Deadly Silence (complete) Chapter 71

Vivian frowned at the message, wondering what was motivating the boy to want to meet up. Tomorrow was another early morning practice and she’d planned on going to bed early in order to survive.

Vivian: \[Yeah, I told Miriam she could. Do we need to actually meet up? Can’t you just text whatever it is you wanna say?\]

Hoping he’d be fine with text, or a call even if it wasn’t what she preferred, Vivian waited to see how he’d respond.

Theo: \[Don’t want to see my face outside of school? And here I thought I wasn’t half bad in the looks department.\]

Vivian stared at the screen for a second before letting out a sigh. This message might fall into the ‘attempt to flirt’ category, as Miriam would say. Was he hoping she’d respond with a compliment on his looks? What was he hoping she’d say? Did she want to stick to what was socially expected of her or be blunt and to the point?

Vivian: \[I just want to go to bed early cause we have practice tomorrow morning.\]

It took a minute before her phone dinged again.

Theo: \[That’s fair. I was thinking just going for a quick coffee or something, nothing that’d take more than thirty minutes. Think you could swing that? If not I get it. I just want to talk about something in person. Doesn’t feel right if it’s not face to face.\]

Frowning, Vivian switched back to her message with Miriam and typed;

Vivian: \[Theo wants to grab coffee or something so we can talk face to face. That sounds like something from those movies we watched, doesn’t it? Should I be worried?\]

It took Miriam all of five seconds to respond.

Miriam: \[OMG. Please say yes and go see what he wants. Even if he confesses his feelings you can just say you aren’t in a place to think about that stuff.\]

Vivian: \[So you think that’s what he probably wants to talk about? I’m not being weird or whatever?\]

Miriam: \[Well, that’s what it sounds like, but the easiest way to know FOR SURE is if he buys you the coffee or not.\]

Vivian: \[??? Why does that matter?\]

Miriam: \[If he buys you the coffee then it means he’s into you and you can go from there. If he doesn’t, then whatever he wants to talk about is probably about the shit from today.\]

Vivian: \[That just makes me want to decline the invitation even more.\]

Miriam: \[I need to live vicariously through you, no matter what it is. Regular life or love life. Just go and see what happens! Worst thing is he confesses, right? Which isn’t that bad of a thing. Just say you aren’t in a place for that sorta thing right now. At least you’ll get a free drink out of it if it happens.\]

Vivian couldn’t argue with the girl’s logic and pursed her lips, hoping she wouldn’t come to regret this decision as she switched back to the conversation with Theo, who seemed to be waiting patiently for her to respond.

Vivian: \[Alright, when and where?\]

Theo: \[Coffeeholic. How about 4:30? Does that work for you?\]

“Hey, Tyrell…” Vivian trailed off as she looked up to meet her bodyguard’s gaze in the rearview mirror. “Do you know where Coffeeholic is?”

“I know the place, Miss Vivian. Do you want to go there?”

“A friend wants to meet up for four thirty.” The clock on her phone put the time at ten minutes to four. “How long does it take to get there?”

“With traffic only getting busier, it would be best to go now and arrive early.”

Vivian hummed a little before nodding her head. “Alright. Let’s go now then.”

“Will do, Miss.”

Vivian: \[Yeah that’s fine.\]

Theo: \[Great! See you soon!\]

Another ding sounded and she switched back to the conversation with Miriam.

Miriam: \[So are you gonna go or nah?\]

Vivian: \[Yeah I’m going.\]

Miriam: \[YES. Remember all the details because I’ll be asking you about them later when we chat!\]

Not bothering to respond, Vivian opened a third conversation and began typing.

Vivian: \[A friend asked to meet up for a little bit at Coffeeholic at 4:30, so Tyrell is driving me there now. Shouldn’t be more than 30 mins. The friend is Theodore McCullough. He’s on the track team.\]

Samuel: \[I know who that is. Alright. Make sure to keep Tyrell close by. Thanks for letting me know.\]

Vivian let out a breath, glad Samuel hadn’t gone into protective mode because she was meeting up with a boy. Then again, why would he when Tyrell the giant would be there to supervise. Which begged the question: did he plan on coming in with her or would he wait in the car? “Hey… uhm… are you planning on coming in with me…? Since you’re my bodyguard or whatever.”

“Do you want me to?”

Unsure what she wanted, Vivian took a while to give her answer. “I don’t know,” she finally admitted. The truth was her father’s text had reminded her of being shot at, something that’d been overshadowed by whoever was impersonating her online. Now that she’d been reminded Vivian was beginning to feel nervous about being out in public. What if they showed up again while she was hanging out at Coffeeholic? At least in the mall parking lot they’d been able to make it to the car; inside a building there wouldn’t be anywhere to escape, would there? And what about the other people? What if they got caught up in the crossfire?

*Maybe I shouldn’t have agreed to this… I can just text him I changed my mind without explaining why, right? He might get disappointed because of it, but he can just talk to me tomorrow at practice if it has to be face to face.*

“Miss Vivian,” Tyrell began, his eyes staring straight ahead as he navigated traffic with the ease of a driver with years of experience. “I’ll make sure nothing happens to you or your friend, alright? Go enjoy yourself.”

Pursing her lips, Vivian nodded and set her phone down. Samuel hadn’t been opposed to the idea of her being out in public which meant he trust Tyrell to do his job. But… Vivian didn’t want him to get shot like Gilbert had; not because of her, anyway. Even if it *was* his job.

She’d never gotten a good look at any of the shooters, and the one on the motorbike had been covered head to toe in black; what if they came to the café and she didn’t even realize it? It’s not like she could identify any of them.

It suddenly dawned on her that no one had called the police about what had happened. Why it’d taken her a full day to realize this made her feel rather dense. Then again, Samuel had said his position in the city was a powerful one but never elaborated on what, exactly, that position was. The fact he hadn’t involved the police told Vivian it was one that meant keeping law enforcement out of these sort of encounters.

For once, she felt immense relief. That meant Paul wouldn’t know about anything that happened; he wouldn’t show up saying he’d been assigned the case and interject himself in her life in such a way refusing would cause people to grow suspicious. Was it bad that Vivian felt safer with a single hired bodyguard than having police protection?

Before she knew it Tyrell pulled into a parking spot near Coffeeholic, turning the car off before half turning so he could look Vivian in the eye. “Go on in and I’ll follow after a few minutes. If your friend isn’t there, find a spot where your back is to the wall and you have a good view of the entire place. Don’t be near the windows.”

Vivian looked over at the café and noted the entire front section was almost entirely made up of windows. “So somewhere in the back?”

“Yes. If you think someone is suspicious, you can text me or, if you feel comfortable, take a photo of them and send that. You don’t have anything to worry about, Miss Vivian, so try and have a good time with your friend.”

“Alright. Thanks. I’ll try.” She wasn’t confident in her ability to have a good time when her nerves were on edge, but that wouldn’t stop Vivian from trying.

She let herself out of the car before looking both ways and jogging across the street. Coffeeholic was brightly lit and someone had already given it a once over with decorations for the autumn season. Fake red and orange leaves, framed photos of people smiling, laughing, having a good time drinking coffee while wearing flannel or jackets as the backgrounds showed colourful trees or gave the impression of colder weather. It gave Vivian a feeling of warmth as she glanced over the café before she found the spot Tyrell had told her about.

Since it looked like Theo had yet to arrive, Vivian went up to the counter and ordered herself a fancy hot chocolate, paid for it and made her way to the table in a back corner. A minute later, one of the baristas dropped off her drink and Vivian gave the man a polite thank you before hugging the hot mug with her fingers as she waited for her friend to show up.

What if he didn’t show up? She hadn’t thought about that. What if this was just a prank and he hadn’t planned on actually coming to meet her to talk?

What if Laurent had been right and she should’ve stayed away from Theo from the start?