Chapter Five:
He was awake to see the sun peep over the horizon. He sat on the side of his bed, a coffee mug in his hand and watched the daily ritual that was the sunrise. It promised to be another glorious day. He'd slept fitfully after leaving Kate. The memory of that gentle kiss she'd left him with replayed every time he closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and sighed it out. She was back barely five minutes and already it felt like she was in his blood.
The sun was full above the horizon and that was his cue to start his day and with a yawn and a stretch, he got to his feet and headed towards the shower.
He'd bought this little house by the beach with the first of the profits that Kirsten had split straight down the middle. It had been a wreck and he'd spent an entire summer gutting it out and slowly but surely rebuilding it with his own bare hands from his own designs. It was his pride and joy and his sanctuary. Here he relaxed and allowed the stresses of the day to leave him.
"Is it true Kate Carpenter was here yesterday?" Ryan looked up from his drawing board as Kirsten Cohen came through the door. He put down his pencil and straightened up.
"Yeah it's true," he replied and watched her walk to the window and look out across the scenery for a second before turning to look at him.
"I thought with her fame, she'd be more suited to the bright lights of Los Angeles or New York"
"She bought the Bait Shop and came here because we were recommended to her," Kirsten's eyes widened in surprise.
"She did? I hope that you told her we only take on new projects from our own designs" she reminded him.
"I did, but she was adamant she wanted us to renovate the property," there was a half smile on Ryan's face that intrigued his foster mother.
"You're considering it aren't you?" He seemed to snap out of whatever daydream he was in and he looked at her.
"Actually I am. Structurally it's in pretty good condition and there is a lot of potential there," Kirsten sighed and walked towards him.
"We're rushed off our feet Ryan, we seriously need to consider taking on more staff to cope with the demand for our services,"
"I know that," he agreed.
"You've also got that look in your eyes," and he widened them innocently.
"What look?" Kirsten spun around and walked away from him and dropped into one of the chairs opposite his desk.
"You're going to do Kate's project, aren't you? That's what you're working on right now when you should be working on the Jones project!" Ryan slipped off his chair and stretched slightly cramped back muscles.
"The Jones project is under control, there's nothing there that I can't do in my sleep. He's specific about what he wants, I'm almost done there," he walked towards her and sat down opposite her. Kirsten sat forwards and looked at him.
"You're going to do it…The Bait Shop…" it wasn't a question and both of them knew it.
"Would you mind if I did? She can afford us," Kirsten reached across and caught one of his hands. She squeezed it gently.
"I know how you felt about her. She broke your heart when she left," her voice was soft, concerned and he glanced away, a little embarrassed.
"Well I guess I am the guy that girls love to leave," he quipped and Kirsten frowned.
"Don't sell yourself short," she scolded and a mischievous glint appeared in his eye.
"I'm a big boy now Kirsten, I can handle it," Kirsten let go of his hand.
"Well I remember having to live with you after she left," Ryan didn't comment. He knew that as always, Kirsten only had his best interests at heart.
Chapter Six:
He should knock. Instead he listened. He could hear music and singing and he smiled to himself when he recognised her voice. That voice had sold millions of CD's, toured the world, won countless awards. Of course he'd kept up with her during the intervening years, it was hard not to, the magazines had been almost permanently filled with speculation of her private life, photos printed of her caught unawares in the street and looking distressed. That part he'd hated to see. He pushed open the door and let himself inside.
The first thing that he was aware of was the smell of cleaning products. It made his eyes water a little. The second was Kate. She was across the large room, close to the stage. She was engrossed in mopping the floor, her hips swaying to the music blasting from a ghetto blaster on the stage. He could only watch her. She wore tight blue jeans that hugged her backside and thighs like a loving second skin. She also wore a white skinny rib singlet top and a white scarf held her blonde hair from her face. He smiled to himself. She turned her head, saw him standing there, with that smile on his face and she jumped out of her skin. He took the opportunity to walk towards her. She switched her music off and turned to face him.
"You scared me half to death!" she exclaimed. He shrugged.
"Sorry, but you looked like you were having fun," he replied and was rewarded by her smile. He scanned her face, seeing the smudges of dirt streaked here and there, the perspiration dewing her skin. He looked around. The place was cleared of garbage, the chairs were upright and neatly arranged and the surfaces were wiped clean. He looked back at her.
"You've been busy," she smiled, using her forearm to wipe the moisture from her skin.
"I was up early this morning so I thought I'd come here and get started. If nothing else, the place will be clean" she looked at him expectantly. He'd come straight from the office; his suit was dark grey in colour, with a white shirt and a dark coloured tie knotted loosely around his neck, the top button undone.
"Is this a social call, or business?" she asked, picking up the mop and bucket and heading towards the large curved bar that graced the corner of the room. He followed. He watched her lean down and place the bucket on the floor, propping the mop handle up against the bar. The denim stretched and accentuated and Ryan tore his gaze away from the lines of her body. In the meantime his body was doing a very good job of reacting accordingly and that made him a little uncomfortable.
"A little bit of both," he replied and watched as she opened a bottle of mineral water and took a swig straight from the bottle. Ryan could only observe in what he would later think of as mild awe. She placed the bottle back on the bar.
"I thought that you would hire someone to clean this place up," he mentioned. She shrugged.
"I know but where's the fun in that? This way I get the satisfaction of a job well done and it's a great work out" she patted flat abdominal muscles and automatically his gaze went to her stomach. Okay, things were starting to get just that little bit weirder for him now.
"So…" Ryan blinked and snapped back to the present.
"What?" he started guiltily.
"A little bit of both?" His eyes widened marginally when he remembered why he was really here. Not to ogle Kate's impressive statistics that was for sure.
"Oh. Right," he lifted the battered leather satchel that he'd been carrying and placed it on the bar surface. Kate watched him unfasten the snaps and open it. He extracted a sheaf of A4 sized plain paper.
"I've been thinking about this place and I sketched out some ideas. It's all been done roughly, but if you like it, I could get everything done to scale and take it from there," he handed the papers to her and watched her sift through them. Normally he didn't have a problem with a client seeing rough drafts of his ideas but for some reason, seeing Kate look through them made him a little edgy.
Kate was dumbfounded by the quality of Ryan's rough drafts. His attention to detail was amazing. His use of colouring and shading impressed her and she looked at him to see him watching her intensely.
"Does this mean that you're taking me on?" she enquired. His expression was guarded.
"Cohen and Atwood don't usually do renovations Kate…but…I don't know…this place holds a lot of memories for me too and if you're serious about re-opening, then I'd like to be involved". Kate placed the sketches on the bar and took a couple of steps towards him.
"I am serious Ryan. Never been so serious about anything for a long time," his gaze dropped to her mouth. Something shifted inside of her at that look.
"We're expensive. You want the best, you'd better be prepared to pay for it." His eyes lifted to her face again.
"Not a problem," she replied with a slight shake of her head. He held out a hand.
"Then you have yourself a deal Miss Carpenter," he confirmed. She took it and felt his fingers curl around hers. Then, with a gently tug, he drew her to him until her body bumped against his. His hands dropped down to her hips and he held her against him. Something flared in her eyes as his message was received and understood. She melted into him. His arms went around her to hold her close. She smelled of detergent and a little of sweat and a trace of a sweet scent. Her lips were cold from the water she'd just drank. He heard her sigh a little as he kissed her, felt those arms slip around his neck as they had last night, felt her fingers slip through his hair, dishevelling it eagerly. They drew apart and stared into each other's eyes.