DISCLAIMER – I've been thinking up a Master Plan to kill Josh Schwartz…then the OC will be mine!! Muahaha…

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Ryan thought about what had happened that day. As he lay on the soft bed in the luxurious Newport hotel, staring at the pure white ceiling, all he saw was her face. He groaned and rolled over, burying his face in the pillows.

Nup. That didn't work either. The face was still there, even in the fluffly darkness.

Plus, he couldn't breathe.

So he moved his head, heaving a deep sigh. The phone rang. He closed his eyes, and picked it up.

"Ryan Atwood," he said.

"Mr. Atwood? This is Mr. Rowan's secretary, I'm calling to reschedule your meeting tomorrow."

Ryan sat up and opened his eyes. "Um, yes tomorrow?"

"How do you feel about 5.00?"

"Um, sure." Replied Ryan. "Great. I'll be there."

"OK," said the secretary. "Thank you Mr. Atwood. Goodbye."

"Bye." Said Ryan, hanging up the phone.

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"Hey baby!" exclaimed Kurt, wrapping his arms around Marissa.

"Hey Kurt," she said, kissing him.

"How was your day?" he asked.

She thought about it. It was shit until…she saw Ryan. It was great for a while…then it was ever shittier then before.

"Total shit," she told him truthfully.

"That good huh?" asked Kurt with a small smile. "Why so bad?"

Marissa sighed. "Stuff at work. And then I met this old friend. I hadn't seen him for seven years…"

"Hey, that's great! Right?" asked Kurt.

"No…I thought it would be, but it wasn't." she sighed. She was telling him as much as she could without telling him too much. "Anyway, lets not talk about that." She told him. "What about you? How was your day?"

Kurt shrugged. "OK, I guess. I had to quit out on a meeting and reschedule for tomorrow. We might be able to get a new employee out of this."

"That's great hun!" Marissa exclaimed enthusiastically. "I'm happy for you."

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"Mr. Atwood?"

"That's me," said Ryan, standing up and brushing the creases out of his suit.

"Come in," said the man, gesturing to a room. "I'm Kurt." He stuck out his hand. "Pleased to meet you."

Kurt? Why was that a familiar name? He shook it off. There were probably a lot of Kurt's in Newport. He shook Kurt's hand.

"Pleased to meet you too."

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"Ryan, your job history, your cases, they're all very impressive. I usually wouldn't have expected it from someone from Chino…"

Ryan smiled slightly. "Actually, I lived in Newport for a while. It straightened me out, helped me become what I am."

Kurt nodded and smiled. "A place like Newport can do that to you…Mr. Atwood, this may be a bit short notice, but I think that you and your family …"

Ryan almost shuddered at the thought of his "family." Theresa. Chrissie. Chrissie was the only good part. He hoped that Theresa was taking care of her…

"Could really benefit from this. How would you like to consider a job here?"

Ryan sat in shock.

"The pay will be better then what you're receiving now, and we could set you up in a house…"

Ryan blinked.

"You can have some time to consider it…"

Ryan finally snapped out of his trance. "Um, well, I'll have to ask my wife…" Damn Theresa! "…But I'd think the answer would most surely be yes. I'd love to work here."

"Great." Said Kurt. "You can still have some time to consider it…I've got an idea…Would you like to come out to dinner with me and my girl…uh, I mean fiancé, tonight?" he smiled cheesily. "I need to get used to saying that." He admitted.

Ryan nodded. "Uh, sure, I mean, if I'm not intruding…"

"Not at all!" said Kurt. "I know she'd love to meet you. At The Lighthouse, about 7.00? Reservations under Rowan."

Ryan smiled slightly at the restaurant he had mentioned. The Lighthouse. He remembered how stressed Sandy had been while he and Jimmy had been trying to open it, and how he had eventually sold it to Caleb. He was pleased to see it was still open.

Ryan nodded, and Kurt raised from his seat, sticking out his hand. "Well, we'll see you there." He said, as Ryan got up and shook his hand.

"See you there."

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Marissa stood outside The Lighthouse, shivering in her black dress.

"Sweetie, who's this guy we're meeting?" she asked. "You haven't told me much about him."

"He's a nice guy," Kurt told her, putting his arms around her shoulders to keep her warm. "You'll like him Riss."

At the use of the nickname, Marissa became slightly annoyed. She didn't like it when people called her Riss. She had only ever liked it when Ryan called her that. He made it sound nice.

"OK, well, I'm going to the bathroom." She said. "I'll meet you guys inside, OK?"

"Kay,"

As Marissa walked inside, Ryan pulled up.

"Hi!" Kurt greeted him.

"Hey," said Ryan. "Am I late?"

"No, no, I think we're early." Said Kurt, leading him inside.

Hm. The place hadn't changed much. Kurt walked up to the counter. "I'll just check us in, you can go meet my fiancé." He pointed out a slim woman with dirty blonde hair wearing a black dress, with her back to them.

Ryan nodded and headed over to them.

"Hi, I'm…" he started, before getting a full glance of the woman. Marissa.

She saw him, and her blue eyes immediately iced over. She stood up and moved closer to him. Ryan would have thought she was about to kiss him again, if it wasn't for the look on her face. Instead she whispered, so that no one heard her, "What are you doing here??" her voice was dangerously sharp.

Then Kurt came towards them, entering in between them. He saw the looking at each other.

"Riss baby, this is…"

"Ryan." Marissa spat out.

Kurt looked confused. "Uh…you know each other? Great!" he exclaimed, before seeing the look in Marissa's eyes. "Or, uh, not."

"How do you know Kurt?" Marissa asked Ryan, still with the same voice.

Ryan stared at Marissa. Maybe this job wasn't such a good idea.

"He's my boss."