A Love Renewed

05 | Out of sight, Out of mind

I crept inside doing a once over to make sure that Prince was nowhere in sight. Once I realized the coast was clear I decided to dash across the atrium to the bathrooms. I didn't want to risk going upstairs. I was just about to bend the corner until I heard,

"Riley"

DAMN. DAMN. DAMN.

I froze in my tracks and slowly turned around where I saw his office door wide open. He was getting up from his desk and walking towards me.

"Where are you running off too in a hurry mama?" he asked me with a smile as he came over to me and sweetly pecked my lips. I casually stuck my hand in my back pocket trying to act cool.

"Uh, I just really have to pee so-"

"Why didn't you just go upstairs?" he laughed a little and brought his arms out and wrapped them around me. I hesitated before hugging him back but if I didn't act normal I'd just bring attention to myself. We all know how much he likes to point out how bad of a liar I am. I hugged him back and he kissed me once more. "I missed you, how did everything go?"

"G-good, but I really have to pee babe. Just give me a sec"

"Well we can go in the room, I was heading up there anyway. That way you can get comfortable"

He took my hand, that hand and I nearly died. Now I actually did have to pee out of pure fear. He tried to make small talk along the way up but I barely heard a word he said. I was too busy making sure he didn't feel the cool sensation of silver against his fingers.

"Okay, be right back" I said as I gently let go of his hand. Just as I thought I was home free and my fingers were just about to slide out of his, he yanked my hand right back. Not roughly, but with just enough force to pull me back in.

"The hell is this?"

RIP Riley. It's been real. I'm done for.

"Okay, don't freak out" I said cautiously not wanting him to completely lose his mind

"Don't freak out? Riley you have an engagement ring on your finger and you tell me not to freak out?"

"It's not what you think, please let me explain" I begged him as I saw his chest rising rapidly. His body tensed and his jaw tightened, the same reaction he always got when he was upset with me.

"Get to explaining then, quickly"

"It's from Gabe, when we-"

"You go home for less than a week and all of a sudden your ex gives you a ring?"

"Prince! I'm trying to explain and you keep cutting me off!" He stood there quietly giving me the death stare. "Gabe and I had a really nice conversation, but I'll get into those details later. Basically he had planned to propose after we had Iris, obviously we know the outcome of that and our relationship ended so he never gave it to me but he wants me to have it now-"

"Why?"

"Prince I swear to God!" The more he kept cutting me off the more pissed off I got. I was trying to explain myself and he refused to listen. "He is very happily married, with a son and another baby on the way, his intention was absolutely innocent. He just feels that it belongs with me, in honor of our daughter. Whether I sell it or keep it in a box for the rest of my life, he doesn't care. He just insisted that it belonged to me and with me."

"Ok, I can understand that. But what I can't understand is why the hell it's on your finger right now"

"I tried it on while I was on the plane and it got stuck!" I said while trying to yank it off once more with no luck "Look, see for yourself!"

"Why are you even entertaining the thought?" his voice was a lot softer now and bleak, he let go of my hand and walked into our closet. I followed behind because I knew this wasn't over, and if there's one thing I've learned about our arguments it's that we can't let our anger linger. We need to sort it out and talk it through until we're both in agreement.

"Baby" I pleaded softly, following right behind him. He started looking through racks of outfits, taking out a few at a time. "Come here, what's the real issue huh?" I stood behind him and wrapped my arms around him so that my hands were on his chest. Once my body was pressed against his I could feel him calm down a bit, he wasn't as tense anymore. I lovingly kissed his back and looked up at him, "You can't be this upset, it was a stupid accident. You should have seen Cass laughing at me in the car trying to take the damn thing off. Asshole wouldn't even help me!" I giggled a bit and that made him smirk as much as he tried to hide it. He was silent again so I knew he was deep in thought. A moment later he said,

"...did it make you think 'what if?'" he asked me seriously. Part of me didn't want to answer because the truth is, it did.

"A little...but I think that's natural" I leaned my head against him, keeping my arms wrapped around him tight. It was hard to hear but I had to be honest, hopefully I could comfort him enough to know that my love always has and always will reside with him. "I'm sure you've had moments when you wonder what would have happened had Amiir lived...right?" He looked down and away for a moment and that gave me my answer. I gave him a second to collect his thoughts and he gently pulled out of my grasp. Turning around he took my hands again, this time in a much more loving manner.

"The only ring I wanna see on that pretty little finger of yours is the ring I give you, alright?"

I nearly choked when he said those words. Did he really mean that? My eyes went wide and I'm pretty sure my mouth was open in shock as well.

"You wanna marry me?"

"Well, most days I do" My face went from shocked to annoyed as I playfully pushed him away from me and he laughed. Usually I find his jokes amusing, but because this was such a sensitive topic for me at the moment I didn't think it was very funny. I really wanted to know how he felt about it. "Look, I don't care what you do with that thing. Just get it off your finger, especially before we leave"

"Leave? Where are we going?" he went back to looking at the various untouched suits he'd laid out.

"I'm making an appearance for a charity event in Minneapolis. I can't have you on my arm with another man's broken promises wrapped around your finger"

"Ok that was a little harsh"

"Well"

I rolled my eyes and walked into the bathroom. I pumped out a bit of lotion on the counter and lathered that bad boy up like there was no tomorrow. Slowly twisting and turning every which way I could it finally started to come loose and a second after that it was off. My poor finger was swollen and red.

"Oh Thank God" I said to myself with a loud sigh of relief.

"You can say that again" I heard him mumble from the closet

"I heard that!"

"Good" he smart mouthed back and I couldn't help but shake my head back and forth and laugh to myself. I put the ring back in its box and placed it with the rest of my jewelry in the closet. I didn't know what I planned on doing with it, maybe I'll sell it one day. But for now it'll stay exactly where it is. Out of sight out of mind.