Lie To Me

Lie To Me-Chapter 145

Sitting out on the patio, watching the night sky, I groaned out to the heavens. Why did this shit always happen? Why was nothing ever easy? It seemed like every positive step forward caused just another step back... Was it too much to ask for just one day? One perfect day where nothing went wrong? No lies, no issues, no complications... Just one good day?

I shook my head, scolding myself for complaining, even if it was just to the universe... I had food in my belly, not much since my appetite had gone missing somewhere along the way; I had a roof over my head, figuratively speaking; I was in love with a good man, though he did have his faults; I had my best friend by my side, though that could be good or bad, depending on who you talked to; and I had the sweetest, most adorable furry little man waiting for me just inside.

As I sat there, thinking of Max, Harry, and all the things I should be thankful for, guilt slowly crept over me for snapping at Bree the way I did. Especially since I was doing the exact same thing she was... Complaining, when I should be grateful.

It's not that I wasn't right about what I'd said to her, but that still didn't give me the right to snap like that. God... This was all such a mess. All I wanted was to just go home. Back to London. Back to my adopted family, my friends, the job that I prayed I hadn't lost. Back to my life...

Without realizing it, I pulled out my phone and started to dial the numbers I knew by heart. I just needed to hear a friendly voice right now. I needed someone to help me remember what was waiting for me back home. I needed...Gemma.

"Riley!!!!"

Hearing the excitement in her voice brought a smile to my face, and tears to my eyes. God, how I missed her...

"Hey..." The slight tremble in my voice sounded loud in my ears, and I prayed it hadn't gone through the phone. But, given the long pause before she spoke again, it had.

"Woah... When Harry first told me what was going on, I thought he was just being dramatic, but damn... Don't take this the wrong way, but you sound like hell, girl!!"

I chuckled, picturing the look on her face. "Yeah, I kind of feel like hell... I just... Gem, I want to come home. I miss you. I miss Anne, and the boys, and just...everything!" A single tear fell down my cheek as I pictured all of them individually. "Gemma, I... I just... Wait a minute. What do you mean, when Harry first told you? When did you talk to Harry?"

She laughed at my sudden change of topic. "About thirty to forty minutes ago, I think. The little shit texted me constantly, until I woke up. I swear you two have a hard time understanding this whole 'time difference' thing... But anyway, He told me things were...kind of a mess right now, and asked for my help. I guess he needed another female opinion." She continued to giggle, going on about how Harry still knew very little about women, no matter how much we'd all tried to teach him over the years.

I, however, heard very little of what she said, my mind easily doing the math. Thirty to forty minutes ago, I'd walked in on Harry "playing a game" on his phone. Or so he'd said...

Looked to me like the game he'd been playing, was me...

"Riley? Riley, are you there?!?"

"Sorry... Yeah, I'm here." I shook my head again. "It's just... Harry lied to me...again. He told me he was playing a game on his phone. He didn't say anything about talking to you..."

Gemma got quiet for a minute, and I knew she was probably wearing the same expression I was. "...But... Why would he lie about that?"

"I don't know..." I sighed into the phone, "He seems to be doing that a lot lately, though. It feels like every time I turn around, I catch him lying about something..."

"What do you mean?"

In a matter of minutes, it all came pouring out of me. The situations with Bree, the paparazzi, Harry's "little" lies. Everything just rambled off my tongue in a jumbled mess of crap that hopefully made sense to her, cause God knew all it did was confuse me...

She took a deep breath when I finally finished. "Jesus... It's been a roller coaster over there, hasn't it?"

"Tell me about it... Can you see now why I want to come home so bad?"

"Yeah, no kidding..." She chuckled softly in amazement. "I think I'd be checking into the loony bin right about now."

"Believe me, I'm thinking about it..."

Taking another deep breath, her tone became serious, "So... The question is, do you want my opinion?"

I honestly wasn't sure, given the way she'd asked, but I really did want an outside opinion on everything. Maybe a different perspective would help shed some light on it all...

"Yes. Please."

"Promise not to hate me?"

I giggled at her, "Gemma, I could never hate you. You're pretty much my adopted sister. You're stuck with me forever now."

"Well, good then!" She laughed with me for a moment before clearing her throat. "But... I think Bree needs to go... I know I don't really know her, and she's one of your oldest friends, but based on the stories you've told us about when you guys were younger, how she acted at your birthday, and what she's doing now... I just don't think she's a good person for you to be around. It's like she drains the life out of you or something, and it's not right. You need to be around people who lift you up, not tear you down. You know?"

I hated to admit it, because deep down I really did love Bree like family, but Gemma was right. Even when we were kids, Bree exhausted me. She was always so all over the place, causing drama, picking fights. And it was always MY job, as her best friend, to help clean up the mess. Well, this time she'd brought the mess straight to me. I wasn't just helping to make things better after "Hurricane Bree." This time I was stuck in the middle of the storm...

But, how do you do that? How do you just walk away from someone you've shared so many memories with? How do you turn away from the one person, outside of family, who has been there your whole life? It just wasn't that easy...

"Okay, and what about Harry?"

"Ahh... My loser brother..." She laughed loudly, making it hard not to join in. "Riley, I'm going to give you the same advice that I gave him. Tie him to the bed, and don't let him leave until you've gotten this all worked out."

I covered my face as I laughed into the night, picturing Harry tied to his headboard, begging for mercy...

"Oh my God... Gemma!! You told him to do that?!?"

She giggled along with me, clearly enjoying herself, "Yep! Well, actually, I told him to tie you up until you agreed to listen to him, but with everything you just told me, I think he's the one in need of a little 'lesson...' I don't know what's up with him lying about all this stuff, especially me, but I think it's about time my brother gives you some answers, don't you?"

Though I still shook my head, laughing at her outrageousness, I had to admit, she had a very valid point. Harry needed to answer for himself. He needed to explain the sudden secrecy, why he was trying to hide things from me...

"You know what, Gemma? Once again, you are absolutely right..."