It had been a long day. Seth and Ryan spent most of it at the Country Club breaking down the room from the previous engagement. Ryan didnt mind the busy work. He kept moving with hopes of making the day go by quicker.
Seth on the other hand, took every opportunity to whine, complain and drag out the task at hand.
"Aren't there any union guys available? Seriously Ryan, don't you think they should hire someone to do this stuff?" He moaned while sitting on a chair in the middle of the dance floor.
"Seth, you're stacking banquet chairs. Well, your supposed to be....stacking banquet chairs."
"I know but this is so mundane! Extremely boring."
"Well maybe if you complained less and worked more we'd get out of here faster," Ryan encouraged, dragging a set of 6 stacked chairs across the floor. After placing them in their spot, he turned to see Seth, still sitting, still complaining, out loud to nobody. Shaking his head, disgusted, he walked with purpose across the dance floor and grabbed Seth's chair back. He dragged it, Seth included, all the way back across the floor to where the other chairs where being stacked and turned Seth so he was facing the wall. All the while, Seth's mouth kept moving about child labor and unions. A smirk crept across Ryan's face and he walked away leaving Seth talking to the other chairs.
Lost in the moment, and his little speech, it took a bit of time before Seth turned around to find Ryan on the other side of the ballroom folding napkins. At that moment, he also realized he was surrounded by stacked chairs and some climbing was going to be involved in obtaining his freedom.
"Are you trying to tell me something? Yes. I believe you are." Standing on chairs, or parts of chairs, Seth tried crawling out only to find himself about to fall.
"Ry.....Ryan.....RYAN!"
CRASH
Without looking up, Ryan kept folding even where he heard a small "ouch" in the distance. "Put 'em back Seth."
"Back. Right. This stack was a little crooked that's what was wrong," he offered patting one of the chair backs and trying to stand up. "I'll just be over here, you know, putting these back."
Ryan nodded in agreement, again without looking up. Seth knew Ryan could communicate a feeling or a thought with just his eyes. But now he was doing it with just the nod of his head. Seth knew that nod meant "do it or else" and he got to work.
Just before five o'clock, both boys were relieved to hear those magic words from the coordinator, "We're done here. Thanks everyone."
Seth, suddenly filled with vigor and vim, bounded across the ballroom thinking it was a good time to make plans for the evening.
"So that wasn't so bad."
Ryan's eyebrows, not to mention his hands on his hips, answered Seth for him. "There he goes again," Seth thought to himself. "Talking" without "talking!"
"Fair enough. You did work really hard. But let's face it you're more strapping than I am. Heavy lifting really isn't my thing."
Ryan winced. Coming from Seth he supposed that was meant to be a compliment. But a guy calling another guy "strapping" was just wrong on so many levels.
"You should be rewarded for all your hard work Ryan. How about a Guy's Night? No girlfriends. Just us. Maybe a little Playstation. Maybe rent a couple of guy movies. What do you think?"
"Sure." The idea of spending the evening on the couch truly appealed to Ryan. He really did work hard. Especially compared to the other Newport kids who seemed to share Seth's views about unions and child labor.
The air in the Cohen kitchen was heavy with the scent of garlic. Take out containers in all shapes and sizes lined the counter.
"Hi guys. You're just in time for dinner. Grab something to drink and come sit down. This is from that new little bistro in town, Amalfi's. You'll have to let me know what you think. So how did it go today?"
Ryan liked Kirsten's motherly nature. It had taken him a while to get used to it but once he did, it really grew on him.
"It was okay. The ballroom was a mess. It took longer to organize than we thought. Some worked harder than others," he taunted Seth, shooting him a "top that one" glare.
Immediately Kirsten turned to gawk at Seth. "You mean you didn't help?"
"Tag teaming. Nice. No Mother. I helped. As a matter of fact, I was crucial at one point restacking chairs that crashed to the ground after someone stacked them crooked." Seth did his best to imitate Ryan's eyebrows and glare of doom but, he was still Seth and there was nothing intimidating about it. Ryan sipped slowly from his Snapple bottle before letting his hand glide down his body allowing the bottle to come to rest on his belt buckle. Tipping his head back slightly he never broke eye contact with Seth.
Swallowing his own drink hard and starting to fidget Seth glanced at his Mom, then back to Ryan, then back to his Mom again. "Okay, yeah. I knocked the chairs down but I did put them back. I could've just left them there for Ryan to fix...again...but I didn't."
"I'm so proud of you honey," Kirsten mocked. "How many chairs was it?" She continued to rub it in.
"Six. It was a stack of six chairs. It was high and..." he stole a look at Ryan. "Ah, right. And perfectly stacked until I got trapped behind them."
"You were trapped? By chairs?" Kirsten asked in disbelief.
"You know how he is," Ryan explained. "He was complaining and had to be punished. So I put him on a time out."
The visual was too much and Kirsten burst out laughing. Ryan, now over his frustration of not getting any help from Seth, allowed himself to enjoy just how ridiculous the whole thing was, at Seth's expense.
"I think maybe I'll eat alone. In my room. Under the blanket." Seth could feel his cheeks turning red.
"Oh no you don't. It's Guy's Night remember? You're stuck here with me. All night long!" Slapping Seth on the back rather hard, Ryan walked past him and grabbed a plate.
"Guy's night. Great. And who's boneheaded idea was that?" Seth replied, not realizing he was thinking out loud. Kirsten and Ryan were both looking at him in silence with smirks on their face. "Fine. Let the night begin."
Seth on the other hand, took every opportunity to whine, complain and drag out the task at hand.
"Aren't there any union guys available? Seriously Ryan, don't you think they should hire someone to do this stuff?" He moaned while sitting on a chair in the middle of the dance floor.
"Seth, you're stacking banquet chairs. Well, your supposed to be....stacking banquet chairs."
"I know but this is so mundane! Extremely boring."
"Well maybe if you complained less and worked more we'd get out of here faster," Ryan encouraged, dragging a set of 6 stacked chairs across the floor. After placing them in their spot, he turned to see Seth, still sitting, still complaining, out loud to nobody. Shaking his head, disgusted, he walked with purpose across the dance floor and grabbed Seth's chair back. He dragged it, Seth included, all the way back across the floor to where the other chairs where being stacked and turned Seth so he was facing the wall. All the while, Seth's mouth kept moving about child labor and unions. A smirk crept across Ryan's face and he walked away leaving Seth talking to the other chairs.
Lost in the moment, and his little speech, it took a bit of time before Seth turned around to find Ryan on the other side of the ballroom folding napkins. At that moment, he also realized he was surrounded by stacked chairs and some climbing was going to be involved in obtaining his freedom.
"Are you trying to tell me something? Yes. I believe you are." Standing on chairs, or parts of chairs, Seth tried crawling out only to find himself about to fall.
"Ry.....Ryan.....RYAN!"
CRASH
Without looking up, Ryan kept folding even where he heard a small "ouch" in the distance. "Put 'em back Seth."
"Back. Right. This stack was a little crooked that's what was wrong," he offered patting one of the chair backs and trying to stand up. "I'll just be over here, you know, putting these back."
Ryan nodded in agreement, again without looking up. Seth knew Ryan could communicate a feeling or a thought with just his eyes. But now he was doing it with just the nod of his head. Seth knew that nod meant "do it or else" and he got to work.
Just before five o'clock, both boys were relieved to hear those magic words from the coordinator, "We're done here. Thanks everyone."
Seth, suddenly filled with vigor and vim, bounded across the ballroom thinking it was a good time to make plans for the evening.
"So that wasn't so bad."
Ryan's eyebrows, not to mention his hands on his hips, answered Seth for him. "There he goes again," Seth thought to himself. "Talking" without "talking!"
"Fair enough. You did work really hard. But let's face it you're more strapping than I am. Heavy lifting really isn't my thing."
Ryan winced. Coming from Seth he supposed that was meant to be a compliment. But a guy calling another guy "strapping" was just wrong on so many levels.
"You should be rewarded for all your hard work Ryan. How about a Guy's Night? No girlfriends. Just us. Maybe a little Playstation. Maybe rent a couple of guy movies. What do you think?"
"Sure." The idea of spending the evening on the couch truly appealed to Ryan. He really did work hard. Especially compared to the other Newport kids who seemed to share Seth's views about unions and child labor.
The air in the Cohen kitchen was heavy with the scent of garlic. Take out containers in all shapes and sizes lined the counter.
"Hi guys. You're just in time for dinner. Grab something to drink and come sit down. This is from that new little bistro in town, Amalfi's. You'll have to let me know what you think. So how did it go today?"
Ryan liked Kirsten's motherly nature. It had taken him a while to get used to it but once he did, it really grew on him.
"It was okay. The ballroom was a mess. It took longer to organize than we thought. Some worked harder than others," he taunted Seth, shooting him a "top that one" glare.
Immediately Kirsten turned to gawk at Seth. "You mean you didn't help?"
"Tag teaming. Nice. No Mother. I helped. As a matter of fact, I was crucial at one point restacking chairs that crashed to the ground after someone stacked them crooked." Seth did his best to imitate Ryan's eyebrows and glare of doom but, he was still Seth and there was nothing intimidating about it. Ryan sipped slowly from his Snapple bottle before letting his hand glide down his body allowing the bottle to come to rest on his belt buckle. Tipping his head back slightly he never broke eye contact with Seth.
Swallowing his own drink hard and starting to fidget Seth glanced at his Mom, then back to Ryan, then back to his Mom again. "Okay, yeah. I knocked the chairs down but I did put them back. I could've just left them there for Ryan to fix...again...but I didn't."
"I'm so proud of you honey," Kirsten mocked. "How many chairs was it?" She continued to rub it in.
"Six. It was a stack of six chairs. It was high and..." he stole a look at Ryan. "Ah, right. And perfectly stacked until I got trapped behind them."
"You were trapped? By chairs?" Kirsten asked in disbelief.
"You know how he is," Ryan explained. "He was complaining and had to be punished. So I put him on a time out."
The visual was too much and Kirsten burst out laughing. Ryan, now over his frustration of not getting any help from Seth, allowed himself to enjoy just how ridiculous the whole thing was, at Seth's expense.
"I think maybe I'll eat alone. In my room. Under the blanket." Seth could feel his cheeks turning red.
"Oh no you don't. It's Guy's Night remember? You're stuck here with me. All night long!" Slapping Seth on the back rather hard, Ryan walked past him and grabbed a plate.
"Guy's night. Great. And who's boneheaded idea was that?" Seth replied, not realizing he was thinking out loud. Kirsten and Ryan were both looking at him in silence with smirks on their face. "Fine. Let the night begin."