy anniversary."
He had made Charles have their gifts delivered ahead of time.
Harold nodded and laughed. "You actually came."
"Rick threatened violence." Vivian said.
"Sounds about right." He smiled. “I got your gift. Thank you. Margaret would love it.”
Oscar smiled. “I'm glad you liked it.”
Harold glanced back at Vivian. “I almost forgot. Jennie is back from Switzerland. She was looking forward to meeting you tonight.”
Vivian's eyes brightened. “Really?!”
Harold's daughter and Viavian used to be bunkies back in summer camp. They weren't exactly best of friends but she'd recalled having the juiciest gossip sessions with her.
“Hm. I'm sure she's around somewhere.”
Vivian smiled. “Leave it to me to find her. We have so much to catch up on!”
Harold laughed and nodded. “Oscar, let me introduce you to someone real qiyck.”
The old man pulled the young man by the arm and led him towards a group of men and women alike.
“V?!”
A high pitched voice made Vivian turn slowly with twinkling eyes. She couldn't forget that voice even if she tried.
Jennie was red haired but her luscious hair was now cut in a bob that framed a beautiful face with twinkling grey eyes.
“Ahhhahah!!” The girls screamed in excitement, earning everyone's attention, even Oscar's.
He wants cheddar when the girls fuss over each other. He knew Jennie, and remembered her well. All the college gossip Vivian told him had been from her.
“Oh my God! I've missed you so much! I'm so sorry I couldn't attend your wedding! Drew told me about it!” Jennie apologised, close to tears.
She had sent Vivian a wedding gift regardless but she would have killed to be present that day.
“Trust me, you didn't miss anything.” Vivian assured.
Jennie glanced at Oscar and her father and back at Vivian with a look of concern.
“Is everything okay?” She asked. “With him?”
Jennie had been the one who consoled her back in college after that horrible day. She knew Oscar disliked her and everything had gone south overnight.
Vivian smiled. “I'm fine. How was Switzerland?”
Jennie exhaled. “Is he still upset about that night?”
Vivian's brows furrowed, “What night?”
“Vivian dear!”
A woman approached from across the room. Silver-haired, beautiful despite her age.
Harold's wife. Margaret.
The moment she spotted Vivian, her face lit up. "There you are.”
Vivian smiled as the older woman got closer. “Ms Margaret..”
Margaret reached her in seconds.
"Come here."
Before Vivian could react, she was pulled into a hug.
Jennie took pictures, a fond smile on her face. She knew her mother adored Vivian, who wouldn't.
Harold and Oscar returned, clearly done with their meetings or whatever that had been.
"It's wonderful to finally see you again." Margaret said, pulling Vivian at arm's length.
Vivian smiled politely. "It's good to see you too.".
“I was just about to look for you.” Harold said, staring at his wife fondly.
Margaret smiled, “I was with the Park family. I heard Jennie screaming about Vivian and I came down to thank her personally.”
Oscar remained quiet, gaze flickering from Vivian to the older woman in silence. Thank her for what?
Margaret squeezed her hands. "I am really grateful, my darling. Thank ypu.”
Vivian immediately knew where this conversation was going and hated it.
Across from her, Oscar's brows furrowed. "What are you grateful for?”
Margaret looked surprised. "You don't know?"
The room suddenly felt smaller. Vivian already wanted to disappear.
Oscar glanced toward her but she deliberately looked elsewhere.
Margaret laughed. "Oh dear."
She turned back to Oscar. "Your wife funds nearly half of the women's shelters our foundation supports."
Oscar stared at Margaret in silence.
Jennie beamed. "And the education grants.”
“And the emergency housing project." Magaret adds.
Vivian wished the floor would open.
"Margaret…"
"No."
The older woman waved her off. Several nearby guests had begun listening which made everything worse.
"Most people donate money when cameras are present."
Margaret smiled proudly. "Vivian donates when nobody is looking."
Oscar's eyes shifted slowly toward his wife. Vivian suddenly found the wallpaper fascinating.
She hated attention. Especially this kind. Hell, she just wanted to do what she could and keep it as it was.
Margaret wasn't finished.
"The children's medical fund would have collapsed two years ago without her."
A few guests murmured. Someone applauded and Vivian wanted to disintegrate.
The older woman squeezed her hand again. "You deserve recognition."
Vivian glanced toward Oscar.
Big mistake.
He was staring at Margaret like she'd suddenly started speaking another language.
His expression remained unreadable which somehow made it worse.
“I'm glad I could be of help.” Vivian said, hoping the woman understood she needed her to stop.
“Margaret, stop hounding the young woman for a moment.” Harold chuckled, only then did the woman leave Vivian and wrap her arms around her husband fondly.
“She never attends any of the appreciation dinners. Now was the time.” Margaret teased.
Vivian managed a smile.
“Osvar got you a beautiful gift. You will love it!” Harold assured as the older woman turned to Oscar in gratitude.
“Thank you Onyx.”
Oscar inclined his head. “The pleasure is mine.”
“Mum, dad, I need you to meet someone.”
And just like that, Harold and his wife were whisked away by Jennie to meet some important person.
The moment they left, silence settled between them. Vivian reached for a glass of champagne and took a long sip of her wine.
Oscar remained silent, his eyes fixed on something in the distance as Margaret's words replayed in his head.
He knew almost everything worth knowing about influential people. Including Vivian.
Yet somehow he'd never heard any of that which meant one thing; she wasn't doing it for publicity.
The realization sat heavily in his chest annoyingly.
It didn't fit. Nothing about it fits.
The Vivian in his head wasn't supposed to spend millions helping strangers. She wasn't supposed to quietly fund hospitals or shelters or children she'd never meet.
That version of her didn't exist and yet apparently it did.
Oscar sets down his glass. "We're leaving."
Vivian frowned. "What?"
"We stayed for a couple minutes." He said, "Rick got his wish."
His gaze finally met hers.
"We're leaving."
Before she could ask another question, he started walking toward the exit.
Vivian remained frozen for a second, then followed.
What the hell is wrong with Oscar Onyx?
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