Ships that pass in the night

Ryan pulled in to the driveway and wondered what Sandy and Kirsten were doing there. But maybe this could be even better than he'd hoped for. They might take Emily out for a walk and he and Marissa could spend some 'alone' time together. That would be a bonus he hadn't been expecting. He jumped out and walked in through the front door. "Hey everyone. What's going on here?" he asked, smiling as he saw Sandy, Kirsten and Emily all dancing in front of the TV to The Wiggles.

They all turned around at once; shocked to see him there. Sandy was the first to ask. "What are you doing here?"

"I had a couple of spare hours so I thought I'd come and spend some time with Maris … my girls." Ryan replied not wanting to make it too obvious who he most wanted to see, even though he figured that Sandy already knew.

"But ..." Kirsten started.

Ryan looked from one to the other the shock on their faces starting to register with him. "Where's Marissa?" Ryan asked almost dreading the answer.

There was a moment of silence until finally Sandy replied. "She went to LA to see you."

Ryan's face fell. He had been able to think of nothing but her all the way from LA; thinking that he was getting closer and closer when in truth he was now as far away as when he'd started. "When did she leave?"

"About 1 o'clock." Sandy replied looking at his watch.

Ryan looked at his. It was 3:45. That meant that Marissa would have arrived at his office about an hour ago. "But …" he started to say and then stopped. "I'll just go to the study and call her." Ryan stated; the disappointment apparent in his voice.

Sandy nodded as he looked at Kirsten. It seemed that even with their help, Ryan and Marissa couldn't get a break.

Emily went to follow Ryan but was quickly stopped by Kirsten. "Not now darling. Ryan has a call to make." She looked over at Sandy who just shrugged his shoulders. There wasn't much else he could do at this point.

Ryan entered his study and sat down at the desk. Maybe she was on her way back already and he would just have to sit tight until she got here. He quickly flicked open his phone and called Marissa's cell. It rang only once before she answered.

"Ryan. Where are you?" Marissa asked. She'd been sitting in his office for an hour; just waiting.

"At Newport. Where are you?" he replied hoping she would say she was on her way back to Newport.

"LA." Marissa replied sadly. "Annabel said you'd just gone to get some lunch. I couldn't work out what was taking you so long."

"Well I was going to. But all I could think about was you. So when my meeting this afternoon got cancelled, I decided that I'd come and spend some time with you. Why didn't you call? I would have come back." Ryan asked.

"I wanted it to be a surprise." Marissa replied sadly.

"I'm surprised." He replied the disappointment seeping into his bones. "Just stay there and I'll come straight back now." He added.

"I can't. I have to leave in the next 15 minutes. I promised Sandy and Kirsten that I'd leave by 4 to be back for them to get to their dance class. You stay there and I'll come back." She suggested.

"I can't. I can only stay about an hour and then I'll have to leave to get back in time for the dinner. So even if I hang around here for a while, I'll still have to leave before you get back." He replied resignedly.

"So the best we can do is talk for the next 15 minutes?" Marissa asked.

"I guess." Ryan replied. "Although talking wasn't what I'd most like to be doing with you." He added; looking at the desk in front of him and remembering a time when he'd had a naked Marissa lying on it. His body started to respond just from the memory. He'd always thought that the idea of 'aching' for someone was dreamt up by the authors of romance novels but he knew for sure that it was real. But it all seemed so long ago now.

Marissa groaned. "Ryan don't. Do you realise what has been going through my mind for the last hour. I'm sitting here in my Victoria's Secret gear again … imagining what would happen when you walked through the door and thinking that this time around you'd get to see it and hoping that you'll like it."

Ryan closed his eyes trying to envisage the sight of Marissa in his office in a lacey bra and suspender belt. "I do. I know I do." Ryan assured her. "But I'd still like to see it in person. Or maybe that should be … I'd still like to see the person in it?"

"She'd like to see you too." Marissa replied sadly. "I can't believe our timing is so … off."

Ryan couldn't help but smile. "Yeah. Because usually our timing is spot on." He commented his voice getting husky as the implication of his words became apparent. All he could think about was the rhythm that seemed to come naturally to them when they were alone together.

Marissa smiled. "I'm sure we'll still synchronise well if we ever actually manage to have the opportunity again. It just seems to be getting harder and harder."

"What are we talking about here? Because I couldn't agree more." Ryan said as he rubbed the stiffening in his pants trying to will it away. He wasn't going to be seeing any action for a while yet but his body still seemed to react just to the sound of her voice.

Marissa grimaced at the unspoken meaning of his words. "Ry?" she said sadly; the longing apparent in the simple word.

Ryan desperately wanted to be with her but it looked like it wasn't going to happen today. But he couldn't wait much longer. "Okay. This is what you should do. Go out and tell Annabel that she should clear my schedule for tomorrow. I don't care what's there; she just has to get rid of it because I won't be in. As soon as I wake up in the morning then I'm coming straight back down here and I'll spend the day with you. I'll go and ask Sandy and Kirsten now if they could maybe take Em for a couple of hours so we can have some time alone. At least then …"

"Don't bother." Marissa interrupted.

"What? Why?" Ryan asked surprised. He thought his idea made perfect sense.

"Because Sandy and Kirsten are already looking after Emily tomorrow. I have to work." Marissa said. "The studio called yesterday. They need to redo a few scenes apparently. So there's no point in you taking the day off. Unless you just want to spend it with Emily?"

"That wasn't exactly my plan." Ryan replied. "How long do you expect to be at work?" he asked.

"I don't know. I gather the intention is that we will keep going until it's finished. So it could be a long day."

"I can't believe this. So even if I come home early tomorrow, you may not even be here?" Ryan asked.

"Uh huh." Marissa replied resignedly. "But at least we will get to spend the weekend together. You do remember that we have to take Emily to see Cheryl?"

"Yeah. I spoke to Skip about it last night. We just have to work out when we want to go. I need to mention it to Keith as well. He might like to catch up with some friends while we're up there I figure. Will we just go for the day or do you think we should stay overnight?" Ryan asked trying to think about something other than his physical need for Marissa.

"I don't really mind. I guess it depends on how Cheryl is. If she's still in a coma then probably a day will do. But is she's conscious then she will probably want to spend more time with Emily so we should probably stay I'll give Sue a call and find out how Cheryl's doing. But what about coming home? Will we be coming back commercial again?" Marissa asked thinking about the trip home with Emily and the attention they were likely to get. Much as Keith was a big help, there was no doubt the paparazzi had not lost interest in them yet. They were still the favour of the month.

"No. Skip offered to stay up there with us. Mind you, I think he would like to bring Annabel along too. I guess it gives him something to do while we're at the hospital. You don't mind if she comes do you?" Ryan asked.

"As long as she's busy with Skip and keeps her eyes off you, I don't." Marissa assured him. "I haven't forgotten our little dinner party just yet. I'm still not sure if I trust her completely?"

"From what I can gather, Skip is keeping her more than amused. I'm actually pretty jealous of him just at the moment." Ryan said.

"What jealous of Skip because he gets to be with Annabel?" Marissa teased.

"No jealous, just because he is actually getting some. Please tell me that we will get back on the same track. And soon. "

"We'd better." She replied sadly. "But I'd better go now. I have to leave for Newport or I'll be late getting back. And I can't do that to Sandy and Kirsten. They've been great. I'll see you tomorrow night sometime." Marissa added.

"Okay. But I'll talk to you before then." Ryan replied. "I love you."

Marissa smiled. "Thank you." She returned.