The Question She Couldn’t Ignore
566 Words
Vivienne spent the entire drive home trying not to think about Alexander Kingston.
It was a complete failure.
By the time she reached her apartment building, she had replayed their conversation at least twenty times.
Maybe more.
Each replay left her more frustrated than the last.
Because the problem wasn’t what he had said.
The problem was how he had said it.
No.
The problem was that he had sounded sincere.
Painfully sincere.
And Vivienne didn’t know what to do with that.
⸻
“Mummy!”
The front door had barely opened before Ethan launched himself into her arms.
Vivienne laughed despite herself.
The force nearly knocked her backward.
“Careful.”
“You came home late.”
“It was one meeting.”
“It was forever.”
Vivienne smiled.
“Forever is a long time.”
“It felt like forever.”
His small arms tightened around her neck.
Some of the tension immediately left her body.
Ethan had that effect.
He always had.
No matter how difficult the day became, somehow he made everything feel manageable again.
“Did you behave for Mrs. Jenkins?”
Ethan considered the question carefully.
“No.”
Vivienne sighed.
At least he was honest.
⸻
Later that evening, after dinner and bath time, Ethan was finally asleep.
The apartment had grown quiet.
Too quiet.
Vivienne sat on the sofa with her laptop balanced on her knees.
Work should have been her focus.
Instead, her cursor blinked uselessly on the screen.
Waiting.
Much like her thoughts.
Waiting.
Always returning to the same place.
Alexander.
⸻
You disappeared.
The memory surfaced again.
Uninvited.
Persistent.
Vivienne closed her eyes.
She could still hear his voice.
Could still see the confusion in his expression.
The confusion bothered her.
Because confusion implied ignorance.
And ignorance implied innocence.
No.
She immediately rejected the thought.
Alexander wasn’t innocent.
He couldn’t be.
Could he?
Her father’s company had collapsed.
Their lives had been destroyed.
Everything had fallen apart.
Those facts hadn’t changed.
So why did she suddenly feel uncertain?
⸻
Frustrated, Vivienne stood and walked toward the bookshelf in the corner of the room.
A small storage box sat on the bottom shelf.
She hadn’t opened it in years.
There had never been a reason.
Tonight, however…
Her hand hesitated.
Then reached for it.
The lid lifted slowly.
Inside sat pieces of another life.
Old photographs.
Letters.
Ticket stubs.
Memories she had never found the courage to throw away.
Her chest tightened.
She pulled out a photograph.
The edges had begun to fade.
But the image remained clear.
Alexander stood beside her.
Younger.
Less guarded.
Smiling.
Actually smiling.
His arm wrapped loosely around her shoulders.
Vivienne stared at it.
For a long time.
The photograph didn’t look like two people preparing to destroy each other.
It looked like two people in love.
The realization hurt.
⸻
A sharp knock at the door startled her.
Vivienne quickly returned the photograph to the box.
Her pulse racing.
Who could be visiting this late?
She crossed the apartment.
Opened the door.
And froze.
Nathaniel Kingston stood in the hallway.
Smiling.
Charming as ever.
A bottle of wine rested casually in one hand.
“Vivienne.”
His smile widened.
“After all these years, that’s the welcome I get?”
Vivienne’s stomach dropped.
Because if Alexander’s return had complicated her life…
Nathaniel’s arrival threatened to make it infinitely worse.
- Writer
