Sorry this is up so late. I seriously JUST got home from school. I know it is technically not Valentines Day, so sorry. But like I said I got back from school at 12:15pm and my teacher had to give me a ride home, lol. TMI? idk. Enjoy!
February 14th, 2014
Valentines Day
"Happy Valentines Day!" Taylor heard being whispered into her ear early Thursday morning.
She groaned softly, flipping her small body around so that she was met with Ryan's bare chest against her own and his lips crashing into hers.
"Here," Ryan said when he pulled away from the kiss, handing her a small white box of chocolates.
"We shouldn't be celebrating Valentines Day, Ryan." Taylor said, almost sadly.
"Who cares what we should and shouldn't be doing?" Ryan said, kissing her again.
"Go out to dinner with me tonight," Ryan said once the kiss was broken.
"Fine, but just because I don't want to sit all alone on Valentines Day and all the dates that were pinning over me are obviously in Chicago," she told him with a smirk, breaking out into a giggle when Ryan began to place soft kissed all over her collar bone.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait," Taylor laughed, trying to get Ryan to stop his flirtatious kisses. "You're going to smash my chocolates."
Ryan laughed and let her free; Taylor pulled the sheet up over her bare chest and sat up against the headboard, studying her chocolates.
"That one is a rum nugget," he told her, pointing to a long milk chocolate piece.
"Yummy, my favorite," Taylor said, beaming up at him.
Ryan began to reach for his own piece of candy, but before he could Taylor quickly pulled the box away from him.
"What do you think you are doing?" she teased.
"Having a piece of chocolate," he laughed, confused.
"But this was my present, and you never take advantage of a lady, if you want some, you will have to work for it." her voice was soft, seductive, and Ryan knew exactly what she meant.
"I will work for food," Ryan said, pulling Taylor's waist flush against him and pressing his lips onto her own.
Taylor dropped the box lightly onto the bedside table behind her and laughed under Ryan's kisses.
"Are you sure taking Taylor, the girl that you are just friends with, except for the fact that you two are having sex, out to a romantic Valentines Day dinner is smart?" Seth asked Ryan over breakfast after Taylor had left that morning.
"What? Why not? She's single, I'm single. Why not have a fun night?"
"Well, I don't know, let me think." Seth mocked, "Because she is leaving in four days and if you act like a couple it is just going to be so much harder for her to go back to Chicago."
"She isn't that clingy young girl you knew seven years ago. She's an adult and she understand that what we are doing here means nothing. Trust me she is well prepared to go back to Chicago."
"Come on man, you two are acting like a couple, not bed buddies."
"Ew, Cohen, do you have to be so crude," Summer said as she strolled into the kitchen.
"You know Summer, you aren't going to be able to call me Cohen much longer."
"Why not?" she asked.
"Because pretty soon you are going to be a Cohen too."
This brought one of the brightest smiles to Summer's face Ryan had ever seen.
"Yeah," she said, still beaming, "but you will always be my Cohen, Cohen."
She smiled and Seth leaned in to place a kiss on her lips.
"Happy Valentines Day," he said, adding a kiss on her forehead.
"To you too, and thank you for the roses I found on my nightstand this morning."
They smiled lovingly at each other for a moment before Summer realized she had interrupted Ryan and Seth's conversation.
"So what were you guys talking about?" she asked.
"Well Summer, Ryan is taking Taylor out to a romantic dinner,"
"Ooh," Summer said with a hesitant look.
"That was my reaction," Seth explained.
"Isn't it going to be hard when she leaves, for both of you?" Summer asked.
"No, because we know that all we are doing is having fun, we both know that."
"Yeah but you two act an awful lot like a couple, a couple that is in love." Summer pointed out.
"No we don't, and no we aren't"
"She has a point Ryan. I mean you went with her to have lunch with her absent father because she needed support. You took her with you to hang out with Sophie and Zoey. She is here all the time, not just at night."
"And I've seen those little kisses you give her when no one is looking, or the way you kiss her goodbye." Summer added.
"And what else does that explain, you two are totally…"
"Oh my God." Summer cried, placing a hand over her mouth.
"What?" Both men asked in unison.
"It's not Taylor is it Ryan?"
"Not Taylor what? I don't know what you mean Summer."
"It isn't Taylor that is getting in too deep this time. It's you. You are in love with her, and she's all set to go back to Chicago in four days."
"Oh my god she's right!" Seth exclaimed, "you have totally fallen for her!"
"You guys are insane, that is not what has happened. She's a good friend of mine, of course I care about her, but that is a very separate feeling from the, well, you know."
"Ryan," Summer cooed.
"I'm going to work and dropping this subject, because I am not in love with Taylor… again, not again."
Or at least he didn't think he was.
"Poor Ryan," Summer said once he had gone back to his bedroom. "You know they were always perfect for each other. I never saw him smile as much than that short amount of time he was with her all those years ago."
"He's been smiling a lot lately too," Seth added.
Ryan pulled out the chair for Taylor that night at a fancy French restaurant. Her dress was a spaghetti strap, deep green, flowing gown that hugged each curve of her body. A small bow brought each piece of the bust together, and below it was a small loop that allowed just enough cleavage to be seen.
Taylor smiled as she took in her surrounding before a young, American waiter with reddish brown locks walked up to the table.
"Happy Valentines Day," the waitress said with a genuine smile. "I'm Temperance, and I will be taking your order today, can I start you off with a bottle of win or a drink?"
"Wine would be nice," Taylor said, glancing at Ryan.
"What kind, we have a great…"
"Surprise us," Ryan said to the waitress.
She looked at him hesitantly for a while before nodding her head and breaking into a smile.
"Okay, I'll be back in a bit to take your order."
After she was out of ear shot Ryan looked at Taylor and laughed.
"Temperance, her name was Temperance,"
Taylor laughed as well, and said "Who names their kid that?"
"I don't know," Ryan said with a laugh.
"I always figured I would stick to classic pretty names for my kids, Emma, Felicia, Amelia, Abigail, Ava, Isabella or for boys, Michael, Thomas, Noah, Daniel, things like that."
"Those are good, strong names. Nothing they would be made fun of for. I really like Isabella"
"Did you ever think of what you wanted to name your kids?" Taylor said, giggling.
"I never put that much thought in to it," Ryan said.
"Come on, you have had to of thought, 'that's a pretty name,' or 'I could see myself calling my child that.'"
"Well," Ryan said shyly, and Taylor leaned in to listen.
"For girls, I've always liked Charlotte, or Madeline. I know, not names a kid from Chino would like, but, well, I don't know."
He looked up at Taylor to see a look of utter endearment on her face, and he couldn't help but smile.
"Would you call her Charlie or Lottie for short?" Taylor asked.
"What?"
"Charlotte, what would you call her for short?"
"Lottie," Ryan said surly, "I mean I guess, it's cute, right?"
"Yeah it is."
Temperance came back to take their order a while later, and Ryan found he had to have Taylor order for him.
"What did you order me?" he asked her.
"Chicken." She said blankly, pouring herself more wine.
"No you didn't."
"Trust me Ryan, you won't know the difference."
Ryan just starred at her for a moment with an odd look on his face before changing the subject.
"So, how was work today?"
"Oh my gosh," Taylor said, suddenly incredibly happy. "Nothing happened!"
"What do you mean nothing happened?" Ryan asked.
"Well, I mean, everything happened, but nothing bad. Nothing that wanted to make me tear my hair out."
"Really? That's good."
"I know! The centerpieces came in and they were all perfect! And the sample table looks perfect! And the cake and the sample dinner were perfect! And all the appointments I called to check up on for the wedding day, the photographer, the caterers, the florist, everything, they were all perfect! And all the dresses including the wedding dress are perfect! And the specialty curtains for the reception hall are already up and they look…"
"Let me guess," Ryan cut in, "perfect?"
Taylor laughed, "Sorry."
"It's okay, I'm glad your day went so well, especially after the last couple of days."
"I know. I am completely un-stressed. There was one noteworthy thing that happened today."
"What, good? Bad?"
"Funny."
"Oh, do tell."
"Well Jackie has this friend whose sister is a hair and makeup artist, so she wanted to do a test run. So Jackie calls me telling me she wants me to come and see her. So I take a cab to this house and it is, I don't even know how to explain it, it was crazy."
"How?"
"It was blue with pink front doors, and inside she had all hardwood floors but a zillion crazy rugs, and plants everywhere, and all the furniture was bright and mismatched. It looked like a fun house!"
"That's San Francisco for you." Ryan said with a smirk.
"It's wonderful here, so many different people."
"Perfect for a psychologist," Ryan said without thinking.
"Yeah, if I was one," Taylor said with a sad smile.
"You are, you could practice at anytime."
"I could, but I like what I'm doing now, in Chicago."
"Well, I guess its good that you don't like the crazy, hippie, eccentric lifestyle then."
"To tell you the truth I always wanted a yellow house."
"Really?" Ryan said, a bit surprised.
"I know it doesn't seem like me…"
"That's not what I meant…"
"I know," Taylor assured him. "But I always wanted a yellow house with red door, it just epitomized happiness for me when I was a little girl."
"That makes sense."
"It does, I guess. But you can't really have that in the city."
"Why not?"
"Well first of all buying a house inside Chicago is crazy expensive for a single girl, and I would hate to take the commute to the city everyday since all my work takes place there."
"So where do you live?"
Taylor laughed and looked at Ryan bashfully.
"Come on, I won't make fun of you."
"Fine, if you insisted." She teased. "I live in a four story walk up in the middle of the city in a studio apartment. The whole room is painted a soft green and I've accumulated all this great vintage furniture."
"Why would I make fun of your for that?"
"Well you should see my when I'm trying to haul a million papers and bags, and sometimes even dresses, because sometimes I alter dresses for my wedding clients if no one else can last minute, up four flights of stairs. And these are the windiest, narrowest stairs in the world."
Ryan let out a full laugh and Taylor joined in.
"Video tape it for me one day and send it to me," Ryan mocked.
"Shut-up, at least I live alone."
"Ouch" Ryan laughed
"I'm kidding," she assured him.
"You look great tonight Taylor," Ryan said after a moment of silence.
"You do too. Thank you for taking me out, I love to dress up and just have fun."
"Don't you get to do that a lot though, I mean you are an event planner."
"You would think so," she said with a laugh, "but I'm usually running around like a crazy person, so I try to wear things that are at least semi comfortable, and I don't get to enjoy it."
Ryan nodded at her without speaking a word.
In that moment something in Taylor changed, she suddenly looked to be lost in deep thought, and her face showed signs of distress.
"Taylor, are you okay."
Taylor looked up at him as thought she was surprised he was there, "Can I tell you something Ryan, it's not a huge deal, but I've never told anyone…yet."
"Yeah," Ryan said softly.
"Well, when I was in college the only thing that interested me was psychology, so I decided to major in it. But at the same time I was in this part time culinary school, and when I graduated both I decided that, even though I loved psychology more, I would become a chef because, well, because I was too messed up to help other people get their lives in order. So I found this guy who was opening up this little restaurant in Chicago, because that's where my mom had moved to. And he didn't even care my license probably wasn't as legit as it could have been, but I could cook so he hired me. Then he started letting me go out and cater, all the while I was get my masters degree, and eventually I decided I wanted to be an event planner instead. So I started with this lady my mom knew as an apprentice, and I was good at it. So I graduated with my masters in psychology, but became an event planner. Because I kept telling myself that I was still to insane, but something happened, and I have my life together now, and I think I want to be a psychologist."
"Wow, Taylor, that's really great."
"But I'm still not sure, can I really help people?"
"I think you can." Ryan said, but the look on Taylor's face showed him she wasn't quite convinced. "Look, Taylor, even when we were nineteen, and you have some emotional…issues, you were never insane."
"I stalked you in a groundhog costume Ryan."
"But you knew it was wrong, and even then, you were always amazing at helping other people get through their issues. I think that being that way when you were younger isn't going to hinder you, it's going to help you to be an even better therapist."
"Really?"
"Honestly, yeah, I really do think that. I don't say things I don't think."
Taylor shot him a smile, just as the food arrived.
When Ryan and Taylor were getting ready to leave the restaurant, an elderly couple sat down at the table next to them. Ryan had just said something that made Taylor giggle hysterically, and as her their laughter was dying down Ryan heard the women next to them whisper something interesting to her husband.
"Don't they remind you of us, John. When we were first falling in love? Forty-seven years ago?"
"Yes," John said, smiling at his wife, "and I love you just as much now, more probably, as I did then."
Ryan couldn't help but feel like he was in a dream, or a story, this was all to cliché and eerie, especially after what Seth had said that morning.
"You ready to go," Ryan quickly asked Taylor.
"Yes, that was wonderful Ryan, thank you."
Ryan walked out of the restaurant with an odd feeling in his stomach.
But as Ryan and Taylor fell into Ryan's bed that night, he knew that everything he had seen and heard that day was incredibly real.
I was at school for 17 hours. Review.