Vamping the OC

Part I

The Real Chino

Gwennie's

"Where are the horses?" Seth asked as he guided the Range Rover into a parking space. His eyes travelled over the large rambling wooden structure that was Gwennie's.

"Horses?" Seth thought he saw Ryan's lips twitch.

Seth ignored Ryan. "Aren't those hitching posts?" He asked pointing to stone posts with large metal rings set into their tops that were spaced along a circular gravel path which led up to the entrance of Gwennie's from the street. "They must tie them up in back now so these newfangled horseless carriages don't spook them." Seth turned back toward Ryan who was watching him from the passenger seat. Now Seth was sure of it – Ryan was smiling. Someone who understands my sense of humor!

Seth climbed out of the Range Rover to get a better look at the building and because Ryan had promised he'd get food here. He tried to be patient but his stomach was tying itself into knots. He hadn't been able to keep anything down before tonight's classes and now he was starving. Ryan followed Seth out and leaned against the Range Rover, his backpack slung over his shoulder.

The building and the grounds surrounding Gwennie's were meticulously maintained and brightly illuminated. It looked nothing like the restaurant Seth had expected. Gwennie's resembled a Hollywood version of a hotel from two centuries ago. It was a large, two-story wooden building, built of white clapboard, and had a deep porch on both floors that enclosed the three sides of the building that Seth could see. The palm trees and other semitropical plants that filled the flowerbeds that surrounded it on the grounds were a little incongruous. Seth supposed, however, that if you didn't have desert southwest in mind and thought more along the lines of an oasis in the desert they weren't really such an anachronism.

"Is it real or a reconstruction?" Seth asked.

"It's real. The brochure says the first part of the main building went up in 1891. It's on the National Registry of Historic Buildings. The exterior, except for the ramp over there, is original." Ryan gestured to a row of hedges flanking the porch. "That they added to be ADA compliant. Doesn't look anything like the building that was here when we moved down from Fresno. Old man Stavros had to make some compromises inside for the sake of modern plumbing and the needs of a restaurant kitchen but other than that it's as authentic as someone with all the money in the world could make it. It looks great inside. They restored the library on the first floow to the way it looked in 1910. It even has the same books. And in the grand foyer," Ryan made a sweeping gesture with his hands, "there's a Tiffany skylight above a double staircase going up to the second floor."

Seth was amazed at the animation that had come into Ryan's voice as he talked about the building. Some of that surprise must have shown on his face because Ryan ducked his head in embarrassment as he stammered to a stop. "Sorry, I guess I just like old buildings."

Ryan placed his backpack on the hood of the SUV and pulled out a plastic bag that contained a black silk shirt neatly folded inside. He pulled the shirt on over his wifebeater and tucked the shirttails inside the waistband of his jeans. "Work clothes," He explained. "I keep them with me just in case."

He tossed his backpack into the SUV. In answer to Seth's unvoiced question Ryan cocked his head and pointed to a brick path leading off to their right. It led to a smaller building at the rear of the property.

"Food's this way," he said leading Seth toward the other building. "After 10:00 o'clock only the restaurant in the stable is open. The regulars know that. That's why the cars are all at that end of the parking lot."

Seth frowned as he looked back toward their parking space. The lot was brightly lit but they were the only vehicle parked near the street. "Should I move the truck? Mom would have a coronary if I got her car trashed again." Ryan looked a question at him and Seth flushed. "It's complicated. A guy who worked on the pier invited me to a totally awesome party this summer. There were oceans of beer and semi-clad girls dancing on tables."

Ryan shot him a look out of the side of his eye. "The Range Rover…?"

"Yeah, the Range Rover. It sort of got an extreme makeover." Seth seemed to take a sudden interest in the plantings of tropical foliage lining the walk. "Mom somehow got the impression that the "makeover" happened in the IMAX parking lot while I was watching a shark movie."

"What about the guy that invited you to the party? I thought you didn't have any friends in Newport."

"Er, there was like this other party a couple of nights later that involved gun shots and a trip to the ER in an ambulance."

Ryan stopped. "You got shot?"

"No, someone else did, one of the Harbor gonzos that have made my high school life so memorable. Someone needed to ride with him to the hospital." Seth walked on leaving Ryan standing in the path staring after him. "It was my fault. I owed Luke."

Ryan caught up with Seth who'd stopped in front of a sign announcing Gwennie's and The Stables. "Nothing like that would ever happen here, Seth. Mr. Stavros wouldn't allow it. The truck's safe where it is."

"So we're actually going to be eating in a building that used to be a stable?

"Yeah. That a problem?"

"You haven't eaten my Mom's cooking." Seth grinned. "Believe me; it's not a problem. What's the symbol?" Seth asked pointing to a symbol in silver paint in the bottom corner of the sign.

"It's the logo of The Stavros Group. The entertainment division of The Stavros Group has its offices on the second floor of Gwennie's." Seth nodded but continued to study the sign. "It looks like a stylized Ankh," At Ryan's blank expression he elaborated. "Ancient Egyptian symbol for life. It's an odd logo for an entertainment company."

Ryan checked his shirt and ran his fingers nervously through his hair as they approached the entrance. "Do you think I could pass for a kid from Newport?"

"Haven't you ever been here before?"

Ryan took a breath and pushed open the door. "Not exactly. I've driven people here and waited for them but I haven't actually been inside."

A hostess greeted them at the door and seated them at a table near the center of the dining room. The large room took up most of the ground floor of the old stables. Up above them in the area that must have been haylofts originally, Seth saw rooms partitioned off from each other. In some of them he could see parties eating, in others empty tables sat waiting for guests, while others had heavy maroon drapes pulled across their front closing them off from the view of the diners on the main floor. Seth indicated the balconied rooms above.

"Private dining rooms. People can leave the curtains open or closed depending on whether they want to see or be seen or need their privacy."

"I suppose they have private entrances." Seth said rubbernecking to see if he recognized anyone eating upstairs. Ryan had said that sometimes people from the movie and TV industry came out to Gwennie's for some privacy. Disappointed by his failure to see anyone from "The Valley," he picked up the menu and turned to the breakfast section looking for pancakes.

"What do you think – German Apple or Swedish?" Whatever advice Ryan would have given was covered up by the sound of Ryan's name being called out by a very attractive – no, Seth mentally corrected – by a beautiful young woman. Ryan, who'd had his back to the door and so had missed her arrival with two other women, turned toward the sound of his name. He got up from his chair as the brunette hurried across the dining room toward him.

The girl, Seth realized now as she drew closer, crossed the sparsely occupied dining room quickly despite wearing heels that astonished Seth with their height. He found her ability to even stay upright on the four-inch spikes astounding. The tightness of her dress seemed to cause her more difficulties than her heels. She still managed to leave her two older companions behind as she hurried to their table. Ryan barely had time to raise his arms before she threw herself into them and began to kiss him.

Seth had to remind himself to shut his mouth as he took in the sight of this beautiful girl who seemed to want to mold herself to Ryan's body. Ryan returned her first kiss with an ease and thoroughness that made Seth wish he'd had the foresight to bring a camera with him tonight to Chino. He was certain he could profit from a rigorous study of Ryan's kissing technique. Someday, after all, the whole girl kissing, making out thing, might not be only of theoretical interest for the distant future.

When the girl showed no signs of releasing him, Ryan attempted to gently untangle himself from her embrace. As her fingers tightened their grip on Ryan's shirt, Seth noticed the splints on her fingers. He realized then that she must be the girl that Vic had confronted Ryan about earlier that evening. That would explain the thanks she was expressing to him so effusively in between kisses but not why she seemed determined to do the physically impossible and occupy the same space as Ryan.

Ryan's embarrassment was palpable. His ears had turned a shade of red only slightly paler than that of his assailant's dress. Seth could hear chuckles coming from some of the tables around them. They had even attracted the attention of a diner in one of the balcony rooms. A young man in a tuxedo stared down with interest at the scene below him. As Seth watched he beckoned over to him a man also dressed in a tuxedo who'd been out of sight at the rear of the compartment. He pointed out to him the couple kissing below. After a brief conversation, Seth saw the second man leave the box and the young man turned his attention back to the girl sharing his table.

Unsure whether Ryan either wanted or needed rescuing from the tolls of this young woman and conscious of the attention they were attracting, Seth was saved from having to take any action himself by the timely arrival of Taylor's two friends. Their laughter surprised him but the older of the two seemed to know what to do.

"I'd throw cold water on you two if Mr. Stavros didn't hate spectacles in his establishments. That is just what you're making of yourself Taylor. Unhand that boy; and Ryan," She looked him up and down. "You stop enjoying yourself so much and let go of her."

"Marie, no hands." Ryan managed to get out. He looked at her with wide, innocent, blue eyes as he raised his open hands. He was still, however, clasped tightly in the embrace of the amply endowed young woman who gave no indication that she had any intention of releasing him.

Annoyed by Taylor's failure to respond, Marie stood for a moment, her hands on her hips, considering the possibilities. Seth, upon reaching the conclusion that the cold water option might, in fact, be the only feasible solution, had moved Ryan's water glass out of her reach when he noticed her stiffen. The third woman had whispered something to Marie and her attention had been drawn away from Ryan and Taylor and to something behind them. Seth turned to see what had caught her attention and saw that the second man from the balcony was now leaning casually against a pillar across the room watching them. Marie began to search the private rooms above and paled visibly when she spotted the young man in the tuxedo.

"Taylor," Marie said quietly. "Mr. Stavros is here tonight. He's watching you right now."

That's all it took. Taylor jumped away from Ryan as though shocked. She immediately began to smooth down her skirt that had ridden up during her enthusiastic display of gratitude but not so quickly that Seth couldn't observe how shapely her legs were.

"Marie, I'm sorry. I didn't think." Taylor stammered.

"No, it was my fault Marie," Ryan interjected. "I shouldn't have let it go on that long." This earned him a worshipful look from Taylor but a frown from Marie.

"Obviously not. Taylor, I warned you about that lipstick. You need to fix your makeup and Ryan you need to remove yours."

Seth smiled at Ryan as he colored.. "She's right Ryan. You're a Spring and that lipstick is definitely meant for a Winter. It's not your color at all."

Ryan scowled at Seth.

"Don't worry about your new friend. We'll stay here and keep him company, Ryan. Make sure he doesn't get too lonely." Marie exchanged smiles with the other woman. "But I know you have better manners than that, honey. Introduce us to this cutie."

Seth resisted the urge to turn and see who it was she was calling "cutie." Instead he watched Ryan. He could almost see the gears spinning and meshing together behind his eyes. For some reason he seemed reluctant to take Marie's suggestion. Seth may have been able to help Ryan make his decision by cheerfully pointing out on his own face where all the lipstick smears were on Ryan's.

"Marie Jackson, Celeste Wells this is Seth Cohen. I won't be long, Seth. I'll be right back." With that perfunctory and grudging introduction he took Taylor's elbow and guided her toward the restrooms at the back of the restaurant. Seth saw him look over his shoulder once, a worried expression on his face, before disappearing from sight.

Marie settled herself into Ryan's now vacant chair beside Seth and the woman he'd introduced as Celeste took the seat opposite him. Marie smiled warmly at Seth although he thought there seemed to be a certain calculating interest in her appraisal of him.

"How long have you known my Ryan?"

"We just met tonight," Seth answered. He was intrigued as to how Ryan could know three such beautiful women, at least one of whom had more than just friendship on her mind.

Marie and Celeste were older than Taylor. He guessed that Marie might be over thirty and Celeste a few years younger. Both were expensively but more conservatively dressed than Taylor if his years of forced attendance at Newpsie charity fashion shows was any guide. Marie wore a purple dress that suited here café au lait skin and black hair. She was taller than Taylor and favovered shorter heels. Marie had moved across the dining room in a comfortable, assured, manner that made Taylor's youth all the more obvious. She had drawn as many appreciative looks from the male diners as had the younger, flashier girl.

Celeste, the quiet one, was merely pretty in the company of these two women. She was short like Taylor but had chosen not to go for the extreme heels. Her dress was a deep blue that matched her eyes and like Marie she avoided the youthful brevity of Taylor's hemline. Celeste was pale as though she had chosen not to follow the California religion of sun worship. Seth, despite being a boob man, had noticed nothing wrong with the legs of either of the two older women.

"Tonight," Marie said thoughtfully. "It's good to see that Ryan is finally taking my advice. There's no reason for a good-looking boy like him to stay home on his nights off. His excuse is always lack of money but I've told him that was a non-excuse because I knew people," Marie said shaking her head as though at the foolishness of the young. "He's a very stubborn young man," She offered and Celeste nodded in agreement. "That's a nice car you have Seth," Marie waved a waiter to their table.

Seth found it difficult to follow the woman's conversation. Everything she said seemed to be a non sequitur. "Thanks." He wasn't going to admit to her that it was his mother's. A guy had some pride.

Marie ordered an ice tea for herself and a Chardonnay for Celeste. "I'm the designated driver tonight," She said with a smile. "We're having a girl's night out, right, Celeste? No men tonight!" The two women laughed as though at a shared joke. "Where are you from Seth?"

"Newport." He'd never had to carry on an extended conversation with a girl his own age and the strain of having to talk with someone older and as intimidatingly beautiful as Marie had reduced him to one word answers. He saw her brow crease at his answer and, desperate to say something so as not to seem totally retarded, blurted out, "I met Ryan at the YMCA tonight."

Celeste, who'd just taken a sip of her wine, choked noisily on it and had to take a drink from theglass of water Seth handed her. It helped her stop what to Seth seemed suspiciously like choked off laughter. Seth was perplexed by her laughter and looked at Marie to see what her reaction was. Marie's expression was one of bland politeness although he thought that he detected a gleam in her eyes.

"Chino is a long way to come to get your… muscles toned," She said with an air of casual innocence. Her remark sent poor Celeste into another paroxysm of choking. "Perhaps that wine doesn't agree with you, Celeste. Would you like to switch to ice tea?" She asked solicitously. The other woman only shook her head as she attempted to catch her breath.

"It just went down the wrong pipe, Marie. I'm fine."

"Muscles, no! Cohen's don't do anything that makes them sweat. I started teaching computer classes at the Y tonight. Ryan's in both of them," Seth explained. "I needed food after class and Ryan offered to show me the best restaurant in Chino. I'm going to treat him to dinner. Ryan seems to be pretty uptight about a lot of things. If I'm going to get him to relax – get anything out of him - I thought dinner might do the trick."

Marie's eyebrows went up and she smiled knowingly. "It's been known to work before."

Seth attributed her smile and Celeste's chuckle to the inscrutable ways of those past 30. "How do you know Ryan?"

Marie smiled. "Ryan works for us. He helped us out of a difficult situation once and now he's our driver when we go out at night on appointments. He's very protective and makes sure that we get home safely. I probably don't pay him enough for all he does for us." Marie sighed. "But a woman has to think about her future and I've offered to find him additional work that pays better." Marie exchanged a look with her friend. "Ryan always said he could take care of himself. I guess he was right," She said smiling at Seth. "Tell me about the classes you teach. They sound interesting."

Seth couldn't imagine why someone like her would think anything he did was interesting but it was something he could talk about without thinking so he humored her. "They're just introduction to computer classes. Ryan has a talent for that stuff. He's very smart. You only have to tell him something once and he's got it. I don't get why someone as smart as he is didn't finish high school."

"Probably because he's only sixteen," Marie suggested. At Seth's surprise she continued. "You'd have to ask Ryan why he isn't in school. I told him he should at least get his GED. Maybe he'll listen to you. You seem to have a personal interest in him." She gave him a friendly smile. "You can't do anything if your underage so Ryan just added a few years to his age. It makes things easier for him with the cops and to get into the places he needs to be when he's out on a job with us. He can look over 21 if he wants to which is handy. I think Taylor forgets how old he is sometimes."

"Taylor seemed very… grateful for the help Ryan gave her with Vic." Marie gave him a surprised look and he explained. "Ryan and I ran into Vic and some of his friends this evening and I heard about her hand."

Marie's face darkened. "That was a very unpleasant business. Taylor should have known better than to get involved with Victor but she's young and let her hormones get the better of her. Girls like these bad boys." Seth saw Celeste and Marie exchange sad smiles. "I suppose it goes with being young but if Ryan hadn't gotten there when he did..."

"Maybe she's learned her lesson." Celeste suggested.

Marie shook her head. "I don't think that's likely and now she's gotten Ryan in trouble with Vic. That could be bad. Ryan's stubborn and doesn't back down and Vic's dangerous.

"It was totally awesome how Ryan stood up to Vic and his friends tonight. He was willing to take them on all alone. It was like Gary Cooper in "High Noon" or Jet Li in "Hero." He was so calm and I stayed with him. I didn't leave when he told me to. I didn't want to!" Seth said in amazement. "I was calm too. We seemed to have this connection. It was like if we stood together we couldn't lose. It was so cool."

"No one's ever stood up for me when I was in trouble. Vic was giving off all these strange vibes. He seemed to think that Ryan was either my pimp or my boyfriend. That's pretty funny, isn't it? That would make me…" Seth trailed off as he realized what he'd said.

Marie filled in the pause. "A hustler or a john. Vic does have a warped sense of humor." Marie looked past Seth and smiled. "Ah, here come my two wayward children now."

Seth turned in his chair to watch them. Ryan had his arm once again on Taylor's elbow. As they threaded their way through the tables and diners scattered around, Seth noticed that the girl from the dining room upstairs and another man, also in a tuxedo, had now joined the man Marie had pointed out to Taylor earlier. The girl was also dressed formally in black as though for an evening out. She said something to the new man; and from the sudden stiffness of his body, Seth guessed it was not something he wanted to hear. Whatever the man's problem, the girl resolved it simply by gesturing to the balcony above them where her companion sat watching.

Marie and Celeste watched as the two young people approached the table. "Ryan, Seth was just telling me that you two met Vic and some of his friends tonight." Marie's tone was very cold. Taylor gave Ryan a frightened look. "Were you going to tell me?"

Ryan studied the carpet. "Nothing to tell. You know. Vic's mostly talk."

"But Ryan…" Seth was cut off by a glare from Ryan.

Marie looked from Seth to Ryan. "Come in early tomorrow night, Ryan. I want to hear about this talk about nothing you had with Vic." She turned so that she was addressing them both now. "I'm not sure that either of you is old enough to be allowed out on your own. You, miss, we'll have our talk tonight."

"Marie," Taylor started.

The older woman cut her off. "You can not use Ryan as your personal protector. He can't be around all the time to rescue you when you make dumb decisions. That kind of thinking can get both of you hurt or worse. You know what Victor's like and now you've got Mr. Stavros interested in Ryan." Seth thought he saw Marie's eyes shift over to the group standing across the dining room from them.

Marie shifted her gaze back to the young man in front of her. She pursed her lips before smiling. "Ryan, enjoy the rest of your night. You deserve some fun." Seth watched as she leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. Before she pulled back Seth saw her whisper something to him. Seth saw the color rise back into Ryan's ears and wondered what she could have said that had that effect on him. Then, with a dazzling smile directed at Seth, she and the other women followed the hostess toward the stairs leading to the upper dining rooms.

A.N. If anyone is anal about proper punctuation of dialogue this is not, I'm afraid, the author to read. Sorry. Who knew in Junior High that I'd ever need that particular skill. Hopefully you can follow who's saying what to whom.

Chapter 10 is going slowly so mydate for Chapter 9 of April 1st is highly tentative. I'll try not to make it an April Fool Joke.

Disclaimer: All the characters in The OC Universe are other people's creations.