by Doxer, Debra
“I fixed the code from yesterday,” Blake says, turning his attention back to work. “I wanted to show it to you before I start the new stuff.”
Ryan hesitates and glances at me.
“Go ahead,” I assure him. “I can find my way out.”
“No, I’ll walk you out. This won’t take long. Have you got a minute to wait?”
“Sure. I’ll just look around some more.”
He offers me a grateful smile before turning back to look at Blake’s monitor.
I pivot and stroll toward the entrance as I continue to glance around. Now I can picture Ryan here when he tells me he’s at the office. Through the windows on the other side of the space, I see dense woods. I’m about to walk toward those windows when I hear my name. I turn around and I’m surprised to see a familiar face from the past. “Ian?”
“Hey.” He grins at, me and we give each other a quick one-armed hug. “What are you doing here?” he asks.
“I’m visiting a friend.” I worked with Ian at my first job out of college. I haven’t seen him in over five years. He looks about the same with his slight build, dark brown hair, and rather nondescript features. He still wears the Elvis Costello, black-framed glasses that are his trademark.
“Where are you at these days?” he asks.
“I actually just got a new job at Cronus. I start next week.”
“Hey, that’s great.” He smiles at me and then glances around the office. “Would your friend mind if you came outside with me for a quick smoke?”
I make a face at him. “You’re still smoking?”
He shrugs, unconcerned. “Come on. I won’t keep you long.”
I look back toward Ryan’s cube and see there is no sign of him. I decide it might be fun to catch up with Ian, and I follow him down the stairs out to the parking lot. Once outside, the fresh, cool air replaces the disinfectant aroma from inside the building. I inhale deeply before Ian can begin polluting the atmosphere with his cigarette.
“Do you keep in touch with anyone from back then?” I ask as I watch him light up.
He takes a deep pull and releases the white smoke through his nostrils before responding. “I talk to Henry and Justin. They’re both over at Cisco now. How about you?”
I shake my head. “I’m not that great at the keeping in touch stuff.”
“So, who are you visiting?” he asks.
“Ryan.”
This gets his full attention. “You know Ryan?”
I nod.
He wrinkles his brow at me. “What? Are you two dating or something?”
I nod again. It feels strange that after Laura, Ian Tucker is the second person who knows I’m dating Ryan.
“Really?” he muses. His tone implies that this surprises him. “I wouldn’t have put you two together.”
Now I’m surprised because Ian hasn’t seen me in half a decade. Before I can question him, he continues.
“He’s kind of a hard-ass. Making us all come in on a Sunday.”
I narrow my eyes at him.
He takes another pull on his cigarette. “And the guy can’t remember my name. I’ve worked here for three months and he still has no idea who I am.”
I hold a hand up to my mouth to shield my laugh. I now recall that Ian always was something of a complainer.
Ian is not pleased with my reaction. “What’s so funny?”
“Don’t take it personally,” I tell him. “I’ve learned that Ryan’s memory is like a sieve sometimes. He just forgets stuff. He doesn’t do it on purpose, and he doesn’t mean anything by it.”
Ian doesn’t seem appeased by my response. He turns and frowns. I follow his gaze to see Ryan coming through the door.
“You disappeared,” he remarks as he approaches us.
“I ran into someone I know.” I gesture to Ian.
“Really? You know….” Ryan hesitates.
“Ian.” I supply for him.
“Right,” he says. “How do you know Ian?”
“We used to work together.”
Ian gives Ryan a tight smile. “Good to see you, Andrea. Stay in touch this time,” he says as he stubs his cigarette out on the pavement and heads back inside.
“You don’t know your employees’ names?” I ask once Ian disappears through the door.
“Sure I do. That was Ian.” He notices my sardonic expression and runs a hand along the back of his neck. “Actually, I don’t deal with them much. That’s Blake’s job. I’m not really good with the managing people stuff.”
I realize he sounds just like me.
He rocks back on his heels and peers down at me. “Thanks again for bringing my phone. That was a really nice thing to do. What are you up to now?
“After my errands, I’m heading over to my sister’s. She wants me to help her with more wedding stuff.”
He takes a step closer and his expression intensifies. “Will I see you tonight?”
My stomach is immediately flooded with butterflies. When he looks at me that way, I completely unravel. “Would you like to?” I ask.
“What do you think?” He takes another step forward, and we’re practically touching. By the way my body is reacting to him, we might as well be pressed against each other.
“I’m going to go with a yes,” I reply.
“Come to my place later,” he says softly, brushing a stray curl away from my cheek. “We can order some dinner.”
I haven’t been to Ryan’s house yet, and I am curious to see it, but I have a problem. “Sounds nice, but um, I won’t be able to stay the night.”
He quirks an eyebrow. “I like the direction your thoughts are going in, but can I ask why not?”
“I can’t leave Tiger alone all night.”
“Ever?” he asks incredulously.
“I never have before,” I answer hesitantly.
“Isn’t that one of the advantages of having a cat? You don’t have to walk them, and you can leave them alone for long stretches of time?”
I cringe before answering. “Yes, that’s what I’ve heard.”
He blinks at me, and I have no idea what he’s thinking.
“How about this?” he suggests. “Maybe we could work Tiger up to it. Leave him alone until one or two in the morning to start. Then slowly add an hour over time, until eventually, he has spent an entire evening at home alone?” Ryan is unsuccessfully concealing his mirth.
“You’re making fun of me,” I pout even though I’m amused.
“Yes, I am,” he smiles warmly. “You just told me you can’t warm my bed tonight because you have to be home for your cat. You sort of asked for it. Now you leave me no choice but to be rude and invite myself over to your place since a sleepover is part of what I had in mind for tonight.”
“Well, that is pretty forward of you, but also absolutely okay.”
He leans in and pecks me on the mouth. “It’s a plan. I’ll call you when I’m heading out.”
I nod in agreement. “Ryan,” I call to him after he turns to go inside. He stops and looks back at me. “We could try it one night. Leave Tiger alone and see how it goes. I’m sure he’ll be okay. I’ve just never…”
“Andrea,” he interrupts. “It’s fine. It doesn’t matter where we are. I just want to spend time with you.”
I nod wordlessly as the rest of my plea dies on my tongue. Ryan gives me a casual wave before heading back inside.
“You seriously told him that you couldn’t spend the night at his house because you needed to get home for Tiger?” Laura asks.
I bite my bottom lip and nod.
She throws her arms in the air. “What kind of a moron are you?”
“That’s a rhetorical question, right?” I ask mildly.
“No, actually, it’s not. Didn’t you just tell me this morning that you weren’t going to mess this up?”
We’re sitting on the couch in Laura’s living room. Jonathan is at the gym, and we have the place to ourselves. Her hands have landed in her lap where they ar
e now curled into fists. Her narrowed eyes are making me feel about two inches tall.
“It just came out,” I explain. “It’s true though. I’ve never left Tiger alone all night. When I go away, Mom and Dad take him.”
“How did Ryan react?”
A smile curls my lips as I recall our conversation in the parking lot. “He made fun of me, actually. He joked about working Tiger up to it a few hours at a time.”
“Thank goodness for that.” Laura’s hands unclench and she rests her open palms on her knees. “I like him, Andy. I really like what you tell me about him. It sounds like he already knows you pretty well, too, and he doesn’t take it too seriously or personally when you say stupid stuff like that.”
“He’s a confident person. It’s not in your face or anything, but I think he has a pretty healthy ego. And what I said wasn’t that stupid. Ryan actually thinks I’m nice.”
Laura’s still critical stare softens. “You are nice. You just like to poke the bear sometimes to see what kind of a reaction you’ll get. You may have done it unintentionally, but you were doing it again when you said that to Ryan. Would you really not spend the night at his place because of Tiger?”
My shoulders slump because I’m afraid she’s right. “I don’t know. I guess not. I’d feel badly about leaving him alone all night. I know that much.”
“By the way, I ran into David Rose last week. It was awkward,” she says, wrinkling her nose and adding a high-pitched, sing-song tone to the word awkward.
“Sorry.”
“Whatever. No big deal. It was at the courthouse. He tried to pretend he hadn’t seen me even though he was about two feet away. I pointedly said hello to him. He reluctantly said it back and then took off as fast as humanly possible.”
“Wow. I actually made him run from you. I think I’m a little proud of that.”
Laura tries to stifle her laugh. “It was kind of funny. I think his face actually turned red when he realized I wasn’t going to ignore him.”
“No more fix-ups,” I state. “I don’t want to make you an outcast among your colleagues.”
“Hopefully, no more need for them,” she quickly responds.
I smile because I’m hoping so, too. Then I point to Laura’s laptop sitting open on the coffee table. “So, how about those wedding bands?”
Laura pulls her laptop onto the couch between us. “I’m going to schedule the first dress fitting for next Saturday. Is that good for you?”
“I think so. If not, I’ll let you know.”
“Okay. Here’s the first one.” Laura clicks the play button to start the video, and loud, thrashing music blares at us through the speakers. I notice that the lead singer of the band has a blue Mohawk and he is covered in tattoos that can be seen through his ripped wife-beater.
“What do you think?” she asks with an eager expression.
“You must really be mad at Mom,” I snicker.
“This is just what they play out at clubs. They can play whatever we want at the wedding.”
I turn back to the laptop. “It’s hard to picture them playing at your wedding. I don’t think my imagination is that good.”
She huffs with frustration. “Okay. What about this one?”
She clicks play again, and another video starts. This time, I see a group of clowns with painted faces and green polka-dot jumpsuits. They’re singing “Happy Birthday.”
“Those are clowns,” I state.
“If we hire them for the wedding, they won’t be dressed as clowns, Andrea,” she says like she’s talking to a two-year old. “This video is from a children’s birthday party.”
“But you can’t tell anything from these videos.”
She closes her laptop with more force than necessary. “I don’t have time to run around and see all these bands. This is the best I can do.”
“Fine. Then hire the clowns. At least they’re happy.”
Laura’s face drops into her hands. “I can’t do this anymore. It’s too much work. It’s a full-time job, and I already have a full-time job.”
I move the laptop back to the coffee table and slide closer to her. “I’m going to call Mom and tell her you want to hire the band I saw with them. I’ll talk her into it. I think they were good, you know, for a wedding band. Mom and Dad seemed to like them when they weren’t playing too loudly.”
Laura shakes her head and turns shiny eyes on me. “Mom said they were too expensive.”
“I didn’t get the feeling they were outrageously expensive. They just weren’t the cheapest. You trust my opinion, right?”
She nods. “I do trust you, but I almost don’t care what they sound like at this point. Do you really think you could talk her into it?”
I nod.
“You’re welcome to try,” she says, her voice tinged with resignation. She is already certain of my defeat.
“I’ll do more than try. I’ll get it done. See? Ryan is right. I am nice.” I grin triumphantly even though I have no idea if I can pull this off.
Laura’s watery smile strengthens my resolve to help her.
“You’re the best,” she tells me, before she turns and hugs me.
Tiger jumps up on the bed and blinks at me. He walks across my legs, notices that I’m not alone, and then he blinks at me once more before jumping back down again and trotting out into the hallway. I’ve slept later than usual and he wants his breakfast. Having company over nearly every night for the past couple of weeks has left Tiger feeling neglected and out of sorts.
I quietly slip out from under the blankets and follow him down the stairs to the kitchen. Dodging his impatient mouth, I manage to get the food into his bowl, and I watch him go at it like he hasn’t eaten in days.
Tiger has not spent the night alone yet. I’ve offered to stay at Ryan’s house several times, but he has not taken me up on it. He wants to wait until he has a litter box set up at his house. That way, Tiger can come with me when I stay. I grinned like an idiot when he casually made that suggestion.
I plug in the coffeemaker, pour in the water, and lower my head in defeat when I realize that I don’t have any coffee. I hear a low chuckle behind me. I turn to see a gorgeously rumpled Ryan standing in the doorway in nothing but his boxers. He’s smiling at me, and I place a hand on the counter to prevent myself from dissolving into a puddle at the sight of him.
“You never have anything to eat or drink here, but somehow that fact keeps surprising you,” he teases.
“I always intend to go grocery shopping. I’m just not so good on the follow through,” I say soberly.
“That’s okay. You’re good at other things.” He closes the distance between us and gathers me to him for a kiss. “What time do you have to be at the dress shop today?” he asks, as he places his hands on the countertop on either side of me, effectively trapping me there.
I feel his warm breath move over my ear and down my neck. “Not until four-thirty,” I reply, my eyelids fluttering shut as his tongue darts out and touches the sensitive skin just below my earlobe.
“You said it’s down Route 95, near Rhode Island?”
I nod my response when he presses his whole body against me.
“Maybe I’ll go with you,” he suggests casually. “We can drive into Providence for dinner.”
This surprises me. I lean my head back to look up at him. “You want to come to my dress fitting with me?”
“Sure.” He shrugs. “Then we can do dinner. Maybe go someplace on the water. They do that water fire show on the weekends, don’t they?”
“Yes, they do.” I smile. “That sounds really nice.”
He grins back at me. “Then it’s a date.”
“My mom and sister will be there,” I warn.
“Then I’ll get to meet them. Is that okay?”
“It’s okay with me if it’s okay with you,” I reply as though I’m indifferent to it, but I’m most certainly not.
He places his hands on my shoulders. “I know how close you
are with your family,
Andrea. I’d really like to meet them.”
I smile hesitantly.
He laughs and pulls me back in for a hug. “Why do you look like you want to throw up?”
“I do not look like I want to throw up,” I protest. “I know my family is going to love you.” That’s the problem, although I don’t tell Ryan that. My mother is going to be over the moon about him. I only hope she can play it a little cool and not embarrass us both.
“It will be fine,” he reassures me.
“Want me to run out for coffee?” I ask. “And maybe I could pick up something for breakfast?”
Ryan reaches over me to pull open a kitchen cabinet. “Well, if you don’t feel like going out, it looks like we’ve got one bag of chips and tap water.”
“Oh. We’re good then.”
He laughs as he shakes his head at me. “Your eating habits are terrible.”
I shrug and playfully hip-check him as I walk past. “Come on,” I call back over my shoulder. “I’ll take you out to breakfast.”
“Okay. Anywhere but that waffle place.”
Ryan parallel parks a few doors down from the dress shop. When Laura gave me the directions, she told me that my dress and the other bridesmaids’ dresses had all been purchased here. Her wedding dress is being made at a fancy boutique in town.
As we make our way toward the entrance, Ryan has his arm loosely draped around my shoulder. I can’t help but admire the way he looks in his grey turtleneck sweater and black pants. We’re dressed up for our dinner later tonight. Even though it’s only late afternoon, the sky is already starting to darken. Without the warmth of the sun, the air has a definite bite to it.
Once we reach the door, a knot forms in my stomach, and I try to reason myself into calmness. Beside me, Ryan appears completely unconcerned as he pulls open the heavy glass door and waits for me to go inside. I poke my head into the bright bridal shop and peer around. Then I freeze as I take in the sight of my entire family standing inside. It’s not just Laura and Mom. Jonathan and Dad are here, too.
I feel the pressure of Ryan’s hand on my back, gently nudging me forward. I see Laura smiling hesitantly at me before shrugging and rolling her eyes. She told them. I told her that Ryan would be with me, and she told them. The pressure on my back increases and I realize that I’m blocking the doorway. Once I finally step in, my mother approaches me with a smile brighter than the high-beams on my Honda.