Amy’s POV

When Amy had woken up that morning, she’d had absolutely no plans of meeting the insanely wealthy man who was sleeping with her best friend, but that was what had happened. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

And as Amy had suspected would be the case when she finally met the guy, she actually liked him.

Had Vivian not woken up, just as the food they had ordered had arrived. Amy was sure that they would have had more to say to each other.

But after the arrival of Vivian and the food, conversation had switched to topics that would not make any of them uncomfortable.

The three of them making quick work of their food, with Ryan leaving soon after. Now as they had planned to do, she and Vivian were out walking in the park, pausing every now and then to stare at cute dogs. After a few more stops where they admired the different breeds out and about, they resumed their slow walk with Vivian talking about her kids, telling Amy all about their latest shenanigans.

Most days, hearing about her friend’s kids always had her full attention. But that day Amy was only listening with half an ear, her mind focused on something else.

She tried to keep up the appearance of truly wanting to hear about Vivian’s job, but in the end she could not take it anymore.

"You should keep him," Amy finally blurted out, exhaling in relief at finally having said the words. Cutting herself off in the middle of her sentence, Vivian looked at Amy like she had lost her mind.

"Keep who? I was just telling you about my kids and how one of them tried to-"

Rolling her eyes at her friend’s inability to read her mind, Amy realized that she was going to have to elaborate.

"No, not the kids, Viv, I am telling you that you should keep Ryan, he is a good guy,"

"What?!" Vivian nearly tripped on her own two feet before she came to a halt, with Amy stopping as well. Vivian stared at her for so long that Amy actually started to believe that her friend would take her seriously.

But then the other woman began to laugh like she’d just heard a particularly funny joke. The laughing fit got so intense that the other woman actually bent over, clutching her stomach as she chuckled. It took a moment for Vivian to get herself under control, and when she did, she actually wiped a tear from her eye.

"We are not like that Amy, we are just having a bit of fun, there is no need to complicate things by wanting more," Amy wanted to speak out against that. To urge Vivian to not only want more, but to go after it. But then she caught sight of the look in Vivian’s eyes, something fragile, and very afraid...the heart of a woman who had been hurt far too many times.

So instead of pushing she decided to let the issue go.

"Fine then, let’s finish our walk, which of your kids did you say was trying to eat their shoelaces again?" Relief evident in her entire frame, Vivian latched on to the conversation change with gusto.

***

With their walk long over, Amy was back in her own apartment after having seen Vivian home. She had intended to spend the rest of the day binging her favourite series. But instead Amy found herself sitting on her couch, unable to stop thinking about Vivian and Ryan.

Whether they wanted to admit it or not, those two were a very good match for each other. If they were to decide to be serious with their relationship, then Amy felt that they would go far. While thinking about all of the ways in which Ryan and Vivian would be good for one another, something sank in for Amy. For years now while watching the toxic back and forth, that had been Vivian’s relationship with Bryce, she had seen how much it was hurting her friend and she had not liked it.

But now Amy was realizing that she had been hurting too. That morning she had met a man who cared enough about Vivian to make sure that she got extra sleep. A man who ordered food for her to make sure that she was fed, and while they had been eating, he had not made a single remark over Vivian’s weight. He had not said anything about her being better off if she left certain things on the plate.

Amy had sat there and watched while that man smiled at Vivian like she was the sun. Calling her gorgeous and beautiful and pain that Amy had not even been aware she was caring had begun to fall away from her.

Finally, there was somebody other than her who saw how great Vivian was. A gentleman who did not disrespect her. A man who made Vivian smile and laugh instead of frowning and always looking as though she were about to cry. Just that brief time that she had spent in the pair’s presence was enough to soothe a part of Amy that she had not even realized needed soothing.

Even though her friend was not yet ready to entertain the thought, she truly hoped that Vivian took thing seriously and kept Ryan Terrell.

***

Now that she had seen with her own two eyes just how good for each other Vivian and Ryan were. Amy felt as though they needed a helping hand. Like if she could just step in and steer things correctly here and there, the two of them would look at each other and realize that they would be better off being something more concrete.

She was so invested in the idea that she had a pen and paper out. Ready to plan out how she would be bringing the couple together. When she realized what she was intending to do, Amy deliberately put the pen down and tore up the paper.

As much as she wanted to, she could not interfere.

Vivian and Ryan needed to come to the conclusion that they needed to date on their own. If she interfered she might mess up the process and cause them to leave each other instead. She could not have that. So even if it would test her patience to watch them fumbling around in the dark, she would stand back and let them come to their own realization.