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After my mom picked me up from Kirks loft we stopped at a small French restaurant for dinner, I was already on my second bread basket since I refused to eat any French food that wasn’t bread or fries and since they didn’t sell fries I was stuck to French bread.
"You should try some escargot," My mom recommended , sliding one of the slimy snails onto her silver wear.
Two things were wrong with that picture, first the creatures she was eating weren't meant to be eaten and second silver wear, I hate silverware. I might sound completely crazy but silverware always left a weird taste in my mouth and ruined the food, I always liked plastic utensils .
"I'm good," I said popping half a bread stick into my mouth.
My mom shrugged and continued eating.
The restaurant freakishly small, with only six tables , it was packed to maximum capacity. It was designed in a way that made it look even smaller then it was, with huge gold rimmed painting hanging from the walks and velvet covered floors it felt like being in a closet.
My mom leaned back and whipped the corners of her mouth with the linen napkin, "Are you planning on attending the show tomorrow night?"
I shrugged, "Do you want me to?"
Vivenne Stone fashion shows was a place where even the highest of elites wanted to be seen at, my mom would never want to risk having any of her precious followers to meet me, the daughter that was not taking over Stone Fashion.
And surprising not only me, but herself my mother nodded.
I decided not question her and went back to my bread eating. Three croissants, four bread sticks and two rolls later , we were on our way home in the back of one of grandfathers black window tinted Audis.
Adam, the driver pulled up in front of the hotel and my mother stepped out gracefully, I followed suit, almost tripping when I saw a flicker of caramel brown hair in my peripheral vision. Sure in a city like New York a large percentage had to have that specific tone of 7-5 brown but I couldn’t help but wonder.
The door man opened the doors and I offered him a small smile.
Upon entering the penthouse I was rewarded with the sound of complete and utter silence, Emma was reading a book on the couch and Logan was probably asleep by that time . There was no sign of Bridget.
Saying good night to both mom and Emma I made my way to my room, laying myself to sleep I found not letting my mind sleep.
I had obviously forgiven Cole but I still couldn’t help but wonder his reason for leaving, was there even a reason? Cole was such a confusing character in my life, I cared about him too much, to the point where I was actually persistent about knowing what was wrong. I knew I had to let it go, move on, but that was hard to do.
Elliott; sweet, try's to be scary, strawberry milk drinking Elliott. What even was the deal with him? We were barely friends and yet he was more of a friend to me than Danielle had been in three years. Elliott was someone out of the ordinary, he wasn't some amazing quote spitting machine in fact he wasn’t much of a talker as he was a doer but what he did could really make me stop and think sometimes.
West, I wasn't stupid or coy enough to say I hadn't picked up the signs that West liked me, for reasons I did not understand but he still did. I had had a crush on West since the eight grade and never had he ever made a move to talk to me until now, sure I wasn’t the hearts and flowers type of person and I didn’t squeal with happiness that he showed interest but that didn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it.
The last and most prominent thought was of the boy I had seen , sure in a city like New York a large percentage had to have that specific tone of eight sixth brown but I couldn’t help but wonder.
Groaning from not being able to sleep I sat up on my bed , grabbing my phone which was resting on my night stand. I searched through the contacts, it was currently eight in the afternoon in Stinson , I decided to call Ghost.
It rang twice before being picked up, "Hello?"
"Hey, its Riley."
"Riley what's up?" Ghost asked and I could only imagine her brushing her ginger colored bangs out from her eyes.
I sighed inwardly, "In desperate need of hearing some f your juicy gossip." Sure I didn’t live off others business but I was still a girl, I still had needs of needing to know how my best friends life was going.
A loud squeal came from the other end of the phone and I smiled, "You'll never guess what the guy I'm seeing does!"
"What does he do?" I asked, mimicking her excitement.
"He's a doctor!"
"No!" I said, "You've always wanted to be with a doctor!"
"I know!" She paused, "Remember a few months ago when I said that thing about doing it in a hospital bed?"
I did remember that conversation, we had been joking about a list of places we wanted to have sex at and she said a hospital bed, "You didn't!"
"I did!"
After hours of talking I fell asleep on the line, it had been good to spend sometime with Ghost even if it wasn’t in person.
-
Early Monday morning Kirk and Elliott came over to have breakfast with us, my grandparents were delighted to see them.
After breakfast my mom had declared she was going to go on a wild shopping adventure with grandmother and Kirk which Bridget and Emma jumped into excitedly, Logan was going to go fishing with grandfather.
Elliott invited me spend the day with him because a part of me wanted to see what a day in the life of Elliott in New York consisted of.
Elliott wore a faded yellow The Walking Dead shirt and jeans, his hair was getting long, sprawling along his forehead since it was still wet from a shower. His pale face looked paler than usual and he wore a frown all through breakfast until we made it down to the basement where he had parked his car.
I picture Elliott as an Land Rover kind of guy but as we approached a blue Mustang I realized this was more his style.
"Is that a Ford?" I asked .
Elliott turned his head sickeningly slowly, "You don't joke about that stuff , Riley."
"So its not a Ford?" I ask looking at it closely, it looked like a mustang to me.
Elliott stared me and began walking toward me until he was pressing me into the wall surrounding the car, "This, "He said pointing to automobile behind him, "Is not a Ford."
He pushed me harder into the wall and it felt incredibly uncharacteristically like Elliott, sweet, calm, collected Elliott.
His dark blue eyes stared into mine and I looked up slightly, to him I was looking at his eyes but in reality I was staring at his eyebrows.
He had really good eyebrows, the long hairs were charcoal black and the arch was perfectly angled.
"That is a 1969 Chevrolet Camero SS, " Pushing away he slowly trailed his index finger on the dark blue metal of the car, "A real American beauty, her names Cammy."
Cammy? He names his car Cammy?
I pressed my lips into a tight thin line , holding in my laugh. I opened the door and slid in, when Elliott joined me his grin was wider than a teenager who had been gifted the entire content of an Apple Store.
Elliott's pale fingers traced the rim of the steering wheel and although I was impatient to get on the road, I didn't say anything.
He slowly pushed the key into the ignition letting out a weird squeal of delight as the car turned to life.
"Someone's very exited, " I murmured.
"I haven't been in my baby for almost a month." He sighed almost in a grieving manner.
I chuckled under my breath, "I'm sure you haven't."
He was obviously use to driving in the busy streets, of New York.
He was calm and self contained as he drove, he hummed softly to the pop song playing on the radio. He wouldn't get mad when pedestrians pushed themselves in front of the car to cross the street.
Cabbies yelled out from their windows but although their words would make them appear angry, they weren't.
"Its pretty early, don't you think?" I said not breaking my stare, I had been staring at him for what seemed like seconds but I knew over a half hour had passed.
I hadn't said anything because for one of the few times since I had met Elliott he looked his age, he looked so normal that I physically could say or do anything that would ruin his mood. Watching Elliott be happy was the kind of moment that I wish I could live in because his happiness made something inside me alive.
It had been such a long time since I felt something.
"Well, we are going to go pick someone up for lunch." He responded to the beat of the music.
I smiled at him as his head bobbed in sync to Mehgan Trainers voice .
We had pulled into an outside lot where Elliott printed out a ticket stump and placed inside of his dash board. We walked up to a huge grey building that resembled a prison and he held the door open for me which I walked into, I was slightly nervous about going into the building but I held my breath since I didn’t want Elliott to think I was a wuss.
When the heat of the building hit me with a blast I looked around noticing that the dark oak floors and arches on the ceiling was elegant, the trophy cases that covered the walls, I realized we were in a school from the girls in uniform that walked down the hall staring bluntly at Elliott. I felt the slightest twinge of rage at the looks he got, it was like he was being eye raped, I felt like I had to let them know he was unavailable. I told myself the rage I felt was because of his girl friend Samantha.
Elliott obviously knew his way around from the way he walked confidently down the halls, he opened a door leading into a large office for me and I walked in.
A woman was seated behind her desk, she looked nice enough but what concerned me was the woman that stood beside her.A blonde haired woman who's cut was a sleek bob and I could tell that although she looked to be in her forties her physical appeal and state was better than mine.
Elliott tensed noticeably losing his relaxed façade, his aura became cold and icy a concreate poker face gracing his beautiful features.
He leaned over to the seated receptionist, her cardigan was elegantly placed on her shoulders but she was in her mid sixties.
"I'm here to pick up Jasmine Kahn." He said steadily.
The older woman smiled before tapping away on her computer, "What's your name dear?"
"Elliott." He swallowed violently, "Preston."
The woman with the bob was staring straight at Elliott who ignored her with such skill that it honestly looked like her just hadn't noticed her.
"Here you are," The desk lady said handing him a piece of paper, "The intercom is down today so it would be great if you could save me a trip and go pick Jasmine up from her class."
"Thank you." Elliott replied, taking the paper. He placed his hand at the small of my back leading us out of the room.
I wanted to ask what that was about. Who was that woman but by the look on his face I knew it would be smarter to not say anything, at least not now.
Elliott didn’t move his hand until we reached a class room, he turned to face me, "Jasmine can be a little rough sometimes but I promise she's a sweet heart once you get to know her."
"Okay?" I said but it came out as a question.
He lifted his hand knocking on the wooden door. After a few beats the door swung open revealing a man with light blonde hair that was gelled back. He held a reed between his lips and his eyes widened as he took in Elliott, the reed slipped out of his mouth falling to the floor but he didn’t notice. Obviously I wasn’t the only one who noticed how good Elliott looked today.
"Y-Yes?" The guy asked.
"I'm here to pick up Jasmine." Elliott said passing the note over to the guy who I assumed was the teacher who nodded calling Jasmine over.
A girl with dark black hair, olive colored skin and bright almost florescent green eyes walked over. Her hair was wavy and she was about my height. She wore what was supposed to be a knee length skirt rolled up higher than mid thigh, her white tucked in blouse was unbuttoned widely at the top. She looked me over before settling in a glare, "Who the fuck are you?"
At the same time that Elliott told her to stop swearing I told her my name.
She rolled her eyes, "Whatever."
She walked out of the room not bothering another word to her peers or the teacher, Elliott followed after her and I thanked the teacher who nodded dumbly at me.
When we were outside she adjusted her skirt , rolling it up higher.
"Will you stop that?" Elliott snapped.
"Stop what?" Jasmine asked.
"Rolling up your skirt."
Jasmine narrowed her eyes, "How else am I supposed to get with a guy?"
Elliott narrowed his eyes back at her, "Because god forbid you be more than just your body."
Jasmine flipped Elliott off but rolled her skirt down anyways.
I thought we were going back to the car but instead we walked a few blocks to a fifties styled dinner. The walk was spent with endless bickering between Elliott and Jasmine which I got a front seat to hear since Jasmine was walking a few steps in front of us throwing insults at Elliott without looking at him.
I wondered what they were to each other although since I ruled out any romantic possibility. Jasmine was probably around sixteen and although she seemed to be going through a rebellious faze you could tell how much she loved Elliott. She made fun of his shirt but he shrugged it off saying that at least he didn’t still watch Hannah Montana re runs to which Jasmine punched his arm.
The dinner had checkered board tiles and the waiters all wore pink aprons and mad their rounds wearing roller blades.
We walked to a corner booth where I sat beside Elliott and Jasmine in front of us.
As we waited to for our meals Jasmine looked at me, still glaring, "So are you two screwing or something?"
"No Jasmine, " I said calmly trying to sound calm, I resisted the urge if they were screwing but I knew how immature that would be of me since they obviously weren't.
"Then why the f-"Jasmine had begun but Elliott cut her off, "Why didn't you tell me Maureen would be here?"
Jasmine swallowed, she bit her bottom lip, "I forgot."
"You could have texted me in class today, or told me last night, or before that." Elliott insisted. His eyes were becoming glazed over as he continued, "Did you plan to make me mad?"
She shook her head, "No."
Our server appeared handing each of us our orders, he smiled politely before asking if we needed anything else.
"I could take a side of you to go." Jasmine said smirking flirtatiously.
The ride home from Jasmines school was educational, I learned that the bob haired woman was Maureen, Kirks Ex-Wife, she was the schools Head-Mistress. That explained why he was so tense.
I still didn’t know what the connection between Jasmine and Elliott was but he had gone ridged when I asked.
Moms fashion show was as boring and unappealing to me as expected, she went out to dinner with her team afterwards and I walked home with my grandmother. The night was cold and breezy, I wasn't use to the cold gust of fall wind.
I zipped up my light wind breaker and turned to Grandma, I hesitated about weather or not to ask the following question, "Did you ever meet my dad?"
I studied my Grandmother, Leanne Rhodes, her tightly wounded elegant bun of grey hair was wrapped with a delicate scarf upon her head. She stopped to look at me, "Only once."
"What was he like?"
Her tongue glided across her lips almost anxiously, "He was a lot like you actually, he didn't do emotions very well. He was always thinking, stuck in his own world." She grabbed my arm, wrapping it around hers and continued walking.
"What was he like with mom? Where they in love?"
Since I towered over my grandmother I could see her nodding her head, "They had the kind of love you read about in books, but at the end of the day they didn’t belong together. They were from different worlds."
I clenched my teeth, knowing this part all too well. "Because trailer park trash doesn’t belong with the upper class right?" My voice had a sadistic and sarcastic edge to it.
"Riley,"
"No, grandmother, I understand. Mom needed more, she needed someone who could give her money and a huge ass house, and she got that! She got that from my dad!" I had already stopped walking and the vivid street had stopped in my eyes, "My dad worked his ass off to be what my mom needed, and even then he wasn't worthy?"
Grandma sighed, "The way got the money wasn't the way your mom wanted it."
I scoffed loudly, "He didn’t get the money, he fucking earned it. Fine, he didn’t earn it by going to work with a business suit everyday but he did it buy inspiring millions of people, he gave hope!"
Her arm swung up slapping me hard across the cheek, I didn’t make a move to hold it because I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction.
"Don’t yell at me." She said, "You need to learn to stop being so bitter, or you'll end up like your father." And with that she started walking away.
"I don’t even know where the hell he ended up!"
She didn’t turn back to look at me, she just kept walking.
-
A/N
Questions to inquire
Why were Maureen and Elliott so stiff around each other?
What is Jasmines connection to Elliott?
Whos the brown haired boy she saw down a busy street?
Feeling towards her grandmother?
What happened to her dad? Can you guess Rileys dads name?