The sun glided up through the darkness of early morning, bringing the catastrophic night to an end. It took Ryan more time than usual to wake up that morning, maybe it was because of what happened to Skylar in the middle of the night. Or it could possibly be what happened between him and Marissa, like when he kissed her and she left. That didn't go over well, Ryan thought as he made Skylar's breakfast. He made her favorite breakfast, just in case she wasn't in a good mood this morning. He heard her footsteps come down the stairs and was relieved when she in all ready for school.
She wore jeans with pink designs and a matching pink polo shirt, but for a little girl, she sure did know how to match her clothes. He laughed to himself just thinking about it, he knew his sister must have spent months working on that with Skylar. "Hey sweetie…I made your favorite, chocolate pancakes" Ryan said excitedly as he placed the dish in front of Skylar. Skylar smiled happily, "thanks Uncle Ryan" she said before putting syrup on her pancakes and starting to eat.
After eating, they left for Skylars School, a trip that Ryan wasn't sure he was ready to make. Her hair was a mess, he tried to do something with it that morning so he wouldn't have to have a run-in with Marissa, but he had no luck. They walked into the school together, Ryan holding her hand. But at that moment, Ryan felt like the child, the nervous child about to meet the teacher. When in reality, he was a grown man about to have a run-in with the woman he kissed last night who ended up leaving. The woman who he displayed his emotions for with a simple act, but it ended up blowing back up into his face.
Ryan stepped into the room, expecting to see her beautiful face somewhere, but was disappointed when he did not. He did see Mrs. Andrews cleaning up the classroom, but that was about it. Mrs. Andrews noticed him standing there and stood up, "Miss. Cooper isn't here today Mr. Atwood…she's sick" she said with a smile as she made her way over. Ryan nodded, knowing perfectly well that Mrs. Andrews knew she wasn't sick. "But I would be happy to do Miss. Skylar's hair…if you want me to?" Mrs. Andrews asked Skylar with a smile.
Skylar smiled and sat down in front of Mrs. Andrews for her to do her hair, "did Marissa say what was wrong?" Ryan asked curiously as he watched Mrs. Andrews gather Skylars hair into a bunch. "Just that it wasn't a good day…poor thing. Must be visiting him again" Mrs. Andrews said as she put her last touches on Skylar's hair. "Visiting?" Ryan asked puzzled by her statement, he could tell Mrs. Andrews was cursing herself for her last statement. "Oh nothing…its nothing Mr. Atwood" Mrs. Andrews said as she put Skylar down to go play, her hair in a nice pony tail that bounced when she ran.
"Well I better be going…thank you Mrs. Andrews" he said as he started to leave before glancing once more at Skylar, her hair looked good…it wasn't hair by Marissa…but nice nonetheless. He waved bye to Skylar who just smiled and waved back excitedly as she played with the Winnie the Pooh game. He left the school and got into his car, wondering what Mrs. Andrews meant. Who was she visiting? And who was he?
Ryan finally realized what Marissa must have meant when she told him that "there are things you don't know about me that I'm not ready to tell you yet." He hadn't understood what she meant when she said that but maybe this man or boy she was visiting was what she was referring to. There were things that they didn't know about each other, but he wanted to know her, he wanted to know everything about this woman. He walked into his home and into his office, hoping to find some energy to work but seemed to find none. He went up to his bedroom where he noticed the piece of paper with her number on his nightstand.
He picked up the paper and ran his eyes across the number, wondering whether he should call her or not. He picked up the phone and sat down on his bed; he dialed her number and brought the phone up to his ear. He wasn't expecting an answer; he was more expecting the answering machine but was surprised when he heard her voice. "Hello" she asked tiredly, he could tell from her voice how tired she was, "Marissa" he said softly and he heard her breathing hitch for a moment.
"Hi Ryan…I thought you might call me" she said quietly. Ryan laid back on his bed, "well I went to drop Skylar off and you weren't there…so I was worried. I was wondering if we could talk?" he asked. Marissa sighed as she folded her laundry, "I don't think that's a good idea Ryan…maybe we should just…" she started to say but was cut off by Ryan's soft voice, "please" he said quietly and she knew she was sold, she couldn't say no. "Okay…you can come here" she said quietly as she put the last of her clothes in the laundry basket.
Ryan smiled and sat up, "okay…where do you live?" Ryan asked her. Marissa turned to her window, hoping to escape this conversation; she didn't want to see him right now. Or maybe it was that she didn't want him to see her at that moment. "You know the new drugstore near you?" she asked. Ryan stood up, "yeah…it's only a few streets away from here…" he trailed off. "Well that's my street…I'm in the big white building right next to the walkway for the beach…just opened the door and ring number two, that's mine." she said quietly. Ryan grabbed his keys, "okay…I'll see you in about five minutes" he said before leaving the house.
He made his way over to her house, but he stopped at a local diner first. He stopped in front of the condominiums and got out of the car with the styrofoam containers in his hand. He looked at the condos, the building was beautiful…painted white with light blue shutters. There was a large deck that wrapped around the entire building and had large bay windows. It must have been a brand new building, he thought as he walked into the building. It truly was beautiful, with high ceilings and amazing moldings with unique designs. He looked for her room number, only seeing three numbers; he knew that it must have been very private and exclusive to live here.
He pushed the button underneath her name and waited to be buzzed in, once he heard the noise he went inside and down the hallway. He reached hers and knocked on the door, he waited patiently with the food in his hand and smiled she opened the door for him. "Hi Ryan" she said quietly, wearing black sweat pants and a white t-shirt. He thought she looked gorgeous, with her hair pulled back in a loose pony tail and no make up whatsoever. "Hey…I brought breakfast" he said with a smile, highlighting the food in his hand. Marissa smiled and opened the door farther for him to walk in, becoming shocked at how beautiful her condo really was.
The condo had brand new hardwood floors, along with beautiful tiling in the kitchen area. The living room was large and spread apart with large white French doors that led right onto the patio on the beach. She had only white furniture in her living room, and he could understand why, it made the whole living room exuberant and bright. The kitchen had long marble countertops and stainless steel appliances. She had an island in the middle of her kitchen with seats surrounding it. From what he could see from these two rooms, her condo must have cost a little bundle.
"We can eat over on the island" Marissa said quietly as she moved to cabinets and pulled out places and glasses, then to the drawers to grab silverware. She pulled the orange juice from the refrigerator as Ryan took a seat at the island and placed the two containers in the middle and opened them. Marissa took a seat across from him, "I got the special for both of us…its just about everything, scrambled eggs, pancakes, bacon, waffles and fruit" he said quietly as he picked up a fork to start eating his.
They ate quietly with no words being spoken; Marissa merely pushed some of the food around her plate, only taking a measly three or four small bites. Ryan watched her in between bites; she seemed to be in a daze and couldn't concentrate for long. "Marissa" he said calmly and Marissa slowly let her gaze fall onto him. She didn't respond but he knew he had her attention, "why did you leave?" Ryan asked quietly. Marissa sat back against the seat and sighed loudly, she stared silently at the table, almost as if she didn't hear the question.
Ryan waited patiently for her answer, as he noticed her eyes gathering tears; he slid his hand over to hers and covered her hand with his. "When I told you that there are things about me…about my old life, that you don't know, I was not exaggerating by any means" Marissa said quietly as she caught his gaze. "But Marissa, just because you have some undisclosed occurrences from your past, doesn't mean that I'm suddenly going to stop liking you" he said with a soft smile as he entwined their fingers together. Marissa felt a tear fall to her porcelain cheek and disperse slowly. "I think I should take you somewhere" Marissa said quietly as she stood up from the chair, "it will be easier to explain" she said as he stood up.
They got into her car and Marissa drove down the streets of Charleston, to new areas that Ryan hadn't seen, beautiful areas they were. And as they drove, Marissa was caught up in her memory, a story that she seemed to replay in her mind. She felt as if it was a movie, stop…rewind…play…stop…rewind…play. It was an ongoing process that never seemed to go away.
Stanford, University
It was Marissa's first year at Stanford and her year was flowing smoothly. She had just gotten back from Winter break and was working in the café near her dorm, hoping to make some extra money for a new computer she needed. She set down someone's coffee and made her way to another table where a lone gentleman sat, his voice broke her thoughts as she looked up, "I'm Sean…and you have to be the most beautiful girl I've ever met" Marissa heard and she felt her resisting her urge to burst out in laughter.
She looked at the man, he was attractive, and she couldn't lie, with his light hazel eyes, short black hair, an olive complexion, and a thin body. "What can I get you?" Marissa asked, deciding to ignore his comment. Sean smirked at her uninterested attitude, "a date with you would be good…or a blueberry muffin…either would be good" he said with a wide smile. Marissa stared him dead in the eyes, these were the kinds of guys she couldn't stand, the typed that used their cheesy pickup lines, tried to charming and used every opportunity to smile, in order to get you to fall for them, but she wasn't falling. She was standing straight up and wasn't planning on falling anywhere.
"A muffin it is then" Marissa said and left the table quickly. She made her way to get his muffin and couldn't help sighing deeply, another day with another pick up. Normally, girls would be pleased, but not Marissa, they were the same kinds of pick ups. Cheesy lines that they probably heard from TV, a pass for a night out with them, and promised to have an "amazing night that they'd never forget." Marissa wasn't interested, at all, she thought to herself every time this happened. She grabbed the muffin and made her way back to his table, she set the muffin down on the table in front of him; "here you go" she said and started to move back towards the register. "Wait" he said quickly and stood up, "I understand that you must have to deal with jerks like me all day long…but seriously, go out with me…we could have fun?" he questioned with a smile.
Marissa smiled softly back; "it sounds very appealing…but I'm going to have to pass" she said and turned back to the kitchen. Sean stood with a smile, knowing that he'd do whatever he could to go on a date with this "dream girl." And so he did, for the next two weeks, he came into the café, ordering the same thing and asking Marissa out, until one day, Marissa cracked and said yes to one date. It was the start of something, something that Marissa never thought would never expect.
Marissa was brought back into her state when she pulled up to their destination. Ryan turned to her with a confused look on his face, "what are we doing here?" he asked as he looked out at the large area. "Just come on and you'll see" she said uneasily as she opened the door and got out, waiting for him to follow her lead.
Months passed by as Marissa and Sean continued to date, eventually becoming boyfriend and girlfriend. While he was head over heels in love with her, she didn't feel like she reciprocated the same feelings for him. Months turned to years and their three year anniversary came around and changed everything when he laid out his feelings for her and proposed. In that moment, Marissa stared at the man in front of her, the man who loved her deeply. He was one of the kindest, most sensitive and funny men she ever met, and he cared for above everyone else, what else could she ask for in a husband? She said yes to his proposal.
They had a short proposal and got married during the summer after they graduated from Sanford University. The wedding was small with only twenty people in attendance, her family, his family, and their closet friends. It was a beautiful wedding on a beach in San Francisco. It was a couple weeks after they got back from their honeymoon that they received the idea to move to Charleston. After long and thoughtful consideration, they decided that it was a good idea and moved together to Charleston. They moved into a beautiful and small house, a gift from his parents. His parents came from old money in New England, making it safe to say that they were set to live comfortably for the rest of their lives.
Things seemed to be going perfectly, although Marissa never felt completely sure with what she had done, she couldn't complain about being loved by someone so caring and considerate. But didn't someone wise once say that things aren't always as they seem? You would think that we would be smart enough to listen, but that advice had fallen on deaf ears.