Arranged marriage: Skeletons(sequel)

Chapter 27

Riley quietly sat down, looking at her ex-fiancée- Jennie Smith who now sat opposite her on a couch in Layla's house. The funeral preparations were on-going and Riley supervised everything, wanting it all to be perfect. Their lily was still at the hospital and her grandmother- Mariposa, made sure to stay by her side. Riley refused to hold the baby, she wasn't ready for that yet. Watching her fragile body in it's glass house with a funeral to plan was hard enough already.

Max also helped as best he with could with the assistance of his lover- Melody. Jennie too had tried to help wherever she could but tried to keep away from Riley's path for fear of facing her. But here they are, sitting opposite each other. This time, Layla wasn't there to start a conversation, nor was Max there to keep Riley occupied. This time, none of them could escape the other as everyone else busied themselves, away in the Brown's mansion where the main funeral proceedings will occur, as per Riley's instructions.

Riley looked at the younger woman, waiting for her to be the first to say something. Her eyes landed on the watch worn around the latter's left wrist and blinked. Jennie followed her line of sight, then slowly hid her hand behind her back, her eyes looking down at the blue jeans she wore. How long had it been since their last conversation? So long, but Jennie still felt her heart sigh in relief for finally being able to breath the same air as the latter. She has a boyfriend now, but he has no piece of her heart because they were all still safely hidden within the comfort of Riley's arms.

It was wrong though, to still yearn for the latter even as they were mourning the death of her friend Layla, who was not only Riley's lover, but now the mother of her child. Oh! How Jennie longed to see the girl, to hold her in her arms and kiss her temple. She could feel it in herself that she was ready to love and protect the girl with everything in her, to spill every drop of blood in her veins if it meant keeping her safe. If not because she is the daughter of her friend, then because she carries the DNA of her heart bearer.

Riley did not dare to speak first, but her eyes did not move away from the younger woman. Jennie's phone rang and really, she wanted nothing but to ignore it, but the silence was killing her. Checking it, she saw that her boyfriend- Mason, was the one calling her. Her heart dropped to the pit of her belly. She let it ring, eyes glued on the screen of he phone. It stopped, and she silently breathed out in relief, but then it rang again and really she wanted to bury her phone. Because why would Mason call her now?

"You should take it, it could be important," Riley, who had been observing the latter's every move, spoke with so much calmness it shocked the latter. Jennie looked up at her nodded slowly. She stood up then and walked out of the room to take the call.

Riley let out a quiet breath and fished out her phone from the pocket of her pants and started texting Max, asking him how the planning was going.

How they ended up together in the house was purely a mistake. Riley stayed behind when Max and the others left to continue preparing the Brown's mansion for the funeral and Jennie happened to show up, not knowing that the funeral proceedings would not continue at Layla's house.

Jennie stepped into the kitchen and took her call, annoyed.

"Mason," she called as calmy as she could, because why was he calling her?

"Hey babe, are you home?"

"No, why?"

"Well I was driving around town when I noticed this cool restaurant. I think we should check it out."

"Mason, my friend just died. The last thing I want to do is going to some 'cool' restaurant when her funeral is yet to happen."

"Come on, it'll just be a couple of hours. I'm sure they won't even notice you're gone."

"Oh, because I'm so irrelevant that disappearing would have zero effect on others, huh?"

"That's not what I meant."

"That's exactly what your words mean to me right now."

"Are you looking for a fight? Because really you're just so cold to me right now."

Jennie takes a deep breath to calm herself before speaking again.

"Mason, I am busy," she said, before ending the call.

"You really shouldn't talk to your boyfriend like that," came a voice behind her, startling her so much she almost dropped her phone. She turned and saw Riley standing at the door.

"I wasn't ears dropping, if that's what you're thinking," she says, her voice calm as she walked to the fridge, opening it and grabbing a water bottle. Turning to look at Jennie, she raised the bottle in the air and said, "Just came to get this," before walking out of the room.

It's short, I know. I'm sorry. I'll work on a longer chapter.