The Gold and the Forest

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Chapter 10: Sulk

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The two of them did not have a shift the next day, and instead of staying home and sulking, Vivi prepared herself to do some major shopping. She was all revving to go and was about to invite Kade to accompany her.

"Nope." He shook his head.

"What?" Vivi exclaimed. "But—Kade—"

He stood firm, shaking his head.

She sighed, defeated. The urge to shop lost its momentum, and all she wanted was to crawl back into her covers and sulk. She did end up doing it, for a while, before she decided to go sulk outside in the pool instead.

"Something on my little Vivien's mind?"

Vivi turned around. "Mom!"

Her mom slid into the pool, splashing her with some water. "You look troubled. Your handsome friend is staying with us for a while, shouldn't you be in high spirits?"

Vivi blushed. "Mom—He's head over heels for someone else."

"Invite her then, and we can all have fun together."

"Sometimes I wonder if you rather them be your children than me." Vivi complained.

"Don't say that," her mother smiled gently. "I appreciate them, but I love my daughter the most."

Her mother embraced her. "Something wrong, Vivien?"

Vivi sighed, finally giving in. "It's a boy."

"Oh." Her mother hummed. "A boy."

"He's not responding well to me. He's so guarded." Vivi's shoulders drooped. "He's working at my part-time."

"How is Forêt d'or?" Her mother brushed her daughter's hair behind her ear. "Sean's doing well?"

"It's doing fine." Vivi answered. "Mom, am I not pretty enough?"

"Vivi, why would you think that?"

She blinked hard. "Why doesn't he want me?" Her voice was meek.

"Oh, Vivien." Her mother whispered, kissing her forehead. "Steel yourself, don't let a boy get to you."

---

"Dad wants you to visit." Declan dropped the bag of oranges on the stomach of a reclining Carl. Carl grunted and sat up. "Or he will bust in in a day or two."

Carl let out a huge sigh and lifted the oranges off of him. "What's with the constant fruit?"

"Stop moping around." Declan was rummaging through the fridge. "Eat food. Take shits. The works. Take care of your fat self."

Carl grimaced, getting off the couch and putting the oranges on the table.

"I wish Min still came around, so you had the reason to clean up some of this mess." Declan made a face, looking around. "Even I find it disgusting."

Carl shot a glare and went back to his spot on the couch.

"What about that other girl that you brought home a week before or something?" Declan had located an apple and was now munching on it.

Carl let out a groan for a response.

"She was really pretty." Declan sighed to himself. "Really pretty."

"Go home." Carl muttered.

"Hey." Declan ignored his comment. "You should put in a good word for me and bring her home some time again."

"What? So, you can hit on her?" Carl ran a hand through his hair.

"You get me." Declan grinned.

Carl frowned. "Just go home."

"Unless you're actually interested in her, then we would have to become love rivals." Declan gasped and then laughed in delight. "Stepbrothers fight for her favor! Who would win!?"

"There is no love." Carl grumbled, shutting his eyes.

"Ok, edge master." Declan snorted. "That makes it better. More for me."

"She won't even look at you."

"Oh yeah?"

---

They returned to work the next day, it was an unpleasant experience for both of them to even look each other in the eye. Carl had stopped talking entirely, which proved to be a horrible decision after they bumped into each other while he was carrying something. He usually warned her if he was behind her.

The contents of the box dropped onto the floor. He quickly squatted down to pick them up. She did too, but then she threw what she picked up at him and then stomped away. He picked those up too, stifling a huge sigh.

That was the extent of their interactions. She did small petty things, and he stayed silent about them. She tried tripping him, she mixed up some of the labels. She only stopped after Sean called them out on it during their lunch.

"Vivien." Sean's voice was stern, a rare occurrence. "I don't know what happened outside of the workplace, but what happens outside does not come into the workplace."

"Yes, Sean." Vivi muttered.

"Now, apologize to Carl."

Carl stood there, silent. Vivi glanced at him, a frown obvious on her face. They stared at each other for a while.

"Do I need to make some changes to your shifts?" Sean asked, raising an eyebrow at Vivi.

She huffed. "Sorry." She muttered. "I'm really sorry."

Carl didn't respond and looked back at his lunch. Vivi saw this and snapped.

"Where's my apology?"

Carl glanced back at her, a look of confusion on his face. "Excuse me?" He shot back.

Sean exhaled in exasperation. "This isn't good. Vivien, you need to draw a line between work and your social life."

She began taking off her apron, her eyes furious. "I don't want to work here anymore." She exclaimed. She threw the apron at Carl and ran off to the lockers.

"Vivien!" Sean called, going after her.

Carl straightened her apron, staring after them. He thought she was, above all, being extremely annoying. He returned back to his lunch without a single glance back.

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