by Various
After our amazing camping trip, Ryan was buried at work all week, so he came over that Friday night and didn’t leave until Monday morning. Talk about paradise. So far, we can't seem to get it together to see each other during our hectic workweeks, but we make up for it on the weekends.
Ryan came back to my house late Friday night and after two full days of the most unbelievable sex of my entire life, I agreed to accompany him to his family’s annual Memorial Day party in Carmel. Proof that too much sex will make you crazy.
As the tension in my shoulders mount, I so wish we could go back to bed. I like it so much better there. When we’re in bed I feel so desired and treasured. A girl could get used to being worshipped like that.
Unfortunately, the closer we get to Carmel, the tenser the atmosphere in the car becomes. At first I thought it was just me, but now I’m thinking it must be part Ryan, too. The anxiety is seeping into my skin and settling bitterly in my stomach.
We turn off the highway and stop at a five way stop sign. The town looks like it was pulled from a 1950's photograph. There is a park on the right, a collection of high-end shops on the left, trees line the center of the street and people are milling about hand in hand, clearly on vacation. We drive about five blocks or so, stopping at each intersection, waiting for people to walk slowly across the street.
"Man, this place blows!" Ryan mutters as yet more people stream across the street in front of us.
I start laughing, "Yeah, it's like we’re not even here. Is it always like this?"
"Yeah. Around here, pedestrians rule the day," Ryan snaps at me as we drive to the next intersection.
"Whoa there, buddy. Easy now. You're making me nervous. What the hell happened to you?"
Ryan takes a deep breath. "Okay, right. Sorry." He tries to laugh. "Okay. So look. We’re going to my parent's house. My sister, Nicky, should be there. I have no idea if she has her latest boyfriend with her. Things were going well for her in New York, but who knows if that’s still true."
"Right. Nicky, trying to make it as an actress or a singer, right?" I ask, trying to memorize the facts he’s finally telling me.
"Yeah. My brother and his wife won't be there. But they will be talked about. He can do nothing wrong. Went to the right law school, works at the right law firm, married the right bride, reproduced. Rich. That's his name, not his economic status."
"Got it." Oh, there must be so much back story to that one. "So, you and your brother are close, huh?"
"Yeah, right," he scoffs, then looks at me. "So, listen. I gotta tell you something."
My stomachs drops. Oh great. Here it comes. Ryan pulls the van over and turns to face me.
"What is it, Ryan? You’re freaking me out." My anxiety is now through the roof.
"I just thought you should know, I’m sort of the black sheep of the family."
I look at him stunned. "That's it? That's what you needed to tell me?"
"Yeah. The rest of my family is not like me at all." He looks sheepish and uncomfortable.
"Jesus, Ryan. Tell me something I don't know."
Ryan looks at me for a second and then bursts out laughing. He leans into me, brushing his soft lips against mine.
"Come on. Let's go." He opens the door and slides out.
Getting out of the jeep, the smell of the ocean hits me. Amazing! I think it's only a couple of blocks away, but I can't tell from here. The street is lined with trees and houses. There are cars parked everywhere and what's left of the road only allows a single car driving in one direction.
There’s a large hedge on the downhill side of the street, and the other side has huge houses with manicured gardens along it. Some of the homes are bigger than others, but nothing looks outrageous from here. Like a lot of land right near the ocean, the road is level, but nothing else is. Ryan heads to a gate in the middle of the hedge wall.
"This is the back entrance. The front entrance is on Scenic, but it's hard to park on that street," Ryan explains as we slip into the hedge.
I don't know what I was expecting, but behind that wall is another world. The house is spectacular, two stories with gardens meandering around the back and side yards. French doors sit open, inviting us in. I can hear people in the house and dishes being moved around.
Ryan and I walk into a beautiful kitchen with cork floors, granite counter tops, expensive cabinets; this place screams wealth and luxury. Ryan got that right; this is not what I was expecting.
"Ryan!" A female, older version of Ryan shrieks when we enter the kitchen. "Oh, my! You made it down here."
"Hi, Mom!" Ryan hugs her enthusiastically. "Mom, I would like you to meet a friend of mine. This is Nora. Nora, this is Beverly."
I hold out my hand and smile. "Hi, Mrs. Cole. It's so nice to meet you."
"Well, this is a surprise. It's nice to meet you, Nora." She shakes my hand and smiles at me.
"Be nice, Mom. And don't start. Did Rich make it, or is it just Nicky?"
"Your brother can't make it, he’s working or busy, and the kids didn't come up either," she says this curtly, obviously some tension there. "Nicky is here with some new beau. Oh, God, they keep getting older and stranger."
"Oh, goodie. Well, screw Rich, sorry about the kids, though." Ryan kisses her on the check. "Come on, let's go find Nicky." He turns to me and guides me out of the room.
We enter a hallway then turn the corner into a large room. I gasp out loud at the view. The ocean is sparkling just outside the floor-to-ceiling window.
"Yep. That's the right reaction, all right," someone says in front me. My eyes are too mesmerized with what I see to focus on the voice.
"Wow. What a view," I stammer out.
"Ryan. Great to see you, son." That grabs my attention and I tear my eyes away from the sensational view to the people in the room. There are several milling about, but the man who is speaking is clearly Ryan's father. An elderly man, still fit, with graying hair and dressed in well-pressed pants and a golf shirt, holds out his hand to Ryan.
"Hi, Dad. I'd like you to meet someone. This is Nora. Nora, my Dad. Richard."
I hold out my hand, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Cole. You have a lovely home."
"Well, thank you, Nora. Welcome. Any friend of Ryan’s is a friend of ours." He turns to Ryan. "How's the firm, son?"
"Oh, great, Dad. It's working out fine. But you should check in with Uncle Phil if you want a progress report," Ryan says, curtly. He has his lawyer face on.
"No, no, no. Just wanted to see how you were enjoying working at a real law firm. Glad to hear it's working out."
Ryan's face tightens even more with that last comment. Two women walk in from outside. Ryan's face goes white. Turning to see who they are, my jaw almost drops open. It's Emily from the firm! My hands start to sweat and I feel nauseous. Emily’s closeness to Ryan flashes through my mind. I wonder if Ryan blew her off like he did Katie. I wonder if she hates me.
Ryan recovers quickly. His face is no longer white, but still extremely tense.
"Hello Sis! Emily. Nice to see you both," Ryan speaks first.
"Ryan!!" The other woman, Nicky, I presume, throws herself at him and wraps her arms around him. "It's been so long. How are you? Emily was just catching me up on—
things."
"Whoa there, Nic." Ryan peels his sister off. "There is someone I would like you to meet. This is Nora. Nora, this is Nicky, my sister. Emily, I believe you two already know each other."
Emily's stare is cold and hard. Yep. She hates me. Now I know I’m right about her intentions with Ryan. I just didn’t know how close she was to his family.
I reach my hand out to Nicky. "So nice to finally meet you. Ryan has told me a lot about you." We shake hands. "Emily, nice to see you again."
Oh, that icy stare. I feel cold shivers run up and down my spine.
Nicky shakes my hand, "So nice to meet you, Nora. Ryan, we should catch up later." She pulls Emily away from us. "Come on Emily, let's go to the backyard."
Nicky drags Emily out of the room. It’s then that I realize that the entire room is silent and has been watching our little drama unfold. Nice!
"Well, son." Ryan's dad walks up and slaps him on the back. "This is exactly why you need to communicate with us more often. Had we known you jumped ship, we could have stopped that from happening."
Humiliation burns up my neck onto my checks.
"Thanks, Dad. That really helps." Ryan glares at his dad, his voice rich with sarcasm.
"I'm just saying," Richard says as he walks away from us to join his other guests.
Ryan’s eyes dart back to mine. My heart is racing, and the air in this room is too thick to breathe.
"Ryan, where is the restroom?" I ask in the most casual way possible.
"Oh. I'll show you," He says, tightly, and leads me out of the room and down the hall.
"I am so sorry!" he whispers when we get in the hall.
"I am so not having this conversation right now. But it does explain a lot."
"What? Jesus, Nora, what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Ryan’s face contorts in front of me.
"Now you're pissed at me? Is that how this is going to go down?" I feel the anger welling up.
Ryan's head moves around the hall as if he is looking for something or trying to work something out. He finally looks back to me.
"Follow me. Don't argue with me, don't say a word." He turns and walks through a doorway I didn't see that leads into a sitting room with a spiral staircase in the middle of it. Ryan heads upstairs and I follow him. The distractions of my surroundings are calming my nerves. The top of the staircase enters a huge master suite bedroom. There is a large bathroom off to the right and a large bed with plush pillows straight ahead.
Ryan sits on the bed and looks at me.
"Okay. That was awkward. I totally get it. I'm sorry." He breathes out deeply and waits.
There are so many thoughts in my head, I can barely put together a sentence.
"Where are we?" My question surprises me more than Ryan. His eyebrows shoot up and then he smiles.
"We’re in my parent’s bedroom," he says, patiently.
"Holy cow. A two story bedroom?" I turn around slowly to take in the room. The view from behind me is almost as impressive as downstairs. "Holy shit. Look at that!"
Ryan starts laughing from the bed. "Really, Young? I thought you were pissed at me."
"Oh, I am. But my God, I've never seen anything like this before." I continue to look at the ocean and think about what happened downstairs.
"Okay," I say, turning back to face him. "Here is what I think. I think you are back in California for some unresolved family issue. You hate it here, but for whatever reason, you’re here. You're working in corporate law with your uncle to pay off these student loans. Although there has to be some back story there, because people who can afford houses like these don't usually make their kids get loans. But, whatever," I pause, waiting for Ryan to respond.
He just stares at me.
"You came back, but while you were away, the family thought if only you found the love of your life here and, better yet, in the family law firm, then your life would be perfect and your parents would be so proud. So, the family tries to hook you up with Emily. It doesn't take. But you never come right out and say, 'sorry, babe, you're just not my type.' But she senses that you were flirting with Katie, I think that was her name, so she stakes her claim on you, just in case."
Ryan stands up, "Wait a min—"
I raise my finger, "Just a moment, Cole. Not quite done here. You meet me and we start up. You blow off Katie. And, let's face it, you forget about ole Emily there until she shows up here."
"How in the hell?" Ryan starts.
"But I'm right, right?"
"Close enough for me," Ryan says, looking impressed.
"Well, I guess everyone knows that you blew her off for me, now. Jeez." This is not how I thought this day would go.
Ryan walks up to me and puts his arm around me. "I'm sorry. My family has a lot of ideas about how and what I should be doing with my life, and whom I should be doing it with. Emily is a nightmare."
I rest my head on his shoulder. "You don't have to tell me. I remember her well. Is there anything or anyone else I should be prepared for?"
"Naw. Just be afraid if Hannah shows up. Then you should run for the hills." He kisses me on the neck.
"Hannah? We’ll talk about her later. Come on. Let's get back to the party. I think we’ve caused enough drama already."
With that, we head back downstairs.
~~~~~~~~
Turns out the party isn’t just a family gathering but a huge event. Over 100 people show up, according to Nicky, who seems to be able to recall the number of attendees to any number of parties, and rates them accordingly.
Nicky went to high school with Emily, and supposedly is the reason she is here at the party, not Ryan. According to Nicky, Emily has always had a thing for Ryan, and they dated briefly in college. Apparently Hannah, Ryan's last girlfriend, stole Ryan away from Emily when they were in college. So Emily seems to have unfinished business with him.
Ryan denies that they dated in college and swears that they have never had any kind of relationship at all. He swears that even at work he avoids her, and she drives him crazy. Of course, I have avoided chatting with Emily, so have not gotten her take on any of this. I'm brave, but I'm not stupid.
The party seems to be winding down. Some of the guests have left and the caterers are starting their clean up. There are small groups all over the house and backyard and a large contingent of people have left to go for a walk on the beach.
I’m sitting with Nicky, Mrs. Cole, and a few of the other ladies who have lost track of their husbands. It's a pleasant group. Emily walks in and sits down with us.
"What a party, Mrs. Cole. You guys sure know how to throw them!" Emily says, brightly.
My heart starts beating loudly.
"Well, thank you, Emily. It was so nice that you could drive down to see Nicky. Now, if you ladies will excuse me, I need to make sure the clean-up crew leaves my dishes and takes theirs." She rises and heads back to the kitchen.
"So!" Nicky says loudly. "Emily, Nora, you guys know each other?"
Three of the other ladies get up and mumble good-bye as they head to the backyard. That leaves five of us.
"Oh, yeah. We worked together on the firm's annual meeting," I say. "Nice to see you again, Emily. I thought that event went well. Didn't you?”
Emily looks at me and smiles a truly fake smile. I wonder if she does that in court. If so, I would know right away that I was winning a case against her.
"Yes. Nice to see you, too. I thought—” Emily starts.
Just then, the front door bursts open. "You whoooo! I know I'm late, but better late than never!" A striking young woman walks in the door. She has black, waist length hair and a nose ring. She is tall and extremely well built, with huge arm muscles. She’s wearing a sleeveless, tight black shirt, a short ruffled skirt with black leggings, and thigh high boots. She’s carrying a bouquet of wildflowers and a bottle of wine.
Never before have I seen a human being with such presence! We all stand at once when she enters the room.
"Hannah? Is that you?" Nicky stammers.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
"Of course it's me, Nic!" She holds out her arms, waiting for them to be filled.
"Oh, my God. Why are you here?" Nicky rushes to her and hugs her.
"What? Just because your brother can't figure out his life, doesn't mean I can't come over for the annual party," Hannah says while hugging Nicky.
I glance over at Emily and notice she has a murderous look on her face. She is bright red and looks like she might combust on the spot.
Hannah takes us all in and smiles. "I see that the party is already over, and the guys are all walking the beach while you’re here recovering."
This woman is so confident. I can see why she caught Ryan's attenti
on. I wonder why they split up.
"Okay, okay. Everyone, this is Hannah. Hannah, this is everyone," Nicky says, excitedly. "I'll go get mom."
"Hello, everyone. I'm Ryan's ex-girlfriend. Cast off a while ago, but still kicking. Been around the family too long not to stop by for the annual gig. Nice to meet you all." She pauses and scans the room. "Emily. It's nice to see a familiar face."
Holy Cow! She just announced to the room that Ryan left her! How can she be so honest with everyone? Would I show up here next year and walk in with a bottle of wine and say, 'Hi y'all, Ryan's ex here. Glad to see you?’ No way.
I am in awe of this woman. I’m so thankful in this moment that Ryan mentioned her. I can just sit back and enjoy the fun between Emily and Hannah. But he did say I should run for the hills if she showed up, right?
"Oh, Hannah. It's so nice to see you again." Emily's face is still slightly red, but she has that fake smile again. "I'd like you to meet Ryan's new girlfriend. Nora, this is Hannah. Hannah, this is Nora."
Emily gestures to me. Holy shit. I did not see that coming. Hannah’s eyes widen in surprise for a second, and then she, too, recovers.
Oh, crap. Crap crap crap. "Hello, Hannah. It's nice to meet you. I've heard a little about you." I hold out my hand and take a deep breath in.
"Yes, indeed. Nice to meet you." Hannah takes my hand and shakes it. I hold her eyes steady, exhaling.
Damn that Emily. So much for sitting back and enjoying the show.
"Oh, Hannah. What a nice surprise to see you." Mrs. Cole comes in and Hannah's attention turns to her.
The other women in the room have their jaws open. I can't remember either of their names, but this is a story they will tell for years to come. One of them catches my eye and smiles. Her eyes seem to say, ‘hang in there’. The other one is just blatantly staring at all of us.
"Oh, Beverly, I've missed you so much." Hannah reaches across her and wraps her in a bear hug.
Emily looks like she could spit fire. This entire day, I haven’t heard any of the guests call Mrs. Cole by her first name.