Chapter 14
Nick cleared his throat nervously and tapped his foot to a rhythmic beat on the ground. He peered at Riana out of the corner of his eye, and she too, looked a little edgy. Riana smiled at him before the door was opened and a woman of Riana's size welcomed them.
"Hello, Riana," she said, wrapping her arms around her daughter. Nick watched as the two of them embraced as if they hadn't seen each other in years. The woman, who Nick assumed was Riana's mother, had tears in the big brown eyes of hers. She wiped them away as they disentangled and Riana was swept up in the arms of her father.
"Daddy!" she screeched, jumping into his awaiting arms and giving him a daughterly kiss on the cheek. She pulled away from him and she remembered about Nick standing in the doorway, taking in Riana's family.
"Oh yeah," Riana said. She marched over towards him. "This is Nick, my....friend. He came to meet you guys today," she introduced.
"It's nice to meet you, Nick." Her mother said, shaking his hand with a smile that somewhat resembled Riana's.
"Nice to meet you too, Mrs. Walker. And thank you so much for inviting me," he said kindly.
"Hello Nick," Mr. Walker said. The way he looked at Nick made Nick remind himself that he had to be on his best behavior. The look in the man's eye was filled with love for his daughter, and Nick knew never ever to hurt Riana or he may as well have been buried six feet under.
"Hello Mr. Walker," Nick said. He stuck out his hand for him to shake and he accepted.
"So, how did you meet Riana?" he asked gruffly. Riana looked at Nick through apologetic eyes.
"Well, my friend and I actually saved her life. She was almost drowning and I happened to bring her back to shore."
"You never told me about that, Riana!" Riana's mother said astonished.
"You did that?" Mr. Walker asked, his gaze towards Nick changed to a look filled with gratitude.
"Yeah, it was nothing really," Nick said modestly.
"The boy is a hero!" Mr. Walker shouted, and wrapped a friendly arm around Nick, "Come with me, son. We have a lot of catching up to do," he said, walking Nick out of the room. Riana and Mrs. Walker laughed at the sight.
"So where is that sister of mine?" Riana asked.
"I'm right here!" she heard a voice say from behind her. She turned around and threw her arms around her sister.
"Hey Hannah. How are you?" she asked as she pulled away. Hannah sighed and sat down on the couch next to her mother. Her brown hair was neatly brushed down to the center of her back. Her appearance contrasted so much from Riana's that no one would even expect them to be related, let alone sisters.
"I'm doing great. Look at you!" she exclaimed, noticing how much Riana had changed since the last time she saw her. It was Christmas when the whole Walker family was gathered in this living room. Their older brother Steven was talking to Mr. Walker about an important case of his in California. Their older sister Laura was busy telling Mrs. Walker about her experience in America, which would soon be published. Riana was observing everything that was happening, and it made her happy knowing that everyone's dream in that room was fulfilled. All except for one person. Riana.
Her parents dream had come true 23 years ago when Steven was brought into this world. Steven had become the lawyer he had always wanted to be and Laura had become a known writer, which she had dreamed of since she was a little girl. Riana had watched her sister Hannah the whole time. Not because she felt bad for her. She watched her teach Steven's little boy how to count to ten. From then on Hannah knew she had a passion for little children, and that night she had admitted that she would like to be a children's teacher. Of course her parents knew that she loved children, but they were disappointed because everyone in the Walker household HAD to be famous. They knew Riana's dream of becoming a model was somewhat of a fantasy that was impossible to live out. Riana had felt so happy when she had called her parents to say that she had won the contest to be on the cover of Teen Magazine. Her parents had gloated with pride because she too, was making her claim in the world.
Riana snapped back from her flashback at the sound of the doorbell.
"I'll get it!" Mrs. Walker called to her husband. Mr. Walker and Nick walked in the room and sat down on the chair opposite of Riana.
"Nick, I would like you to meet my younger sister, Hannah." Riana said. Nick reached from across the furnished coffee table and shook Hannah's hand. She smiled appreciatively.
"William, come here!" Mrs. Walker called to her husband. "Someone is here for you!"
They watched him leave the room before they decided to have a little talk on their own. They were talking for a good fifteen minutes until the phone rang and Hannah picked it up.
"I'm really sorry about my dad," Riana said to Nick once her sister disappeared upstairs to her bedroom with the phone in her hand.
"Nah, don't worry about it. He's cool. He cares a lot about you, you know," Nick said. Riana nodded.
"Yeah, I know. He's like that with all of his girls," Riana joked.
"I'm serious though. He talked to me the whole time about how proud he was of you and how you will always be his baby girl," Nick said. Riana smiled.
"He said that?" Riana smiled. Her heart filled with love for her father.
"Yeah, he did. He also brought out some photo albums," Nick said with a laugh.
"He didnt!" She clasped a hand over her mouth.
"Oh yes he did."
"I bet I know the exact one he showed you."
"I saw the one with you when you were playing football with your brother," Nick said, plopping down next to Riana on the couch.
"Yep, that's the one." Riana said, standing up.
"Where are you going?" Nick asked her. He stood up and walked over to join her.
"I want to go see my room," Riana said. She made her way to the stairs with Nick close behind. Her perfectly manicured fingernails trailed the stairs railing while she took a quick glimpse of the pictures that outlined the wall. There were pictures of everybody, Hannah when she was a little girl, Riana at her high school prom, Steven graduating, everything. It was as if every part of their lives were for show for everyone to see. Riana smiled at that idea. She made a right and stopped in front of a closed door. She turned the handle and flipped on the light. The room was just as she left it. A baby blue bedspread covered her bed with a blue pillow. There was an old, worn down teddy bear that rested quiety on her pillow. There was a dresser across the room. Next to her bed there was a small nightstand filled with her favorite momentos. There was a picture of Riana and Leah, with their arms around each other in a friendly hug. Next to them were two other girls, who Nick didn't know. The next framed picture was a picture of Riana with some guy. They were engrossed in a sweet kiss when Leah took the picture. It was Riana's favorite picture of the two of them.
"Who's that?" Nick asked as he picked up the picture.
"Who? Oh, that's me and my ex," Riana said quietly.
"I see you don't want to talk about it," Nick said. He put the picture down.
"Oh, I don't mind talking about him. I just didn't think that it would interest you," Riana said, sitting down on her bed and picking up her teddy bear.
"I wouldn't mind hearing," Nick said. He sat down on the end of her bed.
"Well, let's see. I was....17 years old when I met him. His name was Jeff, by the way. I met him at the mall. Leah was with her current boyfriend and he introduced me to Jeff. In the beginning our relationship was so wonderful. We were known as the cutest couple, and I felt like I was the luckiest girl in the world. We were so much in love that we persuaded our parents into thinking that we were mature enough to live out on our own. So we moved into a small yet cozy apartment together. That's when I decided to live out my dream as a model. I never really got to do as many things with Jeff as I used to, but he didn't get that impression and he made me do things that I didn't want to do. He became so controlling and possessive. It got to the point that I was afraid to tell him that I didn't love him anymore. He didn't like my modeling. He figured that guys would be all over me and I was supposed to belong to him, at least that was what he told me." Riana finished. She looked down at her hands.
"Go on," Nick urged her.
"Well, I left him right before I left for the shoot for Teen. I moved in with Leah and he would come to the apartment late at night, banging on the door, threating both of us. He became so violent that I had to get a restraining order. He scared me so much. I had to sleep with my door locked at night. I was so scared he would do something that would change both of our lives forever," Riana said with tears in her eyes. She quickly wiped a stray tear that chiseled its way down her cheek.
"Riana, don't cry." Nick said, taking her into his arms. He rubbed her back in a circular pattern before pulling her away from him so he could look at her. "Don't let him ruin your life, ok? After all he did, I would say he wasn't worth it," Nick told her. She smiled warmly up at him through her tears. He leaned down and kissed away a tear that threatened to spill down her cheek. He didn't know what was happening but all he knew was that it was happening so fast. Fast enough that he didn't even realize he was kissing her again until there was a knock at the door that pulled them apart.
"Come in," Riana said as she walked over to the door.
"Riana, I'm so sorry. Something important has come up and your father and I must go. Hannah left to go out with her friend. Would it be all right with you if you two stopped by tomorrow, or so?" Mrs. Walker said.
"Sure, Mum! That would be no problem! We are in town for about..four days, so maybe you can come out to dinner with us?" Riana offered.
"I don't see a problem with that," Mrs. Walker smiled as they walked down the stairs to the front door.
"It was nice meeting you," Nick said. He offered his hand to shake but instead Mrs. Walker pulled him in for a hug.
"You are welcome in this house anytime, Nick. William!! Get in here! Your daughter is leaving!" She called over her shoulder.
"My baby girl is leaving?" Mr. Walker pretended to pout.
"Don't worry, Daddy. I'll be back tomorrow," she said, hugging him. She pulled away and gave her mother a hug.
"Anything going on between you and Nick?" her mother whispered into her ear.
"I don't know, Mum. I really don't know."
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There was a comfortable silence between the two of them as they strolled down the dark streets on London. They didn't have far to walk because they saw the bus station right ahead. A three hour drive back to the ship was what both of them needed. Time to relax. They boarded the bus and settled down for a quiet ride back home.
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Nick tipped the driver and walked off of the bus, following Riana. It was a good walk to where the ship was docked. Three or four blocks was what Nick figured. He was so wrapped up in the distance that he didn't hear what Riana was asking.
"Nick? Did you hear me?" Riana asked, waving a hand in front of his face.
"Huh? No, I didn't. I'm sorry." He apologized. Riana looked down at her feet. The only light was the light that radiated off of the streetlight.
"I asked you what was going on between us," Riana whispered.
"What do you mean?" Nick asked. He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk.
"I mean, just last week you pushed me away and then today you kissed me twice. I don't get it," Riana said. "I was thinking about it the whole ride today on the bus."
"I don't know. I don't know what I want."
"What you want? What is that supposed to mean?" Riana asked as they made their way onto the ship.
"You wouldn't understand," was all Nick said.
"Why are you being so defensive? It's a simple question, Nick."
"I told you that I don't know."
"Well, I'm not going to wait for you, ok? I'm not a toy that you can just throw around and then play with when you want to use it. It doesn't work like that!" Riana shouted.
"I guess it doesn't, Riana."
"Why won't you just tell me what your problem is!"
"My problem!? I don't have a problem. The only problem I have is you!" Nick yelled. "All you did since you got here was try to analyze everything I do!"
"If I'm such a problem then why did you kiss me? Huh? Don't you dare blame all your faults on me, Nick. Don't you dare!" Riana screeched. She took off for the elevator before Nick could reach it.
"I never want to see you again!" Riana shouted as the doors closed.
"Good! Me neither!" Riana heard as the elevator ascended towards her floor.
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Nick slammed the door shut once he was in the privacy of the room.
"What's your problem?" Brian asked from his movie.
"Riana!!" Nick bellowed. He angrily plopped himself down on the couch adjacent to Brian
"Why? What happened?" Brian asked as he swallowed the last of his pepsi.
"She...It's...I -" Nick stammered.
"I hear ya!" Brian joked.
"I'm serious, B. She had this whole attitude about me leading her on! I mean, all I did was kiss her once! No, twice!"
"You kissed her twice today? And you also went on a date with her and then the next day blew it off and THEN, this is the best part..told her you wanted to be friends?" Brian asked.
"How come it seems so bad when you say it?" Nick said, putting his head in his hands.
"Come on, Nick. I'm going to go see her, ok?" Brian asked. When Nick didn't answer Brian shrugged and walked to Riana's room.
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"Hello?" Brian called into Riana's suite. He walked into her room and saw her filling a suitcase with clothes.
"Riana, what are you doing?"
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm leaving! I never want to see him again!" Riana yelled. She zipped her bag up, heaved it over her shoulders and picked up another suitcase from the floor.
"Riana, come on now. Just because of a little fight your going to leave?" Brian asked her. He followed her to the kitchen and watched her write a note to Leah.
"I'm sick of it, Brian. I've been on this ship for a little over two weeks and I was already played with by a guy!"
"He doesn't know what he's doing. He's afraid." Brian said.
"Yeah, Brian. So am I. But he's got to get over it because he is hurting so many people in the process. No matter what you say, I'm leaving. It was nice meeting you, Bri. I hope to see you around." With that, Riana left her key on the table and disappeared out of the room.
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"Nick!!! What the hell is the matter with you!?!?" Brian yelled when he walked into his room.
"What?" Nick asked. His head was in his elbows that rested on the kitchen table. His hair stood up on end.
"Because of you, Riana is leaving. She went home."
"What?!" Nick asked. No matter what had happened, he would do anything to make Riana stay.
"Hurry! Go get her!" Brian encouraged.
"Thanks, B!" Nick called over his shoulder. He raced down the hall, praying to God that he wouldn't be too late.
