UNCONDITIONALLY YOURS

A Little Bit Better // 19

Riley

Nothing interesting happened between then and the Sunday evening. It was just some online college work and quick runs so I didn't feel lazy. I also cooked a couple of times. I tried to be as productive as possible, but there really wasn't much for me to do. Parker had texted me the details on the Saturday afternoon. He said he would pick me up seeing as driving myself was a little more difficult in my situation. He would be there at seven, so I planned on heading to my room early. I had climbed off my balcony a couple of times before, and there was a fairly safe route down. Getting back up was always a little more difficult.

It was only around six when I when to my room. I wanted to have a bit of time to get ready. I let my hair down and I also straightened it. I wore a short red dress that I had bought recently. It wasn't the kind of thing I usually went for, it was bolder. However, I wanted to look nice so I decided to go for it. I was useless in heels, so instead I put on some trainer, I knew Parker wouldn't mind. I hated wearing makeup, so I just put some lip balm on and washed my face. Climbing down from my balcony was even simpler than I had remembered. The dress was a little inconvenient, and I was certainly glad I did not also wear heels.

I laughed as I saw Parker holding the door open for me as I walked around the corner.

"Wow, how gentlemanly of you Mr Jones." He quickly turned around to face me and gave me a big cheesy grin.

"Always." He said as I stood next to him. "You look gorgeous." It seemed strange someone like him thinking I was gorgeous. I was starting to accept that he might have actually liked me, however I couldn't see him thinking I was pretty.

"Really?" I asked before I could stop myself. Instead of sounding joking about it, I noticed my tone was probably a little too doubtful. He sighed and looked sad for a moment.

"More gorgeous that anyone I have ever seen before." He said simply, before gesturing at me to get in the car, so I quickly hopped in. As we started driving, I asked him where we were meeting Noah and Summer, and he told me we would eat at his because much like me, he didn't love fancy restaurants and Summer had cooked for all of us. I felt relieved that I wouldn't have to put up with loads of people, noise, and fine dining. A more relaxed environment was far more appealing to me.

"OK, please explain why I am now nervous." He laughed at me without taking his eyes off the road.

"It's pretty normal when meeting people." He replied.

"Maybe, but I don't get nervous! I haven't for years." I retaliated.

"That isn't one hundred percent true. You would be lying if you said you weren't ever nervous last week, or Friday evening." OK, maybe he was right there. But before that, I hadn't cared in so long, nervousness wasn't common.

"Are you the one to blame then?" I asked jokingly.

"Probably." He chuckled.

It wasn't long before we arrived. We were outside a sleek looking sky scraper when he pulled over and parked.

"This isn't your house." I said and he smiled at me as his began to get out of the car.

"It's my penthouse." I rolled my eyes sarcastically. "Hey, I saw that!" He chuckled as he spoke before continuing. "The building is mainly offices for my business and on the top two floors there is a penthouse which I sometimes stay at instead of my house. It really depends on the day I guess." I refrained myself from rolling my eyes again.

We went up a glass lift, everything was extremely fancy and expensive looking. Parker pressed the button to take us to the top level. Once we arrived at the top, he swiped a key card at a huge door and we went in. As I walked in, I instantly saw who I was guessing to be Summer and Noah. Summer saw me and she quickly hopped over and hugged me. I was slightly taken aback by the embrace, but I awkward returned it; I wasn't really the best with hugs but she seemed sweet.