Don't Give Up, I Won't Give Up On You

Chapter 7

France was amazing. That's all that Riley could really think about as she sat on her balcony in the early morning sun. Yeah she might not be a morning person, but the view from the hotel was just too gorgeous to not take advantage of. She already knew she was going to be very busy starting from today so she needed to have this calm before the storm.

Then her phone rang.

Riley sighed at first, dreading that it was Phil, but as she looked down at her phone she saw Sam's name. It was then she remembered that she had totally forgotten to call him back once she had made it to Nice.

Jumping up from her seat, Riley made her way back into her room and shut the balcony door behind her. She didn't want anyone to hear this conversation.

"Hey man." RIley greeted softly as she sat down. "I'm sorry I didn't call you back yesterday. It was a crazy day and I got really busy."

"That's okay." Sam replied, his voice steady. "But I was worried about you." Riley smiled at this. "So come on, spill. What the hell happened?"

Riley sighed now and tilted her head back so that she was looking up at the ceiling. "Stacey knows where I am." What else could she say? Sam didn't know about her money issues, she never had the guts to tell him what had really happened between her and Stacey. What he already knew was enough.

"What?" Sam practically yelled down the phone. "How?"

"I don't know. She told me to have a good time in France. Do you reckon she spoke to my mum?"

"I doubt it. Your mum wouldn't have told her. She knew you didn't want to ever see her again."

"Well, I don't know how, but she knows." Riley ran a hand over her face. "... You don't think she'd come over her would she? Make a scene?" It had been her biggest fear since speaking to her ex.

Sam was hesitant at first, Riley could practically hear the gears turning in his head. "... No." He finally replied. "It is her style, but is she really going to spend that much money to fly to France just to make a scene."

Riley went silent. Of course she would spend that much money, because it wasn't even her money it was Riley's.

"What is she even going to do anyway? You have done nothing wrong. A bunch of lies won't hurt because you know the truth."

Riley was starting to feel some panic set in. This conversation with Sam wasn't helping, especially when he didn't know the full truth. "Yeah." Was all she could say.

"Look don't worry about it." Sam said. "Just keep your head down, do your work, and we'll figure something out when you get back."

Riley stood up now and started pacing the room. "Sure. Yeah." She was struggling to find the right words to say. Sam may be her best friend and she did love him, but she really wished that he didn't care so much. Then they wouldn't be having this conversation right now.

"You okay?" Sam asked.

"I don't know. I guess." Riley bit her lip as she stood still, her mind racing. With a long sigh she sat herself on the edge of the bed. "Look I can't let this get to me. I need to focus on this job. I need to sleep."

"Oh don't lose sleep over this. She's not worth it."

"She used to be."

Sam scoffed and Riley knew he was rolling his eyes. "Come on. Seriously? You can't still have feelings for her."

"Of course I still do." Riley argued back. "We were together for a long time. All through the accident, all through everything she stuck around and I allowed myself to fall in love with her." This was probably the first time she was really saying these words out loud, letting herself admit how she felt. "You don't fall out of love that easily."