A Love Conflicted

12 | 4 U

I walked into my apartment and dropped my bags abruptly. Leaning my back against the door I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in. I was back home, and I hadn't realized how much I missed my apartment until we landed in LA. All I wanted to do was crawl into my bed and sleep for a week. Minnesota was exhausting; Not physically, but mentally.

Before I could even move past the entry way, there was a sudden knock on the door. The vibration against my back scared me and I jumped before turning around.

"Who is it?" I called out from behind the door while peering into the peep hole

"I have a delivery for a Miss Riley Morgan"

Opening the door, I saw a teenage boy standing there with a bouquet of flowers in his hand and a clipboard. "Are you Miss Morgan?" he asked

"Yes, that's me" As soon as I confirmed who I was he asked me to sign for the bouquet and handed them to me. "Thanks" I told him, closing the door behind me. The flowers were beautiful; clusters of green hydrangea surrounding orange and pink Zinnia's and orange roses. I leaned in to smell them before placing the vase on my kitchen table. I searched the arrangement for a note, looking for a brand name. Usually whenever I've done business with a makeup company they'll send a little Thank You gift. I finally found it nestled in between a couple roses. As I opened it up and read, I was shocked to find out it wasn't business related at all.

Dearest Riley,

Thank U for the lovely weekend.

Eye count the days until we meet again...

4...U

Prince

I couldn't stop the smile that spread wide across my face, I hadn't expected these to be from him. My mind scanned the memories of this past weekend and I still couldn't believe I had gotten so lucky. In just a few short days, he had been able to bring out a side of me who I hadn't even seen in a very long time. I poured a bit of water in the arrangement before finally dragging my luggage into my bedroom. I can never stay unpacked for very long, so I immediately got started on putting everything away and doing laundry. Once I was unpacked and I had a load of laundry in the dryer, I plopped down on my bed in defeat. Before I could really let myself relax, my phone began to ring. Grabbing my cell phone from the dresser beside me, I see that it's my manager Blake.

"Don't get too comfortable Princess, you got work to do" he said before I could even answer properly

"Well hello to you too. Damn, are you a mind reader or something?"

"One of my many talents" I always loved his thick New York accent. Blake has been my manager from the very beginning. When I first started to blow up on social media, I didn't know anything about anything. I just loved Makeup and wanted to share ideas and tips with anyone who'd listen. He opened my eyes to the business side of it and really helped me launch my career, I wouldn't be where I am today if it weren't for him.

"So can you scratch this off your bucket list? Invited to Paisley Park by Mr. Red Corvette himself" I rolled my eyes at his comment. I knew I couldn't go into detail with what happened between me and Prince, so I just kept my answers vague

"I can scratch a lot of things off my bucket list actually" I smirked to myself

"Well good for you, I'm happy for you. I know how much you love the guy"

"Yea..." I said as my mind traveled back to Prince. He was the only thing on my mind since I received that DM from Ria over a week ago. I was starting to forget that I had a real life, and a real job to tend to. I was quickly brought back to reality as Blake and I went over all my work for the week. Filming a tutorial in Culver City tomorrow, multiple meetings for possible business deals on Wednesday as well as my own videos and photos to shoot and edit by Friday. I was tired already just hearing him talk about it all.

We talked business for another hour until we eventually hung up. Once the call ended I saw a text from my best friend Alex wanting me to call her and give her the 411 on this weekend. While I wanted nothing more than to spill everything that happened, I decided I'd had enough for one day and we'd have to chat another time. I needed to reset my brain and focus on this week.

The next day was business as usual. I had successfully shot a tutorial for one my favorite companies whom I've developed a great working relationship with. After filming was done, I decided to grab dinner with Alex so that we could catch up in person. We met at our favorite restaurant and sat a table outside to enjoy the warm LA breeze. I explained everything to her as we sipped our cocktails, she was in as much shock as I was and she couldn't stop saying "You're lying. You have to be lying". I laughed every time. She may be the only person who truly understands how much of a fan I am of his. I loved our friendship because it's more than going out and having a good time with Alex. She wants to see me succeed in life and makes sure I'm doing everything I can to achieve my goals. Career wise, financially, spiritually, everything. There's nothing she wouldn't do for me or vice versa.

"So have you talked to him since you've been back?"

"No, he did send me flowers though" I began to blush just thinking about it

"Look at you getting all giddy. I haven't seen you act this way over anyone since...well you know" She trailed off and I rolled my eyes

"Yea I know"

"So..do you think anything's gonna come out of this or..?"

"That's the thing, I don't know. I think we both know there's some kind of connection there but let's be real. His life is in Minnesota, I'm in LA...even if something were to happen that's one hell of a long distance relationship" She nodded her head in agreement as my own words started to become real to me. "And I mean, he's Prince for God's sake"

"Well just take it a day at a time, if it's meant to be it'll happen, don't stress over it. Focus on work and let him come to you."

If only it were that easy.

Wednesday came along and I still hadn't heard from him. The only way I could contact him was to call Paisley Park directly or Ria. I didn't want to seem desperate so I decided against calling PP. Ria and I were texting for a bit that morning, but I didn't ask about Prince. I didn't want her to think I was only talking to her because of him, however I found it odd and completely frustrating that she didn't mention a thing. Maybe I was crazy to think that something was to actually happen between us, or maybe he was just busy and I was over thinking the situation as always.

When I got home from my last meeting, I grabbed my mail from downstairs and headed up to my apartment. I kicked off my heels as soon as I walked through the door and set my purse down. Going through my mail, it looked as if it was mostly junk so I threw it on the kitchen counter with the rest of the growing pile I eventually had to sort through. I poured myself a glass of wine and heard my phone vibrating in my purse. Setting the glass down, I dug around until I finally found it. I had just missed the call, it was Alex. A text notification was waiting for me also

Alex: So I'm assuming you're going on Friday?!

What was she talking about? Did we have plans I accidentally forgot about? Wouldn't be the first time. I quickly looked at my calendar and didn't see anything special that day. I decided to give her a call back instead

"What are we doing on Friday?" I asked her as she answered

"You mean what are YOU doing on Friday?"

"What do you mean? I'm confused" sipping my wine, I sat down on my couch

"Are you telling me I heard about this before you?"

"Heard what Alex? Just tell me"

"Prince!" I paused mid sip and pulled the glass away from my lips

"What about him?"

"He just announced a show in Hollywood! How the hell did you not know?" I swallowed hard. Instead of being excited I was pissed. He sends me flowers and says he can't wait to see me again, I don't hear from him at all and he decides to pop up in my city and not tell me?

"I'll call you back" without waiting for her response, I hung up on her and furiously dialed the number to Paisley Park. While the phone rang I tossed back the entire glass before I heard his receptionist answer.

"Paisley Park, this is Amanda"

"Hi Amanda, this is Riley Morgan. I need to speak with Prince"