Title: Ryan's First Ski Trip
Summary: Ryan and the gang go to a ski resort for the weekend.
Disclaimer: I own nothing related to The O.C..
Chapter 5 - Saturday Dinner
Ryan made it down to the restaurant with Luke and sat down at the table with the rest of the gang for dinner. Ryan looked around and didn't see the manager, and none of the busboys and waiters that he saw looked familiar. When the waitress came to take their orders, she wasn't one that Ryan knew from earlier, either. So far so good.
But then Ryan's luck changed when he and Luke went up to the salad bar. They had only been there for a few seconds when Ryan saw the restaurant manager headed his way.
Ryan said quietly to himself, "Uh Oh."
Luke heard Ryan and turned towards him in time to see the manager reach him.
The manager pulled Ryan to the side and said quietly, "Atwood, what are you doing? That's for guests."
Ryan just stood there for a second, not knowing what to say. He didn't want to admit to this guy that he was a guest. Like Luke said, that would be just weird that he was a guest and an employee at the same time.
Luke could see that Ryan was at a loss for words, so he decided to speak up. Luke stepped forward, next to Ryan, and told the manager, "He's with me."
Immediately after Luke spoke, his father appeared at his elbow. Carson had seen Luke and Ryan go up to the salad bar and was coming over anyway to see how everything was going. He hurried up when he saw them talking to the restaurant manager.
Carson looked at Ryan then Luke then the manager. "Ryan. Luke. Is everything all right?"
Luke looked at his father. "Yeah, Dad, everything's fine." Then he looked over at the manager, daring him to contradict him.
The restaurant manager recognized Mr. Ward as one of the resort's best customers. He came up on a regular basis and spent a lot of money. And he was always discreet about the 'friends' that he brought up with him. If this kid was his son, and Atwood was his friend...
The manager gave Mr. Ward a smile. "Yes, everything's fine, Mr. Ward. I hope you and your son enjoy your stay. Excuse me."
After the manager left, Carson turned to Luke. "What was that all about?"
Ryan and Luke looked at each other. Ryan spoke up, so Luke didn't have to lie to his father himself. "Nothing, Mr. Ward. He was just asking us how everything was."
"Yeah, Dad, it was nothing."
Carson looked from Luke to Ryan and back. There was something going on that they weren't saying. But whatever it was, it was over now, so Carson decided to drop it.
"How's everything going otherwise? What did you do today? Are you guys enjoying yourselves?"
Luke looked quickly at Ryan before turning to his father to answer him. "We went snowboarding. Yeah, it was fun."
"OK. Good. Well, you know I'm here if you need me, right?"
"Yeah, Dad, I know."
"So... I'll see you guys later." Carson went back to his table, with one last look back at Luke and Ryan.
Luke and Ryan looked at each other briefly before turning their attention back to the salad bar. One bullet dodged. Or was it two?
When Ryan and Luke got back to their table, they could tell that Seth, Summer, Anna, and Marissa had seen what happened at the salad bar. They were all looking at Ryan and Luke expectantly. It was Seth who spoke up.
"Hey, guys. So spill -- what was all the excitement at the salad bar? I mean, you got some guy in a suit and Luke's Dad and it looked like you guys had some kind of pow-wow. So what was it? A cockroach in the salad? What?"
Ryan replied, "The guy in the suit was the restaurant manager..."
"Yeah, and? ... We need more than that. We're dying here." Seth gestured to indicate that he was talking about himself and the three girls.
Ryan and Luke looked at each other. Luke decided to use the same story that they told his father. "The manager just came over to ask us how everything was, and my Dad just wanted to check in with us. They just happened to arrive at the same time. No big deal."
Seth didn't quite buy that. "OK..."
Seth looked at Ryan and Luke. Again, he was getting the vibe that there was something going on here. Well, Seth figured he'd grill Ryan about it later, at home. So he changed the subject.
"So, Ryan, how was snowboarding? Was it fun?"
"Um, yeah, I had a pretty good time today. It was tiring. Met some guys. Got invited to a party tonight." All of which was true. It wasn't Ryan's fault if they thought that he was snowboarding when all this happened...
Seth got excited. "Hey, I want to go to a party. Can I come? I mean, can we all come?"
Summer wasn't about to allow that. "Cohen, we're going on a sleigh ride tonight, remember?" She took his arm. "It is going to be so romantic. 'One-horse open sleigh' and all that."
Summer loved horses. She remembered fondly her days at horseback riding camp when she was younger. She used to go every year. Seth, on the other hand, had never been near a real horse. The closest he'd come was Captain Oats.
"I don't know, Summer. Horses?"
Summer leaned up against Seth. "You'll be fine, Cohen. They won't hurt you."
There was a little awkward silence at the table as Seth and Summer were snuggling and everyone else was trying to not stare at them.
Anna decided to get the conversation moving again. She cleared her throat, and started, "So, how was everybody else's day? I had a great time. The trails they have here are unbelievable. And I was really in the zone today."
Since Seth and Summer were otherwise occupied, it was up to Marissa to speak for the three of them about their skiing lessons.
"Um. Yeah. Good. Our day was good. I mean, I have more experience skiing than Seth or Summer so I was in a different group. And well, Seth had a little trouble, so I think he, um... "
Seth interrupted. "I didn't give up. I was just... I'd rather watch Summer, that's all. I can never get enough of watching Summer."
Summer beamed at Seth, and they went back to making out.
Marissa didn't really like that she ended up pretty much by herself after all, so she suggested, "Hey, you guys. I was thinking that tomorrow it would be fun for us to do something as a group, you know? Find something that we can all enjoy together?"
Anna spoke up. "I was hoping to get in some more skiing tomorrow."
"OK. How about you ski for half a day in the morning, then you can join us in the afternoon? We can leave a message for you at the front desk about where we've gone. How's that sound?"
Anna smiled. She could do that. "Yeah. Sounds good, Marissa."
To Be Continued