"Papa!" I grinned and waved as Riley appeared at the top of the slide. I'd taken her to a playground to play for a bit while we waited for Troye to go on his lunch break. I had the day off today and had spent the day with Riley instead of sending her to day-care.
I was sitting on a park bench nearby as Riley played, checking my phone occasionally for a message from Troye. My eyes were carefully watching my daughter, making sure she didn't hurt herself. As she got to the bottom of the slide, my phone beeped and I checked it to find a message from Troye saying that he was just finishing his last meeting before lunch.
"Riley, come on now. We'll go see daddy." I called, standing up and brushing off my jeans. Riley pouted but hurried over anyway, taking hold of my hand.
"Where's daddy?"
"Daddy's at work. We're going to go and visit."
"See Toby?" Toby was the receptionist at Troye's work and for whatever reason, Riley had taken a shine to him from the few times she'd met him.
"I don't know. Maybe. You want to walk?" We were a few blocks away from Troye's work so she could walk if she wanted. But today, apparently, it was no what she wanted.
"No. Piggy back?" I nodded and knelt down on the ground so she could clamber onto my back, wrapping her arms around my neck and resting her chin on my shoulder.
"Alright. Let's get going." I said, standing back up and heading in the direction of Troye's work.
It didn't take long and we were soon walking through the front doors into the air-conditioned foyer where Toby was sitting behind the desk, typing away.
"Toby!" Riley squealed and the man looked up with a smile.
"Hey there Riley. What're you doing here?"
"We seeing daddy." She told him, wriggling to get down. I set her on the floor and she ran over to him, jumping onto his lap.
"Hey Toby. Is Troye out yet?" I went and leaned on the desk with a smile.
"No. He shouldn't be long though. The guy he's meeting with has to be somewhere else in an hour."
"Okay. Is it cool if we hang out here with you?"
"Sure. I don't have anything to do right now. And I've been missing my Riley-cuddles." He added, giving Riley a gentle squeeze. She giggled and smiled up at him.
"Toby, spin 'round!" Riley instructed. She loved the fact that the chair Toby sat on could spin around. Obediently, he spun the chair, holding on tightly to her as she laughed and clapped her hands excitedly.
"Well, well, what's going on here?" I looked up at the sound of Troye's voice as he appeared in the lobby from the elevator.
"Daddy!" Riley saw him and jumped off of Toby, running over to Troye.
"Hey princess. Are you torturing Toby again?" He caught her and pulled her up to sit on his hip.
"No." Riley shook her head, kissing his cheek.
"Really?" He raised an eyebrow as he moved closer. Toby and I just laughed.
"She's fine. I haven't seen her in a few weeks." Toby clarified.
"Hey, you ready to go?" I asked when he was right beside me.
"Yep. I am so ready to get out of here." He laughed dryly.
"Amen. I'm a little jealous of you, Troye." Toby said. "I don't have my lunch break for another hour."
"We'll be thinking of you." I teased.
