Collision (Mature) *Completed*

Micheal

"And for the first time in North Stone history, two candidates are not only friends but rumors say they're lovers."

"What a load of bullshit!" Vivian shot up from the couch, her face scrunched in a look of anger.

Her mother's call interrupted his request- the familiar fire he'd heard in Vivian clearly inherited from her mother. The two had cussed like sailors, tearing the news anchor a new one for exposing the possible relationship between he and Vivian.

"That woman does this messy shit all the time. I heard she was workin' with that island group to cover up her company's bankruptcies. Slimy bitch." The older woman mumbled through the phone that still sat on the couch.

"I gotta call my manager, ma. I love you." Vivian rushed as she ran a hand down her face, an exasperated sigh leaving her lips.

"I love you too. Be careful around that boy. He may have leaked it to ruin your campaign." She signed off before the beeping of the dropped call was all he heard.

Micheal immediately looked to Vivian to see if she'd considered what her mother had said. There was no way in hell he'd do anything to sabotage Vivian publicly, but from the look on her face she thought otherwise.

"Well..." she crossed her arms.

"You can't be serious right now, Vivian." Micheal laughed in disbelief. Her face remained stoic and bile rose in his throat.

"Maybe you let it slip to one of your team members and they leaked it. Maybe someone overheard your conversation. Maybe-"

"And what about your team," he shot up from the couch, "don't act like it's just you on the line here."

"It fucking is just me, Micheal!" The sudden outburst smothered any semblance of anger within him. Vivian threw her hands up, an expression he'd never seen on her face.

"Because when people see that, they'll pat you on the back and say 'oh yeah, you're fuckin' her like a real man should' or 'way to go man, she'll be so strung up on you that the campaign won't matter' but when they look at me?" Vivian pointed her finger wildly at him.

"When they look at me, it'll be in disgust. The black bitch whoring herself out to assure some semblance of power even if she loses the campaign. A slut who can't keep her legs closed. Whatever derogatory narrative they see fit."

Micheal watched as she snatched the phone from the couch, her hands moving furiously across the screen, and moved into the kitchen. The sudden silence in the room felt heavy and he replayed her words- truth ringing within them.

It was evident in the way he still felt calm that he knew the media would spin this to paint Vivian in a negative light. He wanted to find a way to fix this, but knew not to interject himself until Vivian deemed it appropriate.

"I will, yeah. Thank you, Brandon," she smiled softly as she approached the couch once again, "I don't know what I'd do without you. Tell Mackenzie I can't wait to see her performance next weekend."

Micheal felt the familiar green monster show it's face at the mention of Brandon. Vivian and Brandon were a subject he knew couldn't be addressed until he became her boyfriend, but the lingering irritation at their closeness remained.

"So, what's the plan?" He questioned calmly.

"Brandon and Goodson will handle damage control and I'm planning to denounce any relation at my next event." She sighed as she once more picked up the book she'd been reading.

"But we are sort of in a relationship." Pulling the book from her face, he ached for her to finally be open to his advances.

"Micheal," the heavy sigh let him know she was going to reject him, "I like you, but I like my career a lot more. I think you should move on."

"Move on?" Micheal couldn't stop himself from becoming angry once more. He sat up higher on the couch and completely snatched the book from her hands. "You know what? Fuck you, Vivian."

The amused look on her face angered him even more. She sat smugly on the couch as she watched him stand to his feet.

"You're nothing more than a bitter woman too afraid of letting anyone in because you know eventually you'll start to rely on them. Grow up and figure out what you really want." His fists balled as he watched her shoot up from the couch as well.

"I know what I want! I've told you from the start what I want but you're so used to getting everything handed to you that you're throwing a tantrum now. I'm a grown ass woman who's worked ten times as hard to be where I am today and if that makes me bitter, then so be it. Now get out of my house!"

Micheal watched as her chest heaved and her face scrunched from yelling. She tapped her feet impatiently before pointing to the door.

"You're going to die alone and you'll only have yourself to blame." He spit.

"Alone and happy. Some of us aren't desperate for a partner." The two stared each other down as Micheal contemplated what to say next.

"You're a bit-" Before he could finish the insult, she slapped him causing his face to turn and his hand to cradle the stinging flesh.

"Watch your mouth or I'll show you a bitch."
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