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Chapter Three
After seven, long, rigorous weeks, I boarded a commercial flight home. Dressed in my typical all black gear from top to bottom and my haphazard hair loosely tied in a bun, I let out a satisfying sigh after hearing the sound of the buckle being secured around my hips. Never had I been so ecstatic when thinking of home. I had missed my friends and being surrounded with familiarity. Vancouver was a beautiful city, but there was nothing like LA. Love or hate it, the city had a way of growing in you.
River thought I wouldn’t be back for another two days. However, I took it upon myself to book the next flight out the second we wrapped up. The man had a crazy habit of surprising me all the time, and I wanted to repay the favor. Though there hadn’t been a day we didn’t speak over the phone, it wasn’t the same.
Beyond elated at the thought of seeing my River soon, happiness bubbled out of me the second the plane touched on the tarmac. It felt forever navigating through customs and through the carousel, but the moment I had everything with me, I wheeled myself out and immediately flagged one of the yellow cabs, heading straight to his condo in Beverly Hills.
I wasn’t sure if he was in the studio or at home, but knowing how crazy he had been before his album released, he would most likely be working late. However, since the man had gifted me a key to his pad, I could unwind until he was back.
It took less than half an hour to get to his place from the airport. And with the use of the key he left me, I wheeled myself into his apartment, and upon entering, I was bombarded with a delicious scent of food being cooked, wafting in the air.
My inside turned hot, then cold, as my eyes trained on the person coming down the stairs. A figure I wouldn’t dare forget. Never in a million years. My blood curled at the very sight of her.
Something violent exploded within me, and in a heartbeat, I was ready to settle scores.
“Willa,” I hissed out as I shoved my luggage against the wall before marching to meet her at the end of the steps, prepared to yank her by the hair and drag her out of here. “What the fuck are you doing here?” My heart pounded while my hand clenched. My mind ran each ugly scenario available as to why she was here. This was River’s home, for fuck’s sake!
But before Willa could manage to reach the bottom of the steps, River came out of the kitchen, donning a damn apron and heart-warming smile.
“Baby, you’re back early! I’m making dinner. Are you hungry?” He trudged towards my frozen form before wrapping those steel-banded arms around me and giving me a massive hug, planting a huge kiss on my lips.
What the flipping crock! Color me confused, but why wasn’t anyone explaining anything to me?
I frowned, my lips pursed as I accusingly gazed at the stony-faced Willa before my eyes reverted back to the grinning idiot of a boyfriend. “What the fuck is going on here? Care to fucking explain why this ho is here?”
“Listen, why don’t you sit down? I’ll pour you a glass of wine, then we can talk about it,” he offered softly, hoping alcohol would make my boiling blood lower down a notch.
Well, tough luck. I didn’t come here to play a vapid airhead.
“No, I don’t have the patience to wait that long. If you’re fucking around, you gotta spill now!” Hell hath no patience for a woman previously scorned. He should know better. My temper was about to explode like Mount Vesuvius, so he better rethink his strategy.
River’s dark eagle eyes flickered about my face, unperturbed from the flare of my temper. “You really think I’d do that to you?” he asked, affronted.
Damn him.
“Right now, after looking how domesticated you both are, I don’t fucking know!”
River gaped at me in pure disbelief. Then groaned before scratching the side of his stubble. He then led me towards the end of the foyer for some privacy and away from Willa’s hearing range.
“She called last week, begging for a job, and since I don’t know where to put her on my team, I hired her as my assistant and offered for her to stay here until she saved up enough money to get her own place.”
“You did what?”My insides shrunk, seething. He just didn’t invite Satan’s stepsister to live with us!
His frown deepened as he tried to console me. “I know, I know. I should’ve said something to you, but we both know you’ve had it in for her since the beginning of time, and I can’t turn my back on her. She’s family, too.”
“Are you insane? Have you forgotten the time when she tried to break us apart?” Family, she surely wasn’t! “Willa is a conniving snake. This is one of her ploys to get sympathy from you. You know it!And for her to live here?Fine, go ahead. Whatever I think or feel doesn’t seem important, anyway. So why don’t you guys go play family while I head back to my apartment.” I was livid, my body shuddering from suppressed rage.
I was about to move when River reached out to hold my hands, as if trying to reassure me that everything was going be okay.
“Baby, please … Let’s give her a month, just a month to get her own place,” he implored, hoping to dismantle my resolve.
Willa was bad news. She and I never got on. Never. In all those years we were roommates, she never offered an olive branch. And each time I tried to bridge a friendship with her, she would become a spiteful brat. She loathed me from the beginning, and that hatred had never dithered. To this day, I believed she still harbored the same ill feelings towards me. Deep-rooted hatred like hers never went away.
How could this man not see my plight? Did he deem me unreasonable? Well, it sure seemed that way.
“Do what you have to do, River,” I said, resolute.
River held me down, not ready to yield. “Don’t leave. I want you here.” Lifting my chin to meet his gaze, he pleaded before softly brushing his lips on mine, connecting his forehead with my own, longing for me. “I’ve missed you,” he softly whispered against my lips.
