𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑 | ✓

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩 𝟖

He is holding his coat in his hand as he turns around to face me. "I can't, I've been really busy lately, and I can't spare any more time, I-" He is looking at me with a look of disbelief and disappointment on his face, and the gloom that I see in his eyes causes an instant pang of pain in my chest. "I'm sorry Lu, I really am. I promise I'll—"

He shakes his head in frustration. With a heavy sigh, he tossed his coat back down onto the couch and ran his hand through his hair, ruffling the already tousled locks. "This is getting ridiculous Vivienne." he stated, "It's been a week since I've seen you and trust me, I've tried to be patient, I've tried to give you all the time in the world, and I've tried to understand this all, but fuck me."

I'm a little taken aback, Luka's never lost his patience with me, let alone raise his voice at me. "I said I was sorry Luka, This isn't my fault," I exclaim, looking at him in disbelief. "Of course, it isn't Vivienne." he chuckles in anger, his tone laced with snark as if he's accusing me of intentionally doing this.

I run my palm over my forehead in disbelief. The last thing I wanted was to argue with Luka, we've rarely argued before, I can't even remember the last time that was was genuinely frustrated with me. "What's that?" his voice was sudden, bringing my attention back to him. His eyes are burning holes down at my hand, his eyes following it with every move. I look down in confusion, until I see it.

The big, shiny, diamond engagement ring sits visibly on my left ring finger. I'd forgotten to take it off before I came over, I definitely wasn't prepared for this conversation. "You're unbelievable Vivienne." he chuckles in disbelief, he's only growing more and more angry by the second, and if I didn't know Luka well enough, I'd be shocked with how well he's keeping his composure.

"You know what, I have work to do. You can go, I'm not keeping you hostage." he pins me with a look as he holds his arm out, gesturing to the stairs before walking back over to his desk. He's kicking me out of his house. My heart sinks as I struggled to comprehend what the fuck is happening.

"Luka, please. I was going to tell you, It just happened so fast and I didn't know how." I plead, but he doesn't seem to want anything to do with me anymore. He doesn't listen to me, instead, he sits down at his desk and opens his laptop, as if I'm not even here.

I approach him and close the laptop, "It was my father's  decision to move the wedding up, the engagement was barely even an engagement, plus it was bound to happen sooner or later, you knew that." I exclaim, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier but I didn't know how." I repeat, in a hushed tone, barely above a whisper, my voice heavy with guilt.

I locked eyes with him, desperately seeking any sign of forgiveness. He dropped his head, his eyes downcast. "You don't want this either, right?" he asked low and seriously. "Of course not, Luka. I promise." He continued to stare at me for a few more seconds, his expression unreadable. until finally, he nodded, seeming to accept my answer. "Okay," he said, his voice softening.

He stands up from his chair, and snakes his arms around my waist, and pulls me into a hug. "I'm sorry." he says into my neck, I can tell he's being genuine. "Don't be." I pull back, cupping his face in my palms, flicking my eyes between his.

"It's in less than a week, my wedding," I inform, I might as well get it all out of the way now. He took a deep breath, filling his lungs with air before slowly releasing it with a nod. "Alright," he said, his voice steady despite the news he had just received. He forced a smile, trying to appear unfazed by the information as if it was something he heard every day.

He isn't looking at me anymore, but my eyes stay examining his face. "Luka." his eyes raise back up to mine, awaiting my question. "Will you still come?" I say softly, almost scared to ask him such a thing.

When we were children, he vowed that no matter what, he would be there on my wedding day. And not only that, but he would have to give his approval to the person I chose to marry. It was a promise that he took very seriously, and one that I held close to my heart as I grew older. As we looked back on our past, it seemed almost ironic that we had been so oblivious to our future together. We were then convinced that Luka was the one I would be marrying, but fate apparently had other plans.

"A promise is a promise, of course, I'll be there Viv." As I looked at him, I couldn't help but notice the sadness etched on his face. His lips curved upwards, but his eyes betrayed him. They were glossy and distant. I knew he was hurting, even though he tried to hide it. The pain was written all over his face, and I couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for him. As I struggled to maintain my composure, a single tear escaped and trickled down my cheek.

His thumb gently brushed over my cheek, wiping away the tears that had fallen. He turned his head to the side and gave me a sad smile. "Don't cry, Viv. It'll be okay, I promise," he said softly. As I looked into his eyes, I could see the tears threatening to fall. He tried to speak, but his voice was choked with emotion. Despite his own pain, he tried to reassure me. I could feel his hand trembling as he reached down to touch mine.

I couldn't help but let out a small sniffle as I pulled myself closer to him, wrapping my arms tightly around his body.

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AN/word count - 1640