Chapter One

Ricky Underwood watched as the cars drove by from his window. It was the busiest street he'd ever lived on. He leased a new apartment in New York, Hamilton Heights neighborhood once he accepted his job position at Boykovich International in New York.

Leo had been so generous these past years, and Ricky was forever grateful for that. Leo was like a second father to him. He guided him in so many directions, and helped him get to where he was today.

His mind lead to memories of Shaker, his adoptive father. He hated when his mind lead to that. He died one month ago, and Ricky was still feeling terrible. Nothing could ever take him out of the funk he was in.

His phone rang. The ringtone he had set to Amy was playing. Sighing, he tapped answer. "Hello."

"Not so jolly ol' Ricky," she joked. "Hey."

"What is it, Amy?" Ricky asked. He wasn't in the mood to talk to her. He came to New York to settle in, and get everything prepared for John.

"I was wondering what's going on." He could hear Amy mutter something to whomever was with her. "Like, you really think John will live with you full time and not me?"

"No, Amy. I don't," Ricky admitted. Due to his constant reminder of his past, he stopped thinking he could have whatever he wanted. He stopped thinking like that. Nothing would get better if all you did was hope for it. "I just want John part of the time here. I want to be in his life as much as I can."

"Moving to New York is certainly going to guarantee you to be in his life a lot. Not like you lived two blocks away from him over here. Why not move to the east coast and expect nothing to change?" He'd had enough of her sarcasm. He'd had enough of her. Ricky never thought he would get irritated of Amy. He loved her once upon a time. So much changed in the past six years.

"I'll call you later." He hung up without a response and looked at all the boxes around him. He had a lot of unpacking to do. It would take him a few hours to hang stuff on the walls, and put his bed up in his bedroom. Not to mention the couches and such were going to be delivered early the next morning.

Adrian Lee found herself dazing off to the skyline view she got from her office. She was impressed with herself. She'd gotten so far in such a short amount of time. It was a lot of hard work but it was worth it.

She was interrupted by a knock at her door, followed by Omar entering. "Hey, baby."

"What do you want?" She glanced at him and back at the view.

"It's nice to see my lovely fiancé as well," he sat on one of the leather chairs. "I'm leaving for Chicago now."

"That's nice."

Omar rubbed the back of his neck. "Do I get a kiss?" He wondered.

Adrian blew a simple kiss. "Here."

"Okay," Omar scoffed. It wasn't that he didn't love Adrian. He just didn't like that she wasn't as head over heels with him as he was with her. She always seemed to have something else on her mind. She always working, and barely home. "I'll see you next week."

"I don't need attitude, Omar," Adrian bit her lip. "Get over here and get your damn kiss then."

Omar obeyed and went over to her and bent down, sharing a sweet kiss. Adrian pulled away as quickly as it started.

"See you." She waved as he walked over to the door.

"Bye." He left Adrian's office.

She liked being in her office. She loved to work. It was her favorite thing to be doing. She spent most of her time at her firm. It was rare that she ever spent a whole day at home.

"Adrian," Hadley, her assistant entered the office. "I got a call from Grace."

Adrian sipped her coffee. "What'd she say?"

"She wanted me to remind you about her visit tomorrow. Her flight is set to arrive six at JFK, and she needs a ride to your place from there." Hadley told her.

"In the morning?" Adrian groaned. She hated waking up earlier than she had to. New York traffic was terrible in the early morning. She already had to wake up at four to ensure she'd make it to work by seven.

"Yes," Hadley nodded. "I suggest taking the rest of the day off. You've got nothing scheduled and you don't have any court hearings until next week."

"I couldn't." Adrian hesitated. "I can always go through my cases again. You know, proof read."

"You've got an editor for that," Hadley shook her head and pointed at the door. "Go have a break. You've been working nonstop too long. It's time to have time for yourself."

"Uh-" Adrian tried to reason with Hadley but was cut off.

"Go." was all the blonde said.

Adrian sighed and grabbed her blazer and brief case. "Whoa, no need to be demanding, Hads."

Hadley walked Adrian to the elevator and pulled her into a quick hug. "See you Wednesday."

Ricky laid on his bed. It took him nearly four hours to get all the boxes unpacked and put in their place. It was worth it though. It was his first actual apartment. First time paying for it on his own, and choosing the furniture.

He closed his eyes for a few seconds until his phone rang. He groaned and put it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Hi, Ricky?" It was Grace's cheery voice.

"Grace? Whoa," Ricky sat up. "How've you been?"

"I've been awesome. I've been in graduate school for two years. I've only got one year left of it. So soon it'll be Doctor Grace," he could hear her smile on the other end. "I heard you moved to New York."

"Yeah, I did." He nodded even though she couldn't see it. "I'm the head at Boykovich international over here now."

"That's great. I'm so happy for you," she paused before asking. "I have a question, favor, actually."

"Anything." He said.

"I'm landing there tomorrow at six in the morning. Adrian's supposed to pick me up but I'm kind of nervous. What if she doesn't come?" Grace startled rambling. "You know her, that girl could sleep. Anyways, if she doesn't come, can you come get me?"

"Of course," Ricky answered. "I'd love to. We can probably go to breakfast to catch up."

"I'd really enjoy that. It's been so long." Grace agreed. "I better head to catch my flight soon. Have a good night."

"It's only six, but you, too." Ricky hung up.
He glanced around his empty apartment. He needed to go out to do something. Anything. Whether it's just going for a walk or going to a bar. He didn't drink. He usually ordered water or a Shirley Temple. He didn't care what other men thought in the bars. He vowed he'd never drink.

After taking ten minutes to straighten out his outfit and hair. His hair was still the same as it was the past probably ten years. He wore a pair of khakis and a grey wool sweater, black t-shirt under that. It was November, and kind of chilly in New York. He still needed to buy himself a suitable winter jacket. His first one. He lived in California his whole life and never had to worry about winter.

He finally left his new apartment and walked down 136th Street towards the busier area. It was getting dark and to be completely honest, Ricky was nervous. He dug his hands deeper into his sweater while he walked by a group of people.

Adrian Lee closed her apartment door behind her and threw her purse on the floor, slipping off her heels. She walked towards the kitchen, feet still sore. It took her a while to get home. Her drive from Brooklyn to Hamilton Heights was longer than usual. It was probably because of a premiere that was happening around there.

"Gloria!" Adrian called to her puppy. After hearing no response she started to look around her large three bedroom apartment. She spent the next five minutes looking in every place she could think of until she finally remembered she left the pug at her friend's house in Jersey City so she wouldn't have to worry about her for a week.

"I'm getting old." Adrian mumbled to herself as she grabbed a wine glass from the cabinet and began pouring some Mountain Dew into it. Alcohol was for losers. That was what she always thought.

She grabbed herself a snack to go with her drink, and sat on the couch, grabbing the remote. She wanted to catch up on American Horror Story or something. She barely ever had time to herself and didn't know how to spend it. It was weird.

Her phone started beeping once she was twenty minutes into season four. She sighed and went to her purse and started checking her two phones. It was her personal beeping. She grabbed her iPhone and sat on the couch to read the messages.

I just seen your man cuddled up to some woman. Txt me asap

It was Gianna, Adrian's friend from graduate school. She lived in Chicago, and her husband was attending the convention Omar was at. She was shocked. She knew Omar was a friendly person that's all, so she didn't let it get to her and texted back.

G I'm sure it's nothing. He's just very friendly.

She waited a few minutes until a response popped up, attached to it was two photos; one of Omar kissing the woman, and another of his hand close to her butt.

So sure it was 'nothing'.

Adrian didn't even bother responding. She simply bit her lip and tried to contain herself. She was confident. She was independent. She didn't need him. She tried so hard to convince herself that for the next ten minutes but broke. She needed him. This was all her fault. She was a fucking idiot for choosing work over her man.

Adrian was an hour into her breakup when she got another text message. This time it was Grace, reminding her to go pick up a few things from the grocery store in time for her arrival. Adrian sighed and went over to the door, slipping her heels back on and putting a trench coat on. She grabbed her purse and opened the door, grabbing the keys on her way out.

Adrian took the stairs instead of the elevator and walked to the front street and unlocked her white Buick SUV. She hoped traffic wasn't all too bad.

Ricky walked out of the bar, and sat on a bench. He didn't know who he was anymore. It was so hard to be strong when all you wanted to do was break down. He needed to be a man, and deal with whatever was going on. But that was hard. Usually at these times he had his therapist, or someone there to vent to. But he had no one.

Margaret was heartbroken, Amy and him hated each other, Grace wasn't the type to talk to anymore, he wasn't in contact with anyone. His mind lead to her. The woman that was his first love. He bit his lip as he remembered their last night together. He was so convinced she would be the one. She had to have been the one.

"Oh crap!" A woman's voice was loud as she bent down to pick up whatever fell out of the paper bag she ripped.

He recognized the voice but had no idea who it was. He instead did what his father would have down and went over to help her get everything together. "Here, let me help you." He pulled out the plastic bag he had in his pocket and began to place the items in there.

"You didn't have to," she thanked while grabbing the bag from him. She finally moved her straightened black hair away from her face and her mouth opened when she saw who was in front of her. "Ricky."

"Adrian."

Another Radrian story. I can't help myself.
Should I continue it? Review!