Sitting In Traffic

Chapter 32- Family Line

Riley woke up early the next morning squished between both of her sisters. She wiggled out of bed quietly to see if Samantha was home yet. Which she was. She headed down the hall to what used to be her parent's room, seeing Samantha peacefully asleep in her bed. But Riley was going to ruin that peace and wake her up. Riley tiptoed through the room, hearing the creak of the floor boards under her steps.

"Mom" Riley whispered, sitting on the edge of the bed beside her. "Momma" She tapped her side.

"Go back to bed" Samantha said, pushing Riley's hand off of her.

"You give me no choice" Riley said before collapsing on top of her, laughing when Samantha groaned.

"Riley" Samantha said, realizing it wasn't Sloan talking to her. They had similar voices, if you were half asleep it was hard to tell. Riley sat up, seeing Samantha do the exact same before Riley was yanked into a tight hug. "You are the dumbest person ever" She said, referring to Arthur and Riley still dating.

"What the f-"

"I told you not to date that boy again" Samantha said, pulling away to look at Riley. "It's a mistake"

"Mom it's really complicated," Riley was about to start explaining, "If you would just let me explain it'll all make sense"

"No you're going to let me finish first" Samantha told her. She got up from bed and Riley followed her out the room, wanting a cup of coffee for after this conversation. She walked into the kitchen with a waiting Riley behind her. "He is just going to cheat, cheat, and cheat. He's done it once, he will do it again"

Samantha was just venting about Mike through this situation, but it was only a matter of time before Riley found out.

"You're making a huge mistake"

"Mom we're not dating" Riley told her, leaning against the counter.

"Then why would you post those flowers" Samantha pointed out. Sloan showed Samantha the post seconds after she saw it. They were both overly confused on how Arthur managed to get her back. Samantha heard Riley's cry's over the phone, she didn't sound too forgiving. "We saw the video of you leaving him. Nothing good has come out of you guys dating"

"He really helped me open up more" Riley told her, and that was the only defending Riley would do for Arthur. "But we're not dating, it's like PR"

"Why would you guys need PR"

"We had a line of events that we had to go to these upcoming weeks, we probably wouldn't be invited again if we canceled so late" Riley tried explaining, "It wouldn't be good for trying to book recitals, if people think I'll just cancel all the time after Toto"

"Okay..." Samantha waited for more.

"Their family is all scared for Arthur's image now too." Riley said, "They know if the rumors go on he won't get much coverage from Panis, and no one wants to support a problematic driver"

"What are you getting out of this?"

"Connections" Riley told her, "I could meet so many people at these events"

"How long do you have to do this for?"

"Just until the end of May" Riley explained while Samantha continued brewing the both of them coffee. "But no one can know, I was only telling you, Sloan, and probably Max"

"I forgot about Max for a moment" Samantha gasped, "What are you going to do about him"

"I don't know, we haven't talked about it yet" Riley sighed, and that's all she wanted to do now. She needed to talk to Max. They didn't even need to get together right away, but Riley needed him to know that's something she wants in the near future. She didn't know how she would be able to do it with Arthur still in the picture, so she may have to wait. "He sent me a large bouquet of Tulips after he saw the post"