by S. L. Jayne
“Wow, Ry. I don’t know what to say, I was expecting you to tell me how you feel about him but holy shit I wasn’t expecting that. I think it’s so sweet that you feel that way about him and I guess you didn’t hear him or you just chose to ignore what he said last night when he said he stands by day in and day out watching you, wanting you… He wants you, Ry,” I say, smiling.
I wait a few seconds for what I just said to sink in as we make our way into the Ashby building.
“I don’t remember that. Shit. Ava, he’s going to think I don’t care about his feelings. He really said that? He really wants me?” She says before starting to bite her lip.
“Yes, he really said that! Now will you get it into your head that Mr-I’m-too-drool-worthy wants you?” I laugh.
Rylee’s laugh echoes around the lobby. “Shut up, Ava. I’m saying nothing, you’ve had enough out of me this morning,” she says through her laughter.
Chapter Twenty Two
The sound of my phone ringing woke me from my deep sleep. I bolted upright in a panic that I had overslept for work, I’ve never overslept for work before. As my eyes adjust to being open I squint over to the clock on my nightstand and notice it’s still early and my alarm isn’t due to go off for another thirty minutes. Looking at my phone I see Rylee’s name and slide my finger across the screen to answer.
“Why couldn’t you just come into my room and tell me whatever it is you want to say?” I say sleepily.
“Strawberry and banana or blueberry pancakes? Which ones do you want?” Rylee’s voice rushes out through the phone.
Pancakes, really?
“What? Where are you, Ry?” I reply confused.
“I’m at the café, miss-giggle-a-lot is waiting for my order. I need to know what you want, I was just going to get you the strawberry and banana ones because you always have those but I wasn’t sure. Do we have milk? I need to see if we have stuff in for dinner, Connor will be hungry when they get here. That boy can eat, oh and I need to get them from the airport too,” she sighs.
Okay, Rylee is in full panic mode. I could almost hear her brain ticking over with her mentally listing things, I should have expected her to be this way with today being so big for her.
“Calm down, Ry, you’re panicking. The strawberry and banana ones are perfect and yes we have milk. Don’t worry about dinner or picking them up, we’ll sort it out. Okay?”
“Okay. I’ll be back in five.”
“See you in a few, I’ll make coffee,” I say as I climb out of bed and make my way down the hall.
Placing the coffees on the breakfast bar I hear the front door open and close. Rylee rushes through to the kitchen practically running, dropping the bag of pancakes onto the counter she throws herself at me as she flings her arms around my neck and rests her head on my shoulder.
“What’s happened?”
She shakes her head and takes a deep breath. “Nothing has happened, you were right I was panicking and I needed to hug you, kind of a reality check you know? I don’t know if I can do this, I mean I know I can but I don’t know, does that make any sense?”
I move her back slightly so I can see her face, her eyes are full of doubt and she instinctively starts fiddling with her pendant.
“Take a deep breath and repeat after me,” I say keeping my eyes locked on hers.
“I’m strong and I can do this.”
“I’m strong and I can do this.” She repeats my words quietly.
She isn’t convinced, I can tell.
“I’m stronger now than I have ever been,” I smile at her because we both know that is true.
“I’m stronger now than I have ever been,” she says smiling back at me.
Now we’re getting somewhere.
“I can do this because I am Rylee Blake, I’m a kickass bitch, and that bastard is going to get his karma.”
She throws her head back and bursts out laughing. Mission accomplished.
“I’m not saying that! Although I do know karma is a bigger bitch than I could ever be and I know it will hit him like a freight train.”
“Damn right it will. I have a two hour window this afternoon before my meeting with Mr Ashby so I will take your car and go collect your mom and Connor and bring them to work, we’ll go in separate cars to work and that way you can drive them back here and I’ll be home straight after my meeting. Okay?”
She nods. “Okay, I’ll wait for you at home.”
***
Finally leaving the office, I climb into Rylee’s car turn on the music and make my way to the airport to get Lexi and Connor. I got Rylee to text Connor at lunchtime telling him where I will be parked so they can find me in the masses of traffic that is inevitable with it being a Friday afternoon. Rylee and I went for lunch earlier, she had somewhat calmed down after this morning’s freak out. I think the text she got from Matt helped with that, he was sweet- it said, Breathe for me princess and text me or call me the instant you need me and I’ll be there.
Weaving my way through the god awful traffic I spot Connor at the far end of the parking lot. He is taller than Rylee and Lexi already and he’s only fifteen years old. Rylee takes after her mom in almost every way; height, hair color, skin tone etc. The only thing she didn’t get was her mom’s chocolate brown eyes.
I stop at the curb to let them get in, Connor put their bags in the trunk before climbing into the back seat.
“Hey, how was the flight?” I ask them both.
Connor didn’t hear me, he’s got his headphones on and the music on his iPod turned up loud.
Lexi let out a sigh. “It was good, not too bad. How are you? I heard through the grapevine that you’re with Ryan now, how did that happen?” She smiled.
“Wow, news does travel,” I laugh, “I’m good, we’re good. He followed me here and told me he has always loved me, I had my reservations about us working out but looking back now I can honestly say that taking that chance on him was the best thing I’ve ever done.”
“That’s great, I’m happy for you, Ava.”
We continue having small talk about things in general, nothing serious and no mention of Nate. I glance down at the clock on the dashboard and see that I only have fifteen minutes until my meeting, I’m not going to make it through this traffic in that short space of time. Dammit! I press down on the gas and get us out of here quick.
Pulling up outside Ashby’s I see Rylee outside talking to Mr Ashby, he must be waiting for me because I’m late. Hearing Lexi gasp in the seat next to me I look round to see her staring at Rylee and Mr Ashby. “Why are you gasping? Rylee hasn’t dyed her hair bright green and cut it into a Mohawk.” I laugh and shake my head.
“Why is she with him?” Is all she says, she doesn’t laugh or smile at my joke about Rylee’s hair.
“That’s our boss, Mr Ashby. Are you okay? He’s harmless really, he just looks like he can be mean but he isn’t. He’s in boss mode right now, ready to kick my ass for being late.”
Connor is still listening to his iPod totally oblivious to the real world. I glance over and see Rylee walking towards to the car. Mr Ashby is staring over this way too, I don’t know if his furrowed brow is for me or not. I follow his line of sight and sure enough he’s looking right at Lexi, his eyes flicker between her and Rylee. I guess he can tell she is Rylee’s mom just by looking at them both, or he’s taken a shine to her- she’s pretty and he’s a red blooded male so I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s the latter.
Climbing out of the car so Rylee can get in I give her a quick hug and tell her I’ll meet her at home in an hour. I can tell she’s nervous but she needs to be alone with her mom and Connor for a bit and at lunchtime she said she agreed with me.
“Sorry I’m late, Mr Ashby, I didn’t expect traffic to be so crazy,” I say as I reach him.
Tearing his gaze away from Rylee’s car he nods at me. “Is that Rylee’s mom? She doesn’t look all that old,” he asks as he holds his arm out towards the doors gesturing for me to go inside first.
“Oh, she isn’t. Lexi had Rylee right out of college, well a year before she graduated. Dropping out and taking on such a huge responsibility on her own, that’s priceless in my eyes, a lot of young women wouldn’t have done that.”
I press the button for the elevator and turn to see if Mr Ashby heard me talking as he didn’t reply. I see him pinching between his closed eyes with his eyebrows drawn in, he senses my stare and looks up at me.
“Actually Ava, you go on home, sweetheart. I have something I need to do, the meeting can wait until Monday.”
“Are you okay? You don’t look too well.” Concern laced my voice, he looks pale and like he is about to throw up.
“I’ll be okay. See you on Monday, Ava,” he calls over his shoulder as he walks into the elevator.
I arrive home to an empty apartment, Rylee must have taken her mom and Connor to get dinner. I called Ryan when I left work to tell him I’ll be home early and to also tell him about Mr Ashby’s strange behaviour, which led to him roaring with laughter down the phone and telling me, “I’m sure it wasn’t you that made him sick, baby. Maybe he has blue balls and seeing Lexi made him need to go sort himself out.”- I don’t think Ryan considered the fact I still have to look my boss in the freaking eye on Monday!
As we won’t be going out this evening I decide to throw on my black shorts and hot pink tank top with thin straps, it’s still considerably warm even for November. I hear the door open and close, they must be back already.
“I’ll be out in a few minutes,” I call out letting them know I’m home.
I pull my hair out of my messy bun and run my fingers through it. I turn towards my bedroom door when I hear it open, guessing it is Rylee before she even enters I turn back to face the mirror.
“Hey, Ry-”
I stop when I see through the mirror that it isn’t Rylee, a smile spreads across my face at the sight of Ryan in his work clothes. He looks like one of those guys in the commercials for cologne, the ones that look too sexy to be real and are all suited up surrounded by women that look high on lust. Pretty much the way I look right now. My heart is already picking up its pace and his penetrating stare is sending that all too familiar feeling straight through me, hitting right where I want him. I keep my eyes locked on his through the mirror, I’m waiting for him to make his way over to me.
“Baby, I’ve missed you so fucking much, if you keep looking at me like that I don’t think I can only hug you,” he said walking over to me wrapping his arms around my waist.
His voice is thick and low and at this point in time I wasn’t sure I could only stop at a hug either. I haven’t seen him since yesterday, even though I have spoken to him on the phone and texted, it just wasn’t the same as having him here with me.
I dropped my head back to rest on his chest and placed my hands over his. “I missed you too. Rylee should be back soon, I think they have gone to eat.”
“Baby? I have a confession.”
I spin around to face him, my heart has dropped to my stomach and my mind is spinning with crazy assumptions about what his confession could be. I can’t even think of how to respond to him.
Sensing my unease he grabs the bottom of my tank top and tugs on it, pulling me back towards him. I take the one step I need to take to be chest to chest with him again.
He rests his forehead on mine, our lips so close I can feel his warm breath as talks. “Before I knew Rylee’s mom was coming I had bought us tickets to go home, I was going to surprise you,” he whispered
“What about Rylee? I can’t leave her, babe, not right now with all of this going on.”
“I understand that, baby. I had already asked Matt to take care of her, I know you trust him with her. It was hard enough keeping it from you but now there is a kink in the plan I wanted to tell you and see what you wanted to do.”
My first thought was to tell him I definitely can’t go, but Thanksgiving is days away and all of this could be sorted out by then. I do want to go home, it will be great to see everyone again and going home with Ryan would be perfect- but again, I don’t want to leave Rylee without knowing she’s okay. She needs me right now, there is no telling which way tonight will go.
“I love the idea of going home with you, I really want to- but can we play it by ear? Once Rylee has spoken to her mom tonight we’ll know what to do, right now I just need to help her through tonight and pray to God that she doesn’t breakdown,” I sigh, knowing that that is what could possibly happen.
Ryan bring his lips up and lays a soft kiss on my forehead. “Of course we can, beautiful, we’ll do whatever you want. I’m happy you want to come home with me. I can’t wait to show everyone that we’re together, that you’re my girl.”
“I can’t wait either, babe. I just hope everyone is happy for us.”
I know our families are happy for us and his two brothers had already told him it was about time he got his head out of his ass and made a move, but I can’t help wondering if our friends will be happy too.
“Screw what everyone else thinks, baby,” he said, leaning in to claim my mouth.
Chapter Twenty Three
An hour had passed and Rylee was home. Everything worked out as planned, Connor was more than happy to go Xbox shopping with Ryan, and Lexi seems more than ready to begin talking. I know Rylee is nervous as hell, she’s pacing the kitchen and fiddling with her chain as I make our drinks.
“Go sit down with your mom I’ll bring the margaritas in,” I said, hopefully putting her at ease.
She tried to give me a smile back but it was forced and barely there. “I don’t know what to say, Ava. I mean she’s been absolutely cool with me today, almost like she’s happy to be around me and nothing is wrong. It’s confusing, I’ve loved having them here and I’m scared this talk is going to be the end. Shall I just tell her it’s all okay? We don’t have to talk, we can just leave it,” her voice shook with panic.
I could see in her eyes that her walls were making their way back up and she was closing up. I pulled her in for a hug, wrapped my arms around her tightly and rubbed my hand up and down her back.
“It’s okay, Ry. I promise I’m here for you every step of the way, okay?” I felt her nod her head. “Don’t you dare close up on me, Rylee, you’ve done so well and I know you can do this. Do you want to text Matt? Do you need him? He’ll be here in an instant if you do,” I asked, mainly because I know there is something about Matt that builds her up, makes her strong in a different way to how I do.
She took a step back pulling away from the hug.
“No. I don’t want to bring Matt into this, he doesn’t need to know about him and the train wreck of my emotions. As long as I’ve got you I’ll be okay- I’m always okay when I’ve got you.” She managed a small smile.
“You’ll always have me, don’t ever doubt that. You’re not just my best friend, Rylee, you’re my sister. Now get in there and show me how strong you’ve become.”
Picking up the drinks I jerk my head towards the door telling her to go first, she squared her shoulders took a deep breath and walked into the living room.
We settle on the couch on the opposite end to Lexi who is already sitting with her legs underneath her in a relaxed position, she’s smiling at Rylee waiting for her to talk first. Lexi really doesn’t look worried about this talk- curious maybe, but definitely not worried. Rylee grabs my hand and gently squeezes it, telling me she knows her mom is wanting her to make the first move. I squeeze her hand back to urge her and also let her know I’m right here with her.
“I don’t know where to start, Mom,” Rylee says. Her voice is hesitant, wary even.
Lexi spoke softly. “I’ll talk, sweetie, I know something happened to make you leave but I just don’t know what. You distanced yourself from me and I thought maybe it was because you were growing up and just had better things to do, but then you didn’t go out much and you were quiet. Was it a boy sweetie? Is that why you felt you had to leave? I wanted to ask you but Nate said
it was best to leave you be and make your own decisions. What happened, please tell me so I can help you.”
Lexi’s voice was soft and caring, there is no way in this world that this woman in front of me knew what was going on. She genuinely didn’t have a clue as to what Nate had done to not only Rylee but also what he started doing to Connor. Rylee’s hand started to shake in mine, I knew she was thinking the same thing.
I heard Rylee try and swallow, she grabbed her drink from the table and gulped it down.
“I didn’t leave because of a boy, Mom. I left because of him, I left because of Nate,” Rylee spat his name out like it was poison, in a way it was, he had poisoned her mind.
Lexi’s eyebrows drew in. “Why Nate? What did he do? I don’t understand, Rylee, he has been there for us for years, he loves you like his own daughter.”
Rylee let out a sarcastic laugh. “No he doesn’t, Mom, he never did, he hated me and he still does. He couldn’t wait for me to leave, and growing up he made sure I knew you’d be happier without me, so when that day came for me to leave I knew I was doing you a favor.”
Lexi’s eyes grew wide. “What the heck are you talking about, Rylee? What do you mean I would be happier without you? How the hell is my only daughter, my first born baby leaving doing me a favor?” Her tone was sterner than before, her breathing was quicker and she was almost shouting.
“Because that’s what he told me, every time he had a drink, hell he even said it to me sober sometimes!” Rylee’s voice shook with anger, her hands were starting to get clammy and her vice like grip on my hand got tighter.
“He made me believe all of that from the age of seven, Mom. Can you imagine how I felt? Being told I wanted too much of your attention, I was seven years old for God sake! I told you he was doing those things, telling me off more and treating me differently to Connor but you brushed it off and told me it was because Connor was only small and didn’t understand. He tried to bribe me with candy to keep his drinking a secret, when that failed as I got older he used to ground me to prove a point that he could and he would keep doing it if I told you. I couldn’t argue with him because he weakened me, Mom, he told me I was useless and no good- I couldn’t argue with anyone, I couldn’t stand up for myself because he made me believe that every bad thing anyone ever said was true!”