Pages of Autumn

Chapter 20

The vibration of my phone woke me. Rolling over, I grabbed it from the nightstand. A notification from Chad was displayed on the screen.

'Hey. Just reminding you that the coffee shop will be opening on Monday. The police ruled her death an overdose, the evidence was clear. See you next week.'

I sent back a message, letting him know I will be there and I'm sorry all of this happened. For the few days of working there, I could tell him and Avery was close.

Riley moved next to me, resting his head on my stomach. Smiling, I rubbed his mop of hair soothingly. Being it was only eight a.m., I figured it would be best not to wake him. Slowly getting out of bed, Riley tossed on his side. 

I made my way to the kitchen with a growling stomach. Pulling out the eggs and sausage from the fridge, I started making breakfast for Riley and I. 

Just as I was plating the food, Riley dragged his feet into the kitchen. 

"Hey babe." I spoke, positioning the plate before him. 

"Thank you hun." He pressed his lips against mine; I could feel the smile forming as he did so. 

"No problem." I said, sitting across from him. 

"What are the plans for today?" He said with a mouthful of food. 

"Well, I was thinking since I have the weekend off.." I paused, dragging circles into my eggs with my fork. 

"Yes." Riley said, gesturing for me to continue. 

"Maybe we can take a flight to Tenessee? I would like to visit Sky and my family." I said this while looking down, nervous for his answer. 

"That sounds awesome." He said this with glowing eyes, looking more excited from the idea than me. 

"Thank you for saying that." I laughed, my anxiety coming to an ease. 

"When should we order our tickets?" He asked, putting his plate in the sink. 

"Now would be nice." I chuckled, following his previous action. 

We ordered tickets for tomorrow morning, our landing time being ten o'clock. I felt overwhelmed with joy having all of Saturday to spend with family and friends. I packed my bag early out of excitement, as did Riley. 

"Wanna go to the movies? There's a showing at six for Halloween." He questioned, resting his hands on my hips. 

"Yes. I need to get out of this house." I laughed, him joining me. 

"Well, we do have some time to kill." He said, pulling me into him. 

"I hate to be a buzzkill but I'm expecting my period any day now." I said, knowing what he was suggesting. 

"That's too bad," He moved my hair, kissing behind my ear. "I could make you feel really nice." He breathed, causing chills to travel up and down my spine. 

I shoved him away playfully, adjusting my shirt. For the next three hours, I read my book and Riley finished his oil painting; Something I haven't seen him do in ages. 

We got ready- Putting on pajamas, laughing at one another. 

"You're the only girl I have met that would go to the movies like this." He laughed, planting a wet peck on my forehead. 

Hauling a taxi to the curb, we stepped in; The cold leather seeping through my fuzzy pants. Arriving at the small theater, I was happy to see the little number of cars present in the parking lot.