Page 162 of Lovestruck at Sundown
He leaned in and covered his mouth to say, “Vivienne is not a fan of your father.”
He laughed. I laughed.
“You don’t say.” I shook my head and bit the corner of my lower lip. “But in all seriousness, did something happen? Was he rude? Did he do anything to upset her?”
“She thinks there’s an unfair balance of power between me and your father at the company, and that I work too much, among other things.” Nathan cleared his throat and sipped his whiskey.
“What other things?”
“Vivienne overheard him telling me how he still thought you and I were a great idea and that I should wait for you to come to your senses.” He lifted his eyebrows. “That was a while ago, but Vivienne, as you can imagine, isn’t a fan.”
“He did not!” I whisper-shouted, glancing at my dad, who was an expert at seeming like such a good, righteous man on the outside.
“Vivienne wants me to end my partnership with him,”Nathan sighed. “Please don’t tell him unless you want my head on a spike as a living room decoration. I’m sure your father would let you keep it if you insist he doesn’t toss it in the Hudson River.”
I laughed. “Oh, stop it. He’s not that bad. I mean, he can be—he has been in the past—but I feel like he’s trying to be better.”
“It’s been stressful,” he admitted. “Dealing with him. I’m so deep into our partnership that I can’t see a way out without losing everything I’ve worked for. But I can’t complain. It has brought me a great deal of money and experience, but not without its fair share of headaches.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I hope things get better.”
“Thank you.”
Talking to Nathan was so refreshing. We would be great friends if we weren’t exes and if things hadn’t been so painful and complicated in the end.
“Do you remember that photo exhibit you missed because you were stuck in D.C. with some clients?” I asked.
“I don’t think I’ll forget all the ways in which I failed you when we were together.” His words were sincere and his tone apologetic.
“Nathan, no. That’s not why I brought it up. I have nothing but good memories of our time together.”
“I do, too. Mostly …” He laughed.
“Anyway …” I laughed, too. “The photo I—”
“It was Vivienne,” he said, cutting me off. “I know. You gifted me that photo, and I hung it on my bedroom wall. And then I met Vivienne, and I couldn’t understand why she looked so familiar.”
That made me curious about how they met, but I would never ask. A part of me didn’t want to know all the details.
“I have more photos of her,” I revealed. “I printed a bunchbefore my teachers chose that one for the exhibit. So, I was wondering if you would like me to send them to you.”
“I—yeah.” He sounded surprised. “I would love that. Very much. Thank you, Murph.”
“Do you have the same address?”
“I do not, actually. I moved to a bigger flat.” He raised a cocky eyebrow.
“Of course you did,” I teased. “Text me your new address. I’ll have Aaron drop them off at your new place.”
“Of course.” Nathan stared behind my shoulder, and his smile melted. He looked away and sipped his drink.
I glanced over my shoulder, and two women, somewhere around his age, were clinging to William and taking selfies. He made eye contact with me, and I turned around and signaled the server for a refill.
“Have you grown tired of that?”
“Comes with the territory of being loved, desired, and admired by the entire world’s female population.” For once, I didn’t try to avoid sounding bitter. “And a significant chunk of the male population as well.”
“Incoming,” Nathan whispered. I could feel William’s presence approaching the table behind me, and Nathan didn’t flinch or even hint at wanting to get up from his seat. It wasn’t until William retook his seat next to me that Nathan stood. “It was nice catching up, Murph. I’ll text you my address.” He winked at me and nodded at William before he left us to join my father and the other men.
