by Keya Jay
***
When Skylar got home she took another shower and dressed in a little black dress with lacy sleeves. The back of the dress was all covered in lace to give some semblance of coverage. She paired the ensemble with a pair of black pumps and little to no makeup.
Skylar was surprised to hear someone lightly knocking on the door, knowing it had to only be Ryder shocked her. He was actually knocking on her door, something he has never done before. He’s never needed permission to walk into someone’s house he just did and they had made no qualms about it. She could just picture him waiting there patiently until she decided to finally open the door—patiently was a stretch but she was surprised none the less that he had knocked in the first place so that was a step in the right direction for him. Skylar walked toward the door and opened it slowly to see what she had already known. Ryder was on her door step with his hands behind his back and a weird unreadable expression on his face as he looked off toward the side of her house.
“Is there something behind my house that I should know about?” she asked as she watched him turn toward her at the sound of her voice.
“Oh my fuckin God.”
“Oh Gosh, there really is something behind my house?!” she asked a bit on edge as she looked toward the direction that Ryder had been looking.
“No, but damn you look good,” he said looking her up and down from the top of her neatly curled and pulled back blond hair to the tips of her black heels.
“Damn Ryder, you scared the hell out of me,” she said smacking him with the back of her hand against his chest, which made her look at what Ryder actually had on. He was dressed in a black fitted suit, white button down shirt with a silver tie, which was different from his normal plain ‘ol shirts and jeans that he has worn the last times they went out.
“You did a lot more than that to me,” he said with a sly smirk making her stop her short-lived gaze of approval.
“Are you ready?” she asked.
“Yes, but first let me present you with these,” he said holding out a bouquet of yellow and orange roses. Skylar took them from his hand tentatively, a bit taken back and totally unexpecting.
“What’s the occasion?” she said not wanting to take her eyes off of them.
“Well every rose has its own meaning does it not?”
“Yes,” she said slowly.
“Do you know what those meanings are?” he asked causing her to finally look away from the bundle of flowers and at him.
“Yellow roses are a symbol of friendship but I don’t know what the orange stand for.”
“Well orange isn’t anything specific it’s just whatever you’re feeling at the moment and then some. It’s something new that most people haven’t yet discovered, it’s a mix between the yellow rose which you already know stand for friendship and the true-love implications of the red rose but it doesn’t have to necessarily mean love and friendship it could be for whatever you’re feeling at the moment.”
“Oook,” she said slowly, “and what exactly are you feeling?” she asked skeptically.
“To be honest, horny.”
“Wow, that was almost sweet—almost,” she said walking past him and toward the car.
“Sorry I was only being honest,” he said as he leaned over to open her door.
“Ok well that’s the last time I ask you to be honest,” she said as she slid into the car and buckled up.
“It’s your fault,” he said as he slid into the car and buckled up before starting it up.
“Of course it was,” she said looking down at the bundle of orange and yellow flowers.
When they arrived at Mrs. Delarosa’s Diner there was a giant crowd outside.
“Either we’re late or they’re enthusiastic,” Skylar said as Ryder slowed down the car.
“Mrs. Delarosa said that she wasn’t going to start until we arrived this is her keeping her promise,” Ryder said as he hoped out of the car and walked around the side to open Skylar’s side of the door. Skylar sat her roses on the dash board and grabbed his offered hand before sliding out of the car. She stood up straight and smoothed out her dress before walking along side Ryder toward the entrance of the Diner.
“Name, first and last please,” A man in a security uniform asked as Ryder and Skylar approached.
“Ryder Ferris and Skylar Royce,” Ryder said to the buff man. The man looked up from his clip board at the two of them and motioned for someone to come here. Another man in a security uniform hustled over and security man numbed one whispered something to security man number two who then ran off and disappeared on the side of the building. Skylar and Ryder looked at each other but said nothing as they waited there. Five minutes later Mrs. Delarosa with the security guard numbed two in tow came walking toward them.
“Thank you Skylar and Ryder for gracing us with your presence,” Mrs. Delarosa said once she stood mere inches away from the two. Skylar and Ryder looked at each other as if to say is she serious before turning to face her once more.
“Uh you’re welcome, I guess,” Skylar said.
“Which one of you two will be cutting the ribbon?” Mrs. Delarosa asked.
“She will,” Ryder said placing his hand on the small of her back while lightly pushing her forward.
“Ok then follow me,” Mrs. Delarosa said turning toward the front entrance of the Diner where the front door was sealed off by one very large red ribbon with an even larger red bow attached. Instead of handing Skylar the scissors to cut the bow Mrs. Delarosa turned Skylar so that she could face the gathering crowd. Skylar’s eyes widened at the amount of people that stared back at them expectantly, she scanned the sea of various faces and latched on to the only one that mattered. Ryder stared back at her with a knowing look of his own. Aw damn she was going to have to give a fuckin speech.
“Ok most of you are probably wondering why I closed my diner down for weeks with little to no explanation. Well this young lady here and her boyfriend did something unknowingly brave by getting up and dancing not caring if anyone followed suit or not. Because of their brave actions lots more people stood to join the two including some of our employees. That following day I have had more customers than ever all wanting to dance with their loved one at my diner because of this I have decided to shut down my diner in order to have a proper dance floor built in.” There was a collective rave of approval and applause after Ms. Delarosa’s pause before she continued. “I am not the one you should be thanking though it is this young lady here,” she said holding her hand over Skylar’s head while Skylar just stood there awkwardly, suddenly Mrs. Delarosa was passing the mic to Skylar who looked at it like it was possessed. Skylar took the mic rather hesitantly and brought it to her mouth but knew nothing of what to say.
“Uh…you’re welcome?” she said as she looked at everyone who continued to clap their enthusiasm.
“Can you tell everyone why you did it?” Mrs. Delarosa asked.
“Um…I wanted to dance and I heard music so…I danced,” she explained.
“Let’s give it up for Skylar Royce and that gentleman over there,” Mrs. Delarosa said motioning toward Ryder, “If it weren’t for the two of them none of this would have been possible. So I personally thank you both. Now without farther ado may you Ms. Royce bare the honors of cutting this ribbon?” Mrs. Delarosa said handing her the larger than life scissors that she expected to be heavy but that were surprisingly not. Skylar turned toward the huge ribbon and with one snip of the scissors the ribbon fell away and fell gracefully toward the floor like a dance of its own. After the ribbon was cut away there was another rave of applause before everyone started to line up for their turn to enter the newly improved diner.
“Mr. Ferris may you come stand next to Ms. Royce please, I would like you to enter together,” Mrs. Delarosa said over the mic before passing it to the security man that stood guard.