Chapter 22
"I think that's her!" AJ said as him and Brian made their way through the crowded airport in London. They hadn't expected this many people to be at the airport, but once again it was Thanksgiving holiday. It looked like the entire population of England was at the airport, either greeting loved ones or boarding planes to visit family. Brian nodded and picked up his heavy bag and leaned it onto his shoulder, the weight from the bag causing him to limp onto his left side. AJ zoomed in between people of all ages while Brian slowly and politely excused himself as he slipped quietly behind AJ. The whole airport was engulfed in idle chatter, laughter coming from the mouths of people here, while cries of happiness came from the mouths over there. Brian found himself smiling as he eavesdropped on some of the strangers' conversations. They all were cheery and in a good mood.
It seemed like forever by the time that AJ had made it over to the girl that stood in the corner that was in a heated conversation with someone on a pay phone. AJ knew right away that the girl that had her back to him was Leah. Her hair had gotten longer since the last time he had seen her, the thick brown hair that she had run past her shoulders and stopped abruptly at her mid back. AJ glanced back at Brian who was smiling a huge smile that probably would have made all BSB fans faint. AJ tapped Leah on the shoulder and she turned around quickly, her eyes widening as she realized it was AJ.
"AJ!" She cried, throwing her arms around him with joy. She wrapped her legs tightly around his waist as he swung them around in circles, planting kisses all over her face.
"I missed you so much!" AJ cried as he pressed her more tightly against him. "Let me look at you!" He said, pulling back from her so he could look at her. "More beautiful than ever," he murmured as he kissed her on the lips for the first time in months. The tingles came back once again as he smiled and moved out of the way so Leah could be reacquainted with Brian.
"Hey Bri," Leah said as she broke free from AJ's grasp and leaned over to give Brian a friendly hug.
"How've you been?" Brian asked once they broke apart. Leah shrugged.
"I've been ok. Much better now," Leah said as she wrapped an arm around AJ's waist. He planted a kiss on her temple and laughed.
"We better go. I don't know how much more I can take of this," Leah said, motioning towards the chaos that was surrounding them.
"Yeah, come on," AJ said and the three of them exited the airport and drove off to London.
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Riana turned off the TV and grabbed her plate of which once consisted of a plain bagel and walked into the kitchen. She through the crumbs into the garbage can and opened the dishwasher, only to find that it was overflowing with dishes that needed to be washed.
"Sean has got to learn to do the dishwasher!" Riana scolded outloud, retrieving the dish detergent from the cupboard adjacent her. She poured in the light green material and closed the door, locking it with the little silver lever before hearing the sound of the water inside. Satisfied, she washed her sticky hands on the dish towel that hung from the rack in their kitchen. She sat down at her kitchen table, rolling a fringe of the table cloth between her fingertips. She was bored. She usually was whenever Sean had to go to work, which was every weekday from 7:00 in the morning to 6:30 at night. He would come home and the two of them would eat a nice and quiet dinner together before both of them fell asleep on the couch while watching MTV. On the weekends, Riana and Sean would always go out, whether it be to a matinee or a walk in the park, and they would stay up together and talk all night until the orange sun emerged from behind the clouds.
Sean had been really busy lately. Some new computer company came onto the scene last week, and Sean had wanted their instant rivalry to end, but it was too late for that. It was war.
Riana looked outside of the kitchen window and sighed. The little children played around in the new snow that had fallen late last night. School was canceled, so the children took advantage of it and ran around carelessly in the winter wonderland. Wool hats covered their heads and fluffy white ear muffs covered their ears. Snowflakes sprinkled upon their rosy cheeks in an almost surreal way, almost looking like it was coming from a painting of Michael Angelo, rather than real life.
Riana remembered when her father would take her to the park to go sledding. Their was a small hill where both Riana and her father would slide down, both laughing and enjoying the time they shared together.
Riana missed that. She missed letting loose and acting immature for one day. Sean was always serious, making Riana more serious than her usually goofy self. The last time she acted goofy and immature was in the summer with -
"Stop it," she said outloud. The summer was on her mind often now that the winter was in full effect. She remembered the sound of the waves crashing against the side of the huge ship. She remembered the "gang" that used to walk around the boat and talk all day, talking about anything that came into their minds. She remembered when they stopped for a few days here, and a few places there. She remembered walking along the moonlit beach with Nick.
"Nick." She said. She hadn't thought about Nick for about three months. She was moving on, but when she said his name and reminisced the times they shared together, she wondered if she was not moving on, but stuck in the past.
She didn't really know what to do anymore. Leah and Riana hadn't really talked in a while, so Riana was taken by surprise when Leah called her over to see some friends of hers this weekend. Riana was depressed often, it seemed as if she was stuck in her own life with no escapes. The loneliness could have caused her depression, but Riana didn't know.
Her career was on hold right now. Few offerings were thrown her way anymore, and Riana had no choice but to think that her fifteen minutes of fame were over. She felt her lip quiver and she stood up abruptly from the table as a lone tear escaped from her clear blue eyes. She wiped them away quickly, almost feeling embarassed that she had started to cry. Without realizing, she walked over to the phone and dialed Leah's number.
Leah picked up on the third ring.
"Hello?" Leah asked. She sounded as if she were in a rush.
"Leah, it's me. Are you busy?" Riana asked in a small voice.
"Actually, I was just heading out to go shopping. You wanna come over and we can talk later? I have a spare key that I can hide under the mat." Leah offered. Riana nodded her head.
"Ree? Ya there?" Leah asked.
"Oh, yeah. Sorry. Yeah, I'll be there."
"Ok, I'll see you later!" Leah said excitedly and hung up with a click.
Riana placed the white phone back onto its cradle and sat still on the couch for a moment before going upstairs to get ready. She changed into a pair of extra large gray sweatpants that hung loosely on her hips and a white shirt. She threw her short hair into a messy half bun and grabbed her jacket that hung in the hall closet. She left Sean a note, telling him that she was at Leah's and didn't know how long she would be staying there. She grabbed her purse and slung it over his shoulders, grabbing her keys on the way out. She locked the door to their apartment and walked over to the car where she unlocked the doors and hopped in, throwing her purse onto the passenger seat. She pushed her newly purchased Backstreet Boys cassette into the cassette player and sang softly until she pulled into Leah's parking lot. She walked slowly into the house, careful not to slip and break her back on the frozen ice that covered the parking lot like a sheet. She waved to her familiar old neighbors and lifted up the mat and picked up the small, bronze key before she stuck it in the lock. The living room that Riana had spent most of her time in seemed to remind her of her past. Almost everything came back to her in an instant-the time where Leah had found that cover shoot ad for Teen magazine. She remembered her old relationship with Jeff and how Leah would empathize for Riana while she cried on her shoulder. She thought of when she had told Leah that she was moving in with Sean. The whole time that Riana was telling her, she was crying in the inside. She didn't want to move out; she wanted to stay in that house for as long as she could. Leah had wanted her to stay too, but Leah was a good friend and she acted as if she were happy for Riana's relationship.
"Wow..." Riana said as her voice trailed off. She spun around in slow circles as she gazed about the room. The room seemed different. It seemed that Riana left behind her old life in that very room. She wandered up the stairs and walked into her old room. The only thing in that room was a bed, that was covered with blue sheets and a pair of boxers. Riana idly flipped them onto the floor, not giving them a second thought. She opened up the closet door and smiled when she saw that the carving that Leah and her had made when they first moved in, was still there. Her fingers ran over the indented surface, her fingers blazing as the memories spurned burning fire into the pads of her fingertips. She snatched her hand back quickly and shut the closet door.
Riana walked over to the window and pushed back the transparent white curtains show she could look out. Her view was wonderful. She could see all of London's busy streets that was overly congested with people. She could see the small parks that flooded the grassy areas. Today, the streets were covered with white snow and clear ice and the parks were invisible due to the white out of snow that lay upon it.
She slowly let the window retrieve back into its originating position that overlapped the window. She walked over to the bed and sat upon it, laughing quietly to herself as the bed slumped to fit her form. Her bed was always like that, it just transformed into a formfitting bed that suited everyone's needs. It didn't take long before she laid down and sighed onto the bed. Her hands ran through her hair, making her more and more sleepy as the seconds flew by. Riana didn't mean to, but she fell into a well needed, quiet sleep.
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"Enough!" Leah shouted from the doorstep. She turned around on her doorstep and glared at the laughing fools, otherwise known as AJ and Brian.
"Oh come on, Leah. You know it was funny! Since when is it an everyday thing that you see AJ McLean get hit in the face with a snowball?" Brian said, dissolving into hysterics again once after he finished his sentence. AJ was almost rolling around in the snow due to his laughter and Leah felt her lips shake and before she knew it, all three of them were laughing uncontrollably. She shook her head once she composed herself and unlocked the door.
"Stop! Don't walk any further. Take off those snow-covered boots before you step foot into this house!" Leah said. AJ and Brian groaned, but obeyed and scurried over to the heater where they stuck their sock covered feet on top of it for warmth.
"You guys are like little kids!" Leah laughed at them.
"I know you are but what am I?" AJ challenged before he ran full zoom and tackled his girlfriend so they both lay sprawled on the couch.
"I don't want to see this kind of foreplay, so I'm going to my room," Brian said as he pretended to gag. He smiled all the way up the stairs and walked into his dark room. He flipped on the light and almost had a stroke when he saw a blonde woman sleeping in his bed. The woman awoke when the light brightened the room and blinked a few times before her eyes widened when she saw the man.
"Brian!" She said, jumping off the bed and running over to greet him. They hugged quickly. "What are you doing here!" Riana cried happily, hugging him once again. Brian laughed.
"Riana...I....can't....breathe," he choked out, jokingly.
"Oh, I'm sorry," she apologized. He sat down in the chair and she followed his actions, sitting across from him on the bed.
"I came to visit," Brian said.
"I know that, but I wonder why Leah didn't tell me."
"Yeah, I wonder why she didn't tell me that there was going to be a strange woman sleeping in my bed," Brian joked and dodged a pillow that came flying at his head. He laughed and cleared his throat.
"So how've you been?" She asked him, almost whispering. Brian sighed and then smiled.
"I've been good. I met this girl, she's great. Her name is Julie and she lives in Orlando," Brian said proudly. Riana smiled but quickly became serious and quiet.
"How's Nick?" Riana asked, moving her gaze to Brian's face. He studied her face before he looked at the wooden floor that laid beneath his feet. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"I'm not going to lie to you, Riana. I've seen Nick better than he is now," he said. Riana nodded. She opened her mouth to say something but Brian interrupted her.
"Now, Leah has been telling me all about this new guy, Sean. How come you never told me? I'm hurt, Riana," he said, holding back his fake tears as he put a clenched fist over his heart. Riana laughed.
"Yeah, Sean. He's....he's....great."
"Why the hesitation?" Brian asked. Riana looked up at Brian and then to the floor. She twiddled her thumbs back and forth before looking up again.
"I really don't know anymore."
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