Joan heard the door to the bookstore open.
"Hi! Can I help you with – oh, it's you," Joan cringed when she saw Ryan.
"Why the long face? Aren't you happy to see me?" Ryan pretended to look disappointed.
"Well, with a reputation like yours –," she was cut off by a loud boom coming from the storage room.
She turned to see what had happened.
"Oh, my god! You! You did this!" Joan yelled when she saw that the back room was on fire.
She ran to call the fire department, but the phone line was dead.
Ryan just continued to stand there, expressionless.
Joan ran to get her cell phone and when she turned back to Ryan he
was slipping out the door as a few unidentifiable men ran up to him.
She quickly called the fire department as she hurried out side.
After she made the call she looked around for Ryan but she couldn't see him anywhere.
Just as the fire department showed up so did Sammy.
"What the heck did you do?" Sammy yelled.
"I didn't, I was talking to someone in the front and then the storage room caught on fire. I'm so sorry!" Joan was shocked that he was blaming her.
"I'm sure your sorry because you're fired!" he was still yelling.
"Sammy, I, I didn't do it! Honest!" she pleaded.
Sammy didn't hear her, he was on his cell phone trying to calm his wife down.
Once the fire was put out she was asked dozens of questions by the officers, but all she knew was that Ryan had something to do with it.
She got home late that night, exhausted.
"Oh, honey! Thank God you're all right," Helen hugged her daughter.
"Do you know how it happened?" Will asked, concerned.
"Ryan, Ryan had something to do with it. I don't know what happened though," Joan said as she sat down.
"No, it couldn't have been him," he was surprised that she would assume it was Ryan.
"You're tired, honey. Why don't you go upstairs and get a good night's sleep. We'll talk in the morning," Helen said, stroking Joan's hair.
Joan nodded and headed upstairs.
