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Post by Olivia Warren-Blye on Sept 3, 2015 22:13:36 GMT
It was actually impressive how much his words hit their mark. She would have recoiled physically if she wasn't afraid of showing any sign of weakness to this lot, but because she had actually been hurt by the words that he said. And the truth was, without Parker immediately jumping to her defense, she was beginning to falter. "I'm trying to stay relevant?" She laughed dryly, "Oh please, you said it yourself - you've been in retirement. This isn't your game to play anymore. Better just focus your efforts on being a decent father for your daughter and a passable - whatever you are, for this poor, naive little girl by your side."
Maddy had to admit, Parker was right. This was escalating quickly and she wasn't sure that she liked it. She was certainly seeing a side of Cooper that she hadn't seen before, and while she appreciated someone putting Olivia in her place, she didn't want more drama to unfold where there didn't need to be any. And quite frankly, she didn't feel that this was the best place to start creating drama. "I think that's enough. Can everyone please go to their corners and just ... move on?"
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Post by Amber Jacobs on Sept 4, 2015 2:16:36 GMT
Parker scowled a bit at Cooper, ticking an eyebrow up at him. Not liking the way that Cooper had spoken to Liv but still a bit uncomfortable with the way that all of this was unfolding and effecting other aspects of his life. "Cooper, you're on very thin ice at the moment."
Cooper chuckled and shook his head. "I am? You're out of your depth, the both of you are." A thousand volatile words were on the tip of his tongue and he remembered the way he used to use them before he turned to Maddy though and nodded, "Yeah, you're right, sorry."
Riley still wasn't sure she understood the point of the White Party. She did in theory, but she knew that at the end of the day events like this were for appearances, alcohol, and ammunition amongst the gossip mongers. Her hand in Adam's she sipped her drink and looked around before spotting Brandon Finn and Cooper Benson before realizing who all they were standing with. "Well, that looks like trouble," she admitted softly before squeezing her fiance's hand. "Maddy's over there though," she observed and that was all she needed to start walking towards them. She approached the group and would have been stupid not to sense the tension. So she smiled - almost goofily. "Hey guys, what's going on?" she asked, playing naive.
Amber blinked at Riley's greeting before turning away to mask the complete fit of giggles that were taking over.
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Post by Madison Benson on Sept 4, 2015 15:08:56 GMT
Adam knew that in these sorts of social situations that he struggled with knowing the right things to say and do. When preparing a case, whether it was for or against a company or an individual, it was easy to know what needed to be said, what needed to be done in order to get a certain action or reaction. It was all pretty standardized, but what he had come to terms with over the course of his time with this group was that there was no predictability. In fact, the only thing that he knew for sure was that some sort of drama was never far away. And instead of charging head-first into it as Riley seemed to want to do, he would have preferred to stay as far away from it as possible. He trailed her over to the small group and surveyed them with interest.
Madison felt a sense of relief as she spotted Riley and Adam heading toward them. It always seemed better to have strength in numbers, and she wasn't sure how many people it was going to take to make her feel more comfortable about Olivia and Parker. Honestly, there probably weren't enough people in the world that would make her feel comfortable around them. She smiled at Riley, "Hi - you look great," she complimented, trying to ignore the name calling that had just occurred. "We're just ... chatting." She offered up, trying to will this entire thing to just go away.
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Post by Amber Jacobs on Sept 4, 2015 16:23:33 GMT
Parker was still busy glaring at Cooper when Riley and Adam approached, ticking his eyebrow up he shook his head. “Nicholls,” he greeted coolly. “I knew this event had something to do with getting attention for underprivileged women, are you here to actually represent them?” he asked calmly, flashing a small grin. He hadn’t been a fan of the way Cooper had just belittled the both of them and happened to find Riley to be the nearest and most obvious target. Because if Cooper wanted to say that they didn’t belong, it was almost certain that the redhead didn’t either.
When Parker seemed to set his sights on Riley instead, Cooper grimaced – almost eager to jump back into it with the man. But instead he knew Riley could fend for herself.
Riley chose, for the moment to ignore the British couple and focus her attention on Maddy. “You look great, too,” she nodded.
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Post by Madison Benson on Sept 4, 2015 16:45:28 GMT
That was it - Madison had had enough of this stupid belittling and childish attitude, particularly that coming from Parker and Olivia. Everyone here was an adult now and she knew that Riley was more than capable of sticking up for herself, but Maddy was tired of being the quiet bystander as her best friend was continuously attacked by people who should have grown up enough in the last decade to move past the childishness. She smiled softly at Riley, saying a quick thank you before sighing and turning her attention toward Parker. "I think that's quite enough. I don't care what Olivia has to say about me, or even if you want to say that kind of stuff to my face, but I'm going to stand here and let you attack my friends for absolutely no reason. Maybe it's my fault for believing you when you said that you were trying to be a better person when clearly your decision to get involved with Olivia shows a lack of commitment to that." She shook her head, dismissing the entire conversation and whatever retaliating she was sure was still impending.
"It's so ... interesting to me that you continue to come back to the same old taunts, all of you. And then you continue to emphasize how much you have all grown out of this petty name-calling and games when the reality is that you're the ones who continue to rise to the bait." Olivia remarked, giving a little half-shrug. "It's obvious that your own lives, as adult as you claim that they are, must be so boring." She glanced over at Brandon, a small smirk tugging on her lips. Oh the ways that they used to amuse themselves, she mused to herself. And sure, she found Parker to be wonderfully entertaining, but there had been a certain benefit to feeling as though she had something of a "get out of jail free" card. But, as everyone kept reminding each other, things changed. And yet, somehow poking at their buttons didn't seem to get any less amusing.
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Post by Amber Jacobs on Sept 4, 2015 17:06:03 GMT
Parker smirked at Liv for a moment before his eyes settled on Madison for a moment. He opened his mouth to say something, but a warning look from Cooper caused him to snap it shut again.
Amber’s eyebrow ticked up at Liv’s comment and, though she would never admit it, it got under her skin a little bit. “Maddy’s right, that’s enough,” she stated flatly, taking a long sip from her drink and handing off the glass to a server passing by. “I’m going to go check on the rest of the party. You all retreat to your corners, have a good time, or claw each other’s eyes out for all I care at this point.” She touched Brandon’s arm gently, “Want to come see what Cassidy is up to?”
Riley glanced up as Amber moved to leave and asked Brandon to go with her. “Finn, we’re going to need to meet tomorrow morning, first thing if that’s okay.”
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Post by Madison Benson on Sept 4, 2015 17:43:28 GMT
There was probably never going to be a time where it felt comfortable being on the outside of whatever was happening, and truthfully, Brandon wasn't used to he and Amber not being responsible for their fair share of the drama. He looked to Riley and nodded, "I'll make sure that there's time on my calendar for us to meet." As much as he hated to see this weekend end, part of him was looking forward to getting back to his daily routine. Besides, he still had to get used to having Amber live in the Penthouse, and he was sure they had plenty of surfaces they still needed to officially break in. Turning toward Amber, he placed his hand on the small of her back, leading her away from the little group. "As much as I appreciate not being part of that, I have to say - I don't know that I'll ever get used to not being in the center of it," he admitted to her.
Maddy sighed, wishing that she would have thought to order a stronger drink before. Or multiple of them. Taking a drink from her glass she turned her attention back toward Riley, ignoring the other two entirely. "How has your weekend been? Has it been a nice little vacation?"
Liv flipped her hair over her shoulder and placed her hand on Parker's arm. "I need a new drink and someone more interesting to talk to," she remarked, leading him away from the small group.
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Post by Amber Jacobs on Sept 4, 2015 19:02:44 GMT
“I’ll be honest, I’m glad not to be in the middle of all of it anymore, but it takes some getting used to,” Amber agreed. “But if you ever miss being the center of attention, I’m sure I have a handful of ways to focus my time and energy on you,” she teased. “We need some new friends though,” she joked.
Riley smiled at Madison, her hand reaching down to find Adam’s. “It’s been nice,” she admitted. While at first it had been a bit difficult for her to leave her phone on silent and ignore her urge to get some work done, it had then become surprisingly easy to let herself fall into a comfortable routine of being on vacation with Adam. "I was actually wondering if when we get back, if you wanted to do lunch and help me out with a few wedding things," she grinned, knowing Maddy was extremely excited about her wedding.
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Post by Adam Tyler on Sept 5, 2015 19:45:11 GMT
There was a certain bit of truth to Amber's joke, he had to admit. It did seem that wherever they seemed to find themselves with their friends, drama was soon to follow. And maybe, Brandon admitted, it had more to do with the people that their friends tended to attract. Riley and Adam Tyler, for instance. As much as he might have been reluctant to admit that he had come to consider her a friend, he still was struggling to come to terms with the reappearance of Adam in his small group of friends. It was ironic how small the city sometimes seemed to be. He smiled at Amber and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. "I'll keep that in mind. Should we attempt to get as far away from them as possible?"
Madison grinned brightly at her best friend. "Really? What are you thinking? Do you already have ideas? I'm so excited for you. I'm going to warn you though, I will be living vicariously through you, so please tell me when to reign it in. Otherwise you might end up with a pumpkin carriage and little mice assistants," she teased. The downfall of having spent the majority of her life with her nose stuck in books, she had perhaps grandiose expectations of happily ever after, and since Riley was the first truly close friend that was getting married, she was probably going to have to deal with a little bit of overzealousness. But, when it came down to it, she really just wanted her friend to be truly happy. Which, Maddy had to admit, she seemed to be the happiest she had seen her in a while.
Adam smiled softly at Riley, tightening his grip on her hand for a second. It had taken a little while for them to get used to their little vacation lifestyle, and while it hadn't been easy to get Riley to leave work behind at first, he now found himself not wanting to leave. Life with Riley had become so second nature, it almost made him more excited to really begin their lives together. So he was pleasantly surprised when he heard her ask Madison for help wedding planning. "Oh, we're starting the planning now?" He asked with a grin.
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