A Love Conflicted

35 | Something's Gotta Give

That next day Ria and I decided to have brunch together. We both had things that we needed to get off our chest, and to be honest I was a little nervous to hear her opinion. We met at this restaurant that quickly became our favorite breakfast spot when we first started hanging out. It was a good crowd, great food and most importantly, bottomless mimosas. We both greeted each other with a hug and a warm smile on sight. Luckily it didn't seem like her and I had any issues which I was grateful for.

We decided to ease into the conversation and allow the first round of Mimosas to kick in before getting into the heavy stuff. Once we did, she decided to initiate the conversation.

"Alright, can I be honest?" she asked before tossing back the last of her glass

"Please" I replied as I refilled both of our flutes

"I think this whole feud is absolute bullshit and it needs to stop"

"I agree" It was true, I did.

"Riley I'm so torn. On one hand, I have my brother who I would take a bullet for in a heartbeat. But on the other hand I've got Prince..who's more than just a boss to me. He's my mentor, my friend, my confidant. And now because of him I was able to make this unexpected friendship with you and you've grown to become one of my best friends. I just don't understand how shit got so out of hand!" I let her vent and continue her speech as I listened intently. "I'm not saying Sam is innocent in all of this, but what Prince did was fucked up. He abused his power and now my brother is out of a job until he finds the next project. And because what? Just because Sam's into you? It's bullshit Riley and you know it"

"It's not right, I agree. I couldn't even talk to him when I got back last night"

"So you didn't even mention it to him?" She got a little irritated at my confession and I was a little shocked by her reaction.

"No, Ria the moment I even mention Sam's name we fight. I didn't want to argue, especially not over the same damn thing"

"Why is it even an issue? Why are you constantly fighting over this? Unless you have feelings for him too"

"Are you fucking kidding me Ria?!"

"Look, I had to ask! What else would be the reason for all of this?"

I took a deep breath and tried to gather my thoughts. I think we both needed a quick second before we started fighting ourselves.

"I've always appreciated your brother's friendship. From the moment we met we've always had a good time together. But shit changed after he confessed his feelings for me, and insulted my relationship with Prince in the process"

"Ok, but he apologized right?"

"Yes" I nodded "He did, by sending me flowers that Prince found at my place, remember? It's just been one sticky situation after another. And I'm not putting all the blame on Sam, I should have made better decisions on my part as well. However the fact that he does have these feelings for me and he's so vocal about it rubs Prince the wrong way. Maybe it was naive of me to think that he and I could remain friends regardless of how he felt but...I don't think it's gonna work"

She twisted the stem of her glass in her fingers in deep thought. We'd never flat out discussed all this, maybe she had some insight that I didn't. "After he showed up to Paisley..that was the last straw for P. I was pretty shocked myself, I couldn't believe he had the balls to show up there like that"

"That was inappropriate, I'm with you on that. However he wasn't there to win your heart or anything, he genuinely wanted to have a conversation. You were ignoring him, and no matter what I told him, he wanted to hear it from you. It's not like you were gonna pick up the phone anytime soon"