Page 9 of Return on Love

Pouring myself a generous cup of coffee, I take a few sips and attempt to wrack my brain again. The result is worse. I resurrect a vague memory of Ryan, with his blue eyes, holding me by the waist. A shiver runs down my spine at the thought. Shit. What am I doing? Where are these stupid thoughts of mine taking me? I remind myself of his revulsion back in grad school, his cold dismissal last night, and, worst of all, him sharing our past with Greg. Holding me by the waist? Pah! Ryan is an utter asshole and a jerk, and I feel like an even bigger one for entertaining these ridiculous fantasies.

I pick up my phone and see a message from Alex giving me a location for lunch. All thoughts of the brawny arms disappear as I think about meeting Dad. Let me get that straight. It’s not that I hate Dad. But I don’t love him either. I’ve made most of my life decisions to seek his approval. I majored in finance because when Alex did, he was proud of him. Did I see the pride on his face at my graduation? No. Because he couldn’t make it to the ceremony. Some important business meeting or other. Just like he never had time to attend any of my basketball matches, though he somehow squeezed in Alex’s matches in his busy schedule. So, I don’t blame myself if I’m not exactly jumping up and down with excitement at the prospect of meeting him.

I take a long shower, and as I wrap the towel around me, I ache to feel the strong arms around me again. I shake my head as if to shake away the thoughts. Lily’s right. I really need to date someone. As I change into a beige dress, I’m actually considering asking Lily to introduce me to the friend she was suggesting earlier. I think I’ve been abstaining far too long than is healthy.

I’m about to call Lily when the doorbell rings and I open the door and look into Gabriel’s grinning face.

“What brings you here on a Sunday?” I ask, beckoning him to come in and take a seat.

“Sorry to disturb you. I just came to see if you’re okay. After last night, y’know.”

I give him a questioning glance.

“I mean, you weren’t exactly in the best state when we dropped you home.”

“We? I didn’t come home myself?”

Gabriel laughed out as if it was the biggest joke. Then he looked at me. “Oh. You’re serious. So, you remember nothing?”

A bad feeling seeps up through my body as I shake my head. Do I even want to know what happened last night? Maybe not.

“The short version is that you almost passed out, and Ryan and I helped you get inside the cab and up to your room. I’m amazed you don’t remember.”

My cheeks heat up. Ryan! That man. He must’ve had a good time laughing and making fun of me passing out like that. So much for being a professional. I hope Weber never finds out. I’m so ashamed I can’t even look at Gabriel. “Did I do anything stupid?”

“Nah. Don’t worry.” He gets up to leave. “So, I’ll report back that you’re okay and, by the looks of it, going out to meet someone.”

“Report back?”

“Yeah. To Ryan. He’s downstairs, in his car. We were in the area, so he thought I should check on you.”

Well, of course, he did. And, of course, he couldn’t deign to come up himself.

“You can tell him I’m fine,” I say, straightening my back. “And that I can take care of myself. He needn’t worry his head over me. And the someone I’m meeting is my brother and father.” I don’t know why I felt the need to give that last piece of information. It’s silly, really.

“Don’t get us wrong. We were worried because we didn’t want you telling your bosses anything negative about us,” Gabriel winks, flinging his arms around as he makes his little speech. He must’ve been in the theatre club as a kid. “Our future is in your hands, ma’am. We’re just trying to attract our knight in shining armor.”

“The attraction will happen if your games are magnetic,” I reply.

“Funny!” He says guffawing as if it was the funniest joke ever spoken by mankind. I can’t imagine him as the CFO. Most Finance Heads I’ve seen are serious people, the no-nonsense kind who prefer numbers to speak for them. Quite unlike this guy here.

“Thanks for checking on me. I’ll see you tomorrow,” I say as Gabriel leaves. I close the door and hurry to the window. A black Mercedes is parked in front, and a brawny figure— Ryan’s –is leaning against it. I squint and almost flatten my face against the glass to get a look at the face attached to the massive thousand-year-old tree type of body. Unfortunately, the face turned up right at that moment. I duck down and hide, hoping he didn’t catch me checking him out. It’s really unfair that a jerk like Ryan should get a Greek-God-like body and a face to match.

The ringing of my phone brings me back.

“Hi, Alex,” I say. “I got your message. I’ll be there. Don’t worry. I won’t ditch you.”

Alex chuckles. “Good. I wanted to make sure you’re not chickening out. Try to reach on time. You know how Dad gets when we’re late for anything.”

“Yeah. I know how he gets when I am late for something. It has to be done. I’ll suck it up and do it. Sucking up and doing things I don’t want has become my speciality now-a-days. Maybe I can even write it on my resume.”

“It won’t be that bad. I promise. We’re adults now. You don’t have to take his shit if you don’t want to. You know that, right? Just tell him to his face.”

“Easy for you to say. You’re always his blue-eyed boy. Doing everything right. Ticking all the boxes.”

“Well, it’s just for an hour. We both will plan something one of these weekends. Just the two of us. I’m traveling the coming weekend, but let’s plan to do some sight-seeing on the weekend after that.”

“Yeah. Keep some pillows ready as well.” We used to love having pillow fights, much to the chagrin of Dad, who, of course, thought I was the perpetrator of all the mischief. Poor Alex. He has always been the good elder brother—protective and full of advice. He would consistently accept blame for everything, regardless of involvement, to spare me from being scolded. It wasn’t bad for him because Dad never scolded him for anything.

---