Ship Happens

Riley X Leighton

"Gosh there are too many people," Leighton muttered as he swirled the wine around in his glass. It was expensive wine, as you would expect from a lavish party full of people with authority, but it was only good through an acquired taste. Leighton had that acquired taste through all the years of his problems with his alcoholism. It wasn't his favorite drink but it was still a good reason not to talk to the posh assholes around him.

He was dressed in a nice suit, as opposed to his uniform from work. This was a gathering that required a more fancy taste than business casual, and he hated it. The suit was fitted to him perfectly, but he still was uncomfortable. The fabric was not soft and he didn't want to move in it. At least all the girls wearing dresses had some kind of freedom in their fabrics. Though, his best friend would argue with that as she did not fancy dresses all too much, but he couldn't deny that she looked nice in them while she mingled and put on a smile for the ambassadors from countries all over. But his friend wasn't what his eyes tend to be glued to.

He came to the party alone as opposed to with his girlfriend of several years. She was busy and promised to meet him at the party once she was done getting ready and was off of her work. He made her swear on her life that she would not make him stay at the party by himself the entire time. He didn't enjoy people walking up and people saying "Hey! How are you? Good? That's great!" and then proceeding to try getting something out of him. Sure, he was typically in a state of being buzzed all the time but he was aware of when people were trying to use him or manipulate him into getting something. He hated it more when people would ask about his drinking problem, too.

He took another sip of the bitter wine, catching himself from finishing off the glass so he didn't have to go and ask someone for a new one, then swirled around the remaining contents. He stared at it for a moment, then looked up, hoping not to make eye contact with anyone who felt that they should proceed to talk to him. He was fine with standing in the corner of the room for the entirety of the night. His eyes glanced around the room, going from his friend, Willa, who was probably being hit on by the guy she was talking to but is oblivious to the flirtatious comments, to his boss who was standing with his girlfriend while also being swarmed by people, to the entrance of the ballroom.

He was seriously considering if he should leave through that door and just keep walking.

As he took the last sip of his drink, as he had no self control, he noticed a very familiar face walk through the entrance of the room, and he suddenly felt a wave of relief wash over him. He felt the corners of his lips pull upward as he watched the girl with orange hair walk towards him after spotting him alone. Her hair was pulled up and done nicely while her lips were painted with a bold color. Her eyes were outlined with black that made her turquoise irises pop. As beautiful as her hair and face was, he couldn't help but find his eyes wandering to the rest of her body, which was framed perfectly in her dress.

The dress had a very, very, low cut that hardly covered her chest and was held up by two thin straps that possibly could break at any moment. The fabric was black which matched the 'professional' theme of the gathering (but really the color choices here made it feel more like a funeral than anything), which hugged tightly to the perfect curves of her chest and figure, though, mostly her hips. The dress itself reached her ankles and allowed for her heels to be exposed, which happened to match the dress she wore, of course.

Riley smiled as she approached her boyfriend, then gave him a quick kiss on his lips which he made sure that he returned. She let him place his hands on her hips while she wrapped her exposed arms around his neck. "You taste like shitty wine," Riley spoke with amusement.

"I can only imagine why," Leighton said as he nodded his head to the wineglass he had placed on the table next to him. "You took your time getting here."