by Kaci Hart
When she finished speaking, she saw that the song Ryder and his mother were dancing to was winding down. She excused herself and headed to the dance floor, cutting in to get the next dance.
When Mrs. Chatham returned to the table, Royce had already walked off and she spoke to her husband.
“So, what do you think of her?”
“This is going to surprise you, but I actually like her. She doesn’t have all the direction she needs, but she is a good, strong woman. I think she might be just what he needs. She reminds me of you a bit with how you grounded me. God knows if I didn’t have you, I’d be a real jerk.”
His wife scoffed at him.
“As opposed to what you are now at times?”
“Exactly.”
They looked on in pleasure as they watched their son glide across the dance floor with a grin on his face that was the size of Texas.
Chapter 7
Ryder looked up at the gray, stormy skies as he neared the end of the hour long drive from his parents’ home to Chelsea’s apartment.
“It was nice of your mother to let me stay the night.”
Ryder thought it was pretty cool as well. The night as a whole went better than he could have even imagined that it would. Before they had realized it, they had been talking until almost midnight. Before he or Chelsea could protest, his mother had already sent one of the female members of her staff to an up all night store to pick up items to wear to bed and a new outfit for the drive home the next day. In the meantime, Ryder had to sit there and listen to Chelsea get regaled with stories of his childhood that even he’d forgotten.
“It was nice of you to do so. You made her day, I can guarantee you that. She’s been waiting for the day that I brought a serious girl around for her to meet.”
Chelsea chimed in before he could start his next sentence, a devious smile on her face.
“Oh really? What about Phaedra?”
Ryder stopped and thought for a moment about her question. Chelsea was extremely bright and not much slipped past her when she was paying attention.
“Fine, you got me. But do I really have to count her in every previous girlfriend or boyfriend conversation we have? She was so much more serious about her and me than I ever was.”
“Sorry buddy, she has to be included for two reasons. First, did you date, kiss, etc. in any way whatsoever? Don’t answer, we both know it’s yes. That alone makes her a girlfriend. The second thing is that you can’t forget I met her. I’ve seen how you get when she is around and if that isn’t ex-girlfriend cringing that I see, then I don’t know what is.”
“Hey, you’ve met her so you know how much fun she can be. Either way, the point was that my mother really was ecstatic to meet you. When I told her I was bringing a date, she thought it was a lie. More than anything, I’m just happy that my dad’s comment didn’t make you hate me.”
Ryder blamed himself for walking away from the table while his father and Chelsea sat the table. His saving grace was that Royce made it a point to tell Ryder and their mother what Mr. Chatham had said, basically turning the whole family against him for the night until Chelsea made sure that everyone knew she was alright with it. Regardless, Ryder really didn’t appreciate what his father had said to her.
“You can’t be held accountable for the silly things that someone else says. Having said that, your dad is interesting to say the least. I can see how you would want to warn a date about him but I’ve met guys that are loads more stuck up. Besides, he did do a really good job of raising you so I can cut him a little slack.”
“Well that’s nice of you. And the way you set him in his place afterwards. I didn’t think anyone could handle him like that except my mother but you are something else Chelsea Warner.”
“Thanks. Really Ryder I had a great time. You made me think that I was going to be walking into a den of wolves but your family was really much more fun than I would have ever imagined. Definitely different than mine but that’s not a bad thing at all. And your little brother is a riot. It’s like he’s full of jokes. The one he told about you at the grocery store. He really tricked me good.”
“Yeah, he used to hang out a lot with my eccentric grandpa after he transferred a lot of the business over to my father. With dad literally grooming me for the takeover from age ten I was always too busy in some form or fashion to hang with grandpa, so Royce was the old man’s attempt to reclaim the chance to be a grandparent that he had lost due to working so much. That’s all I can say is wrong with him. Too much grandpa for one kid to handle. I still remember thinking even at that young age that I wouldn’t let myself work so much that I had to go back and try to find a way to make up for all the things I missed. Yet I still find that I’ve pushed a lot off for the business already.”
“Well you’ve got plenty of time left. All you have to do is choose now.”
“You see Chelsea. That’s what I love so much about you. Hopeless workaholics like me need a little optimism in our lives when we deal with the things we do. You make my life a lot better Chelsea and I’m grateful that you came with me.”
Ryder looked over at her and saw her look away--blushing.
“You are a smooth talker when you want to be, you know that?”
“Hey, I’m just being honest. I wouldn’t have asked you to come if I didn’t really enjoy spending my time with you. Dad knew that and that’s most likely the reason that he said what he did to you. He knows how reserved I am and that I wouldn’t bring a woman to meet my family unless I considered her special on a myriad of levels. I really do hope that you’ll be with me long enough to see exactly how unique you are to me.”
Ryder reached over to place his hand on hers as they drove--still talking the remainder of the ride home. Not for a second did he let her hand go until he had pulled the car to a stop at her place. Reaching around to the back seat of the car, he grabbed the umbrella. It was one of those so called oversized ones that was still in no way near big enough for multiple people. He flashed the umbrella in front of Chelsea and shrugged.
“Sorry, this is all that I have.”
“It’s ok. I don’t mind getting a little wet. We’ll just have to make it work.”
He got out of the car, opened the umbrella and walked around to her side of the car. He opened the door and as the rain pelted her legs he heard Chelsea squeal. She moved under the covering of the umbrella, and they ran towards the complex doors, laughing like kids the whole way. When they reached the front door Chelsea opened it and as he got ready to turn around, she grabbed him by the arm, pulling him into the building.
“No way you are going back out there again until it calms down at least a little bit.”
Ryder didn’t mind. It was the first time he would have a chance to see the inside of her apartment since they had started dating. They took the newly fixed elevator up and when they got in, he nodded his head.
Not so bad.
He thought it was kind of quaint. Just the way he imagined the apartment of two twenty something year old women would look.
“So that’s what it looks like in here.”
She looked at the goofy grin on his face.
“What you expected?”
“I don’t know. I was expecting more. . . pink. I guess.”
“Not as pink as I would have guessed but nice.”
“Stereotype much Ryder. Every girl doesn’t have to have pink all over her apartment.”
“Now I know. Well all I could ever do was guess. I’ll have you know that at one point in time, I thought you had some kind of secret in here that you didn’t want me to see.”
“Secret? Not so much any of those, unless you count my roommate. Speaking of which. Wait here just one second.”
She left the room and Ryder looked around the apartment. He really had expected a little more pink. He overheard Chelsea and someone talking around the corner as his phone started to ring. It was his dad. He really didn’t want to talk to him but that had never stopped him be
fore. No need to start a precedent.
“Hi Dad. What’s going on?”
As he listened to his father talk for the next minute or two, his countenance dropped. Could he not just have one day to himself? Based on what he was hearing, apparently not.
“I understand. I’ll be over soon.”
***
A very happy Chelsea left Ryder alone in the living room and practically floated to Sasha’s door, knocking lightly enough that it wouldn’t wake her if she was asleep. She wasn’t.
“Hey Chel. You’re back from your night out with mister dreamsicle himself. That must have been fun! I can’t believe you didn’t come home though. Did you finally . . . you know?”
“Ugh, I’m not talking to you about that at all so stop asking me. Especially when you know the answer.”
“Ooooh you’re defensive. That’s because you totally did but you don’t want to tell me right?”
“If you want to believe that, I’m not going to argue with you.”
“Then at least tell me how everything else went.”
Chelsea was getting a little impatient with her.
“How about I do that later?”
Chelsea heard Ryder’s phone chirp followed by his voice which easily carried itself to every corner of her small home. Sasha covered her mouth in apparent embarrassment.
“I’m so sorry for this. I did not mean to just pop in on you like this without any warning but it’s coming down so bad out there that I invited him in. Is that going to be okay with you?”
Sasha gave her an incredulous look. When she thought about the question she had just posed, she realized just how silly it was to ask. Considering the number of times that Sasha had brought a man by the house with absolutely no warning for Chelsea, it should go without question that this was not going to be an issue at all. Chelsea recalled one such time that resulted in her walking out of her bedroom in a very skimpy nighty to get a drink only to walk right past Sasha and her then current boyfriend making out rather unexpectedly on the couch.
“You know I don’t care at all if you finally bring a man home. I never thought I’d actually see the day but I definitely don’t mind.”
“Thanks for understanding. I’ll talk to you after he leaves, ok?”
“Alright. I’m proud of you by the way.”
Sasha closed the door, leaving Chelsea perplexed. She was getting congratulations on bringing a guy home. She made a mental note that she really needed to find a roommate that had much higher standards. She didn’t have much time to dwell on that now though as she made her way back to Ryder who was ending his call.
“Would you like anything to drink?”
“No, thank you. Chelsea I know that I said I’d stay for a while but the phone call I was on just now was from my father. It turns out that he wants Trent and I to head over to Japan today to meet with one of our big clients. I am going to be gone for the next week, maybe two depending on how the talks go.”
She did nothing but look at him as he walked over slowly to her and kissed her lightly on her forehead. He cradled her face with his hands. Not that it made things any better because it did no such thing.
“Don’t worry, I didn’t forget my promise to you. No matter what I will make sure I am back in time for the wedding.”
Chelsea hadn’t even thought about that. She was simply surprised at how he had to change his plans on the drop of a dime. There she was, thinking that she would get to spend time with him and he was off to work. Worse than that, she wasn’t going to see her boyfriend for at least two weeks. She started to feel bad for him when she thought about their relationship and realized that she should really be used to this aspect of things by now but wasn’t. The truth was that it happened quite a lot. They would be out for lunch or dinner and he would get a phone call sending him either into the office or on an emergency trip. He’d be the poster boy for sky miles if the family didn’t have a private jet.
“Yeah, the wedding. You better not have forgotten or I’d hunt you down. By hook or by crook, you are gonna be my date. I need to be able to show you off to Ava. All the months that we have been dating and for no real reason that I can think of, she hasn’t been able to meet you in person. This wedding is my chance to prove to her that you are a flesh and blood man that I am with and not just some fib I made up to get her of my back. Forget the wedding? Like I would really let that happen.”
“Well now you’ve got me scared! Honestly I don’t even want to go on this trip. I already know that it’s going to be boring beyond measure. I wish I could bring you with me.”
Chelsea responded very matter-of-factly.
“Hello, I know you aren’t serious. Do you think I can just get up and leave? I’ve got commitments. Students. Classes. Rent. Besides that, I’m not the one going on another trip that I don’t want to. I don’t understand you sometimes. Ryder if you don’t want to go, then just don’t go. I really don’t see what the problem is here.”
This was the one conversation she hated having with him. The closer they got to one another, the more difficult it was to see him do things that made him unhappy just for his job. Just to please his father. What about pleasing himself?
“It’s not that easy Chelsea. I can’t just do whatever I want to do all the time. I’ve got responsibilities.”
Chelsea’s gaze hardened a bit as she looked up into his eyes.
“Are you saying I don’t?”
She listened as he stumbled over his words, trying without much success to explain what he really had meant to her.
“No babe. You know that’s not what I meant at all. Cut me a little slack please. All I’m saying is that the company is depending on me to close this deal. I don’t have the luxury of being able to choose whether or not I want to go. It was decided for me when I took this position.”
She didn’t like that about Ryder. As in control and suave as he was, when it came to work he really had a bad habit of letting his father make him run all over the place. It was almost like he was looking for validation or his father’s approval and she couldn’t stand that he wouldn’t just stand up for himself when it came right down to it.
“But don’t you get some kind of say? I mean, this is your life as well. You can’t just live for the company. You just told me yourself how you didn’t want to make the same mistakes as your grandfather but you’re choosing that right now.”
“Chelsea, you just don’t understand. I have to do this.”
He walked up to her, holding her in his hands.
“I tell you what. When I come back from this trip, it will be just you and me. I’ll pull back from work a bit and just spend some time with you. Once I get this deal done, things will be a little more relaxed at the office and it won’t be such an issue.”
She realized with his plea to appease her that she had gotten a little louder and more excited with him than she would have wanted. She was startled a bit herself at how much passion she felt about it, but the last thing he needed was her breathing down his back. He got enough of that from good old dad on a regular basis.
“Fine. I wasn’t saying that for me anyway. I was saying it for the part of you that you are ignoring.”
“Well thank you very much. I appreciate you more than you know Chelsea.”
“Yeah, yeah. Show me when you get back.”
“Alright. I promise I will.”
Chelsea led Ryder to the door and hugged him goodbye, closing the door behind him as he left. She heard Sasha’s door creak open.
“Are you ok Chelsea?”
She turned around to see Sasha shuffle out of her bedroom with a look of understanding and compassion on her face.
“Yeah of course. Did you hear all that?”
“Um yeah. I didn’t try but it was hard not to. You were really up in arms for a second there. I’ve never seen you care about something so much. This guy is really having an effect on you, isn’t he?”
Chelsea knew she had lied to him. She had told him
that she wasn’t acting that way for herself but truth be told she knew that she was. She wanted him to stand up for himself but she also wanted him to choose to stay with her rather than go to work. The rushing off had become a regular occurrence and him choosing to stay with her rather than run off to who knows where at least one time would be nice. Maybe it would happen, but it wouldn’t be that night.
“More than I’d like to admit. It’s kind of scary.”