Summary- Ryan's married, and with a kid, living the 'perfect' life, when Marissa comes back into town, will he give it all up?
Disclaimer- Josh Schwartz is not mine, so therefore, the OC is not mine.
A/N- It's a little thing that popped up in my head, so thoughts kept coming in, and I had enough to make a story. And it's what watching Lifetime does to you people. Hope you enjoy, and please remember to review.
On with the story...
"Morning." Ryan greeted in a sleepy voice as he entered the kitchen.
"Morning Daddy!" Madison, preferably called Maddy, the 6 year old, exclaimed from the table.
Ryan smiled as ruffled her dark curls then went over to Theresa; who was making a sandwich. "Hey, good morning," he said to her. She looked up from her sandwich, and gave hima quick fake smile. "Morning."
Ryan rolled his eyes as he poured himself a glass of orange juice. Maddy noticed this and decided to break the awkward silence in the kitchen. "Who's picking me up from school today?" she asked.
"I will," Theresa volunteered.
"I can't anyways, I have a meeting, new client so..." he trailed off, hoping Theresa would understand.
Theresa nodded, "That's fine, I have a massage, and it isn't until 4 so I can pick you up Maddy, 'kay?" She buttered a bagel now and looked up. "And you can play with Tara next door," she added. Maddy nodded frantically and approvingly.
"So, what time do you think you're gonna be home from your meeting?" Theresa asked Ryan.
"Um...I don't know," Ryan replied with a shrug, "It's a new client, they always require more time, and it's in Newport..." he trailed off once again.
She nodded knowingly, LA; where they lived was far from Newport so he probably wouldn't be home until late.
'They' had decided to move to LA when they were driving by a few years ago. Theresa had seen the perfect house; and with Ryan's yearly income, it was affordable. The paternity tests had proved Ryan's worst fear, the child was his.
Madison Eva Atwood.
Now, here they were, 6 years later.
Ryan had decided to do another 'right' thing and married Theresa when he found out Madison was his. Theresa had wanted the wedding right away, so it happened right away. Their love lives were as dull as a doornail. Neither was very affectionate, and sex basically never happened. Ryan gave her cheek an occasional kiss; when she looked like she wasn't going to kill him and a hug whenever he had to go out of town.
They were a good family as far as parents were concerned, they set good morals and examples, but as husband and wife, not so much.
Theresa had become what she said she would. A woman who was obsessed with shopping, facials, credit cards, etc, a noopsie in one word. Somehow, she had become sucked into the world of glitz and glamour, and wasn't planning on coming out of her dream world anytime soon. She spent the day hanging out with her friends, shopping and spending her husband's money. Ryan was a lawyer/public defender, and made good money, so Theresa had it to spend.
"Bye Daddy!" Maddy screamed as Theresa put on her backpack and handed her the lunchbox. Ryan bent down and gave Maddy's head a kiss and watched her scurry away, her light tan skin glowing in the hallway lights and her dark curls bouncing up and down on her shoulders.
Ryan sighed as he looked around, he was happy, wasn't he? If not more or less for his daughter.
Theresa surprised him with a quick peck on the cheek and patting his shoulder. Usually she refused to be touched, especially by Ryan.
Ryan looked at her, and he started talking. "So I talked to my boss, about those papers, and he could get them for me...but we both need to sign them, and then the div..."
"I'm taking the Mercedes," she said coldly interrupting him and walked away.
Wait. Just a second ago she was giving him a kiss, now she wanted the Mercedes? Women and their moods, he thought. But he knew it wasn't just a mood, it was something more serious.
Divorce.
It had been coming up a lot lately; actually, it had been coming up after the first year of marriage. But Theresa, being the optimist that she was, said they should give it another try; so they did. They both knew it wasn't going to work, but trying never hurt anyone. So they tried.
It didn't work.
If they ever did divorce, they knew it would be hurtful on Madison, and that was one of the reasons they had 'put it off'. Another reason was that Theresa's brother, Arturo, had died from a drug overdose about 3 years ago, so Ryan decided to stick around a little longer, which had turned into now.
The briefcase lay on the spacious counter as Ryan hesitantly picked it up and headed out the door and drove off in his Mercedes.
--
Ryan checked his watch for what seemed like the millionth time during dinner. He looked around the Crab Shack, where he was supposed to be having dinner with his no show client. Being an hour late did not look good for Ryan, he wasn't sure he wanted to defend this guy if he was going to be late all the time. He looked at his watch for the one and one millionth time and after being so tolerate, he decided to leave. He put a $50 on the table, still leaving a tip and started to move out of the booth.
He sat at the edge, waiting for people to pass by; after all it was the busiest hour, and once the coast was clear, he got up and started to put the case papers back in his briefcase.
Shit! He thought as he flipped a fork and it landed on the floor. He bent down and picked it up, people walking rapidly past him. While he was bending down, he felt hands grab his ass; and he immediately lurched forward from the contact.
An "I'm sooo sorry" was heard and he let it go, and a quick scream rang in his ears, but it seemed obviously familiar. At first he didn't think anything of it but turned around anyways and was shocked at the sight in front of him.
"Marissa?!" Ryan stated with widened eyes.
Marissa looked around to see who was calling her name and who knew her there and saw it was the person right in front of her.
Ryan.
"Ryan! Oh my god!" she exclaimed happily. They stood there awkwardly, and finally reached in for what could've been interpreted as a tight, 'friendly' hug. After a few moments, they finally pulled back and examined each other.
"You look great!" Ryan complemented truthfully; and she did look great. She was wearing a black skirt that was longer than what the Marissa he used to know would wear, a simple but beautiful pink, off the shoulder sweater, open toed, black sandals, and her hair was pulled back in to a loose ponytail. Her body filled out nicely now and she seemed more mature, but her face still gave off her childish features.
"Thanks! You look great too! Very..."
"...Professional?" Ryan finished for her, a smug smile on her face.
"You look very professional," she finished. Ryan did look very professional in his suit, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and his tie, which hung loose; and his striking blue eyes complementing his sandy blonde hair perfectly.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Uh...well, long story."
Ryan looked around the restaurant. "Well, I was just on my way out, I'm here for a client, do you...think...do you wanna get a balboa bar or something?"
Marissa nodded her head, "Sure, sounds good." Ryan packed up the rest of his papers and they started walking down the pier, each with a balboa bar in hand.
"You remember last time this happened?" Marissa asked.
Ryan smiled, "Yeah. So what are you doing back?"
"Well, I actually came down for a surprise visit for my dad, but he's on a trip with Hailey to the Bahamas...again, so I'm staying at a hotel, better than my Mom's," Marissa explained with a laugh.
Ryan laughed lightly. "Yeah, well, if it's any consolation, he and Hailey looked...tan from the last time I saw them...three months ago." Marissa laughed as well and took a bite of her balboa bar.
"Thanks. So, how's your job doing?"
"Good, good." Pause. "Yours?"
"Actually, pretty good. I'm staying a few days extra, for business, another reason I came, I just found out today."
"That's good. So what exactly is it that you do?"
Marissa laughed and tried to explain it to him. "I'm a marketing consultant...for a few stores in New York, I get to travel a lot, but I'm trying to settle down."
"By yourself?" he asked curiously.
Marissa laughed slightly and turned to face him. "There was this guy...we didn't work out though, you know how that is."
Ryan nodded sadly and followed Marissa as she leaned up against the railing. "So how are the Cohen's doing?"
"Good. Summer's gonna be a new addition."
Marissa smiled, "Yeah, I heard, she called me. She's really happy."
Beat.
"Seth too," Ryan added.
"They're meant to be," she added sadly and softly, staring out in the distance. Ryan looked at her out of the corner out of his eye and nodded. "Yeah," he said softly.
Marissa caught his glance and turned slightly to look at him and gave him a sad smile. Ryan smiled back and leaned his head in the tiniest bit. "I'm almost tempted to say 'You know what we haven't done in a while'?" he told her truthfully.
"Than why don't you?" she whispered softly, leaning in, her forehead against his.
A/N- Ahaha, a cliffhanger, what will happen next? So in case you didn't get it, they're around 23 years old, Ryan's the father of Madison (Maddy, as I will refer to her from now on, and something will come out next chapter that questions this) and Marissa is back in town, stirring up trouble. This story has a lot of angst, trust me, and usually, I write fluffy romances, so this is a little different. But I can't stay away from the romance, so plenty of that as well. Did you like the way I made Theresa? Very nice touch, I know. Rich. I thought that girl/woman deserved some happiness too, and let's just say she's very happy. Long chapter, just had to get everything out there. If anything confuses you, let me know. Oh, and Seth and Summer are getting married if you didn't get the whole thing with a new Cohen, get it? Summer's going to change her last name. Yeah, well...please review! And just a side note, I am not a fan of Theresa, so the fact that they're married, gives me the jitters. lol. But all will get better in time, kind of.