This was wrong. Abnormal even. Then why did it feel so right?
→ Vivienne returns back to where her life had first begun nearly twenty-four years ago, ready for a new journey ahead of her. This includes moving in with her older brother while trying t...
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VIVIENNE
Nearly a week later, Vivienne found herself out of the house, freshly dressed, and showered by 10 AM for a strange reason she couldn't decipher. A stark difference from her current routine. Rather than actually be productive, she had spent the days locked inside the apartment - her bedroom mostly if she was being honest - to catch up on sleep and organize her mind in general.
Maybe, just maybe, a part of her was hiding too. From two specific individuals specifically.
Yet still, there had hardly been any interactions with either Sebastian or Dominic, and Vivienne wanted to think it had to be due to their own busy schedules.
Not her avoiding them on purpose.
She was also a person who cherished sleep over productivity most times, so the fact that she woke up at 9 energized enough to get ready was strange, but perhaps a good kind of strange. It was technically a new city, and new places meant new habits.
Her brother's place was not in the city center, disappointingly enough, compared to his previous, quaint one-bedroom apartment. She remembered loving how accessible everything was by foot the last time she visited, but now according to her Google Maps, buses were back on the agenda.
But it was nice weather today, making her stubborn to be out and about. Seizing the day and all that.
So following what she knew was the direction toward the river and out of the suburban streets of the apartment complexes around her. It took ten minutes to reach the main road, bustling with cars. Crossing the road and staring down at the maps on her phone she was now at the Riverpoint Center. Nothing impressive - a little area with a couple of shops.
Her face fell, the energy and excitement Vivienne woke with slowly and surely sizzled away by the monotone boring surroundings. All red bricks and depressing beige squared shops with their large mismatching logos. Barely anyone was walking outside, everyone driving - and she realized how out of the American culture she really was.
She was used to walking everywhere, or taking the tube but having everything in the vicinity. She was used to waking up to a bustling city, people walking around with warm or iced coffee cups in their hands, and not being the only one always dressed impeccably from the AM to the PM. She supposed living in the middle of London did that to someone. Now all she could see were plaid flannel shirts tucked into old washout jeans, and...cowboy boots? In Chicago?
Ew. Her face must have unintentionally shown her disgust, because the poor guy minding his own business on his way to the car made eye contact with her, his own flickering to the side in confusion before continuing on his way.
Snapping out of her internal depressing thoughts there was a Starbucks ahead in the compact building of shops. Not what she preferred but it seemed like the only coffee shop close by for now.
