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For the last 2 weeks Ryan had seen Cheryl just about every night. He was happier than he had felt in a long time. She was definitely turning out to be different from anyone else he had dated before. She was just so incredible that he found himself thinking about her every minute of the day. Everyone at work also noticed something different about him and wanted to know all about it. He didn't want to tell them for fear of jinxing his relationship with her.
Tonight he had tickets to a play his friend had written and directed. It was only going to be something put on at the local community theater, but he promised his friend that he would come. He had also told his friend that he was bringing someone he wanted him to meet.
He was wearing the shirt that she had given him as he walked up to her apartment. She had given him a key to the front door of the building so that he would not have to be buzzed in, but she had not yet given him a key to her front door, even though she had a key to his door.
In his hands were a bundle of her favorite flowers, which he put behind had back as he waited for the door to open. As soon as it opened he pulled the flowers out in front of him obscuring his view. When he didn't get the expected response, he moved the flowers away from his face to see why and was surprised to be looking at Amanda, "Oh, sorry Amanda, I thought that Cheryl would have answered the door, since she knew I was coming to pick her up".
Amanda looked surprised at seeing Ryan, "She's not here Ryan. She left about 2 hours ago on her way to a friend's party".
"What, she's not here?"
Amanda could tell this came as a real shock to Ryan just by looking at his face. "She never mentioned the two of you going out tonight. She usually tells me to get lost when you're coming over and she never said a word about it". She couldn't help but feeling sorry for Ryan, he had such a wounded look on his face. "Hey, do you want to come in or something; seeing as you drove all the way over here for nothing".
Ryan didn't know what to do at the moment so he took Amanda up on her offer, "Sure, I guess I can come in".
"Can I get you something to drink?" Amanda didn't know what to say to Ryan, but she knew that she was mad at her sister for standing him up. This was not the first time she had done this to him and it was something she knew he didn't deserve. He seemed like such a nice guy she often wondered what he saw in Cheryl.
Ryan leaned up against the wall by the kitchen, "Sure, whatever you got would be great".
Amanda handed him a can of soda, "So, where were you two headed for tonight anyway? You looked all dressed up for something it looks like".
Ryan opened the can and took a sip before he responded to Amanda's question, "We were supposed to go and see a play tonight. A friend of mine wrote and directed it and I promised to come, but now I don't know if I feel like going alone".
Amanda was curious about the play so she asked "What play were you going to?"
"It's called 'A Night to Remember'. It's playing over at the community center so it wasn't a big production or anything, but it was my friend's first play".
"I think I read about that one in the paper. It sounded like it was going to be good. I think you should still go and see it, especially if your friend was expecting you".
"I don't know; I didn't want to go alone". Ryan stopped as he had an idea, "Hey, are you doing anything tonight? I mean, I have an extra ticket and since you seem to know about the play and all, it might be fun to go and see it with someone who would probably enjoy it. I didn't really know if Cheryl would have liked it or not, but seeing as she didn't remember the play was tonight I guess she didn't".
Amanda wasn't expecting this, "Oh I don't know. I wasn't really planning on going out tonight".
Ryan took that to mean she was free, "So if you weren't going out that it can only mean you're free for the evening".
She really didn't have any plans and seeing the play might be nice, but then she thought of her sister, "Oh, I don't think Cheryl would like it very much".
"Well, the way I see it is that she's not here and you are. I have an extra ticket and it sounded like you might have liked to see it so I think you should come with me. It will be a nice evening out with friends".
Amanda sighed and was silent while thinking it over. Eventually she said "Oh I guess it would be fun. Give me a few minutes to get changed". She was still wearing her clothes from work, which were not suitable for a night out. She went into her room and looked through her closet. There didn't seem to be anything she liked, but then again she was not used to going out. She finally decided on a navy blue skirt and a nice light blue tank top under a white cardigan. She put on some nice sensible shoes for walking, but still stylish enough to go with the skirt. Before leaving she took her hair out the pony tail it had been in and tried her best to comb it into something more presentable. Her last thing to do was add a touch of makeup; just enough to give her face some color.
Ryan was sitting in one of the living room chairs when Amanda finally came out of her room. He looked at her and thought she looked completely different that she had before. With a little attention given to her personal appearance he thought she was actually kinda pretty. "Well you look nice. I thought we could go out for dinner after the play, do you like Chinese?"
"I love Chinese food".
"Great, I figured since Cheryl was not going tonight I could change the restaurant. She hates Chinese, but I was having a craving for it ever since the other day and I know of a nice little place pretty close to the theater".
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Ryan and Amanda arrived at the theater with some time to spare. Ryan wanted to find his friend and wish him luck since it was the first night of the play.
As Ryan looked around the crowd of people that were in the waiting area he spotted his friend and called out his name, "Shane".
Shane looked around and finally saw Ryan. He made his way over to where Ryan and Amanda were standing. He gave Ryan a hug "Hey thanks for coming Ryan; it means a lot to me that you came". He then looked at Amanda "And this must be that special lady you were talking about".
Ryan saw Amanda blush before he could correct his friend, "Oh, no this is not Cheryl, this is her sister Amanda. Cheryl couldn't make it but Amanda was free and really wanted to see it".
Shane looked embarrassed "Sorry, I just assumed this lovely lady with you was your girlfriend".
Amanda's face became more flushed as she heard Shane say she was lovely. She looked away from both men hoping that they didn't notice.
Shane could tell he embarrassed her so he changed the subject, "Well the shows about to start so I really should go in the back and make sure everyone is ready. It was nice meeting you Amanda".
Amanda didn't feel herself blushing this time so she thought it was safe to look at Shane, "It was nice meeting you. Good luck with your show".
Ryan shook Shane's hand and said "Good luck".
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After the play was over Ryan and Amanda found Shane and congratulated him on a show well done. He invited them to the after party but Ryan politely thanked him and said they had other plans.
The rest of the night went really well and Ryan was surprised at how much he had in common with Amanda. Even though he was dating Cheryl he was kind of glad that she had not come tonight. He didn't think he would have had as a good of a time is she had come along.
Ryan drove Amanda back to her place and was walking her to her front door when they ran into Cheryl.
Cheryl didn't look very happy at seeing Ryan with Amanda, "What do we have here, did you take my sister out Ryan?"
Ryan didn't like the accusing tone he heard in her voice, "Yeah, I took her out since you decided not to be here when I came to pick you up".
"What, we didn't have a date tonight, what are you talking about". She kept her eyes on Ryan, refusing to address her sister.
"The play my friend wrote was tonight and you said you would go with me".
Cheryl suddenly looked embarrassed "The play was tonight, oh my god Ryan; I thought it was tomorrow night".
Ryan was not buying her excuse "No, it was tonight".
Cheryl started digging for something in her purse. As soon as she found her phone she pulled it out and started searching through it. Once she found what she was looking for she showed the screen to Ryan, "No I had it on my calendar and it said the play was tomorrow night, I am so sorry. Can I make this up to you?"
Ryan was silent for a moment thinking of what he was going to say, "I don't know, maybe".
Cheryl went up to him and whispered something in his ear and then waited for him to say something.
Ryan liked what she whispered in his ear and after thinking about it for a few seconds he said "Ok, I think that sounds fair".
The whole time Cheryl was talking to Ryan, Amanda didn't know what to do. She became very uncomfortable as soon as she saw her sister. She tried to blend into the wall but it didn't work when Ryan turned to her to say something.
"Well, I had a very good time Amanda. Thanks for coming out with me tonight".
Cheryl did not like this and suddenly grabbed Ryan's arm and pulled him in the direction of the front door to her apartment, leaving Amanda just standing there.
Ryan wanted to say something when Cheryl pulled him away, but he didn't want to upset Cheryl so he allowed her to lead him away.
When Amanda eventually walked through the front door she saw that Ryan and Cheryl were nowhere in sight. Further inspection of the apartment revealed the door to Cheryl's bedroom was closed. She was glad she didn't have to confront either of them and went into her own room. But she soon heard some noises coming from her sister's bedroom that would prevent her from getting a good night's sleep.
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The next morning Amanda got up and went to the kitchen to make some breakfast. She walked past Cheryl's door and saw that it was still closed. She knew she would have to face her sister eventually and just hoped she was not mad about last night. But she was glad she could eat some breakfast first.
She was sitting at the kitchen table eating some cereal when she heard the door to Cheryl's bedroom open. She looked up and saw her sister standing there looking a little pissed off. She tried to avoid he sisters glare and said "Good morning Cheryl, there is some fresh coffee in the kitchen".
Cheryl walked closer to her sister, "What do you think you were doing going out with my boyfriend last night?" Her tone of voice was as cold as ice.
Amanda didn't know how to respond. She knew that no matter what she said her sister would be mad at her. She decided the easiest way out was to just to say she was sorry, "I promise it won't happen again. I'm sorry".
"It better not, now I think you should go for a jog this morning. I want to have the apartment so that I can make Ryan some breakfast".
Amanda hated being bossed around by her sister, but she did what she was asked; she got ready and went for a long jog.
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The rest of the week Cheryl made sure that Amanda was not in the apartment when Ryan came over. She was still mad at her sister, but she was too busy to fight about it.
Ryan sensed there was something up between the sisters and felt like it was his fault. But he also felt like Cheryl was treating her sister unfairly. He only took her out since he had no one else to go with. It wasn't like it was a date or anything and he had told Cheryl this, but all he got was the silent treatment until he changed the subject.
Ryan felt responsible for the way Cheryl was treating her sister. It was enough to make him decide to call Amanda and apologize to her. They had a nice long talk on the phone and wished the reason for his call had been for something else. He didn't tell Cheryl about the call, but he felt better after talking to Amanda and he thought she felt the same way.
When Amanda was done on the phone she put it down on her dresser. It was getting late and she still needed to run some errands so she got her purse and found her car keys. She left the apartment without taking her phone with her. Had she known what her sister was just about to do, she would have remembered to take it with her.
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Cheryl had come home and heard her sister talking and laughing to someone on the phone. From the way she sounded Cheryl figured it must be a guy she was talking to. When Amanda left she didn't say anything since she wasn't even sure her sister knew she was home. When she walked by her sisters open bedroom door she couldn't help but notice Amanda had forgotten her phone. Being the nosy sister she was she decided to see if she recognized the phone number of the last caller. When she pushed a few buttons on the phone and started reading the number of the screen her blood began to boil. This was not acceptable and she was mad; mad enough to throw her sister's phone out the window; where it landed on the pavement and shattered into several pieces.
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