"Love's never easy
One day soon the dream will start
Well, that is what I tell my heart
All we women want of life
Is to find a man who's kind and true"
-Love's never easy, from the musical Bombay Dreams.
Riley walked into her apartment in lower Manhattan and slammed the door shut behind her. Yes she has an apartment in lower Manhattan. Hell if you had her parents you would be looking for an escape too. And with the money they leave her when they go wherever it is they go she could more then afford it.
She threw her bag on the floor and moved forward into the living room. Pressing play on her answering machine, she turned up the volume and moved towards the kitchen.
"Hey Ri, It's Jeffrey, call me back"
Dear old Jeffrey, Dianne's boyfriend, probably can't remember whather favorite color was.
"Riley, It's your mom, call me."
Mother. Enough said
"Riley, its Missy, Can you call me please?"
Fuck no.
"Riley, my love it's been a while, please call me back"
And who the fuck are you?
"Babes! Its Haley, call me!"
Will do.
"Bella! Where are you at my child? Do your dear old dad a favor and call me will you? We all miss you, even your brothers."
John's dad. No reason to punish them.
"Baby…Please just call me. I'm sorry"
Riley sighed and continued making her cup of soup. She did miss Randy, she really did, but no girl would ever go back to a man who screwed her over as badly as he had done to her. She sat on the counter in the middle of her kitchen with her knees drawn up to her chest. Her phone sat in her hands as a million and one thoughts ran through her head, all of them concerning the man who she knew was geniuenly sorry. The one man she might forgive.
St.Louis, Missouri.
Randy tossed his phone in the air and caught it. He was hoping against hope that it would ring, and Riley would be on the other end.
Flashback
"What Cena?" Ever since the incident he didn't like dealing with John at all. The only reason they spoke was when one had info on Riley, or it related to work
"I saw her"
"Come again?" Randy asked, sitting up and rubbing his chin
"I stopped by that teachers office to drop off what they asked us for, and she was there holding a baby"
"A baby?" Randy asked
"That man's I think" John said
"Oh. How is she?" Randy asked after a pause
"Red head"
"What!"
"She dyed her hair. She…doesn't look like the girl you fell for"
Randy remained silent. "That doesn't change anything man"
John sighed. "I didn't expect it to"
End Flashback
Randy dropped the phone as it suddenly rang. He quickly picked it up.
"Hello?" He asked
"Hey"
Randy sank back into the sofa and ran a hand over his eyes
"Baby…"
"I…I know I can't put the full blame on you"
Randy didn't say anything for a while. "I'm sorry" He finally managed to say
Riley sighed. "I know…it's just really really hard Randy"
"He told me he saw you" Randy said quietly, not even sure if he should bring John into the conversation
"Yea…it was awkward."
"With a baby?"
"Santiago's niece"
"Oh, he said it was his kid"
"Hell fuckin no!" Riley laughed which cause Randy to smile
"Red hair baby?"
"Dark red…" She said and listened to the silence
"Did you cut it?" Randy asked finally
"Yea."
"Am I going to want to jump off a cliff?" Randy asked. He always had loved her long hair.
"You always were a baby when it came to changes." Riley said
"I'm a baby when I stub my toe; of course I'm a brat when it comes to changes"
Riley laughed. "I don't hate him…" she said once the laughter had stopped.
"Why not?" Randy asked
"I don't think you can just hate someone because of one action…it hurt, still does, and I don't wanna talk to him, but I can't throw away 18 years, minus the time we didn't speak."
"Makes sense." Randy paused, and silence ruled over the conversation once again.
"Can you trust me?" He finally asked
"Yes…No…hell I don't know. I don't trust anyone anymore. Ya'll fucked me over. I'm sorry but it's true. I go to school and I barley talk to Maddie and Jackie. Poor Santiago is about to get fired because of me. I can't bring myself to believe that someone out there is actually going to care for me and love me the way that I or any other woman deserves to be loved. That's all I want Randy. And I really honest to God thought I found it with you."
"Don't be sorry. And we did fuck you over."
"Hell Rand, did you even know why he wanted to hurt me?"
"No. I did it because he was my bestfriend, and I owed him favors"
"And was our whole relationship a favor to him?" She shot back quickly
"NO. Look baby, it started out that way, yes, but fuck…you saw me when you walked out. I was a mess. I'm still a mess. I've been a mess since the minute you walked away from me, and I'm not going to be me again until I have you back." Randy said
Riley stayed silent. Finally she spoke.
"I'm gonna go…This has been sufficiently awkward."
"I'll agree with you on that one. It'll get better won't it, Baby?" Randy asked. Riley smiled to herself, finding the fact that the youngest heavyweight champ to date was seeking comfort from her.
"Yea. It will." Riley responded
"Night baby"
"Night Randy." Riley said and hung up.
Randy flipped his phone shut and allowed his head to drop back on the sofa. "Fuck I need to sleep." And sleep he did, for the first time in a month.
Riley however did not. Back and forth she paced all through the night. Yes she had made progress with Randy. No she was not as pissed at Randy as she had been in the beginning. Yes, she loved him. Yes, she was mad at John. Yes, it would probably cool down.
Riley finally gave up and grabbed her phone.
"Hales? How soon can I see you?"
A/N: Well that was hell to write. Next Chap…Haley. R&R