Chapter 24
"You know that you're going to call me everyday," Mrs. Walker said to Riana as they waited for her plane to be called. Riana nodded and gave her mother a quick hug.
"It's only for two weeks," Riana said as she hurled her carry on bag over her shoulder. Her mother nodded and tightened the grip she had on her daughter.
"You call me if you get into any trouble," her father said. She embraced him with a warm hug and kiss on the cheek.
"Don't you worry, Dad. I'll be fine." The three of them just stared at one another, none of them wanting to admit that this trip could change their lives forever.
"I get to see my baby!" Leah cried happily as she bounced up to the family. Leah was so happy, she had been waiting since Thanksgiving to go to AJ's house for Christmas. She would spend two weeks with him and his family, and she had a feeling that it would be the most funfilled two weeks of her life. Riana was excited too, Brian had invited Sean to come along with them for the two weeks. Leah was very grateful that Brian had invited Sean, otherwise Riana would have moped around for the entire trip, complaining of loneliness. Leah didn't need to be worried about Riana, she had her mind set on AJ- he was her main focus.
Leah hadn't been to the United States since the cruise in the summer, and her body was lacking the golden tan that had once streamed through her blood. She needed to get away from the snow and clouds, and what better place than Florida to do just that?
"That's us!" Sean said with enthusiasm as the first class passengers were called to board the plane. Riana gave her parents one last hug and kiss good-bye, and her hand fell into place with Sean's. Leah brushed past them, the closer she was to the plane, the closer she would be to AJ.
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Riana craned her neck towards the plane window that Leah leaned against. Her friend's small frame blocked the view of the ocean, but Riana would settle for what she saw. The plane loomed above the dark blue ocean and the ripples that the ocean itself were making looked as if the plane were light years away from it. The sky was cloudless and sunny, and Riana knew that they were far, far away from home.
It had been a long flight and Riana's legs ached to be stretched. Her shoulders and neck were stiff from the minimum amount of space that she had in her seat. On her right slept Leah who was stretched across her seat and half of Riana's. On the right slept Sean who had zoned out as soon as takeoff. So, Riana was literally stuck in the middle. She couldn't even put her tray down to rest her hands or get anything to eat or drink. She glanced at her watch; only an hour until they landed. Riana was usually fine on flights, yet this time she was so unpatient that she couldn't sit still. Her tiny hands were sweaty and she was constantly drying them on the sides of her jeans, but that was no use for the sweat would resurface seconds later. Her ears kept popping, and Riana held her nose and exhaled, trying to make her ears a little better than before. Her stomach danced inside of her body like wind, never ever stopping. She groaned and leaned her head back on the seat. She didn't think she could take an hour of this suffering.
Twenty minutes before the plane was supposed to land, Sean aroused from his sleep and looked sleepily at Riana beside him.
"How long have you been up?" Sean asked her as he stretched in his seat.
"I never went to sleep-anxiety I guess," she replied. Sean nodded and pulled her closer to him so that she could rest her head on his shoulder.
"We don't have that much longer, sweetie. Can you make it?" Sean asked her, a smile planted on his face. Riana nodded.
"I'll try," she said.
The plane landed twenty minutes later smoothly. There was a little turbulence as the plane zipped through the clouds, but other than that, the plane ride was enjoyable to most people with the exception of Riana. Leah awoke from her sleep five minutes before the plane landed, and she was so excited that she would see AJ in about ten minutes. She jumped over Riana and Sean and opened the above compartment to get her carry-on bag and jacket.
"Leah, I doubt you'll be needing your jacket. It's Florida--it's hot!" Sean mentioned. Leah shrugged.
"I might as well wear it. It's one less thing for me to carry," she said as she made her way back to her seat. She pulled a brush out of her bag and brushed her long brown hair so that it looked presentable for the public and not like some bed head.
"I can't wait, I can't wait," Leah chanted as she twisted in her seat like a two year old. Riana laughed and straightened her rumpled clothing. Her legs needed to be stretched badly, and she didn't think she could wait another minute until she stood up and walked around.
Within ten minutes, the three of them made their way over to the baggage claim. The quicker they went to the baggage claim, the quicker they could meet AJ and Brian and then they would be home.
Riana looked around the airport, the airport was way too familiar. The last time she was here was when the cruise was over and her and Leah were taking their plane back home to London. She had painfully watched Leah and AJ say their good-byes, and all the while Riana was thinking that Nick could have been with her to kiss her good-bye, like AJ had kissed Leah. It would have been a kiss to remember, Riana was sure of that.
"You ready?" Sean asked her as he dropped her bag next to her. She shook her head from her reverie and picked up her heavy bag. Sean laughed and shook his head in pity before he took her bag from her and kissed her on the cheek.
"I don't want you to carry something too heavy," he said, "after all, you've got your whole closet in here."
"I didn't know what to bring, so I figured I'd rather be safe than sorry," Riana said. She looked at Leah who had easily removed her bag from the claim and lowered the wheels to the ground. She looked up at the two of them.
"Ready? Let's go!"
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"You guys finally made it!" Brian exclaimed, exasperated. AJ swooped up Leah in a quick hug and held her tight for a few minutes before he finally kissed her fully on the mouth. She melted into his kiss and pulled his closer to her, savoring the taste of his soft lips on hers.
"I doubt we'll have a reunion like that, but come 'ere," Brian said and embraced Riana in a brotherly hug.
"It's good to see you, Bri." Riana said. He let go of her and Sean and Brian greeted each other with a handshake.
"Please get me out of this airport," Leah begged. AJ laughed and took her hand in his and took her bag from her.
"Come on," AJ said and led them all out to the parking lot.
The ride from the airport was quick. It only took about twenty minutes to get to AJ's house from the airport, so by the time that everyone had gotten settled in the car, they were already at AJ's.
"AJ, your house! It's huge!" Riana gushed. Her head tilted up to look at the gigantic mansion that loomed above her. The house was only three floors, but the length itself took up the entire block. Riana had never seen a house more beautiful than this and she guessed that the inside looked ten times nicer. AJ laughed and reached inside his pocket to take out his key. He unlocked the door and the five of them all walked into the living room. Riana, Leah, and Sean's mouth dropped open in awe and AJ and Brian casually took off their shoes and walked into the kitchen. The house was gorgeous-it had hard tiled floors in the living room. The living room consisted of a big screen TV with plush black leather couches. There was an end table that was made elegantly of all glass, and the glass casted reflections onto the walls that were freshly painted to match the floor. In the middle of the living room was an enormous stairwell that led in two different directions. Each step was covered in red carpet and the first fourteen steps were the steps that stopped at a platform. At the platform was a table that was covered with AJ's mail from a while ago, and Riana presumably guessed that he had not yet read it all. The red carpet on the left led towards AJ's room and also Brian's room and there was a bathroom the size of Riana's apartment that was adjacent to Brian's room. On the right side of the platform was a series of bedrooms that Riana guessed were the guest rooms. There were more guest rooms that master bedrooms, and each of them looked just as beautiful. Riana stopped walking and stood to take it all in.
"Riana, you and Sean's room is over this way. Follow me," Brian said, directing them up the right side of the platform to the guest rooms. Riana peered in each of them, admiring everything that she saw. Brian walked into the last room on the left and opened the door to the most beautiful room out of all that Riana had seen.
"Oh my...." Riana trailed off as she walked into the room. The bed was placed against the wall in the center of the room and the bed's headboard was engraved with light blue flowers and the bed itself was huge. The bedspread was light blue and the eight or nine pillows that rested on top of the headboard matched the covers, too.
"Sorry this room isn't that....masculine," Brian said, directing his statement to Sean. Sean just nodded and laughed.
"Brian, this house is amazing." Riana remarked, walking over to the window to see AJ's huge back yard. Riana's eyes landed on the four tennis courts that were next to the guitar shaped pool. This house was something that she would never forget.
"I know. I'm still getting used to it. AJ's been living here for a while, but I just recently moved in when we got back from the cruise."
"Hey guys, we're hungry. You want anything for dinner?" AJ asked as him and Leah walked hand in hand into the room. The three of them looked at each other.
"Yeah, what do you guys want?" Riana asked as she put her suitcases into the walk in closet.
"I don't know about you guys, but I could go for some McDonalds," AJ suggested. They all laughed and agreed.
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"I still don't know what to wear to AJ's Christmas party tomorrow night," Riana said as Leah and her walked around the Orlando Mall. Leah took a sip of her strawberry and banana smoothie and nodded.
"Me too. I don't exactly know the dress code, but I assume that we we buy will be fine." Leah said. The two girls wandered into one of the stores and tried on dresses for what seemed like eternity. By the end of the day, both of them were exhausted and drove home in comfortable silence.
When they got to AJ's house, they weren't surprised to see them all fooling around in the pool. Sean saw them and climbed out and grabbed his towel.
"Hey," he said, giving Riana a quick kiss. "You're home. What did you guys get at the mall?"
"An outfit for tomorrow," Riana said. Sean nodded and placed a kiss on her cheek.
"Go get your bathing suit so you can join me in the water," he said. Riana nodded and walked back into the house and up the stairs towards her room. She shut the door softly and locked it, just to be safe. She went over to the drawers and pulled out a plain black bathing suit and quickly slipped into it. She sighed as she looked at herself in the mirror. She then walked over to her bags from shopping and pulled out her outfit for tomorrow and hung it over the closet door by the hanger. She hoped that her outfit would look alright. She didn't know who she would be seeing there. Riana heard a knock at her door and she turned around sharply.
"Come in," she called. Leah walked into her room with a towel slung over her shoulder.
"You coming?" Leah questioned. Riana nodded.
"Yeah, let me get my towel and I'll be right down, ok?"
"K, See ya." With that, Leah walked out of the room and shut the door. Riana walked over to the mirror and pulled her hair out from its position of half up, half down. She smiled. Her hair had grown to her chin, so now she was able to finally put it into a pony tail again. She smiled to herself once again, grabbed a towel, and walked out into the pool. _____________________________
"Are you sure I look alright?" Riana asked Sean the next night. She turned around in the mirror so she could get a view from all sides. Her long black skirt that fell to her ankles swished side to side as she turned. The two slits that ran on each side of the skirt allowed her long legs to be shown, but not too much. She wore a sky blue silk shirt that matched her eyes to a ten. Her make up was done to perfection, not a smudge out of place. Her blonde hair was left down and brushed expertly. Her black heels made her stand taller than she was, and her blue earrings that hung from her ears gave her a look that stood for excellence.
"You look...amazing," Sean breathed. He walked over to her and gave her a soft kiss on the lips. She smiled and fixed his tie before they both walked down to meet the guests that were arriving by the minute. __________________________________
Nick parked his Durango in the nearest parking spot available to AJ's house and Nick wasn't surprised that the whole street was packed with cars. He could hear the music that blared from the outside speakers. He checked himself in the mirror one more time before he jumped out of his car and hit the alarm and was satisfied when he heard the churp of the car being locked. Nick looked down at himself and assumed that the khakis and the light blue shirt that he was wearing would be suitable for the party. He fixed the glasses that were perched on his nose and walked up to the front door and rang the bell. The door opened a few moments later and Nick was ushered inside. Tons of guests were already there, some he knew, others he didn't, and some he didn't even want to know. He looked around a minute for AJ and saw him in a huddle with some of his own friends. AJ saw Nick and politely excused himself and walked over to him.
"Hey man, I haven't seen you since Thanksgiving," AJ said, giving him a friendly hug.
"Yeah, I know. I was visiting my folks for a few weeks."
"And..how are they?"
"Good. It's good to be home, though." Nick said with a smile. ________________________
"AJ told me you were a model and at first I didn't believe him! I can see that he wasn't joking!" A woman told Riana. She smiled appreciatively.
"Thank you. I haven't been modeling for a while. I've taken some time off and done some designs of my own. For clothes, you know," Riana said. The woman's eyes widened.
"As a matter of fact, I just happen to be the owner of a designing company! I would be thrilled to see your work," she said. Riana was astonished and she was sure the woman could tell.
"You want to see my work?" Riana asked.
"Yes! Yes, of course!" the woman replied. "Here, here is my card. Call me sometime this week and we'll fit you in!"
"Thank you," Riana said. She held the card in her hands a few minutes and smiled to herself. She walked over to the stairs to head to her room to put her card on her dresser when a voice stopped her.
"Hello Riana," the voice said smoothly. She turned around and drew a deep breath as her world just about stopped.
"Nick.....Hi....."
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