The mystery guest

Kirsten placed the phone down as Sandy walked into the kitchen.

"Who was on the phone?" he asked.

"Ryan." Kirsten said looking out the window to the pool. Her brain was going a mile a minute. She was so totally surprised by his call. What did it mean?

"Don't tell me he has to work again?" Sandy asked, wondering why Kirsten seemed so pre-occupied.

"No."

"Well what did he want? You look sort of stunned." Sandy added.

"He asked could he bring someone with him."

"What?…. Are you sure?" Now Sandy felt stunned.

"Yep."

"But Ryan never brings anyone with him."

"I know…. Why do you think I looked stunned?" Kirsten smiled, happy that she wasn't the only one surprised by this news.

"Hmm I see…. You don't think it could be Marissa do you?" Sandy asked.

"No…. I don't see how it could be….You know how the kids decided last Sunday that Summer would ask her to their dinner on Wednesday night?"

"Yeah. Did she not go?"

"No…She went…. and Seth told me that they had a really nice night with her. But just Seth and Summer. Something conveniently came up at work and Ryan couldn't go."

"So… do you think he was just avoiding her?" Sandy asked.

"Probably …I don't know… but would you blame him. She has put him through enough. It has taken him a long time to get to where he is now. I know he doesn't have anyone in his life and I think we'd both like that for him, but the most important thing is for him to be happy and I think he is, in his own way."

"So who else could it be then?" Sandy asked.

"Who else could what be father?" Seth asked walking in to the kitchen with Summer close behind.

"Hey you two. Nice to see you Summer." Sandy said.

"Thanks, Mr C, same here. Hi Mrs C."

Kirsten gave Summer a hug. "Hi, Summer."

"What about me? Isn't it nice to see me?" Seth whined.

"Yes son, of course but we were just talking about Ryan. He rang and asked your mother if he could bring someone to lunch and we were just wondering who it might be." Sandy replied.

"Your father thought it might be Marissa but I told him that he was a no show on Wednesday night so he hadn't even seen her yet." Kirsten said as she checked the oven.

"Ahh…. but he has" Seth said.

"What?" Kirsten asked turning to look at Seth.

"He took her out for a drink on Friday night."

"Hmm….So I wonder how that went" Kirsten said.

"Well I spoke to him yesterday." Seth said as he started picking carrot out of the salad.

Kirsten smacked his hand. "Seth……And?"

"Well you know Ryan. Mr Talkative. I think his words were 'Good' and then when pushed 'Very Good'. But I did get out of him that he was going to see her again but he didn't say when."

"Maybe he asked her to lunch then" Kirsten suggested. "If so, the night can't have been too bad."

"Yeah…. I mean when I asked him to come out with us last night he said no…. but when I suggested we might see if Marissa wanted to join us he did say to get back to him if she was going ….so I don't know… I figure he must be at least a little interested….I was going to try to get some more out of him today… but if he's got someone else with him I guess that could be a little difficult."

"Did Marissa end up going with you last night.?" Kirsten asked.

"No I tried her cell a couple of times but it was off and I left a message at the hotel but she didn't call back. I hope she isn't with that horrible Jake Hammond." Summer added.

"The actor?" Kirsten asked.

"Yeah. He's a real sleaze and he has a major thing for Marissa."

"Is she interested in him?" Sandy asked.

"Please ... she has a little more taste than that. Hell… a lot more…. But he is the star of the movie she's in, so she tries to at least be polite because she has to work with him. But I'm not sure that Jake's getting the message. Mind you, if she had anything to do with him I'd have her committed." Summer added.

"That bad …hey" Sandy smiled. Summer always had a unique way of looking at things that still amused him even after all these years.

"But then… who else could it be… unless Annabel has finally worn him down." Summer said.

"You've noticed that too hey?" Kirsten asked.

"The only one who hasn't noticed is Ryan. He still thinks her interest is just professional. Professional my foot…" Summer stated.

"Yeah I agree…..Well they should be here soon whoever 'they' are." Kirsten said.

"Would you like me to set the table.?" Summer asked.

"Sure. That would be great…. I thought we'd sit beside the pool. It's such a lovely day…. And Seth can help." Kirsten smiled.

"But Mother dearest, I'm an invited guest. Surely you wouldn't expect me to lift a finger?"

"Seth….just do it." Summer smiled pushing him out the door as she picked up the tray that Kirsten had prepared.

Chapter 34

As they drove to the Cohen's Marissa looked out the window and wondered just what they would think of her. She was looking forward to seeing them but it had been so long. She was worried about whether they would be happy that she and Ryan were together or whether they would think that they had rushed things. Hell she had never imagined in her wildest dreams that they would be together already. It was only a week since she had left Paris. Maybe they should have taken things slower. Doubts were starting to enter her mind.

"Penny for you thoughts" he said looking at her deep in thought.

"I think they are worth more than that…but….I was just wondering… Are we going to tell them about us, and if so, how… and then if we do…how are they likely to take the news? I just wonder how they will all react." she frowned.

Ryan knew exactly what she meant. He was a little worried too. In the light of day it all seemed to have moved a bit too quickly. But looking back he didn't know how they could have stopped it. "Having regrets already?…..I mean if you want to slow this down you know you only have to say the word. I don't want to push you in to anything that you're not ready for" he started to feel tense that his happiness was about to evaporate like a bubble bursting.

"Nooo...definitely not ...as long as we are together we will be fine and anyhow I'm your 'girlfriend', you can't get rid of me that easily" she replied and reached over and placed her hand on his leg, just because she wanted to have some contact with him.

"Yes you are." Ryan reached down and put his hand on top of hers giving it a squeeze to let her know that everything would be alright… or at least he hoped so.

They continued to drive in silence, both with a million things going through their minds until Marissa turned and said.

"Maybe we shouldn't tell them just yet. I mean I haven't seen them for 7 years. It might come as a bit of a shock that we are back together so quickly. They might think we have rushed things."

He didn't know whether to be worried or relieved. He had been thinking the exact same thing, but he was scared that it was HER that was having the second thoughts. "Okay…. So how do you want to play it? "

"Well ..." she shrugged "Maybe we could just say that you asked me to lunch to catch up with them. I'm not going to lie to them if they ask, but I guess we don't have to tell them exactly what we have been doing all weekend….You know… we don't have to go into all the details just yet." She looked at him and smiled feeling herself blush as she thought back to their activities over the last couple of days. She could see that something was worrying him. "What? Tell me what's wrong? We're not going back to the way we used to be. You have to tell me what's going on in there?" she said pointing to his head.

He looked over at her not sure whether he could tell her. He took a deep breathe, searching his brain for the words to try to tell her what he was thinking but he just couldn't seem to find them.

Marissa realised that he wasn't about to open up and she turned back to look out the window. "If you don't want to then that's fine. You know, they are you're family. We'll do what ever you think." She added, unhappy that he wasn't telling her what his problem was. She had hoped that they would be able to talk and communicate better this time around.

"No…. " he wasn't sure what to say but he knew he had to try. "I think you're right….I guess I was just scared that maybe YOU were the one that thought we'd gone too fast. You know. That you might have been having some regrets." He added.

"No. You can't get rid of me that easily. I think I'm addicted to you." She replied, relieved that he had actually told her what was troubling him.

"Good……" he smiled. "The feeling's mutual…So softly, softly hey?"

"Yeah." She smiled at him, happy that they seemed to have at least got over this first hurdle by talking to one another. Maybe things could be different this time around.