VIVACIOUS: RIVER PHOENIX

001.

chapter one
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                She was perched at her desk, her legs tucked underneath her body as she idly tapped her pencil against the crisp pages of her notebook, the skin between her eyebrows creases into a slight furrow as an exasperated sigh falls from her pouty lips. The loud timbre of the phone ringing on her nightstand retracts Ronnie from her sieve. Clambering out of her chair, she gaitered towards her nightstand and picked up the ringing phone, pressing it against her ear.

    "Couldn't wait another day, huh?" She chuckled, teasing lightly as she already knew that it was River calling her for the third time today.

       She hears the soft tenor of his sullen sigh emanated through the receiving end of the phone. He chortled abruptly before answering, "Its been five months, I miss you." He incites, reiterating the excruciating time of their separation since he last saw his beautiful fiancée. "Why couldn't you come back home today instead?" He asks, not caring that his voice weighed heavily of a desperate need. He missed her so much.

     "Because, I had an exam today." Ronnie explained, as she flops onto the plush softness of her small, twin sized bed. She laid prone, her legs lazily swung back and forth in the air as they continued their conversation. "Plus, I still have a math assignment I need to finish and a Psychology paper that I need to write that's due at midnight. You're distracting me from my work." Ronnie playfully chides, albeit if she was being honest, she was glad that he had called because she was completely drained and spent from all of the exams she had to endure this week, and the sound of his alluring voice was the only thing right now that was keeping her sane.

She was equally quelled with her own overwhelming reverence of missing her fiancé. With her currently living miles away in another state, the time that they have talked to each other since she began attending Northeastern University had slowly began grow less and less as the days passed. They both were always busy; with her being consumed with her academic studies and him always working, and the time difference, it was a challenge for them to maintain daily contact.

But, they still managed to make their long distance relationship work. On holiday breaks, Ronnie would fly back home and spend a few weeks with River until it was time for her to go back to school and on a fair occasion when he was granted a few days off of work, River would fly to Boston to visit Ronnie. It was always hard saying goodbye whenever it was time for one of them to leave, especially knowing that it would be months until they were able to see each other again. This time however was different; Ronnie was about to begin summer vacation which meant that they had three and a half months together sans interruptions.

    They could finally spend time together without worrying about the limited hours they had with one another, he could finally hold her again, wake up with the curl of her body wrapped around his as he hugged her from behind in a tight embrace. He could tell her that he loved her in person instead of having to say the heartfelt sentiment through the phone. He could finally kiss her again.

     Just the two of them, together for three entire months. River couldn't ask for anything better. "What time does your flight land?" inquired River as he shuffled around in the background, picking up dirty clothes that were messily strewn across the floors of his bedroom and tossing them into the laundry.  

       "4:15. You'll be off of work at that time, right? or do I have to take a cab home?" She asked, and River scoffed incredulously at the absurd suggestion.