Spending that last night in New York with Kelly had changed things in Ryan he didn't even know existed. Waking up with her in his arms, feeling the weight of her against his body, he was certain for the first time in such a long time that he was exactly where he was supposed to be. Saying goodbye to her the next morning at the car had been long and painful, but he had vowed then and there to find a way to make it work. He never wanted to see a shadow of doubt pass over her beautiful eyes again. Ryan would do anything to make sure that she never felt an ounce of pain because of him.
In the week that had passed since that morning, he had spent most nights at home with her on the phone. Whether it was watching the same movie in bed or sitting on his terrace and looking up at the stars, he did what he could to be with her. When he had to go out or she was busy, he was constantly checking his BlackBerry for even the smallest point of contact from her. They messaged each other constantly at work, sent emails while they were in meetings and exchanged text messages while they were at restaurants. Even when he was focused on his work, Kelly was always on Ryan's mind.
Some people would wonder how Ryan had fallen so hard so fast, but they both knew the trust. Their love had been two years in the making, even though she had fallen for him on that first date before Valentine's Day. He had hid a lot of his true feelings from everyone, including himself. Now that he had finally accepted everything that had been so apparent to her all along, he wanted to share it with the only other person who had ever really mattered to him.
"Hey, Mom," he said softly, happy to hear his mother's contented sigh on the other end of the line. He hadn't talked to her in a few weeks even though she had tried to call at least a half dozen times. "Sorry I haven't gotten back to you yet, but work has been busy."
"It's not just work, is it?" she asked knowingly. "Who is the girl, Ryan? Have you gotten back together with Kelly?"
Ryan smiled to himself. "Yeah, I am definitely back together with Kelly," he answered. "How'd you know?"
"The only other time I can remember you sounding happy since you graduated from college is when you got the New York job," she retorted. "The rest of the time, your happiness always seemed to come from Kelly. Even if you didn't want to admit that it was serious, I knew that she made you feel good about yourself."
"She still makes me feel good about myself," he confessed. "In fact, I am completely in love with her. Not only was getting this job the best thing for my professional life, it has proven to be the best thing for my personal life. Leaving Scranton made me realize how much I missed her. New York has been lonely without her, but when she surprised me last week, I knew that I would never have to feel alone again."
On the other end of the line, Ryan's mom paused hesitantly. She loved her son more than anything and wanted to believe that he had found love so easily. However, she also knew his tendency to run away when things got too serious. She feared that two hearts would end up broken in the end, and the thought of either of them hurting killed her. "Just remember that you have all the time in the world, Ry," she reminded him. "You don't have to take things too fast. Kelly has waited this long for you. I know she'll be patient as you figure this out."
"You don't really sound all that happy for me. I really thought that you would be proud of me. You're the one who is always telling me not to hide from how I really feel, Mom. Now that I've finally done that, you're telling me to take my time. Kelly deserves to have everything that I have denied her for so long."
"I know that Kelly deserves that, honey, that's not what I'm staying," she explained. "I just want to make sure that you do this the right way so that you don't end up hurt. I would hate for either of you to rush it because I think that the two of you are meant for each other."
Ryan pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "I appreciate what you're saying, but I just can't hear this right now," he told her. "I needed to hear that you were happy for me and that I'm doing the right thing. I shouldn't have called you."
"This is exactly what I mean, Ryan. When anything gets too hard, you pull away. I don't want you to do that with her. I'm not sure how many more chances Kelly will give you."
"Kelly loves me," he argued. "She will give me as many chances as we need because she knows how much I love her. I guess it doesn't really matter if you believe in us because she has more than enough faith in me."
With that, Ryan ended the call and tossed his phone onto the mahogany desk. His assistant knocked lightly on the door, hesitating to poke her head inside. "You have that conference call with the Scranton branch in a couple minutes. I called Pam to make sure that the video conferencing software has been installed. She said that the IT guy just set it up in the conference room. I'll have you ready to go in a few."
"Thank you," he responded, dismissing her with a curt nod. When the door clicked shut, he shuffled through the scattered files in his inbox until he came across the Scranton itinerary. Jotting down a few notes, he rejoined his assistant in the small meeting room after she buzzed him down. "Michael?"
"We're here, Ryan," Michael said, his grainy image filling the LCD screen hanging on the wall. Ryan could see Jim, Pam, Oscar and Toby just behind his former boss' head. "Looking good, my little prodigy."
"Um, thanks, Michael," Ryan replied, his body shaking involuntarily from the awkward comment. "I believe Pam has passed around the memo I sent over earlier this week concerning the new customer database. Has everyone had a chance to look over it? Are there any questions before we begin?"
Dwight's hand shot up immediately, not shocking anyone. "Question. I have all my contacts on a rolodex, which is always readily accessible. What do we do if your little program goes down?"
"It's always a good idea to keep a hard copy of anything you have online," Ryan reminded them. "However, you can be confident that everything Dunder Mifflin houses online is backed up several times during the working day. The virtual database can be used to better connect the branches with corporate as well be accessed during business travel."
"Now, if there aren't anymore questions, I would like to make Jim the point person on this project," he declared. "He has completed the training required to help familiarize everyone on staff with the program. He will be holding a half-day class one day next week to go over the finer points. In the mean time, I have emailed each of you the login information so that you can explore the software."
Over the next few minutes, Ryan answered a few inane questions from the branch. The entire time, he kept his eyes focused on Kelly. Dressed in a straight black skirt and a sage green sweater, she epitomized classic femininity. He remembered a meeting last year when they had sat together in the back, her arm looped through his and her head resting on his shoulder. Even in his unattached state, he knew that had been nice.
"Excuse me, Ryan?" Pam spoke up. "It's almost time for lunch. Is there anything else you needed to discuss?"
"Actually, I will be calling a few of you to talk about individual projects. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day," he said. Just as the screen faded to black, he could hear Stanley talking about how much more bearable he seemed. It was one more thing he could contribute to Kelly.
His assistant looked to him for further direction. Feeling happy and more than generous, he smiled at her widely. "Why don't you take the rest of the day off? I have a few things I need to finish and then I am going head home early."
Knowing that it wasn't like Ryan to make such an offer, she smiled thankfully and excused herself. When he finally came out of the conference room, there was no sign that she had ever been there. Settling back into his plush leather chair, he quickly pulled up his email to check over the messages. Ignoring an email from his boss as well as a couple from Michael, he felt immediate disappointment when Kelly's name didn't show up. Double clicking his private files, he opened the digital picture she had sent a few days before. Whenever the day wasn't going fast enough, one look at her smile was more than enough to sustain him.
Just as he was about to reach for his phone to call her, an unpleasant ring filled the air. "Ryan Howard," he announced primly into the phone. A soft giggle filled his ear. "I was just about to call you. I needed to hear your voice."
"Oh?" she replied innocently. "I saw you watching me during the conference call. You weren't even paying attention when Angela was talking about how it would affect accounting. I think you would have agreed to anything in your distracted state."
"I was just counting the minutes until I could talk to you again," he said flirtatiously. "Tomorrow is Friday, after all. I wanted to make sure that our plans have been confirmed."
He could hear Toby ask her something in the background as she offered a muffled answer. "I can't wait to see you tomorrow night," she murmured. "Seven days is definitely cruel and unusual punishment, Mr. Howard."
"I am your boss, Ms. Kapoor," he reminded her. "I'll decide what is cruel and unusual, and if I remember right, you like a little punishment."
"Ryan!" she squealed, her high-pitched tone causing him to cringe. Quickly gathering herself, she tried to ignore the crimson making its way up her throat. "You might be the boss in the office, but we both know that I have an uncanny ability get my way."
"You are the perfect woman for me, you know that?"
"I'm not perfect, Ryan, just like you're not too perfect. We're just two people loving each other the best that we can for as long as we can. As long as we can remember that, I know that we'll always find a way to be okay."
Ryan could hear someone else talking to Kelly now. It sounded like Pam. "You have a delivery," he could just make out. Kelly excused herself and sat the phone down to sign for her package. He soon heard another squeal followed by the soft thud of someone putting something down. "Ryan Bailey Howard, you sent me flowers."
"There's a first time for everything," he responded sheepishly. "I told you that I have a lot of time to make up for."
"Hey, I'm not complaining," she laughed. "Thank you, Ryan. They are absolutely beautiful. Pink lilies are my favorite. I'm not sure how you knew that."
He groaned reluctantly, still not believing how far he had gone to make sure that she got her favorite flowers. "I had to call your mom," he confided. "She still hates me, just so you know. However, I eventually managed to convince her to tell me. I wish I could tell you that I was listening all those times when you told me your favorite things, but I wasn't. I'm listening now."