Riley
"Mr Carter, there's a phone call on line one for you." Andrea, my assistant, chimes through the intercom. The woman is in her late 50s, has worked for me for the last four years, has barely taken any days off and, on top of it all, she is always happy, polite and with a smile on her face.
"Thanks, Andrea." I turn off the intercom and pick up the call and unfortunately, get stuck in an hour-long conversation with Eric from Eli Electronics. The guy has spent the last three months trying to get me to invest in his business and won't take no for an answer.
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for helping out businesses, especially small local ones, but sometimes I just can't do it. Eric is blowing money left, right, and center on personal purchases. Even after he received several loans and investments, he's still a sinking ship, and as I said, I'm all for helping businesses, but I'm not for throwing money at a sinking ship. I wouldn't be where I am today if I did that.
The next five hours are spent trolling through paperwork, answering endless emails and phone calls, and an unexpected meeting with my accountant that made me want to bang my head against the wall... several times, and now I'm done, done with this day and ready for a whiskey or six.
"Riley, you done for the day yet?" Joshua walks into my office with both his jacket and the top three buttons of his shirt undone and his tie hanging loose. He looks like he's been dragged backward through a bush, and I'm guessing his day has been a shit show like my own. He slumps down in one of the chairs across from my desk and runs his hands through his always immaculate hair. Josh is not only the CEO of my company, but he's also my best friend and a vein fucker at that, but we have been through a lot in our lives, and he's always been there for me when I have needed him the most...
When I had nothing, he was always there and so, when I finally started getting somewhere in life, I made sure to take him with me, and it was a no-brainer to make him the CEO of my company. He's a hard worker and always puts the company first, which is exactly the type of person that I need to work alongside me. "Yep, I'm done and ready for several whiskeys, you in?" He nods and is up and out of his chair before I've even finished talking.
"Yes! Let's go, first rounds on me, and it's Friday night which means one thing... easy pussy!" Yeah, Josh is both vein and a giant hoe! "Is that all you ever think of: drink and girls?"
"Absolutely! It's even better when they go together," His cheeky grin and wink have me laughing as I shut down my laptop and get ready to forget today. "Don't act like you don't enjoy female company," he grunts as he smartens himself back up. He's not wrong of course, I enjoy female company, I'm a 25-year-old red-blooded male, but I'm much more tame than Josh... much more.
After a quick chat with the head of my night security, we both head outside where Bruno, my driver, is waiting for us. We both have our own cars, several in fact, plus we both own a bike each, but I had a feeling we would be heading out tonight, so I called Bruno in advance. "Evening Mr Carter, Mr Evans." Bruno opens the door for me before going round to the other side and doing the same for Josh. "Bruno, how many times must I tell you to call me Riley?"
Bruno has only worked for me for five months. My old driver, Kent, was with me for almost five years, but sadly, we lost him when a drunk driver hit him off his bike. I miss Kent and no one will ever replace him, but Bruno is a good guy. He worked on my security team before I asked him to move to this position and when he lets his guard down, he's a great laugh.
He always starts out formal, and I have to remind him that I want him comfortable, not looking and acting like he has a stick up his ass the entire time he's driving me. I know that he's just being professional like he should be, but it drives me crazy. I get enough of that bullshit when I'm at work. When I'm out and on my own time, I want to relax, and I want others around me to do the same.
"Sorry, Riley." Finally! That's probably the quickest that he's ever called me Riley, so hopefully, we're getting somewhere. "Home Riley?" I shake my head "No, to Carlos, please, Bruno." he nods as he heads out into the traffic and towards downtown. "Carlos?" Josh grunts. "Yes, I know you skipped lunch today and so did I, so we're going to eat before we got fucked!"
"I like your thinking, Riley." Carlos is a short drive, so I quickly remove my jacket and tie, roll up the sleeves of my white shirt, and open the top three buttons. My white shirt and gray suit pants now look more casual and Friday night-friendly. I'll throw my overcoat on when I get out. We're currently having an insane snowstorm and it's fucking freezing. Josh soon follows my lead in making himself more casual and just in time for us to arrive at Carlos.
"Are the guys out tonight?" Josh asks as he checks out his hair in the car window before coming around to meet me on the sidewalk. Zane, Scott, and Gage are but Nathen is spending the night with his newest friends with benefits." Zane owns Carlos, an Italian restaurant, and named the place after his late Grandfather who helped him build the business, so he's meeting us here. Scott and Gage own a clothes store and will meet us later at the club. "Pussy whipped." Josh grunts, as if he wouldn't act the same.
We start walking towards the entrance when a woman bumps into me, but she's so small that she ends up falling backward, and I'm just about able to catch her before she hits the floor. "Shit, I'm sorry!" I pull her in close to me to stop her fall and have to blink twice when I realize that I recognize the girl. She looks up at me blinking and her bright blue ocean eyes feel like they sia through me. Fuck!
"It's OK, it was my fault. I should have watched where I was going." She gives me the smallest of smiles before quickly pulling away from me and disappearing into the crowd. "Did you smell her?" Josh's face of disgust angers me, but I can't figure out why, so I shake it off and follow him inside Carlos. Fuck, I need a drink.
As I thought, Zane joined us for food. But if I'm being honest, I haven't really been paying much attention to the conversation around the table. Instead, my mind has been on that blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl that I bumped into earlier, the same blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl that Bruno almost ran over two weeks ago while driving me home from work.
If I'm being honest with myself, I've thought of her several times since that night. I don't know why, but I just haven't been able to get her out of my head. As soon as I lay down to sleep at night, I see her face and feel her body up against mine. I remember thinking that she was way too skinny, and I may have only felt her body for a short time, but even then I knew that with the right care, she would have curves in all the right places.
I don't know why I can't get her off my mind. I don't know her and from what I can tell she isn't taking care of herself, but instead of feeling disgusted or just plain sorry for her, I find myself wanting to scoop her up and take her home with me where I can personally take care of her. What the fuck is wrong with me?
I never have any women at my place or in my bed and yet here I am, wanting to take someone home with me and not let her leave again. Jesus, I think I just need a few strong drinks and maybe even get myself laid... Yes, it's been a while, so that explains how I'm feeling... It has to because nothing else makes sense.
Julia "Momma, I'm cold." I wrap the blanket even tighter around Nina, but I can still feel her shivering and it's killing me. The blanket is well-used and not very thick, but I found it in a dumpster last week, and even though it is covered in stains, it's still better than nothing. "I know, baby." I need to find her warmer clothes, but it's hard. I know many places don't throw out clothes anymore, they usually end up in charity shops and I can't even afford that. "Helen, would you mind Nina for a little while? I'm going to go treasure hunting." she gives me her motherly smile as she opens up her arms for Nina to get comfy on her lap. There are a couple of children in our group and, despite the harsh reality of their lives, we try and keep as much as possible away from them, so when one of us is going out to pinch we call it treasure hunting. "I will be as quick as I can. Nina, you make sure you listen to Helen." she gives me a kiss and nods, then turns away from me as Helen starts
Julia I turn to face the woman and for a moment I am thrown. The woman looks to be in her late 40s and she is absolutely beautiful. She has red hair pulled back in a bun and bright green eyes, she has a beautiful dress on but her clothes along with her jewelry scream money. However, she works in a charity shop, so there could be more to it. "Yes?" that's all I say. I am standing here with stolen property in my hands and that's all I can come out with. "Miss, I think you may have forgotten to pay for those items, but not to worry, it can happen. How about we head to the counter and get you checked out?" she smiles, and it feels like her smile alone could light up the entire place and her expression is warm and motherly, which makes me sad for a moment. She knows full well that I wasn't planning on paying, and yet she's giving me a chance to correct my behavior, without any judgment and God knows I wish I could do as she asks. I felt bad stealing these clothes before, but now afte
Riley Seeing her here was such a shock to me, but to find out that not only had she stolen clothes but that she had stolen clothes for a child, well, that just blew me away. The stuff that she stole came to a total of $11, so if she can't pay for them, fuck things must be bad for her. I've tried all I can to get her to talk to me and so has my Mom, but she won't. She won't tell us a Goddam thing, and now I'm pissed! So fucking pissed! She's lying to us about her name. I know she is, and she won't tell us why she has done this. Even when I threatened her with the cops, she didn't waver. We rarely have anyone steal from here. It's a charity shop after all, but it does happen. Usually, when it happens, the threat of me calling the cops is enough to get them talking, but not this time. I don't do it to be a dick. I do it to get them talking because if there's one thing that I've learned since my Mom opened this shop, it is that if someone steals from here, they are usually desperate an
Julia I'm still so ashamed that I was caught stealing from a charity shop and I swear the moment that he walked in I wanted the floor to open up and swallow me whole. I know that a man like him would never be interested in someone like me, but that doesn't mean that I can't daydream about it on the cold sleepless nights that I often face. However, after my antics today, even I'm going to struggle to daydream about him wanting me after what he saw. Despite all my mixed emotions, the look on Nina's face when I got home with a coat, jumper, and boots for her made every single embarrassing moment worthwhile. After being caught once today, I'm not up for any more stealing, so I'm staying here tonight with Nina and the others rather than going out on my usual nightly hunt. Thankfully, I managed to get a large amount of food last night, and we've kept enough for everyone to be able to eat tonight. Well, everyone except for me... I won't eat tonight. I'd rather keep my potion for tomorrow.
RileyIt's been three days since I last saw her, only three days, and yet it feels like it's been forever. She's constantly on my mind. It doesn't matter what I'm doing, whether it's running my many businesses or working out in the gym or even at the club with Josh, she never leaves me, and it's playing with my head.Josh and I hit the club last night as the asshole part of me tried to convince myself that I just needed to get laid, but of course, the moment a woman come on to me, I had absolutely no interest in her and, I shit you not, she was everything that I usually look for in a one night stand and yet, I couldn't get further enough away from her which has pretty much summed up what I already knew, but just didn't want to admit.And so that's why I'm currently sitting in my car with the entrance to the alleyway in full view, hoping and praying that she will come out of there and that I can catch a glimpse of her and... Well, I don't really have a plan yet, I just know that I need
Julia "Momma, will we ever have a Christmas tree?" the sad look in her eyes tugs at my heart. Her request is such a simple one and yet, still something that I can't give her. All children should know the pure joy of a Christmas tree, the twinkling lights, and multicolored baubles. I've only ever had one Christmas tree but I've never forgotten about it. "One year, baby, one year." It's the same line that I tell her every year but it's something that I plan on making happen.... one year anyway. "You said that last year, momma." this girl may only be three but she has an incredible brain and memory. The girl is home-schooled by me and with the limited resources that I have you would think that she would be behind for her age but she's not, she is incredibly talented and makes me insanely proud every day. "You're smart for a 3-year-old, chicken," Helen says as she comes to sit next to us. I swear this woman reads my mind several times a week. "I'm almost 4!" Nina rushes out proud to a
Riley I'm in the car and on my way to downtown New York so fast that it feels like a blur. Thankfully, the traffic isn't so bad tonight so it's a pretty quick ride to the city centre. I quickly find a parking space not too far from the alleyway then waste no time in heading that way on foot. It's almost 9 pm and from what I've learned over the past few weeks of watching her, if she is out then she will be back soon. She doesn't seem to stay out late which makes me happy because I worry about her out there doing God knows what. I stay in the dark and out of sight so as not to frighten her or anyone else who may come here and get impatient as the time goes by and she doesn't return. Maybe she's not out tonight? Maybe she's up the alleyway with her little girl. I decide to give it another ten minutes and if there's no sign of her then I'll head further up the alley to see if I can spot her there. Another fifteen minutes go by with still no sight of her I finally lose it. "Fuck this!"
RileyI shock myself with those words but the moment I say them, I know that I don't regret them. I mean every word and I may not have planned this to go this way but I don't care. I'm glad I said what I said. The sooner I get these two of the streets the better."Don't. Please, don't do that!" She pulls back from me letting go of my coat as she speaks and the saddest look covers her beautiful face. "Don't do what? I don't understand?" she gives me a disbelieving look but I'm still confused."It's mean to tease someone." I'm still confused. "You are fully aware that I don't have anything... have a home, yet you have it all and you're here just teasing me. Is this fun for you?" she starts getting angry again and so do I because clearly, she has had this done to her before. Clearly, someone has rubbed her unfortunate life in her face and that just pisses me off.I step in even closer to her filling in the small gap that she made when she pulled back from me and gently grip her chin maki