Way up in the sky, little darlin'

Vivian had told Nick that he should be gentle with the reins and not to clutch them too hard; that was counterproductive, she’d explained to him, and if he jerked too roughly he might startle the horse and that would be bad.

He knew she was right, but at the same time, she wasn’t the one riding, was she? Well, she was, but she was used to it and he wasn’t.

It’s okay, Nick thought as the slope of the hill got a little steeper. You’re on Harem Hotel. Nothing bad is going to happen to you. Dakota’s probably watching you get all flustered and worried right now, and laughing her ass off.

Still, was the walking trail always this narrow? And that ledge on his right looked pretty precarious, like a rockslide could happen any moment…

I’m being stupid. Stop getting so worked up, you idiot!

Nick knew better than this, he really did. But he couldn’t help himself, riding on a horse was one thing, he’d pretty much gotten used to that, mostly. But when Vivian had told him they were going uphill? He knew the island had mountains, slopes, and ledges on it, he’d hiked a trail or two with Carly on outings with her before. And this wasn’t even one of the steep ones!

And yet, it was different when it was his own feet on the ground. Just as he would have been hesitant to ride a motorcycle up a hill like this, he was hesitant to ride a horse.

Nick raised his head and gazed at Vivian, riding several feet ahead of him. She looked completely undaunted by the hill, and rode on with her back straight and her head held high, looking right in front of her without hesitation.

She really did look impressive.

“Trust in your horse,” he remembered her telling him. “He won’t let you fall.”

Nick’s hands were shaking, but he lightened up on the reins. As he did, he felt something shift beneath him. Not like he was falling, though for an instant that was what he feared. It was more like Licorice was relaxing, almost.

And that’s when he realized that Vivian had been completely right. Licorice had sensed his apprehension, whether through the reins or just his general body language, and that had made him get tense as well.

“Sorry,” Nick whispered, looking down at the beautiful black mane of the horse. “I shouldn’t have worried you so much. But I’ll be fine now.”

He raised his head as Licorice began to walk smoother, looking up at Vivian again. He wondered just where she was taking him. She’d said she wanted to go out for a date, but was she really just aiming to ride on horseback with him today? As nice as this was, he expected she’d try something different, something… fancier.

He held his tongue though and let her take the lead. This was her plan after all, and it didn’t help anybody for him to stick his foot in his mouth. If she wanted to do a nice date outdoors, who was he to complain?

Soon the pathway leveled off, and they reached a nice little field of wildflowers beside a large lake. Nick could see a treeline off on the other side of the water, and he realized where they were. He’d come here a few times on dates before, though usually from the other path, through the woods. Most notably had been his double date with Morgana alongside Carly and Dani, where the goth girl had nearly died (hearing her tell it, anyway).

But this wasn’t the first time he’d been on this side. The large tree they were heading towards… this was where he’d had his picnic with Mary on their first date together, the one she’d arranged under Sylvia’s instruction! Most of his memories of that outing had been the carriage ride so he hadn’t realized it until they were almost there…

What are the odds? This can’t just be a coincidence, right? Did Vivian come up with this on her own? Nick knew that a girl like her wouldn’t have a spontaneous date like this, so she definitely would have been planning it. And he also remembered that Kim had said something about meeting up with her the day after their own date together.

Which was why Nick suddenly found himself very suspicious. But… what would even be the point of that? Even if Vivian had intentionally chosen a date that would correspond with one he’d already been on with Mary, so what?

They’d still have a good time together. And maybe it was all just a coincidence anyway.

…That being said, if there happened to be a picnic basket packed with all his favorites sitting under that tree, he would be pretty damn certain in his suspicions.

“Whoa there, whoa,” Vivian said gently, slowing her horse down to a stop when they reached the tree. She dismounted and guided him by the reins, then turned back to Nick as he and Licorice drew closer to them.

“We’re going to stop here for a little rest break,” she informed him. “Sound good?”

Nick nodded. “How, uh…” He blushed. “How should I stop again?”

Vivian chuckled. “Just sit a little deeper in your seat, he’ll get the message. Oh, and don’t dismount until you feel him stop moving completely, unless you want to scare him something fierce!”

That was the last thing Nick wanted. He sat deeper in his seat like she instructed and tried to urge Licorice to back down, and to his relief, it looked like it worked. His horse slowed down and eventually stopped, thankfully right beside Vivian’s horse. He thought back to when he went on that carriage ride with Mary back when they were on their date, and how the horses had been guided without anyone driving the carriage. At the time, they’d chalked it up to magic.

Now that the idea had popped into his head, maybe Vivian had been right to tell him not to think so hard about guiding Licorice up all those hills.

“Need help getting down?” Vivian strolled over to him with an amused smile on her face. She tilted up her hat to look him in the eye, giving him that same playful expression she always did.

Nick sighed. “Yes,” he replied with a nod. “Very much so, yes.”

“…Well, isn’t that something then.” Her smirk widened and Nick felt a sinking feeling in his gut.

“Vivian-!” If she was trying to play around with him again, then he would-

“I’m teasing, I’m teasing,” she chuckled, shaking her head. “Don’t worry your pretty little head off there, Nick, everything’s going to be fine. Dismounting when you’re a beginner is pretty hard though, almost as hard as getting on. But I’ve got your back.”

She shrugged as she worked on getting his feet out of the stirrups. “Hey, if you’re that ****, it’s as easy as falling off!”

Vivian batted her eyelashes at him. “I promise, I’ll catch you,” she said, and that honestly sounded like a pretty tantalizing offer. But Nick wasn’t that ****.

“Thanks, but I’m good,” he replied, sliding his feet out. He followed Vivian’s lead, and she helped him down off Licorice. And thankfully, he didn’t fall.

Still with her arms around him like this, and looking deeply into his eyes…

For a second, Nick was made vividly aware that the two of them were alone right now in an isolated field. He was right up close with a beautiful woman, who was paying full attention to him. And when Vivian wasn’t teasing, she really was a pleasant sight to behold indeed, especially now when she wasn’t trying to look all fancy.

But the moment passed in a second and she took a step back, letting her hands drop to her sides. He could read the expression on her face, but it seemed like a mixture of playfulness, expectation, and hesitation all rolled into one.

“Can’t get too eager for it, now,” she insinuated with a wink. “Gotta save something for later, wouldn’t you agree?”

As much as Nick might have liked what that “something” would entail, he wasn’t that frantic to make a move on the heiress. He was enjoying the more casual atmosphere they’d had going between them, especially compared to how he’d built the date up in his mind, expecting the heiress to be much more sexually forward.

“So what’s the plan now?” He asked, looking around. “When you took me out on horseback last time it was to show me your shooting skills. You don’t happen to have a rifle tucked in that blouse, do you?” He joked.

Vivian smirked. “Wouldn’t you like to find out?” She teased, leaning forward and pressing her breasts between her arms to make them look a little bigger. She gave him another saucy wink. “Unfortunately that’ll have to keep until next time, I’m afraid,” she said, shaking her head. “We’ve got other business to attend to, after all.”

Nick blinked. “We do?”

She nodded. “I didn’t just bring you here for no good reason!”

Just as he thought, she was planning a picnic.

“We need to get some water for Toffee and Licorice!” She pointed out, gesturing over to the lake. “They’ve been walking all day while we’ve been taking it easy! They must be dying of thirst by now, you know!”

Oh, right. Nick hadn’t even thought of that. And while his sore thighs were bringing into question Vivian’s assertion that they’d been “taking it easy” he definitely hadn’t had it as bad as the horses had today.

“You’re right, I wasn’t even thinking about that,” he admitted, feeling a little sheepish.

Vivian’s expression was tender. But maybe that was because she had been looking at Toffee just a second ago. She turned back to Nick with a smile and a reassuring laugh. “Well, why would you?” She bluntly asked. “I mean, have you raised horses before?”

“Well… no, but I still should have figured…”

Vivian shook her head. “You’re new to all of this,” she pointed out. “So it’s fine. Don’t worry. No one’s gonna get upset at a little thing like this slipping your mind!” She patted him on the shoulder and shook her head. “Now then. Let’s go, Toffee.”

She gently took Toffee by the reins and led him over to the lake. And to Nick’s surprise, she actually made him drink!

He doubted he’d be able to do the same. He looked up at the black beauty beside him, and saw a gleam of wisdom in his eye. The horse was waiting for him, somehow he just knew that.

“You thirsty?” He asked, and received a whinny in response and a fluff of Licorice’s tail.

Taking that as a yes, Nick led the horse over to the lake, bringing him right up beside Vivian’s, and let him drink his fill. The two horses dipped their heads down and drank while their riders stood side by side with each other, taking a moment to relax and enjoy a bit of peace.

“This is a really nice place,” Vivian murmured. “I’m glad Kim told me about it.”

“Kim mentioned this place to you?” Nick asked, his prior suspicions returning.

Vivian nodded. “I wanted somewhere I could take you for a nice little jaunt on horseback, and she told me about this nice lake she found on a nature walk. It’s just as lovely as she mentioned!”

The heiress stretched her hands over her head, steepling out her fingers and arching her back until Nick could hear a slight crack. Then she turned to him and grinned.

“I hope you’re having a good time?” She asked, her expression almost looking bashful behind that bold smile. “I’m not used to going riding with other people.”

Nick nodded, sensing… something coming from the woman in front of him. What was this vibe he was getting? Vivian was bold and direct, and he knew that wasn’t some act to hide her inner shyness. And yet, he still felt like she was a little shy towards him anyway!

Was she really that nervous?

Vivian must have sensed that he was getting a weird vibe from her, because she laughed and spoke up first, twirling a loose strand of chocolate hair. “Normally, I’d never admit this because I hate giving up the edge in a negotiation,” she informed him. “But this is actually my first time doing something like this. A date, I mean.”

“Really?” Nick found that both hard to believe, and surprisingly easy to believe, given what he knew about the heiress.

Vivian nodded. “Don’t get me wrong, I’ve done a lot of stuff that you might consider ‘dating’ from a certain perspective,” she clarified. “Wining and dining prospective investors, going to fancy parties and charity events with escorts, but what I’m talking about, something like this? Just going out and spending time with a man who I’m trying to get to know better?”

She shook her head. “Would you believe I don’t have a schedule that leaves me a lot of time for something like that?”

Yes, Nick would believe that quite a bit actually.

“I mean, on top of my work as a model and running my own fashion line, and other business dealings I’m involved in, I’m still in school!” Vivian reminded him. “And there’s this one teacher, Amelia Campbell, and she’s so strict, can you believe that? She says I’m a lazy slacker and a bad influence!” Vivian batted her eyelashes at Nick, trying to resist bursting out laughing. Even Nick found himself a little amused by Vivian’s statement.

“Me! A bad influence!” Vivian huffed and shook her head.

“Let’s not talk about school,” Nick said, trying to tactfully inform Vivian that he didn’t enjoy this line of conversation, as amusing as it was. He sensed a bit of deflection from the heiress’s words, like she was trying to keep him from looking deeper at her with that.

Vivian laughed. “You’ve got yourself a deal,” she agreed. “Still… what should we talk about, then?”

She slipped off her riding boots and her socks and sat down on the lake’s edge, kicking her feet in the water. She looked so tranquil there, like something off the cover of a country music album.

When she glanced up at Nick and saw him staring blankly at her, a confused expression crossed her face.

“You alright there, Nick?” She asked. “Something on my face?”

Nick quickly shook his head and sat down next to her, though he refrained from sticking his feet in the lake himself.

“I was just trying to think about something to say,” he replied. “We don’t really have a lot of common interests, do we?”

Vivian laughed and shook her head. “How would we know? It’s not like we’ve ever sat down and chatted about them. Me, I’ve got all sorts of interests and hobbies I haven’t told you about, maybe we do have something in common!”

Nick would love if that was the case.

“For starters,” Vivian began, wiggling her eyebrows, “I’m pretty sure I’ve gotten you to come around on horses, am I right?”

Nick laughed and rolled his eyes. “Yes, you’re right,” he agreed. “I had a lot of fun riding on Licorice today. And while I’m no equestrian-”

Vivian stuck out her tongue at him.

“…I would be interested in doing it again,” he said. “You know. When I get better.”

Vivian nodded. “You should,” she agreed. “Maybe then, you and that wife of yours could go out for a romantic horseback riding date.”

Nick blinked. “Huh?”

Vivian looked at him. “Nick, you know your wife loves horses, right?”

“Of course she does,” Nick nodded. “She was raised on a farm, she used to tell me about how she’d go riding! I just… she never said anything, so…”

Vivian shook her head. “I don’t think she’s the type of girl who would ask for something like that. See, I’ve met gals like Mary. They tend to be of a certain sort. The trophy wife kind of vibe, you know?”

Nick bristled. He didn’t like Vivian talking about his wife that way. “Vivian, Mary isn’t some kind of gold-digger,” he replied harshly.

Vivian’s eyes widened like saucers and she shook her head. “No! You’ve got it all wrong! That’s not what I mean by a trophy wife vibe, I swear!”

Nick eyed her suspiciously. “Maybe we should just drop it,” he said, worried that if Vivian kept talking he would get upset with her and ruin their date.

But Vivian was adamant about ensuring that Nick didn’t get the wrong idea.

“When I deal with rich businessmen looking to invest in my fashion line, more often than not I end up becoming acquainted with their wives, too. And these aren’t vapid bimbos who can’t even tie their shoes, Nick, they’re not. They’re lovely, sweet, considerate women just like Mary. But do their husbands care about any of that? No. They just like them because they look pretty.”

“I don’t just like Mary because she’s beautiful,” Nick said defensively. “She’s funny and smart and gentle and generous, and we can talk for hours and hours about anything!”

“I know you love her,” Vivian said, almost sounding wounded. “And I barely know you two! Anyone with eyes can see how deep your feelings for each other run. But these wives, they love their husbands, too. But they also have their own lives to live, and their own things they’re passionate about. But do they share that with their husbands? Unlikely.”

“Vivian, what are you trying to say?” Nick asked. He didn’t want to get upset, but a familiar murky feeling had arisen in his stomach.

Vivian bit her lip.

“Do you and Mary have a lot of things in common?” She asked.

Nick shrugged. “Some things. Do we need to like all the same things?”

Vivian shook her head. “Of course not. But how often does she try to do something with you that you’re passionate about, and she isn’t?”

Now that she’d pointed it out, Nick couldn’t be sure. They liked reading together, but Nick also liked video games, going for walks, and watching movies. How many times had he and Mary done those things together?

“And it’s the same the other way, too,” Vivian continued. “How often has Mary asked you to do something with her, that she was really interested in, but you didn’t really care about?”

“Well… not… not often,” he admitted. “I mean, she’s shown me how to cook a little…”

“But has she asked you to go horseback riding with her?” Vivian asked him point-blank. “When it’s something that she’s incredibly passionate about?”

No. Not once. In fact, Nick had nearly forgotten his wife’s passion for horses.

“See?” Vivian looked triumphant. Sad and triumphant. “She’s afraid you’d say no if she asked, so she doesn’t. She’s such a sweet woman, she’s trying to make you happy by only indulging in the things she knows you like to do together. And you’re the same way, right? Do you ask her to do things like… um… …Honestly, I don’t know what a guy like you would even do for a hobby,” she honestly admitted.

It didn’t really matter though, because her point had been made. Nick had tried out all sorts of new things with the other girls in his harem in an effort to try and get close to them, and this little excursion was a perfect example of it.

If Mary had asked, would he have gone horseback riding with her?

Of course he would have. But that wasn’t the point. The point was, Mary was the kind of girl who would never suggest something like that, on the off chance he wouldn’t like it. Whereas Vivian would try and get him to like it.

The more he thought about that, the more he realized just how much the women in his harem conceded their own interests for his sake, to make him happy. And that made him feel just terrible.

“Don’t beat yourself up to much about it, Nick,” Vivian said. “This stuff happens with married couples all the time I reckon! They get in a rut. And from what I hear, you two are in a rut five or six times a night, if you catch my drift!”

Her bad joke didn’t help his mood. But her sympathy was appreciated.

“This is a good thing though,” Vivian said, her eyes sparkling. “You stick with me, and we’ll make a regular Cossack out of you, Nick!”

“Cossack?”

“Look it up, smart boy. My point is, I can help you get better at riding, and then you can blow your considerate little wifey’s mind by taking her out on a romantic date on horseback all by yourselves! Pretty tempting, eh?”

Vivian wore a smile on her face like a scheming manipulator, but the generosity in her voice was palpable. Nick couldn’t argue with her proposal in the slightest.

He smiled. “Thanks, Vivian,” he nodded. “I’d appreciate that. The last thing I’d want to do is take Mary for granted.”

Vivian tilted her head back and laughed loudly, as though the notion of Nick doing that was downright ridiculous.