by Reber, Tina
“Then what happened?” Ryan whispered.
I heard Pete clear his throat. He had lowered his voice to the point that it was almost hard to hear him. “She went over to his apartment one afternoon and caught him in bed screwing some girl. That was that. She finally saw it with her own eyes. Took all that I had within me not to go over there and crush his fucking skull.”
“She said something about some guy and how one woman wasn’t enough. Now I understand. She never told me she was engaged though.”
“Does it matter?” Pete questioned him.
“No. Not one bit. I just don’t know why she didn’t mention it to me.”
“Well, it’s pretty obvious to me. You’re not just some guy, Ryan! You’ve got girls lining up all around the world for you. You don’t think something like that isn’t going to make whatever girl you’re with a bit insecure?
“Taryn is up there just hanging on by a thread, waiting for you to bolt the minute you find someone else. Tell you the truth, we’re all kind of preparing for that day.”
“I can tell you that that isn’t gonna happen. That woman up there is mine. I’m never going to let her go. In my mind, there is no one else,” Ryan declared.
I felt a slight rush in my chest and gasped from hearing him say that.
“Well, I hope what you say is true. I mean you’ve only known her for a couple of weeks,” Pete stressed, a hint of doubt etched his voice.
I heard a glass bottle clink on the counter.
“You want to know why she’s fighting you?” Pete asked somewhat harshly. “Because she is smart enough to know that the day will come when you’re not here every day. You’ve got more opportunities than most men could ever dream of to meet women. You don’t even have to try to get laid - there’s a whole selection waiting and willing right out there on her sidewalk!
“Taryn is an intelligent, attractive woman. Let me tell ya, she’s not without opportunities of her own. You should see how many guys drool over her every day.”
“I know. I’ve seen plenty of them hit on her,” Ryan admitted.
“Yeah, they do. But she’s not like that – she never was. And when some dirt bag from Seaport didn’t think enough of her not to cheat on her, what’s to say you won’t do the same?” Pete asked.
“When you’re out there doing your thing and some hot model climbs on your lap and sticks her tits in your face… you gonna be able to resist that?
“This is her life here, Ryan. This is her stability. It’s the only thing she can count on in this world. She struggled and suffered for every bit of it. And you come in here, taking that over.
“When you break up with her, every time she looks at that new wall or that new door…
“Ah, just do us all a favor - if you aren’t one hundred percent in love with Taryn and ready to make a life with her, then stop. Don’t do what you’re doing. Please don't hurt her like that.”
“Pete, I don’t want to take anything over or hurt her,” Ryan said somberly. “I want to share everything I have with her. My life, my money… I want her to be the mother of my children one day.”
I flinched back from the shock of hearing his admission.
I heard Ryan sigh loudly. “Pete, I know you don’t know me that well but believe me, I’m done with the meaningless shit. I’ve been crazy about Taryn since the first…”
Since the first what? I leaned closer to the wall to hear him.
“Huh. I just realized something. She has been taking care of me since the first day that I met her. Not even - from the first ten seconds of me setting foot in this place. Knowing Taryn, she probably never told you the real story of how we met.
“She stopped the fans that were chasing me. She shut this whole place down for me, and here she is… doing it again. No wonder she’s so sad today. I’m messing with her safety net. Oh fuck, how do I fix this?”
“I don’t know,” Pete muttered. “Marry her? Never leave her for some Hollywood slut? What kind of answer are you looking for?”
“Pete, I’m so in love with her and I’ve told her that already. I’ve never felt this way before, about anyone. I know what I want. I want a life with her.”
“I know Ryan. I can tell just by the way you look at her.” Pete sighed heavily. “Oh, man, well, just treat her right ‘cause I’d hate like hell to have to break that nice jaw of yours if you ever break her heart.”
Chapter 20 - Insight
“I’ll be filming when you pick my parents up, so I’ll call you when I get a break,” Ryan said, rubbing the shampoo in my hair.
I leaned back to rinse under the water. “I thought I’d take them to lunch near the set; there’s a really nice restaurant down by the pier.”
“Just so you know… my dad is going to insist on paying for lunch. It will offend him if you argue.” He looked at me with a knowing smirk on his lips.
“Like father, like son?” I asked jokingly, rubbing the soap bubbles on his chest.
“Exactly! But when we take them to dinner tomorrow, he’ll pass the check to me - just watch. Hey, do you want to bring them to the set this afternoon instead? I’d really like you to see what I do for a living, since you won’t watch any of my movies.”
“I don’t know,” I murmured. “Won’t that cause problems with you-know-who?”
Ryan grimaced at me. “I don’t care. I want my girlfriend... my love,” he looked me in the eyes, “to know what I do and where I go every day. I want you to trust me. I need you to trust me, Taryn.”
“Are you sure it won’t disturb you or ruin your performance? I don’t want to mmm-”
His wet mouth was locked on mine, stopping my words in mid stream.
“Please.” He kissed me again softly, resting his forehead on mine. “I need you to understand what I do. I need you to see that when I’m on set, I’m an actor. That what I do is pretend. My lips, my heart, and my body… they belong to you.”
I looked up at him and nodded. After eavesdropping on his conversation with Pete, I knew he wanted me to trust him.
“Do I have to make a poster and scream Ryan, Ryan?” I kidded.
“Hah!” He laughed. “The only time I want to hear you scream my name is when I’m making love to you. Although you did call me God the other night. That’s acceptable, too.” He leaned down and gave me another kiss.
I put on my nice dark trouser jeans, white long sleeved cotton top, with my brown suede zip jacket and a soft green scarf wrapped around my neck. I wanted to look nice the first time I met his parents, and I was nervous since I was meeting them alone.
We had agreed that I would bring his parents to see him in action tomorrow. Ryan showed me a picture of his mom and dad to help me recognize them easier, although I must admit it was hard to commit a picture flashed at me to memory. Both of his parents were in their upper fifties in age, but still looked quite vibrant and youthful. At least I knew that his poor parents would be seeking me out in the airport too.
I was, of course, photographed walking down the sidewalk to my car. I opted for leaving by the front door since most of the paparazzi were now loitering by my back door. I allowed my eyes to scan the area for any signs of the old blue Plymouth, and I was relieved that her car was nowhere to be seen. There were, however, a few love notes stuck to my car. I collected them and shoved them into the center console.
I kept checking my rear view mirror for any signs of photographers following me as I drove to the airport. I was relieved that I didn’t see any.
My nerves were getting the better of me as I stood in the open entrance to the airport; my stomach was filled with butterflies. Dads were always easier to win over; I knew from experience that it was always the mothers that were the challenge.
It was almost ten thirty when a new stream of passengers started to pass by. Their flight from Newark actually landed a few minutes early.
“Taryn?” A lovely woman politely approached me. His mother was just as I had pictured. She was about an inch shorter tha
n me, five-five-ish, thin but softly padded by well earned years. She also had reddish brown hair that was long and thick on the top but cut short to her neck. I recognized her instantly; Ryan had his mother’s features and most definitely her eyes.
“Yes! Mrs. Christensen! It’s so nice to meet you!” We gave each other a hug.
“Oh, it’s so nice to meet you too, dear! Please, call me Ellen. This is Ryan’s father, Bill.”
I instinctively reached out my hand to shake his but he pulled me in for an awkward hug. “It’s so nice to meet you, sir!”
“It’s nice to finally meet you too, young lady!” Bill said with a huge grin on his face.
Ryan’s father was tall, just like Ryan, but with another thirty or so pounds of weight. I could see bits of his father in Ryan too. Bill’s face was rounder and clean-shaven and he wore rectangular wire-rimmed glasses. Ryan inherited his hair color from his father, although Bill’s hair had tinges of gray mingled in it. I pictured Ryan taking on his father’s looks one day.
“So this must be the Infiniti my son keeps telling me about,” Bill said from the passenger seat. I smiled as he ran his fingers over the dash.
“Ryan likes to drive it, and to be honest, I rather enjoy it when he does. He’s a great driver,” I stated proudly.
“We have his car in our garage back home. It was the first thing he bought when he cashed in his first big paycheck. Come to think of it, that car is the only thing he bought. I’m going to have to remind him that he can afford his own garage now. Then my car doesn’t have to sit in the driveway.”
“You will do no such thing, Bill,” Ellen reprimanded. “At least we know that we can get him to come home every once and a while, even if it is to visit his car.”
“Our son tells us that you’ve never seen any of his movies. Is that really true?” Bill pressed.
“Yes sir, it’s true.” I nodded my head. “I’ve never seen him act before. He wants us to come to the set tomorrow, so I suppose I’ll get to see him perform for the first time then.”
Ellen laughed out loud. “I believe you’re the only woman on the planet who hasn’t seen his movies.”
“To be honest, I think it’s better that way,” I justified.
Ryan’s ringtone began to play on my cell phone. I knew he was going to be on edge until his parents were safely in my care. His behaviors were becoming so predictable.
I drove down the coast to a nice restaurant that jutted out over the ocean. We had a lovely view of the Atlantic from our window table.
Ryan’s parents were very nice and friendly towards me. I had expected to be grilled with questions, but Ryan had apparently filled them in with a lot of details so our conversation was more validation of the things they already knew.
I told them about attending Brown University and my career goals at that time, and my current involvements with the vineyards and the pub. His parents asked a lot of questions about the vineyard businesses and the details of co-ownership, and I was happy to tell them what I knew.
His father was keen on knowing as much as he could about diversifying his holdings and investment opportunities other than the standard retirement plans. We had a long conversation just on that subject alone.
It was apparent throughout the conversation that his father was worried about Ryan’s money and making sure it was properly invested. I told them that I felt Ryan was looking to expand into other areas of opportunity but I didn’t go into specifics. I certainly didn’t want them to know how willing he was to dump his money into refurbishing the kitchen in my pub.
The last thing I wanted was for his parents to think I was only after their famous son’s money. I tried to inadvertently express how I was doing financially so they would be at ease knowing that I’m a smart businesswoman all on my own and I have my own money in the bank.
They told me stories about Ryan and how he liked to draw pictures of houses when he was younger. His parents always thought that he’d become an architect one day. Even when he was a child, everything he drew or built had to be symmetrical. Block buildings, tinker toys, Lego’s - everything was always designed evenly.
Ellen recalled how Ryan’s modeling career started - she took Ryan to get his picture taken when he was three years old and the photographer suggested that she take him to one of the local modeling agencies. Soon after that, Ryan was pictured in national clothing store fliers modeling children’s clothing. His pictures were even used in a few parenting magazines. She promised to show them to me one day. I’m sure that would embarrass Ryan to no end.
It was late in his high school years when he became active in the drama club. His mother said he was a natural on the stage. I loved listening to her stories - to hear the pride in her voice when she spoke of him.
They also spoke a lot about their other son, Nick, and his wife, Janelle, and how they met at work and fell madly in love. They had been married three years now and had their first daughter, Sarah, almost ten months ago. His parents were very easy to talk to, and I had the same feeling talking to them as I did when I first met Ryan.
Just as Ryan had stated, his father snatched up the restaurant bill even before the waitress set it on the table. I held out my hand, for I really did want to treat them to lunch, but his father waived for me to put my hand down and strung a few no, no, no’s along as he reached for his wallet. I dropped it as to not offend his father.
I took them for a brief drive around the area, showing them the only two spots where I knew Ryan had filmed. I spared them the details about the two women who were arrested storming onto the movie set when they filmed on the beach. I figured they too had enough to worry about.
I drove down my street, showing them the front of my building while also secretly assessing how many fans and paparazzi were staked out. I drove down the alley, despite having paparazzi lurking there as well. Ryan’s father quickly unloaded their luggage from my trunk.
I was surprised to see that his father knew the little Italian photographer. “Jimmy? Jimmy Pop? Are you still chasing my son?” Bill asked.
“Oh, Mr. Christensen, oi!” Jimmy said in his thick accent, tossing his cigarette butt into the alley. “Mrs. Christensen! You look so lovely! Oh, my, my! What a blessed day! How are you?”
“We’re well! We’re here visiting our son. You guys aren’t bothering him too much, are you?” Bill teased.
“Oh, no, no! Well, you know, it’s a job. I miss when your boy works in nice, warm places. This cold weather, it’s no good for my hands. Oh the pain,” Jimmy said, rubbing his arthritic fingers.
While we stood there talking to Jimmy, other photographers took our picture. His parents didn’t seem to be phased by it.
“Your son… he has a lovely girl here! Look, look, how pretty! Oh, makes my heart happy!” Jimmy patted his chest. “She not like those others.” He waived a crooked finger in the air. “She’s very nice.”
“Thank you, sir. That’s very kind.” I smiled at him.
“See? She call me sir. No other one call me sir. They all say ‘Jimmy you go away.’ ”
I noticed how Jimmy’s pants seemed to be two sizes too big. The front of his pants puckered where his belt cinched up the extra fabric. He was looking malnourished.
“Jimmy, are you hungry? I have a half of a sandwich here that I didn’t touch. Would you like it?” I handed him the Styrofoam box.
“You give me food?” He looked inside to see the other half of my chicken club wrap and a new bag of chips that I didn’t eat.
I nodded my head. “You put that in your belly. I’m going to take Ryan’s parents in now. They’ve had a long trip.”
“Bless you, Miss Taryn. Bless you!”
I quickly moved my car to the lot and noticed the old, blue Plymouth parked on the opposite corner of Mulberry Street. Angelica was sitting in her car again. Just seeing her, knowing that she was doing nothing with her life other than stalking us, sent a chill of fright down my spine. I hurried down the alley to my back door to f
lee psycho girl’s view.
“I’m sorry for the disarray, but I’m remodeling. Please come in.” I walked them into the main bar area and turned on the dimmer lights. I turned the billiard room light on too so they could see the entire pub.
Bill walked over to the pool table. “So this is where it happened?” He tapped his fingers on the felt, looking at me for confirmation.
My cheeks suddenly became flushed and a wave of panic coursed through my chest. How much did Ryan share with his father? Did he tell his dad about ripping my panties off and bending me over the pool table? Bill was standing in almost the same exact spot.
I looked at him like a deer caught in headlights.
“Where he met you?” his father continued.
Oh, thank God.
“Yes!” I breathed out. “He came through that door and…” I opened my hands.
“Ryan told us how the girls were chasing him,” Ellen added. She knew I was keeping the details out.
“Speaking of girls…” I walked over to my front door and retrieved today’s pile of love letters. There were at least thirty today.
“You get a lot of mail,” Ellen commented.
“It’s not my mail. These are all for your son. His admirers have started to leave their love notes in my mail slot. They cover my car with letters too. These girls must think he has a real open-minded girlfriend or something.”
“Let me see, please.” Bill reached for a sample. I willingly handed him the pile.
He tore one of the envelopes open. This one happened to have a picture of a naked girl in it. I could tell by the way his eyes bugged out in his face.
“They know no boundaries,” I muttered. “A few days ago I caught two of them trying to break into my apartment to see him.”
“Ellen, it’s getting worse. We have to talk to him.” His father was very displeased with whatever he saw in the next few envelopes.
I helped carry their luggage upstairs to my apartment. Bill and Ellen appeared amazed when they saw the lovely conditions their son was living in. They showered me with compliments. I had spent extra time cleaning and preparing for their arrival last night to make sure they would be pleased.