Chapter 3

Marissa drove down the street. She sighed as she changed the station in her car…She was listening Evanescence…That's what she usually listened to when she was upset. She speeded down the street; she had finally reached her destination. She saw the Welcome to Chino sign…Or she could barely see it with all of the graffiti all over it. She drove toward where Ryan and Theresa were staying. She pulled into the driveway and turned her car off; she pulled the key from the ignition and put it into her purse. She stood up grabbing her, she locked her car doors…Normally she rarely did that, but in Chino…You can never be too safe. She walked up to the door knocking, waiting nervously for an answer.

Theresa sat on the couch watching TV…She had a doctors appointment she had to get too pretty soon. She had to go by herself as usual. Ryan was so busy with work…She barely ever saw him. She heard a knock at the door, she stood up slowly…She wondered who it could be. No one ever came here…She walked toward the door turning the knob and pulling it open. She was shocked to see Marissa standing there. "Hey…Umm…What are you doing here?" She asked smiling slightly…

Marissa stood there, she heard the door open and her head immediately turned back to the door way…She was hoping to see Ryan open the door, but…She didn't. She saw Theresa. "Hi…Uh…I just came to…Umm….Visit Ryan." The sentence came out very sloppy…She wasn't even exactly sure if that was a sentence…

Theresa looked like a mess…She felt completely embarrassed answering the door looking like this. Her eyes were red…She didn't get much sleep lately…The baby has been kicking like crazy which sort of interrupts with her sleeping. Her clothes…Well they weren't the prettiest things in the world… "Oh…Umm…Ryan's at work. But if you want, I can give you directions." She told her…

Marissa smiled toward Theresa nodding. "Yeah, that would be great, thanks." She said. "So…Um…How is everything going? With the baby?" she asked curiously. She pulled a few loose stranding of hair that hung from her ponytail behind her ears.

Theresa was about to invite Marissa inside until she asked how the baby was… "Oh. Well, it's been going pretty good. I mean nights sort of suck with the kicking. But overall it's going good. Me and Ryan are really happy." She admitted. Or, well, lied. She knew Ryan wasn't exactly happy to be here…She knew he would much rather be in Newport. But, she also knew that he had a responsibility…He had a child to take care of…She knew he knew that as well. Even if Marissa asked him to go back to Newport, he wouldn't. He had too much to do here. "Come on in, and i'll give you those directions." She said with a small smile.

Marissa nodded. "Well, at night the kicking must suck…" she said with a small laugh. She just stood there…She had no idea what else to say…I mean what do you say to someone that takes your boyfriend from you? So she just stood there silently. She was suddenly surprised when Theresa had told her that they were happy…Which meant Theresa AND Ryan were happy…But, that was a good thing…Right? She tried to remove that from her thoughts and focus on talking to Ryan…Or right now at this point, talking to Theresa. "Oh, sure…Thanks." She said as she stepped into there house, she looked around…The walls were stained…the couch stuffing was bulging out of the couch and there were belongings all over the floor.

Theresa shut the door behind Marissa and turned around. She didn't even bother saying 'sorry about the mess' or something like that because this is how her house always looked. "I'll go get some paper and a pen. I'll be right back." She said with a smile as she disappeared into the kitchen. She retrieved a notepad off of the refrigerator and a pen from the table. She began writing the directions to the construction site down onto the sheet of paper.

Marissa stood in the family room; she nodded as she watched Theresa fade away into the kitchen. She stood looking around; she saw some pictures on top of the television set and walked toward it. She found a picture of Theresa and her mother and another of Ryan and Theresa. She smiled slightly…She then began looking around some more…She saw a piece of paper sitting on a table next to the telephone. She walked toward the table, picking the piece of notepaper up. It read 'Eddie's number 555-5425…Call tell him the news about the baby. She stared at the notepaper, at the words written there. Tell Eddie what about the baby? She couldn't help but wonder. She heard footsteps coming toward her; she quickly put the paper down on the coffee table…She didnt realize the mistake she made by setting the note in the wrong place. She walked away from the phone and back toward where she was standing when Theresa had left the room.

Theresa finished writing down the directions and dropped the pen down on the table. She walked back out to Marissa and handed her the directions she had written down. "Here…" she said. "I hope there not that hard to follow." She answered with a smile. "I'm not that good with giving directions." She said with a slight laugh.

Marissa forced a small smile and took the directions from Theresa's hand. "Yeah, thanks. I think I'll manage." She told her in a farley quiet tone. She glanced at her and then walked out the door. She unlocked her car door and got in, starting the car up. She drove down the street, using the directions that Theresa gave her to guide herself to Ryan's work.

Theresa smiled and nodded, Marissa then gave her a glance…like she knew something. She was about to ask what was wrong…But she was too late, Marissa was already out the door. She bit her lip. She walked over toward the couch and looked toward the phone. She had to call Eddie…Right away. She stood up and grabbed the phone. She looked around for Eddie's phone number. It wasn't there, she looked around confused…This was where she put it. Right near the phone…She then looked toward the coffee table seeing the number sitting there. She thought for a moment then finally realized. Marissa. Marissa must have been looking around while she was in the kitchen, that's why Marissa gave her the glance she did. She grabbed the phone, and dialed up Eddie's number, trying to forget about Marissa. She had to talk to Eddie…And fast.

Ryan sat there in his bosses office, he looked around slightly nervous…This had been the 5th time he's been late in 2 weeks…He didn't think his boss really cared, until he was called down to his office. He leaned back in his chair, waiting for the boss who had been talking to someone else outside the room for a moment. He then heard the door knob start to jiggle from behind him…He saw it turning in to corner of his eye, he then saw the door open. He focused his eyes on what was going on in front of him.

Rick stepped into his office, seeing Ryan sitting down across from his desk. He walked toward his desk sitting down. "Hello Mr. Atwood." He said with a smile, he was the owner of this entire construction site…Sometimes, he could be an ass. It sort of depended on who he was talking to…Toward Ryan…Hewas alwaysan ass…

Ryan smiled slightly as he sat up straight in his chair. "Hi…Sir." He answered. He figured the sir thing might help him from not being fired…Or screamed at…Either way he figured he was going to get yelled at. One of the guys he worked with out on the site told him that Rick couldn't stand people who were late…especially if they were continuously late. So now, he had something to be worried about.

Rick leaned forward slightly. "Mr. Atwood. As you probably know…You've been late continuously throughout these 2 weeks, and I really can't afford late workers. You must be on time, all the time. If your not…Well, then your heart must really not be in construction working." He explained to him.

Ryan looked at him. "No, I do want to be in construction. I'm sorry about being late…But, I do have good reasons. You see…My…" he froze…His what? What was Theresa to him? His girlfriend? "My girlfriend…Is pregnant, and she needs as much help as she can get." He protested in his defense…Okay, so Theresa wasn't exactly his girlfriend, but…A little lie never hurt anyone.

Rick nodded. "Well, I'm very sorry and I hope everything turns out okay with your girlfriend, but, please. From now on try to be on time." He explained, rising his eyebrows slightly. "I'll let you get off this time…But next time…" He trailed off…

Ryan nodded. "It won't happen again. I'm sorry." he answered.

Rick nodded. "Good." He stood up. "I'm glad we've come to an understanding, Mr. Atwood." He said with a slight smile. "Why don't you get back to work." He told him, motioning him to leave his office and to get back to work on the construction site.

Ryan nodded. "Yes, sir." He said with a slight smile. "Thanks." He told him as he turned walked out of his boss's office, that went well... he thought...He didnt exactly expect his meeting with his boss to go that well.He walked out of the building and back toward the construction site, he saw one of his friends nearby carrying some steal inside of the building that they had been working on. Or, well, it wasn't much of a building, yet. He walked over. "Hey." He said as he began helping him.

The man picked up a hunk of steal; he could barely carry it by himself. He then saw Ryan come over and help. "Hey man…Well, by the looks of it. You didn't get fired." He said with a smile.

Ryan nodded and smiled. "Yeah. I sort of saved myself." He said as he grabbed one end of the long beam of steal, as Tony grabbed the other end. The two of them began walking into the some what of a building and put the steal down gently. He turned and started walking back out with Tony ready to grab another.

Tony nodded. "Yeah. I figured. How exactly did you 'save' yourself? Usually Rick don't take shit from anyone. He really doesn't give a fuck what you have to say…Or, well…That's what I've heard." He explained, as he walked out of the building by Ryan, picking up an end of the long rod of steal.

Ryan shrugged. "I don't know how I did it. But, he's giving me another chance…He told me if I'm late again I'm gone…Pretty much." He answered as he grabbed the other end of the steal, hauling it into the building.

Marissa pulled up by the construction site, she parked hercar on the side of the street, and she sighed as she grabbed her purse from the passenger side of her car. She stepped out locking the door once more before shutting it. She started into the building and up to the front desk. "Hi, I was looking for Ryan Atwood." She told the lady who was sitting down in front of a computer…Eating a donut.

The woman at the front desk shoved the remaining piece of the donut into her mouth and chewed it quickly, swallowing it. "Hmm...Ryan Atwood. Hold on a minute." The woman in-formed Marissa as she grabbed a black square walky-talky from her desk. She pressed the talk button and spoke into it asking what part of construction Ryan was in. She waited impatiently for an answer, drumming her fingers on her desk. When she finallyheard she wanted to hearshe said thanks, and ringed into that department of construction that Ryan was working in. She told the boss of that department to tell Ryan Atwood that he had a visitor. She then looked back toward Marissa "He'll be in shortly." She said with a smile as she reached into the donut box, pulling another donut out. This had to have been her 5th one today.

Marissa nodded her thanks and took a seat by the woman's desk. She grabbed a magazine off of the small table that sat by the chairs and began to flip through the pages. She figured Ryan might be a while; sense he could be busy with something important at the moment. So…She waited.

Ryan got the message that someone was here to see him, he figured it was Theresa, he wondered why she would be coming to see him at work…He hoped everything was okay. He pulled the door open, stepping inside, he looked around the room, and then he saw her…It was Marissa. He stood there, staring at her. He was shocked. There were now so many questions and thoughts running through his mind. He couldn't speak; he just stood there in awe.

Marissa heard someone walk in, so she put the magazine she was scanning through down….That was when she saw him. Ryan. She smiled, he still looked just as she remembered him. She stood up, staring back at him, a smile pasted on her face. "Hey." Was all she could really say…

Ryan smiled slightly. "Uh...Hey." he could barely get the words out of his mouth; he was so shocked that Marissa was here…In Chino. "What are you doinghere…?" he asked a little confused.

Marissa shrugged. "Yeah, I was getting to that." she said with a small laugh. "Ryan, I really had to see you…I have something to tell you…" she answered. She was finally face to face with him, now she could tell him what she had wanted to tell him for so long now. But the hard part was…Thinking of a way to put it.

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That was my 3rd chapter PLEASE RR...I really need some more reviews. By the way...Thank youSilver Dog Demonfor reviweing. I really appreciate it!