It was Sunday afternoon, and Ryan was straightening his tie for the third time in his bathroom mirror. He picked up his comb before setting it back down on the counter. Why was he nervous? It was only Kelly, he reminded himself. Still, Pam’s voice had echoed through his head all weekend. “I think it would be a good idea for you to come to Scranton and see Kelly.” She’d said. “It’s really important.” The tone in her voice still made him jumpy. What could be so damn important?
Calm down, Ryan, he thought. Kelly’d probably invented some stupid drama and Pam just happened to believe her this time. Why the hell had he put a tie on anyway? He yanked it back off and threw in on the sink. He took a deep breath before running the comb through his stylish new haircut absently. It was already half past three—time to get on the road.
He grabbed the tie on his way out the door.
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Kelly sat in her bathtub filled with lavender salts, thumbing through an issue of Baby Magazine, but the words all blurred together and her hands were shaking. Ryan was coming. To see her. She’d always knew he’d come back. No man could resist the charm of Kelly Kapoor. She smiled at the thought. Of course Ryan would beg her to forgive his stupidity after he found out she was the mother of his kid. She hummed the wedding march as she drained the tub and toweled off. This wasn’t really the way she was expecting her happy ending to begin, but it was better than nothing.
She’d gone through four outfits and called Pam twice before she’d settled on a pink cashmere sweater and purple skirt, black heels and a turquoise clutch. She wasn’t even upset when she burned herself with the curling iron. Nothing was going to ruin this date. Nothing.
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Ryan arrived at Alfredo’s thirty minutes early. He’d gotten a table before he realized it was only six thirty, and had to wave the waiter off twice. He took a swig of the beer he was sure would be the first of many. At about ten till, fingers drumming on the table nervously, he pulled out his Blackberry and dialed the only person he was sure could calm his nerves: his brother.
“Hey,” Zack said as he picked up. “What’s up, baby brother?”
“Please don’t call me that,” Ryan answered automatically. “Look, bro….do you remember that girl I was dating?”
“The crazy Indian chick? Of course dude. I thought you’d ditched her.”
“Yeah, I thought so too.” Ryan sighed. “Look, I’m meeting her for dinner right now, and I just….I’m really not sure what’s going on. A friend of hers said that I needed to come down here, and I just….What do you think it might be? You don’t think it’s anything….you know…serious, do you?”
“Wow,” Zack laughed “Maybe she broke a nail and really needs you to take her to the beautician. I don’t know man, with her it could be anything.”
“Yeah… I hope to God it’s not anything big. If she’s pregnant or something, I’ll kill myself, I swear. Kelly drives me up a wall, you know? She’s just so—” He glanced at the clock. It was 7:02, and still no sign of Kelly. She’d always made it a point to not be late. “God. I gotta go, Zack. I’m sure she’ll be here any minute.”
“Okay, well call me with the aftermath, bro.”
“Will do.” Ryan hung up, feeling just a little worse than when he’d dialed. He’d been a little harsh about Kelly to Zack. She wasn’t that bad, he guessed. She was just a little…intense. God, what am I thinking? He finished his beer and waved for the waiter.
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Kelly pulled into the parking lot of Alfredo’s at exactly 6:54. She knew that because she’d checked the time every twenty seconds for the last hour or so. She couldn’t help it—she was so totally excited. The girl at the front desk smiled at her as she walked in, and she felt a shiver when she saw Ryan’s back, slouched over a table near the back. He was facing away from her, guzzling his beer as he talked loudly into his phone. Typical Ryan. She rolled her eyes and sighed good-naturedly as she tiptoed up behind him. She wanted it to be a surprise.
About five feet from the table, she stopped. Ryan was talking about her. Her smile slowly faded as she heard his next words. “Yeah… I hope to God it’s not anything big. If she’s pregnant or something, I’ll kill myself. I swear. Kelly drives me up a wall, you know?”
Did he really mean that? Was having a baby with her that much of a disaster? She wanted to walk up to him,confront him about what he'd just said, slap him for being such a jackass. But she didn't. Instead she just backed away quietly, biting back tears as she swung open the glass double doors and stepped back into the hot June breeze. She so did not drive him up the wall. She was probably the best girlfriend he’d ever had.
She fumbled with her keys. Tears were falling fast now, and she couldn’t see a damn thing. Finally, she got the lock undone and climbed into her car. Taking a deep breath, she wiped her eyes and fixed her mascara in her rearview mirror before peeling out of the parking lot.
Screw Ryan Bailey Howard. She could totally deal with this kid thing on her own.
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© 2006-2023 More Than That | Skin created by Kali