The unwanted visitor

Tuesday morning Marissa woke to the scent of roses filling the room. She smiled to herself thinking of Ryan and the delicious dreams she'd had of the two of them together. She hoped that she would hear from him today. She got up and got ready and was just putting the finishing touches to her makeup knowing it was after 7 when she heard a knock at the door.

"Coming" she rushed to open it for Summer only to find Jake standing there.

She went to close the door but he put his foot inside and pushed the door open.

"Now that's not very nice. I'm sure I deserve a better welcome than that." Jake said advancing into the room.

Marissa just glared at him

"I have a few questions for you." He stated.

"Jake don't you understand I am not interested in you and I don't have to answer any of your questions." Marissa replied trying to sound assertive but feeling a little intimidated nonetheless.

"And I've already told you that I AM interested in you and that's all that really matters." He moved his hand from behind his back and in it was a folded newspaper. He threw it onto the bed in front of her. "Would you like to explain this?"

She looked down. On the page in front of her was a photo obviously taken in the lane behind the diner when they were running to Seth's car on Sunday? Summer was in front. Following was Ryan holding Marissa's hand and pulling her along just behind him. The caption on the photo said. "Is our hottest bachelor looking to end his bachelor days or is this just his latest accessory?"

"So...Just what's this about?" Jake asked pointing at the photo.

"It's none of your business Jake."

"Again. I told you. I intend to make you my business Marissa. I'm not used to being run around like this. I think maybe its time I showed you just what you're missing out on."

He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him and as she raised her other arm to try to hit him he grabbed that wrist as well holding her arms behind her. Marissa was trying with all her might to twist out of the vice like grips he had on her but to no avail. He was too much stronger. She turned her head as she saw him start to lower his mouth towards her.

"Jake. Let me go." She screamed.

"When I've finished with you then I'll let you go" he replied as he brought his mouth down to hers trying to force her lips apart with his tongue.

All of a sudden the door flew open "LET HER GO!" Summer yelled.

Jake turned stunned that there was someone else in the room.

"Get out Summer. This has nothing to do with you. Unless you've decided to give that 3 way a go after all." He sneered.

"Jake. You have 10 seconds and then I call the police. What'll it be?" Summer asked as she held her phone in front of her.

Jake looked at Summer and then back at Marissa. "Aw. You're not worth it." He let her go and started to make his way to the door. As he was about to go out, he turned and said. "Don't think this is over yet. I'll be back for round 2." and he closed the door behind him.

Marissa collapsed on to the bed stunned. Summer sat beside her and put her arm around her.

"Are you all right?"

Marissa nodded. "Yeah. Thanks to you. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't walked in that door." She reached behind her and picked up the paper. "Have you seen this?"

"Yeah. That's part of the reason that I'm so early. I thought I should warn you. And there's about 50 reporters downstairs hanging around obviously wanting to talk to you."

"Argh. So much for keeping it quiet. And I still don't even know what 'it' is." she replied rubbing her wrists that were already starteing to show signs of bruising.

"Have you spoken to Ryan?" Summer asked.

"No. Not since yesterday morning." Marissa replied still sitting on the bed obviously shaken from her run in with Jake.

"Okay well first things first. You need to pack all your gear so we can get you out of here."

"But where will I go?" Marissa asked.

"Well you're not staying here. I'm thinking Ryan's."

"I can't Summer. I don't want to put that sort of pressure on him."

"Okay then. Come and stay with Seth and I. There is no way you are staying anywhere near that sleaze."

Marissa nodded. She couldn't argue with that. "Okay and thanks."

"No trouble. I wouldn't be able to sleep knowing you were anywhere near that creep."

Marissa grabbed her bags and started to throw her things in. While she was doing it Summer was looking around the room to see what she might have missed.

"You do know you have some messages."

"Yeah I wasn't sure how to delete them. Mind you I should have realised from a couple that Jake left over the weekend that he really has a wire loose. Have a listen if you like." Marissa keyed in the access code and put the phone on speaker.

Jakes voice filled the room. "Hey doll face. How about you and me getting a bite to eat tonight….and it doesn't necessarily have to be food. I'd be happy to have you eat me any day of the week or weekend as the case might be. Give me a call when you get in."

Summer listened to the rest of the messages and turned to her friend. "Why didn't you tell me last night about these? You should never have stayed here. I'm just going to get Seth to drop by. He can help us get out through the crowd downstairs plus it will be easier to fit your luggage in the Range Rover. Then you and I can just go to work in my car."

"But I don't want to bother anyone." Marissa replied.

"It won't be a bother. He's got nothing better to do anyhow. You go and pack your gear in the bathroom and I'll just give him a call."

"Okay thanks. And by the way did you like my roses?"

"Yeah. I think that boy has it real bad." Summer added knowing Marissa needed a little reassurance.

Marissa smiled and made her way into the bathroom to finish packing.

---

Summer called Seth and explained what had happened. He said he would be right over. On the way to the hotel Seth called Ryan.

"Hello." Ryan answered "Seth this better be good. I was up half the night with some big wigs from Washington. I really need to get some more sleep."

"Yeah. Well wakey, wakey. Cause it is good …..or bad depending on how you look at it. "

"Okay. ……what is it?"

"Well how should I put it. …….."

"Seth ……. I'm waiting."

"Uh huh well. I'll start with the little one and then build up to the big one."

"Seth… out with it. Or so help me I'll hunt you down and strangle you with my bare hands."

"Ryan don't you know you're idle threats don't work with me?"

"Seth…..I'm going to hang up and go back to sleep."

"Okay. Well number 1. The shit has hit the fan."

"What? What are you talking about?" Ryan said instantly awake,

"Well the front page of the Globe has a picture of you and Marissa hand in hand running to my car in the lane on Sunday."

"Aw No. I thought when nothing appeared yesterday that we were home free."

"Yeah well my guess is that whoever owned the photo was hanging out for more money. And so Summer tells me there are about 50 reporters at Marissa's hotel all wanting to talk to her."

"Oh no. So how's she taking it?"

"Well you see….. that's the big thing."

"What? Has it totally freaked her out? I know she was really spooked about all the commotion on Sunday at the diner. I don't want her to have to cope with all this."

"Well she is freaked out. But not about this. I'm sure this is nothing compared to the other."

"Seth are you actually speaking English? Because I'm having an awful lot of trouble understanding what you are going on about."

"Yeah well. I don't quite know how to tell you the next part."

"Seth…"

"Okay. So are you sitting down?"

"Seth. I'm lying down. I had actually thought there may be a chance of going back to sleep but I guess you've effectively removed any chance of that."

"Yeah well I don't think sleep will be on your mind when you hear the next part."

"What next part. There's more?"

"Mate we've still got the main course to go."

"Seth just out with it"

"Okay you asked for it. Summer had been going to give Marissa a lift to work this morning because Jake Hammond had been giving Marissa a pretty hard time last night, so she didn't want to have to travel in the studio limo with him."

"And.." Ryan said sitting up in bed. The mere mention of Marissa's name making him fully alert.

"Well she was supposed to pick her up at 7:30 and Marissa had told her to go up to her room. It seems she had some flowers that she wanted Summer to see. Nice touch by the way man. You really are pulling out all stops on this one." Seth added.

"Seth get to the point."

"Well. After seeing this mornings paper Summer decided to go over early so that she could warn Marissa. You know …about the paper…"

"And…"

"Well it would seem that she was just in time."

"What do you mean just in time. For what?"

"Well I don't want you to over react."

"Seth…"

"Well apparently Jake had forced himself into Marissa's room. He had the paper with him and was unhappy that she had been seen with someone else when he had been asking her out and she had always refused to go. When Summer arrived he was trying to force himself on her. He hadn't got very far fortunately. Summer threatened to call the police and he backed off but said he wasn't finished and that he'd be back for round 2."

"What? Where is Marissa now?"

"Well she's packing. I'm on my way to the hotel to pick her up and then we thought we'd bring her back here until she decides what she wants to do."

"There's no question what she's doing. She's moving in here." Ryan stated clearly.

"What happened to not putting any pressure on her? You don't think that she just might interpret that as pressure?"

Ryan rubbed his brow. "I guess so. I just want to be able to keep an eye on her. If he comes anywhere near her so help me, I'll…."

"Uh Ryan….. I understand. And here I thought that Kid Chino had hung up his gloves. Looks like we just needed Cosmo Girl to come back to town to return his powers."

Ryan smiled. "Yeah I guess my reaction is a little bit old school."

"Yeah. So I figure what I'll do is. I'll pick up Marissa's gear and bring it back to our place. Summer will take the two of them to work and after work tonight we'll meet up here and sort out what to do. Okay?"

"Yeah. I guess. But what about her having to work with him? She can't stay there. I want her to quit. It's not worth the risk."

"Well, I guess you'll have to talk to her about that. Summer said she'll make sure she keeps an eye on her today. I think she intends to be Marissa's shadow."

"Good. So what can I do to help?"

"Probably keep out of the way. I'm sure the press are looking for you as well."

"Yeah. Okay. I'll talk to you later."

---

Ryan immediately called Marissa.

"Hey" she said as she answered her phone.

"Hey yourself. Are you all right?"

Marissa didn't know what to say. She didn't know if she should tell him about what happened. "Yeah…. I'm fine."

Ryan could sense her hesitation. "Riss, I know. Seth called me."

She sighed. "Okay well I'll be fine. There's nothing really wrong. I may have a couple of bruised wrists but other than that, I'm good as new."

"Okay. So when can I see you? Do you want me to come over there now?"

She smiled. She really wanted to say yes. She couldn't believe how much she had missed him and it was barely 24 hours since she'd been with him. But she knew that couldn't happen.

"No. I gather there are already a heap of reporters downstairs. If you showed up I'm guessing that would only get worse."

"Yeah. I know that freaks you out. I'm so sorry for putting you through all this."

"Hey. You're worth it. Aren't you?"

"I don't know. You're the only one that can decide that." He replied.

"Yeah. Well I'm still deciding. But Summer and I have to get to work anyhow so there's really no point in you coming here."

"Why don't you just quit? I'd rather not have him anywhere near you."

"Well first of all it's not that easy. I have a little thing called a contract and anyhow, I'm sure he won't try anything at work. Besides, I like what I'm doing. Why should I let him ruin things just because he is an arsehole?"

"Okay." Ryan smiled to himself. She really did sound fine. He really wanted to see her and hold her, but this wasn't the girl he knew from high school. This was the new improved version and she really did sound like she could cope with all that was going on. "I'll try to drop past and see you today on my way to work. But Riss. I'd really like you to come and stay here with me….." He started to get worried by the quiet at the other end of the phone. Was Seth right that he was putting too much pressure on her? He didn't want her to run away from him. Not when they had just gotten back together. "I know we haven't sorted out everything yet but you can always stay in the guest room. At least I would be able to keep an eye on you."

Marissa turned the suggestion over in her mind. She could think of nothing better than living with him but she didn't think that that was what he was suggesting. This was just the old Ryan Atwood wanting to be her protector. Maybe he did regret the weekend. Well not the sex it was obvious that he enjoyed that but he obviously didn't want her to interpret the invitation as anything more than him taking on the role of protector.

"Well we'll talk about it later. I really have to get to work." She said.

Marissa closed up her phone and felt sad as she realised that she loved him as much or more than she ever did and she couldn't imagine ever leaving him but she felt he wasn't ready for that. She didn't know if she would be better to stay at Summer's rather than with Ryan in a guest room. She knew what happened on Friday when she was supposed to stay in his guest room and she was sure that would happen again. But much as she wanted to be with him maybe they should try to keep their distance until he sorted out just how he felt about her.

All her insecurities were returning. She finished packing and then looked around the room making sure she hadn't missed anything. She looked over at the roses and instantly felt better. She knew they could work it out. Maybe not today. But she had to believe that they would work their way through it all and end up together.

Seth arrived soon after and they decided that he would walk Marissa and Summer down to Summer's car and then come back for all her luggage. Hopefully the reporters would all leave when they saw Marissa go. They would have a field day if they knew what else had happened here this morning. Marissa really didn't need that as well.

"Ready?" Seth asked as they waited for the lift doors to open.

"As ready as I'll ever be." She replied and took a step out with Summer on one side and Seth on the other. A few reporters had managed to get past the hotel security but they just walked straight passed them. The big problem came as they walked outside. There were flashes everywhere and microphones being thrust in Marissa's face but she just kept her head down and continued walking til they got to Summer's car. Seth held Marissa's door for her and as he closed it he said. "Look after yourselves. I'll see you later in the day." And Summer drove off as fast as she could.