Vivian’s POV

With Ryan having already left. Vivian was intending to follow right after him, but instead she found herself stuck in his penthouse. Laying flat on her belly, she looked beneath the bed. Even going as far as to reach out and move her arm around, hoping that she would bump into what she was looking for.

Not finding anything, she got on her knees and pushed herself up. Hands on her waist

Vivian spun in a slow circle around the room, searching, but her shoe was nowhere to be found.

Sitting back down on the bed, she stared at her other shoe and bit back a groan of frustration.

Of all of the things to misplace, it just had to be the one thing she could not leave the penthouse without.

Had it been her bra, or maybe her underwear, she would have been able to just put clothes on and walk outside with her face flaming, but with no one else being able to tell why she was so embarrassed.

But if she walked out there with just one shoe on, she knew that she would be getting a lot of stares. Some people would be worrying over her sanity, while others would know she was doing the walk of shame, and that was not something she wanted.

Getting up Vivian left the bedroom and headed over to the living area.

The previous night she and Ryan had been at it from the moment that they had walked through the door, (that man had done things to her that would make even sex goddesses blush).

Maybe she had left her shoe somewhere along the way, or maybe it had ended up in the kitchen,(Ryan had bent her over the counter and had his way with her there first, he’d not stopped until her legs were shaking). So perhaps she had kicked off her shoes there.

Deciding that, that would be the next place she searched, Vivian went down on her knees in the living room and began to look.

"Shoe, shoe, where are you?"

She called feeling ridiculous, but figuring that calling out to her missing footwear was better than crying in frustration.

"Come on shoe, where are you?"

"Right here," The unfamiliar deep voice caught her off guard, so much so that Vivian tried to straighten too soon. Bumping the back of her head against the table as a result. Grunting in pain she rubbed at the area and lifted her head to look at who had just spoken.

There was a man standing there, and in his hands he held her shoe.

"I take it this is what you are looking for,"

***

There was a strange man in Ryan’s penthouse. As Vivian continued to stare at him, the man, a very handsome man for that matter, with his caramel-toned skin and curly hair, smiled at her and held out the shoe. Still unable to speak Vivian walked forward and took it from him. Immediately putting it on, before turning to look at him again.

Why did he look so familiar?

Squinting she looked him up and down, taking in the three-piece suit, complete with a pocket watch, before going back to staring at his face, and all of a sudden it clicked for Vivian.

He looked familiar because she had seen him before. That very first night, when she had met Ryan. This was the guy that he had been seated with, his best friend.

"Mark?" She asked uncertainly, and the man’s smile brightened.

"In the flesh, and you must be the lovely Vivian Rose," Vivian nodded and Mark held out his hand for a shake and she obliged him. Letting her go, Mark put his hands in his pockets, and studied her quietly for a bit, with Vivian doing the same.

"Are you alone here?" Mark asked, and Vivian nodded, the man rolled his eyes at her response,

"Typical Ryan, we were supposed to meet up, but I take it he forgot. Oh well, it has been lovely seeing you again, Vivian Rose,"

With a little wave, the man turned, clearly intending to leave.

"Wait!" Vivian called, blushing at her loudness, and doing her best to quickly get the reaction under control.

***

Watching as Ryan’s best friend turned back to face her, a curious look in his eyes,

Vivian suddenly felt incredibly nervous. Why on earth had she stopped him from leaving. The man had literally been about to save her from an awkward situation. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

But now she was prolonging her own torture, looking at his expectant face, Vivian realized exactly why she had not wanted Mark to leave just yet, she and Ryan Terrell were just friends with benefits. What they were doing would not become anything serious.

But still, Vivian found herself wanting to make a good impression on his best friend. So taking a shaky breath, she gave Mark what she hoped was a welcoming smile.

"Do not leave just yet, how about we have some coffee?"

Mark stared at her like she had lost her mind, and for a moment Vivian was worried that he would turn her down, ( which she would not hold against him, there was absolutely no reason for him to try and play nice with her).

But then the man shrugged, walking away from the door and moving towards her.

"You know what, I have nothing better to do this morning," Feeling like she had just done something monumental, Vivian breathed a sigh of relief before turning and leading the way to the kitchen, Mark whistling as he walked behind her.

As she pulled out the mugs that would be used to pour their coffee. Vivian willed her fingers not to shake, this was nothing, she would just be meeting with somebody important to Ryan. Why she was so desperate for Mark to like her, Vivian did not know. But as she got things ready, she found herself desperately wishing that by the end of the conversation, she not only liked Ryan’s best friend, but that Mark also approved of her.