Chapter 1: First Contact

Ryan Reynolds had a pretty steady life. Actually, it was steadier than most people could endure. He almost never went out, and when he did, it was because he wanted to go to the Star Wars panel at Comic Con. Some could even say he was a bit of a nerd, but he didn't like labels. Nerdy is the new cool and he was just socially unable. But yeah, he enjoyed reading Iron Man and Justice League from time to time.

Dating was something he had given up a long time ago. The last girl he went on a date with made him cry himself to sleep. He was a handsome fella, he just didn't have enough attitude. Of course he dreamt of meeting his Wonder Woman, or maybe the delicious caramel that is Halle Berry. But that was just a dream, and "even if I met them, they would dump me in a sec", he used to console himself.

Even though his routine wasn't very interesting, he liked his life. Everyday he did the same things and he was more than ok with it. He didn't like change and his lifestyle was just perfect. He had the same haircut since 2002 and still played Super Mario. Nobody knew this, but he still had his Super Man boxers in his drawer. Too bad they didn't fit anymore, but he knew that it would be awesome to find them his size.

He lived in Pasadena in a great pad with his roommate, Ashton Kutcher, who was also his best friend. Ashton, on the other hand, was a ladies man. He didn't spend one week with the same girl – sometimes, not even a whole day – and he just didn't understand how Ryan could survive without some casual, meaningless sex with some random girl he met at a bar. Ashton just wouldn't. Ryan has seen all kinds of girls walking into the apartment, but he never saw one stay for breakfast.

"I don't know how you do it. Don't you have any respect for those lovely ladies?" Ryan said all the time, and Ashton had always the same answer on the tip of his tongue: "They know the rules, if they choose to play the game, who am I to argue?"

Ryan was currently working on a nightclub project. The owner wanted him to build a completely innovative engineering system so more people went to the club to check it out. He had already managed to make the dance floor spin according to the beat of the song, but he was having some trouble connecting the fountain's water pipes to the staircase near the bar. It was a mad project, but if he managed to finish it on time, he would get a lot – a lot – of dough.

That project was beginning to drive him insane. Everyday, for a month now, he left his house and went to his office early in the morning, only stopped a couple of minutes to have lunch and came back to work some more. He got home so tired, he couldn't even reach for his bed and he ended up sleeping on the couch most of the times.

"You're gonna end up loosing it. For real." said Ashton, watching Ryan wake up in the middle of the living room. "You shouldn't work too much" he mumbled, as he buttered a lightly toasted piece of bread.

"It's ok, I'm fine!" said Ryan, cleaning off the drool on the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. He turned his wrist and looked at his watch. "Oh, no! I'm gonna be late! I can't be late! Today is too important to be late!"

"What's so important about today?" asked the roommate, taking a sip of milk straight from the carton.

"I'm gonna meet the club's owner. You know, the nightclub I'm working on!" Ryan said, while changing his clothes. "I gotta go, bye!"

"Good luck, you're gonna need it!"

Ryan rushed downstairs (the elevator was broken and he had absolutely no idea why no one fixed it – maybe the cheap rent was the reason) and drove to the office. The traffic was chaotic and he had only 10 minutes to get there. He decided to park on the side of the road and rent a bicycle. He was so desperate that he was willing to take the risk of getting killed in the middle of Euclid Avenue. He pedaled as quickly as he could and he was there in exactly 8 minutes.

He took the elevator and went straight to the bathroom. He was all sweaty and he just couldn't meet such an important man looking like that. He washed his face and dried it lightly with a paper towel. He walked to his office, made sure everything was in order and sat patiently waiting for the phone to ring.

A couple of minutes later, the phone rang.

"Sure, send him in." said Ryan to the building's security. "Scarlett… what an odd name for a man!" he thought.

Two more minutes went by and a stunning blonde entered the room. She was wearing a grey silk dress that accentuated her beautiful curves and a red lipstick on her full, sexy lips. She walked seductively and her voice was like an angel's.

"You're Ryan, right?" asked the attractive young lady.

"Ri-right!" he stuttered. "And you are…?"

"Scarlett. Scarlett Johansson."

He was visibly in shock. He could never imagine that such a beautiful woman like Scarlett could be the owner of one of the most powerful nightclub industries in the world.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"You are nothing like I expected…"

"Why?" she stared at him with her magnetic, deadly eyes.

"Well… I… Do-don't know why… I ju-just…"

"Are you ok?"

Scarlett was the most beautiful woman Ryan has ever seen and he wasn't feeling too comfortable talking to her. He wasn't comfortable talking to women in general, specially the ones who were that attractive. She was… ravishing! He couldn't take his eyes off her but, at the same time, looking at her was too nerve wracking.

"Ryan? Ryan!"

And that was the last thing he heard before passing out.

When he woke up, he was laying on his bed, being observed by a doctor.

"Hey man… are you ok?" asked Ashton.

"What happened?"

"You passed out and Bob called me and asked me to go take you home. You know Bob, that guy who works with you… When I got there, Bob told me you were talking to the owner of the nightclub, I think her name is Scarlett, I can't remember what he told me… and you passed out."

"Where is she? I need to talk to her! We were about to make really important decisions…"

"Bob told me she had to leave. When I got there, she was already gone."

"Ohhh man!"

"You're going to be just fine. Just relax and everything will be ok." said the doctor, right before leaving.

"What happened dude?" asked Ashton, sitting on the bed next to Ryan.

"I don't know… the last thing I remember is the image of a dazzling blonde walking into my office. That's all. Oh, yeah! And her voice was beautiful too."

"Please, don't tell me you passed out just because you got too nervous talking to a pretty girl."

"She wasn't just pretty… well, I blew everything. I'm such a loser."

"Cheer up, man! I don't get it, but some women actually think it's cute."

Ashton left the room and Ryan had only his thoughts to keep him company. He worked all this time on a project he thought was some old millionaire's idea. But no, not only she wasn't old at all, but incredibly appealing and creative and amazing and uhhh… thinking wasn't going to help. He needed some sleep. He wanted to dream about her.

When he woke up the next morning, the sun was shining bright and Ryan was late for work – again.

"Oh, I can't believe you're working today. Do I have to remind you that you passed out yesterday?"

"You're not my mommy. Besides, I'm feeling better. Bye!"

Ryan took the bus (his car was still waiting for him on the side of the road) and got there a few minutes late. Scarlett was already in his office.

"Hi"

"Hi…! What are yo-you doin' here?"

"I thought I'd stop by. I brought you soup… I really don't know what people who pass out should eat to feel better; I thought soup maybe could…"

"I love soup!" he said, nervously.

"So… are you ok?"

"Yes, yes! Yesterday I skipped breakfast and my blood pressure got too low…"

"Oh, ok!" she smiled. "I'm happy to know you're fine again. Now we can discuss the project"

"Yeah, sure, please sit down."

They talked about her ideas, his ideas, the budget, what he could do to make the staircase closer to the fountain so the dancers could dance in the water… It was going to be huge and Ryan was a bit worried if he could handle the job. When the conversation was over, she turned to him and said:

"So, do you think you can handle?"

"Suuure!"

"Great! Keep up the good work and I'll see you soon to talk about possible changes."

She left the office. He closed the door and sat on his desk. He placed his head between his hands in desperation and sighed. The only thing he was sure of was that he wasn't going to finish it on time and he would disappoint Scarlett. That's the last thing he wanted! She seemed to like him a lot; at least that's what he thought.

When he arrived home, Ashton was still out. "Probably with a girl", Ryan thought. He poured himself a bowl of cereal and ate it while watching his Star Trek The Original Series DVD. For Kirk, everything seemed easy. He managed to keep the ship safe, win a battle against the Romulans and take a girl to bed in the end of the day. How did he do that? Ryan wondered about how great his life could be if he had the guts to ask Scarlett out on a date. "That's rubbish. She'd never say yes".

He decided it was late and went off to bed. A few moments after he closed his eyes, he saw a beautiful blond woman in front of him. He was at a park and in the middle of the park there was a huge building. The blond was sitting on a tablecloth that was spread wide on the grass and she was pouring some orange juice on a glass and handing it to him. On the tablecloth, there were fresh pieces of bread, three different kinds of jam, chocolate cookies and an orange juice jug.

"It's ok…" she said, her beautiful voice almost as beautiful as in real life.

"Really?" Ryan said.

"I'll say yes…"

She took a sip of juice and giggled flirtatiously. His alarm went off and he came back to reality. He put on his slippers, walked to the fridge and grabbed a piece of last night's cake. He walked around the pad looking for Ashton and when he opened his bedrooms door, there he was, laying next to a beautiful brunette. She did seem a lot older, but she was stunning. She was wearing nothing but black lace lingerie.

It was Sunday, so he thought he might as well get back to sleep. He went back to his bed, once again, by himself.

When Ashton woke up, the first thing he saw was the girl he met at the gym, Demi. He asked her out a couple of times, but she always had an excuse. Now, she was on his bed and by what he still remembered from the previous night, she liked him – a lot. He watched her wake up. He'd never done this before. He usually tries to run away before the girl wakes up. But this one was different. She opened her eyes slowly and starred at him, her eyes shining bright.

"Good morning, sunshine" he said and then kissed her lightly on the lips. "Would you like breakfast in bed?"