I couldn't resist...
Enjoy, y'all. ;)
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As promised the day before, after having taken a much-needed day to recharge her batteries, Riley had driven to New York to be a good sport to her friend Becca and most importantly because she was the primary tenant of Art Beat, her art gallery. Becca was an amazing assistant and mostly handled the website and was physically closer to the art gallery, if there was a meeting with the landlord, she was the first to get there, but when there was a situation, Riley had the responsibility to show up, but she didn't have an issue with that. Art Beat was her baby.
She made the one-hour drive, aware that the forecast was not on the East Coast's side for the next few days. Worse case scenario, if it turned out to be that bad, she would either rent a hotel room for the night or borrow her friend's couch for the night.
''I'm telling you, that landlord is a scumbag. Excuse the language, but it's true.'' Becca told her as they were sitting down with their laptop, going over things.
Riley laughed at one her closest friend's vocabulary; she was accustomed to her not being afraid to voice her opinion. Although sometimes she wishes that Becca would tone it down a little bit – seeing her right now reminded her that they should hang out more often, outside of business hour.
''I don't think we need to worry about the art gallery. It's working well, so is our website, thanks to your many talents. We just need to come up with something to make Mr. Cataneo get off our backs. We should organize an event, make him see that this place is standing strong and not going anywhere.'' Riley told her friend confidently while taking notes.
Becca nodded, agreeing with the redhead. ''Well, it's always better to find ideas with a full stomach. I say we go find something to eat before the rain gets worse.''
Becca being a true local and having spent too many years in Manhattan knew all the places where they could find a good cup of coffee without it being too crowded. Whenever Riley was in the city, she loved to find little gems instead of going for the traditional Starbucks.
''Can we stop talking business for a few minutes? Girl it's a while I need to know what you've been up to! How was your weekend?'' Becca asked as they sat down with their hot drinks.
Riley shrugged her shoulders, trying to find the perfect word to describe the last few days. ''It's been... great? Eventful I would say.''
''I still can't believe that you know 2/3 of the Jonas Brothers. It's a good thing that I've known you for years because girl... Otherwise I'd believe you were making shit up.''
''Uh yeah about that... Guess who else showed up during the weekend?'' Riley asked her friend, hesitantly.
If Becca's eyes could get any bigger, they would have fell to the floor. That woman, like many, or most, Jonas Brothers fan, had a huge crush on the second brother. And that, Riley started to see why after what she'd be able to witness during the weekend.
Of course, she would not admit it to her friend. She would never hear the end of it. But she summarized how amazing her weekend had been and how much she needed it. She even went as far as to admit the awkward face-to-face with Joe.
Becca smirked. ''So... are you going to hit that?''
In the midst of taking a sip of her latte, Riley couldn't help but choke on her drink. She took a few seconds to process what her friend had said and made sure that no one around them had heard. She gave her friend an incredulous look.
''Are you freaking kidding me right now? It's not like that. We just met a few days ago, and the guy just recently got divorced.''
''So? Friendship, relationship, situationship... Whatever! We're talking about Joe fucking Jonas. Anyone would want that! Look me in the eyes and tell me that the idea hasn't even crossed your mind. Not even a tiny bit.''
Suddenly, anything around the small coffee shop became more interesting than looking at her friend. Riley shook her head, feeling suddenly hot. Of course, she'd noticed how handsome the middle Jonas was, she wasn't blind. But there was more at stake than a one-night stand. She knew she'd more than likely see the Jonas family at one point and didn't want things to get awkward. Besides, it wasn't like her to act like that.
''I get what you mean Becky. I'm not blind. But the guy just went through a divorce. And we're talking about Sophie Turner. It's a pretty big deal, I mean... Queen of the north, hello.''
Becca ignored her comment. ''Ok, he lives in New York. You are in New York. I'm sure you have his phone number after the weekend. Call him.''
''Wh-What? Call him? And say what? Talk about the weather? I'm not going to call him, the guy is probably super busy right now!''
''Who cares? You said you drew something for him, just casually call him to ask him if he likes it. And you go from there.''
Riley did not like this. Not one bit. But just so her friend could leave her alone, and maybe because she was a tad bit curious, she picked up her phone and found the newest contact.
Five minutes later, when she hung up the phone, under the watchful eye of her friend, she drank the rest of her coffee in one go and sighed. ''He's going to meet me here in 30 minutes, he's got something to finish and then... We'll go from there.''
Becca clapped her hands and started dancing in her seat, not caring if people around her judged her or not. ''See? Get it girl! But as much as I would love to meet this specimen of a man, I'll leave you guys alone and go back to the gallery. You call me tonight to let me know!''
Riley watched her friend leave the store in a rush, not giving her the opportunity to argue with her. She waited for a little bit longer than half an hour, but knew that in New York, people were rarely on time. By the time Joe had arrived, she was fidgeting in her seat, not knowing what she would say or do, but she tried to remind herself that she'd shared moments with him during the weekend. He was just a regular guy.
When he spotted her in the corner, away from potentially curious costumers, he made his way towards her and sat in what was initially her traitor of a friend's seat. Also known as Becca.
Joe smiled at her and looked around. ''Haven't seen you a while, eh? So you're in New York for work?''
''Yes. Like I said on the phone, I had to take care of some things related to my business. I'm leaving tonight if the weather is on my side.''
Joe nodded at her. ''Yeah, it's not really a great day to walk around. So...You want to do something fun?'' he smirked, standing up.
With Joe Jonas, the idea of fun could literally mean anything.
__
''This is your idea of fun?''
Riley looked at Joe, before her eyes went back to the huge sign on the door. ALCHEMY INK. Joe's idea of fun was taking her to a tattoo shop? She shouldn't be surprised; after all she knew he tended to be spontaneous in life. And he did ask her to draw his next tattoo. Riley just didn't imagine she would be there to see it happen.
''Come on it's not that bad. But I'm very tempted to dare you to get one, too.'' Joe told her as they both walked into the store, causing her to freeze on the spot. HE SAID WHAT?
''I'm sorry what?! Joe Jonas, you know I don't have any tattoos. I may have said that I wanted tattoos at some point but that was the mimosa talking.''
''Pleeeease? Not even a tiny one? You won't even have to pay.''
30 minutes later, Riley was watching her drawing come to life on Joe's upper arm and was also busying herself with trying to find a small, meaningful tattoo for herself. Yes, she had been convinced by the young man sitting in front of her, but deep down, she'd been battling the idea for a while now.
After a while, she decided to go with a small paper plane on the inside of her wrist. She waited until Joe was done with his, which took around 1 hour, and took her seat in the same chair.
Hers was done in less time than his, and it turned out to be less horrible than she had thought at first. Uncomfortable for sure, but bearable. Having Joe sitting next to her and trying to distract her probably helped, too.
It was around 5 in the afternoon when they walked out of the tattoo shop, and it was almost dark outside. The rain had definitely picked up, way worse than what it was when they left the coffee shop earlier, and Riley knew that there was no way she would drive home tonight. It wouldn't be safe to do so and would be pretty stupid. She just had to make her way back to the art gallery to get her car and book a hotel room.
Joe watched the rain fall and turned towards the redhead. ''You're not driving back to Denville, are you?'' He watched her shake her head and felt relieved.
She sighed after having tried to call Becca, but no answer. ''No, I'm going to get a hotel room for the night. My friend isn't answering.''
''It doesn't look like it's going to stop anytime soon... Look, why don't you spend the night at my place? Don't waste your money on a hotel room, the prices are crazy around here.'' Joe tried to convince her, rubbing the back of his head.
Spending the night at his place... Alone? What was she getting herself into?
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I couldn't resist... I had to update tonight!
BUT, I will still update on monday, as I said earlier.
Don't mind me, I'm loving writing this.
Be ready for the next chapter y'all!
xo