Chapter 34 MONDAY MORNING PART 1
At 6:00 AM, Vivienne's alarm went off. She had been awake since 5:45, staring at the ceiling and thinking about the worst things that could happen. She had to stay in bed until the alarm went off and told her it was time to start the day.
She was in the kitchen making breakfast by 6:32. Scrambled eggs and toast, Noah's favorite on school days.
Noah shuffled in, still in his rocket ship pajamas, and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.
"Morning, baby," Vivienne said, sliding a plate in front of him. "Eat up."
Noah climbed onto his chair and poked his eggs with his fork. "Are you still going to that new job today?"
"Yes, my love. Remember? We talked about this."
"I know." He took a tiny bite. "Rebecca is picking me up from school?"
"Yes, that's right. And I'll be home for dinner, I promise."
Noah nodded, but he didn't seem convinced.
The coffee maker sputtered to life as they moved through their morning routine.
Showered. Clothes she'd laid out the night before, a simple black turtleneck and dark jeans that were professional but comfortable for the physical work she was going to do. A little makeup. Ponytail hair pulled back.
Vivienne packed Noah's lunch while he brushed his teeth. Turkey sandwich, apple slices, a juice box, and the chocolate chip cookies they had made together over the weekend. She helped him get dressed, made sure his homework was in his backpack, and checked twice that he had his house key on the lanyard around his neck.
"Are you ready?" she asked as he laced up his shoes.
"Ready."
It took fifteen minutes to get to Westbrook Elementary. Noah was quiet in the backseat, looking out the window.
"Are you all right back there?" Vivienne looked at him in the rearview mirror and asked.
"Yes."
"Are you sure? You're being very quiet."
Noah shrugged his shoulders. "Just thinking."
"About what?"
"About your new job. About Uncle Alex."
Vivienne's grip on the steering wheel got tighter. "What about him?"
"Nothing. I can't stop thinking about him. He seemed nice at the park."
"Noah—"
"I know, I know. He's just a co-worker. You said." Noah let out a big sigh. "Can I at least tell my friends I met a CEO? Tyler will like that."
Vivienne smiled anyway. "Yes, you can tell Tyler that you met a CEO."
At 8:05, they got to the school. There were a lot of other parents dropping off their kids in the parking lot, which was the morning chaos of elementary school.
Noah took off his seatbelt and picked up his backpack. Vivienne got out and walked him to the door, which she always did.
She knelt down to hug him and said, "Have a good day, baby."
"You too, Mom." He hugged her back, then pulled away and looked at her seriously. "Don't let them be mean to you at work, okay?"
"I won't. Promise."
"Okay. I love you."
"I love you more."
She watched him run toward the door, his backpack bouncing against his back, until he went through the doors. After that, she got back in her car, took a deep breath, and drove to Red Hook.
It took twenty minutes to drive from the school to the studio. Traffic wasn't too bad, but it wasn't smooth either. Vivienne hit almost every red light, got stuck behind a slow-moving delivery truck, had to wait five extra minutes for construction to finish, and stopped at a coffee shop to grab a much-needed cup of coffee.
It was 8:52 when she got to the studio parking lot. She had eight minutes to spare.
Eliza's description of the place was spot on: it was an old warehouse turned into a high-tech motion capture studio. The outside still had its industrial bones, like red brick, metal fire escapes, and small rectangular windows. But she had been told that the inside was all cutting-edge technology.
Vivienne parked, gathered her things, her bag, her travel mug of coffee, her phone, and got out of the car. She was juggling everything in her hands when she tried to close the car door with her hip. The door slammed shut harder than she meant it to, and the jolt made her coffee slosh dangerously close to the edge of the lid.
She steadied the mug, but in the process, her keys fell out of her hands and hit the ground.
"Damn it," she said under her breath as she crouched down awkwardly to try to keep everything else in balance.
"Do you need help?"
The voice came from directly behind her, smooth and familiar.
Vivienne's heart raced. She looked up and saw Alexander Hunt standing there. He was wearing dark jeans and a charcoal sweater that probably cost more than her monthly rent. He looked like he had put a lot of thought into how he looked today.
"Mr. Hunt," she said, trying to get up gracefully but failing. She had to catch her bag with her elbow when it slipped off her shoulder. "Good morning."
"Good morning, Ms. Cross." He bent down and picked up her keys before she could. "Here."
As he handed them over, their hands brushed against each other, and Vivienne pulled back too quickly, almost spilling her coffee.
Alexander raised an eyebrow, a hint of amusement. "Rough morning?"
"Something like that." She finally got herself together and stood up straight, but she was well aware of how messy she must have looked next to how calm he was. "I didn't think you'd be here this early."
"I'm always on time." As they walked toward the entrance of the building, he fell into step with her. "I also wanted to make sure everything was ready before you got here. It's the first day and all."
That was... nice of him.
Vivienne looked at him, trying to make sense of this version of Alexander, thoughtful, almost kind, instead of the demanding CEO she'd expected.
"You didn't need to do that," she said.
"I know." He held the door open for her as they approached the entrance. "But I wanted to."