Shout-outs: Guest, Guest, GMWGirl, Guest, kamacori, joshayagmw, lalaland, cowgirlangel95, Guest, and Angel1D98
Rated: T
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
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Chapter 3
"Honey, are you sure you want to do this?" Cory asked Riley as they dropped her off at the airport a few days later.
"I'm sure daddy," Riley assured him. "I need to do this. I know that if I don't go, the day I was supposed to get married will only be that much harder."
"I know honey but I was hoping we would be able to make it easier if we were all together," Cory answered.
"It means a lot to me," Riley told him. "Daddy, can I come home. . . you know, if I change my mind?"
"Of course you can!" Cory answered, pulling her into a hug. "You know you don't even need to ask. You can always come home! You know that sweetie."
"Give me a kiss and let me go before I change my mind," Riley whispered.
"You think you could change your mind?" Cory asked hopefully.
"Daddy!" Riley protested.
"You're right, you're right!" Cory kissed her on the cheek. "You have to do this. Go on now, you don't want to miss your plane!"
Riley turned to the rest of her family and gave her mother, brother and uncle each a hug. "Don't worry guys, I'll call every single day and I'll be back in time for the New Year!"
"We know sweetie," Topanga said. "Go on now. Like your father said, we don't want you to miss your plane."
Riley took a deep breath. "Okay. Okay, I'll see you guys later."
She wasn't about to admit it but she was a little reluctant to leave her family so close to the holidays and right after she had been cheated on. But she needed to go all at the same time, so she picked up her suitcase and carry-on bag and walked to the check-in without giving into temptation and looking back at them.
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2 hours and 32 minutes later, she was touching down in Nashville, Tennessee. Her heart was fluttering as she gathered her luggage. She wasn't sure what to do next when she saw an Asian girl with stylish glasses holding a sign with her name on it in block letters.
"That's me!" She said.
"Hi Riley! I'm Isadora Smackle," the other girl said. "I'm Maya's assistant, she told me that you'd be coming in today and asked if I would be willing to pick you up. Come on, my boyfriend's in the car. We're going to take you to lunch and then we'll drop you off at Maya's house afterwards."
Riley instantly felt better knowing that somebody was looking out for her on her first day in a place she had never been before. "Hi Isadora, it's nice to meet you!"
Isadora nodded. "Maya kind of filled me in on what happened to you. I'm sorry, I can't begin to even imagine what you're going through. I'd hate it if I found out my fiancé was cheating on me. Especially if it was right before Christmas and the wedding."
"Wow. Maya must have really filled you in on a lot!" Riley said as they started to walk for the door.
"Sorry."
"You're fine," Riley assured her, sighing. "And you don't have to feel sorry for me. Better I find out that he's cheating before the wedding then afterwards. Right?"
"Well. . . right," Isadora agreed, pointing to a shiny silver Mercedes-Benz. "My boyfriend's right over there waiting for us."
Riley looked over to where she was pointing. A young man in a black turtleneck and tweed dress jacket was leaning against the car and checking messages on his phone. He looked up and put the phone away when he saw them coming towards him.
"This must be Riley Matthews," he said, pushing his brown hair out of his face. "Nice to meet you, I'm Farkle Minkus."
"It's nice to meet you too," Riley answered.
"Listen, we heard about your engagement and we're really sorry," Farkle told her as he took her luggage from her and put it in the trunk of his car.
Riley sighed. "Thank you," she said because she didn't know what else to say and she was grateful for the sympathy, she really was. But she had left New York to recover without people telling her that they were sorry all the time. "You mentioned something about lunch. I'm starving."
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The café they took her too for lunch was filled with a country version of "Run Run Rudolph" and all sorts of young people, trying to be the next big thing with their guitars and notebooks filled with a catalog of their original work. Because of that, there was a comfortable familiarity of the newness of her surroundings.
It wasn't unusual to see people trying to make it big in New York.
"You know the drill, seat yourself Is!" A tall young man with blonde hair called from behind the counter. "I'll be right there!"
"Okay Lucas!" Isadora called back, snagging the last available before a flock of teenage girls in Uggs and Infinity scarves could sit down.
A few minutes later, the young man that Isadora had called Lucas came over to them.
"Hi guys!" He said, looking pointedly at Riley. "This must be New York!"
Isadora nodded. "We just picked her up from the airport. We're getting lunch before we drop her off at Maya's house."
"Well, aren't you going to introduce us?" Lucas asked.
"Oh. Right!" Isadora said. "Lucas meet Riley, Riley this is Lucas. He'll be looking out for you while Farkle and I are in Europe."
"You're going to Europe? Maya didn't mention anything about Europe. . ."
"Yeah, we're going to Europe for Christmas," Isadora answered. "Are you sure Maya didn't tell you that we were leaving? I mean, we've been planning this for a while."
"She does have a lot on her mind these days," Farkle reminded her. "Maybe she thought you were going to tell Riley?"
Isadora smiled at Lucas. "Would you bring us three sweet teas, please?"
"Coming right up!" Lucas answered cheerfully, grinning at Riley. "It's so nice to meet you! I'm looking forward to getting to know you the next couple of weeks."
"Same. . . I'm sure!" Riley replied. She turned to Farkle and Isadora when he had left. "Maya told me that I wasn't going to have to deal with single men while I was here!"
"How do you know Lucas is single?" Farkle asked. "He could be married with triplets, a dog and two cats."
"He could," Riley agreed. "But he wasn't wearing a wedding ring."
"Maybe he doesn't wear one because he doesn't want to get bacon grease all over it," Isadora said, giggling a little bit as she looked over the menu.
"I don't believe you."
"You shouldn't," Farkle answered. "He's so not married. In fact, I can't remember the last time that he had a girlfriend."
"He was single when he came to Tennessee and he hasn't dated anybody since," Isadora reminded him.
"Maybe that'll change," Farkle said syly.
"No. No. No. NO!" Riley answered. "I have no intentions on getting into another relationship so soon after my last one failed. I'm not the kind of girl who believes in rebound."
Lucas appeared with their drinks then. "Are you ready to order?" he asked as he set the glasses down and tossed three straws on the table.
"Every single fried food on the menu with a large side of mac & cheese," Isadora answered. "Riley here is in need of major comfort food."
Lucas nodded. "Oh yes, the broken engagement. Fried food coming right up!"
Riley sighed. "Why not? It isn't like I have a wedding dress that I need to fit into anymore. Bring it on."
Isadora eyed her and shook her head. "I don't think you could ever be fat, Riley."
Lucas reappeared with a basket of fried pickles and put them down on the table. "On the house, a welcome to Tennessee special just for you Riley."
Riley wrinkled her nose. "Thank you, I guess."
"I'll be right out with the rest of your order," Lucas told them. "Enjoy."
"Well, it is the holidays," Riley said, picking up a fork and taking a pickle. "Bottoms up!"
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"I didn't know Maya lived in a house!" She said when they drove up Maya's driveway an hour later.
"Maya continues to be a woman of mystery," Farkle answered, parking the car.
"I've never lived in a house in all my life," Riley explained as she unbuckled and tucked the slip of paper with Lucas's number in her coat pocket. "But that's New York City for you. Where would they put a house."
"Where indeed," Isadora replied, leading her up to the house and unlocking the door for Riley. "Actually, we've never actually been to New York but we'd like to go one day. Farkle, did you get Riley's suitcase?"
"Coming sweetie!" Farkle answered.
Once inside, Isadora gave Riley the tour of the house.
"This is the kitchen," she said. "We barely use it though. We usually eat out except for breakfast, if you want to cook then we can take you to the grocery store to buy food. Otherwise, you're going to be very dependent on Lucas for meals."
"Fried pickles?" Riley asked, wrinkling her nose.
"There's more than fried food on the menu," Isadora assured her. "The next room is the living room. Maya has about a zillion remotes, I can't begin to tell you what they're all for. If you want to watch anything, you're better off watching it on your computer. But if you want to stream it on your TV, the eggshell colored remote with the black backing is to turn the TV on. Maya has Chrome, so you can force stream it.
"To your left is Maya's music room. She said it isn't off-limits but she requests you don't go through any of her papers or sheet music. They're organized very specifically. And some of them are confidential. Like the project she is working on now. You didn't hear this from me but Miss Swift is involved-"
"Hold on!" Riley interrupted. "You said Miss Swift. Were you by any chance referring to Taylor Swift?"
Isadora nodded. "That was indeed the Miss Swift to whom I was referring to. Maya told me that I could tell you if you agreed to keep it strictly confidential."
Riley nodded. "You don't have to worry about me. Who am I going to tell? Lucas? Please! I'll be as silent as the grave."
"Good. Now, my office is across the hall. All your filing supply needs can be found there. Also, all the emergency numbers are on the yellow legal pad on my desk, near the landline. If you need anything, anything at all you can call any of the numbers there. Including mine and Farkle's and we'll try our best to help you. Follow me upstairs, I'll show you to your room.
You'll be sleeping in the master bedroom because we've been using the guest room for storage and we didn't have time to clear it out."
"I put Maya in my master bedroom!" Riley said excitedly. "Except, well I only have a four room apartment. So, there really wasn't anywhere else to put her except for the pullout bed in the living room."
"Well, I'm sure Maya wouldn't have minded if she did have to sleep in the living room," Isadora answered. "She's wanted to go to New York for the inspiration. Not for the apartments. She's kind of been a downer these days, as you can imagine her song lyrics were pretty gloomy. You didn't hear it from me but it wasn't the sound that Miss Swift was going for, at all."
"But she's famous for her angsty lyrics! You would think that she'd be okay with it. . ." Riley said.
"Oh sure, but she's going in a different direction. Well, she is for this album at least," Isadora answered. "But I've said more than I should."
"I won't tell anyone," Riley promised.
"I know. You're the kind of girl a person can trust," Isadora said. "Anyways, the bedroom is through there. I have to run now, I still have to finish packing before Farkle and I leave tomorrow. If you want dinner, the takeout menus are by the fridge. Or I could come back and take you to the store, like I said."
"I'll be fine. I don't think I could eat after that lunch," Riley answered. "I hope you enjoy your time in Europe, Isadora. It was nice meeting you."
"You too! Merry Christmas Riley, enjoy your stay here in Tennessee. Remember to call us if you need anything. Anything at all."
"I will."
And then Riley was all by herself for the first time since she found out that Charlie was cheating on her.
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New York was colder than Tennessee.
Maya's first order of business in the city was going to be finding a heavier winter coat. She rubbed her arms and grabbed her luggage, looking around for a taxi. A beat-up old truck pulled up to the curb beside her.
A black young man rolled the passenger window down and looked at her. "Are you Maya Hart?" he asked.
"Who wants to know?" Maya asked.
"I'm Zay, a friend of Riley Matthews. She asked me to come and pick you up. Sorry, I'm a little late but I forgot that she asked me to get you. . ."
"It's fine," Maya answered. "Could you take me to a clothing store? I need a better coat than the one I brought with me."
"Um. . . I could bring you to Demolition," Zay replied.
"That'll be fine," Maya said, folding her arms across her chest to ward off the chill.
"Well, aren't you going to get in?" Zay asked.
"Aren't you going to help me with my suitcase?" Maya retorted.
"Ohhhhh. Right!" Zay nodded and got unbuckled, he scrambled out of the car and around to where Maya was standing. "Sorry about that."
"I'm sure," Maya said, climbing into the truck after he had opened the door for her.
Zay tossed her suitcase in the back of the car and got back in. "So, off to Demolition then?"
"Please," Maya answered as he started to speed away from the airport.
TBC. . .
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Author's Note:
Next chapter, Maya will see Riley's apartment and meet Josh for the first time. There will be an instant connection but Mays is going to fight it. You'll get hints about Josh's backstory but you'll see I can drag out what happened for a few more chapters when he and Maya really start to open up to each other. In Tennessee, Riley will totally fall apart but Lucas will step in and help her. Still only friendship driven as far as I know. Hope you'll leave a review and tell me what you thought!
Until Next Time!
Love,
Holly, 12/11/2015_
