Ryan’s POV

Far from home, Ryan was in another country.

He was attending a meeting with some of the most powerful people in the world.

It was awful. He would much rather have swam in piranha infested waters while bleeding, that was how bad it was.

Most people often equated power with intelligence in Ryan’s experience that was seldom the case. Some of the dumbest people he knew were also the richest and most powerful.

It never ceased to boggle his mind.

So far there had been several very inappropriate jokes made about women, poor people, and children. One of the members in attendance had said his own name wrong, and Ryan was certain that the old man across from him had just farted.

By the time that they all decided it was time to take a break from negotiations for a little while.

Ryan had been fighting back the edge to start throwing what he could at most of the occupants of the room for over an hour.

Making his way out, ensuring that nobody managed to trap him with small talk he found a secluded balcony where he could breathe without worrying that he would be catching an incurable case of stupidity.

He had never smoked in his life, but as he stood there, Ryan found himself wondering if going through a cigarette or two would have helped him feel more relaxed. Reaching into his pocket, he took out his phone and switched it on.

He was hoping with everything in him that there was some sort of emergency that he could use as an excuse to leave early.

As soon as the device came online though, it started to ring and a smile overcame Ryan when he saw who it was, Vivian.

He had not expected her to call so soon, but he was very grateful to hear from her.

***

"Hello beautiful," He answered, a big smile on his face.

Normally, when he said such things, Vivian would huff, or maybe giggle now that she was more used to him showering her with compliments. But this time around only silence answered his greeting, and it stretched on for so long that Ryan actually moved the phone away from his ear, looking at the screen to check if it was still connected.

"Vivian, are you there?" He asked.

"Yes, yes I am," Was she sick? Her voice sounded weird, there was a rasp to it that he was not used to. before he could ask after her health Vivian cleared her throat and Ryan took it to mean that she was trying to fix whatever had been making her voice sound weird. Deciding that she’d probably had something stuck in her throat, he chose to move the conversation along, pressing the phone against his ear once more.

"How are you holding up out there," He asked, leaning against the railing and closing his eyes, trying to pretend like Vivian was right next to him.

There was another pause, this one was not as long as the first one had been, so he let it go.

"I am doing fine, I was just wondering, where are you Ryan?" What sort of question was that?

Again he pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it. Not really sure where their conversation was going he put the phone back against his ear.

"As I said before, I am out of town, remember? I have that meeting with all of these big wigs,

I am on the other side of the world?" For a moment he almost thought that he heard Vivian sob on the other end. But it turned out that she was just coughing.

"I think you might be coming down with something. Try drinking some ginger tea and getting some meds in you, it might help the entire thing clear itself out before it becomes worse," Not for the first time, Ryan found himself really hating being away from her. If he were back home, he would have been able to take care of her.

"Yeah, sure, thank you for that advice, I will do that," Ryan frowned, Vivian sounded awful.

Deciding to at least try and take her mind off her discomfort, he told her about an incident that had occurred during the meeting.

"...And then one of them actually suggested using child labour, but lowering the legal working age to make it legal. Can you believe it?! Some people are rich in money and bankrupt in all other areas," Ryan had chosen the particular story that he had just finished telling Vivian, because he knew how passionate she was about children.

He had thought that it would make her more engaged, but all that he got in response was a hum, unable to push back the worry, gnawing at him.

Ryan could not help but question her one more time.

"Vivian darling, are you sure you are all right?" There came a laugh from the other end, and it sounded so forced, so fake, that it made him want to get on a flight and go find out what was bothering her.

"I am fine, Ryan, I have got to go, bye," She hung up before he could ask her about it, leaving Ryan staring at the people moving down below.

Wondering if perhaps he had imagined hearing yet another sob when she had ended the call.

***

The weird call with Vivian did not leave Ryan’s mind even after he left the balcony. It stayed with him throughout the remainder of the meeting, and it was still there when he returned to his hotel room.

Taking out his phone, he called Vivian, wanting to talk to her some more now that he had the time, but his call went unanswered.

After factoring in the time difference, Ryan decided that that was not so odd that the call had been ignored. Where he was, it was early evening, but on Vivian’s side of the world, it was far too early for her to even be awake. That was probably why she had not answered.

Deciding to stop trying to reach her, Ryan went to take a shower.

He had probably just imagined things, Vivian had been fine when he’d left.

There was no way she could get messed up so quickly.