Chapter 6 The Strange Marriage Proposal

Vivienne hadn't slept. It all still felt surreal.

Was life trying to taunt her? Mock her? Or better still, is she here to fulfill a purpose?

If not, why does a look alike of her ex happened to be the boss of the company she sought a position from.

The night had twisted into a maze of what-ifs, memories she'd buried clawing back like vines around her throat.

Her phone rang and she saw Aiko's name as the caller. She knew why she was calling. To ask if she got the job. She didn't bother picking. Aiko kept calling. She picked.

"Hey, I was expecting your feedback. I really was going to throw you a small party in my cafe tonight if you got the job. What happened?"

Despite the situation surrounding Vivienne's life, she managed to smile. Aiko was too sweet. She had portrayed nothing but a sweet big sister she never had.

Clearing her throat, she searched her brain for a lie to tell, "Hmmm yeah, I waited for him but he didn't get back so...so I was asked to come back." She informed falsely.

"Him? I've always known the boss would be a male. I wish you luck, Vivi. Have a good night's rest."

Immediately the line went dead, Vivienne let out a sigh. It was hard even talking about him. She spent the rest of the night researching the company but couldn't get any tangible information. Then back to the tattoo. Maybe, just maybe the tattoo was just for fashion that he and who she had concluded was his love interest found cool and decided to have.

She didn't even have dinner. And when she slept, she dreamt about him.

The dream contained their pasts as young couples. The first time Tristan kissed her, when she was sixteen during prom. Their classmates had cheered and Tristan hadn't looked at them. Instead, he slipped a diamond necklace with the moon and sun pendant around her neck then knelt and proposed a promise ring to her.

"Accept to be my future wife, Vivienne Donovan." He had made the offer with such genuine love in his eyes that she couldn't even deny. Tobias, his stepbrother, had gotten jealous and walked away from prom only to create a mess later. Causing trouble so the attention could divert from them.

Even when she held Tristan to look away from his stepbrother, he had simply pecked her and said he would be right back then went to save Tobias from the trouble he had gotten into.

She had seen that exact past in her dream only that it changed. When Tristan got back, he was now older, clean shaved beards housing his face. But he looked different. Apart from being strikingly more handsome with a broader body in suit, his blue eyes were cold and held no innocence anymore. Then she sighted the triangular tattoo.

"Tristan?" Vivienne called as he made to walk past her. He looked her way and said, "My name is Thompson Blake, and for you it's Sir." Vivienne gasped. She jolted awake from the dream.

By morning, her mind was set. She was going back to complete her interview.

She slipped into a plain blouse and black slacks, her fingers trembling as she tucked her hair behind her ear. If Tom, or whoever he really was, wasn't going to give her answers, she would pry them out herself.

The receptionist blinked when she walked back into the TDC building that morning.

"I...didn't think you'd return," she said.

"I changed my mind. I guess you thought I wasn't accepted, but that's not the case. I got a call and..." Vivienne was saying but got interrupted,

The woman tilted her head. "He's expecting you."

Expecting her? She gave her a nod and a shaky smile.

Vivienne's stomach tightened as she stepped into the elevator and pressed the 32nd floor, watching the numbers light up one after the other. The tension thrummed through her veins like caffeine.

When the elevator opened, Tom was already at the glass wall, cityscape sprawling behind him. Today he wore a steel gray shirt, sleeves rolled up, veins visible. And that damn tattoo. Triangular, complex, beautiful and terrifying. She couldn't unsee it now.

He turned at her entrance. His gaze dropped from her face to her shoes and back again, as if cataloguing her. Seeing him again now, Vivienne was hell sure she wasn't going to run away again. Even if he was another person, he had the love of her life exact features, she couldn't run. Never again. Even if standing before him meant reliving every wound she'd buried.

"You came back," he said.

"I'm sorry...I...I didn't understand what came over me." Tom raised a brow, signaling that she continues.

"...Maybe I...I just found you intimidating."

He wasn't expecting that. "Really? Am I?" He started walking towards her as his eyes fell on the chain around her neck.

Vivienne swallowed. Did he remember the chain? Would he say something now? Would he come out clean that he was really Tristan?

When he stopped right before her, his cologne filled her nostrils and as wrong as it was at the moment, she felt at home. Then he lifted his hand and touched the chain around her neck, holding the pendant in his hand. His eyes fell into slits.

Her body jolted when his knuckles slightly brushed her neck. But he was concentrated on the chain, then his eyes flicked up to meet hers and her heart stopped. They were so close.

"It's a nice diamond. Whoever gifted you must have loved you. Is it your boyfriend? Husband?"

Vivienne's throat tightened. How...

"How do you know I was gifted?" For the first time since their paths crossed, a charming smile befell his lips as his hand dropped to his side. That smile...it was exactly the same as Tristan's.

"I would know. So answer my question." His voice was tinged with authority, a slight frown on his face.

"It was my boyfriend. He died." She said, expecting some sort of replies from him that would hint at him being Tristan but then he said.

"So are you married?" What?

"No, I'm not." Now, it was her turn to frown.

"Great then."

"Why is that great? You only hire unmarried women as your PA?" She asked with a voice filled with heavy curiosity.

There was a short silence as Tom returned to his seat then rolled the chair back and forth.

He leaned forward, fingers steepled, voice unnervingly calm.

"You're not exactly here to be my PA."

Her frown deepened. "Then... what am I here for?"

A beat passed. Then two.

"You're here to marry me."

Vivienne stared, blinked, then snickered nervously. "Wh...what?"