the next step au's

again pt. 1 (jiley)

"close the door on your way out, will you?" rileys boss said to her, the now bottle blonde nodded lightly and did as she was told.

she just came out of one of her bosses meetings, to which she sometimes was invited to, just so she could learn a bit more, that was what reeva, her boss, told her. it's the best way to learn, she kept telling riley.

riley moved to new york a few months ago, after she finished business school, broke up with james, and decided that she needed a fresh start somewhere. she lived with emily, who was attending dance school, in a small apartment. she loved the city, everything was always so hectic and loud, but somehow this was just the way it was supposed to be.

"how was it?" jenna, one of rileys colleagues, who had her desk right across hers, and whom she shared one of those booth offices with, asked her, talking about the meeting she just came out of.

"alright, you know, just like all of them are." riley shrugged, a slight smile on her face. she loved her new job, and after finishing business school, she couldn't have wished for anything more than to get to work and live in new york, in an office like this.

jenna nodded, before her change of face, showed riley that she would bring up something completely different. "how about we grab some drinks later? it's friday, so definitely a reason to celebrate." jenna let out a slight chuckle as she spoke, leaning forward on her desk.

a slight sigh escaped rileys lips. "i don't know." jenna asked her three times a week, minimum, to go out with her, and riley always found a reason to cancel. she didn't want to go out, as she knew what it would eventually lead to; a conversation about boys. which riley managed to successfully escape with all those new people she got to meet in new york. she really wasn't up to talking about boys just yet, even if james and her break up already dated back a few months. she never really got over it, as there was nothing to get over. they didn't have a fall out, the break up wasn't messy. she just didn't want him to hold onto a long distance relationship while she was in new york and he was back home. and james was nothing but supportive of her, he didn't want to hold her back.

at first they used to talk on the phone almost every day, which stopped a few weeks in. either riley was busy, or james had to work, or whatever else got in the way. now they didn't talk at all anymore. riley just knew what was up with him through an a troupe group chat they were both in. but they didn't directly talk to each other at all anymore. it was sad, and confused riley. but she didn't want to pull james back in again.

"so?" jenna asked, her look rather hopeful.

"fine. i'll come." riley nodded, a slight smile on her face.

"great! i have just the right guy for you, i met him a couple days ago." jenna started out, looking back onto her computer again. "you don't have a boyfriend, do you?" she asked.

"nope." riley rolled the p, playing with the silver ring on her thumb. she somehow had the feeling that this night wouldn't end up being as relaxing as she wished it to be.

—

"how do i look?" riley asked emily, who was just about to start watching a movie, as she invited a few of her best friends from school over, who were sitting on the couch with her.

riley decided to put in a little more effort tonight, and decided to wear a burgundy mini dress, paired with black velvet over knee boots and a leather jacket. "you look amazing!" emily and all her friends nodded, assuring riley that her outfit was on point for a night out.

a few minutes later she was outside, making her way towards one of the cabs, as that would be the easiest way to get to the club, that jenna texted her to come to.

after a short drive, that took only about ten minutes, riley walked past the bouncer into the club, that was rather fancy, making her feel glad that she decided to put on a little more effort than normally.

"riley!" jenna exclaimed, as she saw her friend from work, and pulled riley into a hug, which riley returned, smelling a hint of alcohol in jenna's breath.

a moment later she was holding her own glass in her hands, as jenna introduced her friends to riley. "marc, lisa, tess, toby, and ethan." she pointed at each one of them, who all shot riley friendly smiles, tess even got up and hugged riley lightly. "this is riley!" jenna said at the end, pointing towards riley.

jenna's friends started talking again, and jenna sat down next to riley. "oh, by the way, the friend i told you about just went to get a pack of cigarettes, he will be back soon. i'm sure you'll adore him." riley nodded, giving jenna a friendly smile, before she started drinking. she didn't really want to meet anyone just yet.

a few minutes passed and riley actually started enjoying herself. it was either the alcohol, or jenna's friends, or even the club, but she found herself having loads of fun, when jenna pulled her away from tess, whom she was just talking to, about something she couldn't remember anymore.

"he's here.. so riley, this is.." while jenna spoke, riley looked up, and it took her a moment to realize who was standing in front of her.

"james." it almost automatically shot out of riley, as she walked towards james, and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into a tight hug.