.
The red and black Mustang pulled into the parking lot behind a pub called Riverstone. The pair walked into pub. The interior was made of cherry colour wood and was well lit. The patrons varied from a group of hockey fans in team jerseys in front of the big screen, a few couples out on dates, a group of young kids singing karaoke, and a group of bikers in the corner. Ryan led him to a table near the stage. As they moved to their table Chip noticed a biker at the bar nod at Ryan.
"Did that biker just nod at you?" he asked as he pulled out the chair for her.
"Him? Oh that's just Buzzard. We go way back."
"You go way back with a biker named Buzzard?" Morton questioned in disbelief.
The waiter approached. Before Chip could say anything, Ryan placed an order for, "a bottle of tequila and two shot glasses, please." The waiter nodded and promptly left to fill the order. "My dad used to own a bike shop. He was a biker in his youth. He rode with Buzzard. Buzzard hangs out here cause he owns the bar. He and another friend of my dad's co-owned it and when Jack died Buzzard let Jack's daughter, Lisa, run it. After I graduated at sixteen Lisa and Buzzard let me work here for a year before I went to University, so I know a lot of the employees here."
"They let you work at a bar underage?"
"I had a really good fake ID, and Buzzard made it his personal responsibility to make sure I wasn't drinking here. He figured it was worth it to let me work so I could afford school."
The waiter dropped off the bottle of tequila and two shot glasses and disappeared behind the bar once more. Ryan reached over and began to fill the shot glasses. Chip eyed the golden liquid in the glasses.
"Whiskey's for heartbreak and tequila for when you get cheated on," Ryan stated. "Look, I know you're an officer and a gentleman but it's after eleven so you're off duty, you're not in uniform, no one here knows you, and I promise I won't let you get drunk enough to swing off the chandeliers or completely lose your ability to stand."
Ryan slammed back her shot and poured another. What have I got to lose? Thought Chip and he followed suit. An hour and a half bottle later Chip had given Ryan the complete rundown of his relationship with Jenna.
"Well, Chips Ahoy, you can do so much better. You've just got to get out there and find someone new, preferably not a shallow opportunistic witch. Now we've drank; you've vented; now it's time for fun. I'm putting our names down for the karaoke."
A look of horror passed over the blond's face. "I can't sing and it's getting late and I'm sure your guy Luke or Lane or Loren or Logan . . ."
"Landon."
"I'm sure he's going to be wondering where you are."
"First, everyone can sing, not everyone can carry a tune. Second, everyone here is drunk and not going to notice if their ears start to bleed. Third, Landon and I broke up about two weeks ago," she explained.
"I'm sorry," Chip replied sympathetically.
"Why? I'm not. He was looking for that a girl who is happy to stay at home being the perfect housewife, which is fine if that's what makes you happy, but I couldn't be that even if I tried. I love my career and my life and I'm not willing to change who I am to make someone else happy. Really it's for the best."
Chip envied the ease that Ryan seemed to have with getting over a former lover. Maybe she was right. Maybe Jenna wasn't worth all the heartache. Jenna wanted him to be what she thought he should be when he was happy with his current life and who he was.
"So you're telling me she got you plastered and threatened karaoke," stated Crane as he brought in a couple of sandwiches from the kitchen. He passed one to Morton who ate it along with his vegetable soup.
"I wasn't plastered, but I think the night could have easily rivaled some of our shore leave exploits. And she didn't just threaten karaoke she got me up there!"
"No!" Lee chuckled to himself.
"Yes. We did Puddle of Mudd's She Hate Me, which I think actually helped. She did a song by someone named Pink, and Ryan's rather good, and then I think I did one on my own called Livin on a Prayer. That's more a blur. I think I really just want to block that out."
"After what I'm sure was a brilliant rendition of Livin on a Prayer, you finally crawled home?"
"No." Chip blushed slightly and reached into his jeans pocket producing a handful of napkins. He laid the papers out on the coffee table. Each one of them had a name and a phone number on it. "She took me to a club she knows."
"And what, sold you to all the women there?"
"We spent an hour on the dance floor and when we went to the bar the waitress handed me these. Ryan got me to dance with a few of them. They seemed nice."
Somewhat amused at his friend's situation, Crane asked, "are you going to call any of them?"
"I don't think so, Lee. I met Jenna at a bar and look how that turned out," Chip explained.
It was the way Chip casually brushed off Jenna's name that got the Captain to think that Ryan's night out really did help Chip start to get over the women who had so recently ripped his heart out.
The two had finished their lunch and Chip had to admit that he was feeling way better. Lee helped him clean up the water bottles and lunch dishes. They returned to the living room and sat in their previous spots.
"So I have to ask, Chip, the great escape, the wardrobe make over, the pub, your musical debut and the club where you were clearly the object of many young ladies affection, what happened next?"
"Well, according to Ryan, I had successfully drunk away my sorrow, vented my frustration through song, rebounded on the dance floor, and now needed to reflect."
"I'm almost scared to ask, but how did you do that?"
"It was actually the best part of the night. We took a cab and ended up at this beach house that belonged to some rich friend of hers who was out of town. We arrived just before dawn and sat on the dock, drank champagne, talked and watched the sun come up."
The little yellow cab pulled up to the huge beach front house and Ryan and Chip climbed out of the backseat. Ryan dug around in her purse until she produced a key chain with a single silver key. She turned the key in the lock and pushed open the massive front doors. Inside, an alarm system started counting down and Ryan moved towards a panel on the wall. She entered the appropriate code and the alarm system turned off.
Ryan explained, "My friend, Thai, owns this place. He tells me he works for the government and has to travel a lot for work. He said I could use the place as much as I want when he's out of town so it doesn't look like the place is empty all the time. I come here and sit out on the dock to think. The view is beautiful out there."
Ryan went to the wine cooler and pulled out a bottle of champagne while Chip looked around the massive home. It was spectacular.
"Come on, the backdoor is over here." The brunette led the Exec down the boardwalk and out onto the dock. She was right. The view of the ocean was beautiful. The only sight more perfect was the view of the open sea when aboard Seaview. Ryan flipped a switch and the dock was lit-up by a thousand tiny little white lights. The pair sat in the two lounge chairs near the end of the dock waiting for the sun to rise.
"You said Thai works for the government?"
"That's what he tells me." Ryan chuckled to herself. "Personally I think he's a spy. He has a very James Bond kinda vibe, travels a lot, is surrounded by the finer things, speaks a bunch of languages, is rather a good shot," she explained as she opened the bottle of champagne, took a drink from the bottle then passed it over to Chip, who in turn did the same. Her face went serious for a moment, and then continued, "That or he's a white cat away from being a supervillian. But seriously the Admiral did a background check on him after he picked me up from the office for lunch a few times. I saw the paper work, and apparently he passed because I received the Admiral's approval that he was a nice boy and we would make a good couple."
They both smiled at each other. There was something about Ryan that made him feel at ease, like he could share anything with her. It was a kind of ease that he only felt around his close friends. He was glad that he let Ryan drag him out tonight. It might have been the tequila or the beers or the champagne but this was the best Morton had felt in the last five days, or after any break-up.
"I take it you're into guns if you know your super spy friend is a good shot."
"My dad used to take my brother Tyler and me out camping and we would shoot pop cans, so one day Thai asked If I wanted to go to the range and I said why not," she said stealing the champagne bottle from Chip and taking another drink. "I was really good at shooting pop cans."
Morton laughed out loud, "Pop cans all over the world are terrified."
"You laugh, but if the Institute is ever taken over by evil pop cans . . . I'm so your go to girl," she mocked.
"I'm just going to recap Ryan what I've learned about you Ryan. You're a singing ballerina, who does charity work with bikers and runs the Institute while hanging out with spies and can go Rambo on pop cans using both weapons and self-defence moves. Did I leave anything out?"
"You forgot brilliant and beautiful!"
"My mistake."
"Don't let it happen again Sailor."
The stories of their childhood continued until the champagne bottle was empty. After that the conversation turned to the beauty of the sunrise as the golden to red hues spilled across the ocean.
"Amazing isn't it?" Ryan whispered in awe.
Chip agreed. After a few moments and a few yawns the duo decided it was time to call it a night. Ryan called for a cab and they headed to Morton's place first. They staggered up the walk way and the exec fished for his keys. After several failed attempts to unlock the door the correct key was inserted and Ryan helped Chip inside. The XO flopped on the couch, finding it hard to keep his eyes open. He could hear jars clanging in the fridge and finally Ryan returned with an armful of water bottles.
"Hear, drink this," she instructed as she twisted off the white cap, "it will help with the hangover tomorrow." Ryan placed the bottles on the coffee table. She then passed Morton two pills from an Advil bottle. "Take these as well. Make sure you drink lots before you go to sleep and consider having vegetable soup tomorrow. It's the best cure for a night of drinking."
Chip took a drink of water and swallowed the pills. "Does Jamie know you're moonlighting as a doctor?"
"What makes you think it wasn't Will that gave me this hangover remedy?" Ryan said with a sly smile as she headed towards the front door.
Chip wasn't sure what to make of that statement. Will Jamieson and a night on the town? Somehow he couldn't picture the doctor as being the hard- partying, hangover- suffering type. Admiral Nelson had somewhat eluded to nights of misspent youth with the doctor. Maybe he should try and find out some more stories about the good doctor.
"Make sure you drink another bottle at least before you go to sleep," said Ryan as she slipped out the door, but Chip didn't hear her as he descended into unconsciousness.
.
