A Love Conflicted

43 | Prince and I

I don't think I was asleep very long before I heard light knocking on Prince's bedroom door. I ignored it and planned on going back to sleep but whoever it was insisted on P answering. I knew he wasn't asleep, he can't just shut down and take a nap in the middle of the day but I could tell he was going to lie in bed as long as I was there. He held onto me tighter with each knock but eventually he got up, letting a groan of irritation escape him as he peeled his arms from around my waist and throwing his clothes back on.

I was coherent enough to decipher whose voice was coming from the door. Let's be honest, I wanted to know if it was Andy or not. Luckily it wasn't, it was Cass. I couldn't make out exactly what was being said but I knew Prince was doing whatever he could to get him to leave. "This better be important Cassius" I heard him say. At that point I was fully awake; I stretched my body as Prince came back into full view. He kneeled down beside me on the edge of the bed and stroked my cheek.

"I have to handle a few things down in my office. I'll be right back" his voice was soft as his warm hands caressed the side of my face. I nodded before sitting up. "You don't have to get up, stay in bed"

"I'm really thirsty, I'm just gonna run down to the kitchen" I told him. He kissed my lips and told me 'ok' before getting up and leaving the room.

As I walked down the stairs, I couldn't erase the smile that was plastered across my face. This was definitely not how I imagined today going, but I wasn't mad at it. It would have been better if we could actually talk and sort things through before fucking me senseless, but neither of us could control either of our actions at that point. Our bodies had taken over and did what our mouths couldn't do.

Regardless, I was over the moon at the fact that I hadn't lost him. There was still hope for us and by the look on his face he was serious about us. I assumed there was no reason for me to take everything I had just packed up so I left the bag in his room. I wanted to wait until we could really have a discussion before I took action on anything. I crossed the atrium and just as I was about to head into the kitchen, in strolls Andy again. She has impeccable timing.

I didn't feel any type of way facing her this time. I was on a high. I had my love back and I knew there was nothing she could do to screw it up this time. I wasn't going to let her. Once he and I talk I'm going to make it very clear about how I feel about him spending so much time with her. I understand they're working but there needs to be limits if we're going to make this work, or some sort of compromise so that we're both ok.

My mind went back to everything that just happened and I smirked to myself wondering if she had a clue. She seemed a bit awkward in her approach this time, not as cheery and confident as she usually was. Maybe my assumptions were correct.

"Hi Andy" I spread a fake smile across my face with a little cockiness in my tone. My what a difference an hour makes.

"Hey Riley, I'm sorry I just wanted to catch you before you left. I've been wanting to talk to you for a while."

"About what?" I asked curiously. I can't imagine what her and I would have to talk about.

"About Prince and I" My eyebrow rose in suspicion as to where this conversation was headed. "I just wanted to apologize, I would never have guessed that any of this would have happened to me or between him and I. You are a much stronger woman than I am because there's no way I would have been able to sit back the way you did and just let us do our thing" she shook her head and chuckled to herself. Where was she going with this? "I'm not proud of it, I know it was a sticky situation for a while. I never thought I'd be that girl but somehow...here I am" My mouth went dry and my stomach sank. Was this really coming out of her mouth right now? Is she admitting to being with Prince the entire time? "I just hate that it had to end like that between you two. I feel like I'm basically to blame and I truly am sorry. I hope you can accept my apology" I felt the burning sensation in my throat and the stinging of my eyes again. I studied her face until my eyesight became blurry and I blinked away the tears before they could form. She seemed so sincere and honest, like I had to believe her.

"The entire time? You mean be...before the tour?" I stuttered

"Uh" she looked away sheepishly for a second gathering her thoughts "W-well yea, did you think-"

I refused to let her finish. I put my hand up signaling her to stop talking and I shut my eyes, as if somehow that would block out reality. I calmly turned around and walked out of the building in tears. God, it felt like I couldn't go a day without crying my eyes out anymore. I was humiliated. He flaunted her around me knowing he was with her all this time. Every piece of hope I had for us flew out the window as quickly as they had come back. I was disgusted with myself. He let me make love to him, giving him everything I had knowing he had his next one lined up downstairs. I couldn't believe he would do something like this...would he?

There I was thinking we were going to work out all our differences and move past this and I was greeted with that slap in the face. I didn't know what to do and I definitely didn't want to face Sam. I drove his car to the nearest park and sat in the parking lot in silence. I didn't even have it in me to cry at that point. I was confused, I was hurt, but most of all I was in a state of disbelief. I tried to clear my head long enough for the shock to wear off before I really tried to put two and two together. Maybe she's just saying this because she heard us and wants revenge? But if so, does that really mean he was or is with her? Or did she mean something completely different and purposely wanted it to come across the way it did?

After about 15 minutes my phone began to ring. I looked down and saw that the call was coming from Paisley Park.

-Prince-

As I walked out of my office I immediately took off to find Riley. I didn't want to waste another second without making things right between the two of us. Though the sex was incredible, it doesn't magically make all of our problems disappear. That's not to say I didn't want more of it though...

Stepping into the kitchen I expected to see her there but to my surprise she wasn't. I thought maybe she went back up to the room so I walked back up but didn't see her there either. I spotted Cass and Ria both heading out the front door as they were leaving for the day so I called for their attention. Leaning over the banister I asked,

"Where did Riley go?"

They both looked at each other in confusion for a split second. I noticed the attitude that adorned Ria's face after the fact. I know she's been pissed with me ever since we went on tour.

"I mean I'm not sure why she would stay. Didn't she come to grab her things and go?" she asked with her arms folded.

"No" I stated matter of factly " I asked her to stay so we could talk. Cass, did she mention she was leaving?"

"Nah boss, last I saw her she was talking to Andy"

As if on cue I noticed Andy coming out of the guest room down the hall. Maybe she knows where she went. Although the thought of those two having a conversation raised a few flags in my head.

"Andy, have you seen Riley?" I asked her as soon as I approached her.

"Oh, yea she left about fifteen or twenty minutes ago. She left in a hurry"

"Do you know why?"

She bit her lip and looked down at the floor. She knows exactly what happened, I can tell just by her reaction.

"Andy" I said a little firmer, grabbing her attention.

"I just wanted to apologize to her and tell her how bad I felt about taking so much of your time these past few months. She walked away before I could even finish"

Even though I wish they wouldn't have had a conversation before we had a chance to, I was perplexed. Why would she leave over that? Either Andy's lying or Riley misunderstood her completely. And because the Andy I know doesn't have a deceitful bone in her body I knew it had to be the ladder.

"What exactly did you tell her?"

"I-I mean I don't remember word for word-"

"Try" I haven't been this hard on her since I met her and I can tell by the look on her face that she was shocked. She proceeded to tell me everything that she said as best as she could and I can only imagine how Riley took it. I know she doesn't care for Andy so it didn't surprise me that that's how she interpreted her words. I left Andy standing there and rushed back to my room to call her. I wasn't doing this again, I wasn't about to let her go as easily as I had the first time.

Don't hate me. You probably weren't expecting this. But the next update is coming right now...